#178 English Pronunciation Practice with Tongue Twisters

Altri episodi di "Speak English Now Podcast: Learn English | Speak English without grammar."

• 

  #188 Abandoned Towns in English

  2 giorni fa

  15:50

  Hi, everybody! I am Georgiana, your English teacher and founder of SpeakEnglishPodcast.com. My mission is to help you speak English fluently. Today I’m going to talk about abandoned towns, where no one lives anymore for one reason or another. With a mini-story, we will meet John, a man who, tired of his lifestyle, makes a radical decision. Very good. Thank you for listening once again. We have reached 22 million downloads of this podcast; thank you very much for following me! If you want to help me, please share and recommend my website SpeakEnglishPodcast.com by mentioning my podcast. Thank you very much in advance. Okay, let’s get to today’s topic. In every country in the world, there are villages where no one lives. I find this phenomenon fascinating. There are several words you can use to describe such a town. They all mean the same thing: Abandoned: This means that those who lived in that area have left. Therefore, people abandoned the place at some point in the past. Uninhabited: This word implies that it was previously inhabited. The inhabitants inhabit a place. If those people leave and don’t live there anymore, it becomes uninhabited. Ghost. A ghost town is simply a town without inhabitants, without anyone living there. This word sometimes gives a sinister air to the place. All kinds of legends can arise in certain abandoned places. Some people’s imaginations can be very vivid. Deserted merely means that there is no one there. For example: “The village was deserted, there was absolutely no one.” Now, let’s use a little imagination. Imagine that you decide to move to a deserted town. Moving means going to live permanently in a new place. So, you would be the only inhabitant. You could put a sign with the name of the village and the number of inhabitants: one. There are many advantages. For example, if you have a car, you can park almost anywhere. No more going around and around the streets to find a parking space. You don’t have to respect speed limits or traffic lights, which don’t work, or don’t exist because there is no police.  As for the neighbours…no more hassles, no more noises, no more arguments. You can just relax because no one is going to bother you. Since you are alone in town, you can run for mayor. The result would be obvious. Only you would vote, and you would win with 100% of the votes. Unbelievable!  Now you could say, But what about the supplies? The food? Well, you can order on Amazon, right? I’m sure they won’t get the wrong house. There’s just one small problem. A place like this can be terrifying. Being all alone in a town and hearing a strange noise. I don’t know; maybe it’s not such a good idea.  But in reality, multiple causes explain why certain towns are abandoned. Here are a few: – Epidemics. Certain towns suffered devastating epidemics such as smallpox, typhus, or cholera that reduced the population.  – Decline of mining. The mines’ work attracted many people, and many houses were built, forming towns near the mine. When the mine was no longer profitable, people left the village. – Industrial revolution. Many peasants engaged in agriculture left their hard work to go to the factories to get hard but perhaps safer work. Many villages are not abandoned, but every year they lose inhabitants. There are several initiatives to stop this depopulation. Some towns even offer free housing and work. There are also subsidies for companies and entrepreneurs to set up their business there. The truth is that with the Internet, perhaps some of these towns can be saved because it is feasible to run a business with a computer. Get the transcript at: SpeakEnglishPodcast.com/podcast
• 

  #187 Beautiful Words in English

  9/10/2021

  13:08

  Did you know that there are more than 1 million words in English? I know it’s hard to believe, so keep counting, I mean keep listening. 🙂 Hi, everyone! I am Georgiana, your English teacher and founder of SpeakEnglishPodcast.com. My mission is to help you speak English fluently. Today I will share with you 9 of the most beautiful words in English. And with the point of view story, you will learn grammar only by listening. Ok. Let’s start! In 2010, during a project to search for words in digitized books, researchers estimated a total of 1,000,000 words. Yeah, I was a bit surprized by this, too, but there’s an explanation for all this.  First of all, you need to take into account that they have included different forms of the same word. Also, many words are archaic since they are not used in modern English.  Speaking of archaic words, in the second edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, there are approximately 600,000 defined word forms. But that’s because it includes many old-fashioned words. And also, the dictionary expands every year to keep up with new words being invented.  However, according to the BBC, the good news is that we only use about 170.000 words in English.  Yeah. I know. It’s still a considerable number of words, but you don’t need to know all these words to be able to have a conversation in English. I actually believe it’s a mistake to keep track of the number of words you know. If you want to learn English effectively, remember how you learned your mother tongue.   And let’s face it, you don’t know all the words that are included in the dictionary of your mother tongue. But that doesn’t stop you from speaking fluently and eloquently. Let’s not forget that words are a powerful form of communication. I have selected the ones that I consider to be the most beautiful out of all the words in English. 1. CherishThe word cherish means having a deep appreciation for something or someone. Example:“We all cherish our family, our home, our possessions, and I’m sure someone in your life cherishes you and the relationship they have with you.” 2. Demure We use the word demure when we refer to a person who is shy and polite. A demure outfit is a modest one. Examples:“The girl was dressed very demurely for the occasion.”“Her clothes were too demure for the occasion.”“The girl was demure.” 3. EbullienceHave you ever seen some puppies playing? The word that comes to mind is ebullience. Ebullience means excitement and enthusiasm.Just think of someone who is too noisy, almost euphoric. Example:“I remember that when you were a kid, you would always burst into the room with your usual ebullience, and talk to everyone.”4. EleganceI’m sure you’re smiling right now because this is a word you knew. However, it is still one of the most beautiful words in the English language. Examples:“When she entered the room, everyone was amazed at her elegance.”“We’ll deal with this matter with the utmost diplomacy and elegance.” Get the transcript at: SpeakEnglishPodcast.com/podcast
• 

  Non perdere nemmeno un episodio di “Speak English Now Podcast: Learn English | Speak English without grammar.”. Iscriviti all'app gratuita GetPodcast.

  
• 

  #186 The mystery of the Monoliths

  1/10/2021

  11:12

  Hi, everybody! I am Georgiana, your English teacher and founder of SpeakEnglishPodcast.com. My mission is to help you speak English fluently.  Speaking English is way easier than you think! You just have to use the right material and techniques. – Do you like mysteries? I do, but only when they explain what’s really going on. Today I’ll talk about mysterious metallic monoliths. -And with a mini-story, you will improve your English fluency. Before we get started, go to my website SpeakEnglishPodcast.com to get the transcript. It’s free! By the way, thank you for your messages and feedback. It’s my pleasure to help you speak English in a fun and entertaining way. Okay. Let’s start! Today’s topic is about mystery. I don’t know if you’ve seen this on social media or TV. In several places around the world, some very remote metal monoliths have appeared. Many have speculated on the subject. Some say it is simply a viral campaign on a global scale. Perhaps from some well- known brand. Others say that it is simply an artistic expression and that they do it this way, without saying anything, to draw attention. There are always people who claim that it is part of an alien invasion. What do you think? I don’t know if you remember the movie 2001. A Space Odyssey. This movie was released in 1968, and well, at the time, it was a landmark because of director Stanley Kubrick’s innovative style. In the movie, several monoliths are shown, leaving the viewer to guess their meaning. I guess whoever created these monoliths that have recently appeared was inspired by this movie. The first monolith, was found in the Utah desert in the United States. That was last November 2020. Environmental activists removed it. I guess they also recycled it, but it is not clear. Since then, structures of this type have been located in different parts of the world. One wonders what it could be. Well, now I will explain the mystery: they are not aliens. I myself have placed all these monoliths with the message: “I am Georgiana and I want to help you speak English fluently with no grammar and no textbooks.” Well, it was not me, but it would be a great idea! 🙂 Actually, the people responsible are an artist collective called The Most Famous Artist, or so it seems. It turns out that they sell these metal monoliths for the affordable amount of $45,000. I think that’s a lot of money, though. You know, if you want a monolith in your yard, you might want to start saving up. Okay! I want you to learn English 3 times faster, and that’s why I created a video course. Visit: SpeakEnglishPodcast.com and get my video course for FREE!
• 

  #185 What is dubbing in movies, music and video games?

  24/9/2021

  10:25

  Hi, everybody! I am Georgiana, your English teacher and founder of SpeakEnglishPodcast.com. My mission is to help you speak English fluently.  Today I'll talk about dubbing. And we will practice grammar in context with a point of view story. Don’t worry. You won’t have to memorise any boring rules. Remember that you can get the 5 Secrets to Learn English totally free on my website: speakenglishpodcast.com Have you ever wondered why movies are dubbed in some countries and not in others? Dubbing a movie means to substitute the original voice for another one in the language of the country. This way you don't need to know the original language of the movie. You can simply watch the entire movie in your language without any problems. An alternative is to simply add translated subtitles. This is done in most countries.  This way you can listen to the original sound and at the same time read in your native language to understand the meaning. It is a cheap alternative and much easier than dubbing the movies.  Interestingly, performers are called voice actors. The truth is that I find this job very difficult. You have to record exactly at the moment when the character is speaking. Also, you need to use the right intonation. If the character is angry, or happy, or says something with irony, ... All this has to be taken into account.  There are some people who criticize dubbing. They give two reasons.  The first is that it doesn't help people learn foreign languages, such as English.  The second is that, in a way, it can distort the interpretation of the actors, since, if a dubbing actor is not good, he can totally change the character. But dubbing is not limited to movies or series. Music and video games are also dubbed. Dubbing music Similar to movies, dubbing has a totally different meaning in music. Here, this process occurs when you transfer or duplicate a song.  Dubbing video games Many games now require dubbing - when dubbing, the original audio is replaced with new recordings of the translated script. This allows players to listen while playing in their own language.  In my opinion, dubbing does not help people learn new languages.  Regarding whether or not the interpretation of the actors is changed, I think it can happen, but I have to say that there are very good dubbing actors who do it very well. Do you know how you can help me? You can share the podcast with your friends and family. Tell them to go to SpeakEnglishPodcast.com and get my free mini-course.  That would mean a lot to me. Thanks.  Read the transcript here: SpeakEnglishPodcast.com/podcast
• 

  #184 Things not to say in English

  9/9/2021

  16:41

  Today, in this episode Let’s look at some bad strategies and attitudes that don’t quite work in conversation. I mean, like having awkward conversations. Next, you’ll practice your fluency with a mini-story lesson—the best way to learn to speak English without translating mentally. Okay, let’s start with an important question: Do you think that you are too old to learn English? I have always thought that it is never too late to learn a language, and I have always had students of all ages using my method successfully. But a few days ago, I received an email from a student in Greece, saying something like this: Dear Georgiana, hello, I’m delighted to see your programs. I think you give your soul to every lesson. My mother tongue is Greek, and I am proud because our language has a positive contribution to the English vocabulary. I’m also proud that I try to improve my English even though I’m 94 years old. Georgiana, I encourage you to continue with your English lessons. I admire you! Erotokritos Thank you, dear Erotokritos, for your kind words. You are an inspiration for all of us. So, you see, I think I’ve made my point. It’s never too late to learn English. All right, have you ever been with someone and not know what to talk about? It’s happened to me sometimes. Every once in a while, we run into situations where it’s difficult to continue the conversation. One example is what happens in an elevator. Imagine that you meet a neighbor you hardly know, and a typical dialogue ends up going like this: —Good morning. —Good morning. —Going down? —Yes. — … — It’s cold today, isn’t it? — Yes, yes. It’s going to be like this all week, they say… — … As you can see, this conversation is not very intellectual. It’s more about avoiding silence, which can be uncomfortable. This doesn’t just happen in elevators but in all kinds of social interactions. I read recently that a silence of four seconds or more triggers anxiety. It doesn’t get any better when you have to speak in a language you are learning. You have even fewer resources to express yourself. Read the transcript at: SpeakEnglishpodcast.com/podcast
• 

  #183 English Expressions with the color Blue

  3/9/2021

  13:36

  Hi, everybody! I am Georgiana, your English teacher and founder of SpeakEnglishPodcast.com. My mission is to help you speak English fluently.  In this episode: • I'll be talking about what happens just after we end our vacations. • Later, a cool mini-story to practice your English speaking. Let me start by telling you that I'm super excited to be back again and connecting with you! How are you doing? Are you feeling happy and relaxed? Or are you feeling blue?  We’re in September, so I can officially say that the summer holidays are over.  During summer, I've been resting, sunbathing, and enjoying my free time. I've recharged my batteries. I like to be near the beach, enjoy the sun, the sea breeze, and eat delicious food. I must say that I've managed to disconnect from my routine completely.  How about you? How did you disconnect from your everyday worries? Talking about disconnecting and taking a break. In September, a fascinating phenomenon occurs: I’m referring myself to the post-holiday blues, also known as the post-travel depression. By the way,  did you know that the color blue is actually the most popular color in the world? The color blue is also used to express feelings of sadness, nostalgia, or depression. Here are two expressions where we use the color blue to describe sadness: "feeling blue" or "getting the blues." Read the transcript here: SpeakEnglishPodcast.com/podcast
• 

  #182 Mistakes when speaking in English

  19/8/2021

  10:59

  Welcome to the Speak English Podcast, your resource for practicing your English speaking and listening. You will also learn about lifestyle and culture, language, vocabulary, and how to learn English more effectively. Transcript: I’m Georgiana, founder of SpeakEnglishPodcast.com. My mission is to help YOU to speak English fluently. Today I will talk about fluency and how it is related to the possible mistakes that occur when we speak. Yes. Sometimes we can make mistakes! Next, we will practice grammar with a funny point of view story. You just have to listen and observe how the different grammar points change. Excellent! I have decided to talk about a topic that, I think, is very significant for the language student. First, let’s see what fluency means. When a person can speak fluently, they can speak more or less without hesitation, without pausing and thinking about how to say something. Occasionally, we can take a short pause to think, but this is not usual. We experience near-perfect fluency when we speak our mother tongue. If you pay attention to when you speak, you will see that you do not think about which words to use. You just have an idea of what you are going to say, and you say it. When you are learning a language, fluency develops gradually. A good symptom is when you find yourself without almost translating mentally. At first, it is normal to do so, but little by little, part of your speech becomes automatic, and the words are simply there. That’s when you start enjoying more and more conversations with Native speakers. It is amazing to see yourself in a conversation with a Native speaker in the language you are learning. Somehow, it all becomes real. Traditional or more academic methods insist on mastering more formal aspects such as grammar rules, word position, or conjugations. According to their theories, learning all this will help you express yourself better and avoid making so many mistakes when speaking. Ask yourself this question: How often do you think about grammar rules when you speak in your native language?  I believe that the most important thing for a language student is to develop fluency first. This has to be your main goal. When we are in the middle of a conversation, things go very fast. You can’t pause for 30 seconds to think about how to structure a sentence. You need to speak at that moment. You need to be fluent. And how does this relate to mistakes? It’s common sense. If you can express yourself more or less effortlessly, mentally, you don’t have to look up or translate words. They just come to your mind. This way, you can spend more time focusing on other aspects, such as making fewer mistakes or improving your pronunciation. As I always say, the way to improve your fluency is mostly by listening. The more you listen, the more you acquire the patterns of the language. When I talk about patterns, I mean word patterns that are very commonly used. So, you no longer think word by word, but by groups of words. A very positive effect of listening to content made by a native speaker is that you hear the language without mistakes, so little by little, you will end up using the same structures that are error-free. Read the transcript at: SpeakEnglishPodcast.com/podcast
• 

  #181 Listening to podcasts in English while exercising

  30/7/2021

  9:44

  Hi everyone! I’m Georgiana; founder of SpeakEnglishPodcast.com. My mission is to help YOU speak English fluently. In this episode: I’ll talk about the importance of moving and studying English. After that, we’ll practice grammar with a point of view story. Ok, let’s get started! Let me ask you a question. Imagine a person learning English. He or she’s preparing to study a new lesson. How do you picture the scene? Perhaps this person’s sitting at home or in a quiet library with an open textbook, a dictionary, and a notebook. Maybe this person has been sitting for hours, almost motionless, trying to learn and memorize the content. At least that’s the typical image that pops into my mind whenever I imagine an English student following the traditional method. Now let’s visualize a different scene. Imagine someone walking around. Their whole body’s moving. The feet transmit movement to the legs and to the entire body. The arms are swinging slightly, and the brain receives more oxygen. You can’t be too lethargic when you walk, can you? For me, this second state is the perfect one for learning. The brain’s more awake, and it can acquire new knowledge faster. And there’s no need to carry around any textbooks, notebooks, dictionaries, pencils, etc. That wouldn’t be practical at all while you’re walking. And people might start pointing you on the street as if you were some lunatic. I’m sure that if you’ve been following me for some time now, you already know that there’s a much more efficient way to learn English. You can now improve your English considerably by listening to interesting audios! There’s no need to sit in a chair and listen to my podcast or my audio lessons. The only thing you need is your cell phone and your favorite earphones. Start taking a nice walk every day and improve your English skills at the same time. In fact, the question and answer (Q&A) lessons are designed in such a manner so that you can simulate a conversation in English wherever you can and whenever you get some spare time.   Read the transcript here: SpeakEnglishPodcast.com/podcast
• 

  #180 Listening In The Background

  23/7/2021

  12:08

  Welcome to the Speak English Now Podcast, your resource for practicing your English speaking and listening. You will also learn about lifestyle and culture, language, vocabulary, and how to learn English more effectively. Transcript: Hi, everybody! I am Georgiana, your English teacher and founder of SpeakEnglishPodcast.com. My mission is to help you speak English fluently.  In this episode: I’ll be talking about passive listening, or in other words, listening in the background.  Later on, we’ll practice conversation skills with the powerful Question & Answer technique. Ok, let’s get started! In the language industry, there’s an approach called passive listening. This means playing some English in the background while performing other tasks. In theory, you’re learning because the brain is always learning, no matter how. Interesting, huh? You just need to play some English while you’re cleaning, jogging, surfing the Internet, etc. Well, although this approach may be appealing to many of you, here’s the bad news: It doesn’t work as a whole system for developing a complete fluency in English. The main drawback is that when we need to learn new content, our brain needs to pay attention, to be active. So, in an ideal world, we would be 100% focused all the time while listening: We’d pay attention to every tiny detail: vocabulary, pronunciation, intonation, etc. However, as you may already know, idyllic things are sometimes hard to achieve. If you need perfect conditions every time you listen: for example, feeling rested, motivated, in a quiet place, then you will never start listening. What you need is a compromise. It’s ok to lose concentration from time to time.  Here’s my suggestion: For new content, try to maintain your concentration as much as possible. However, when you’re repeating the same content, you don’t need to focus 100% of your attention anymore because, in this case, you’re just remembering and consolidating. Another aspect to keep in mind: in this case, quantity is more important than quality. It means that when you listen for two hours, and you only focus on 70% of your attention, it’s still more efficient than when you’re listening for only 20 minutes, and you succeed to focus 100%. The accumulation of hours and hours of listening, it’s what truly helps you to become fluent. Just think about children. They’re not always focused when they listen, but they always learn. My takeaway for today is: Try to listen as much as you can. Being focused is essential when you’re learning new content, but when you’re already familiar with the material, what matters the most, it’s the amount of time you spend listening.   Get the full text here: SpeakEnglishPodcast.com/podcast  
• 

  #179 Asking for Directions in English

  15/7/2021

  11:39

  Hi, everybody! I am Georgiana, your English teacher and founder of SpeakEnglishPodcast.com. My mission is to help you speak English fluently. I'm going to talk about how to ask and give directions in English. For example, when you want to go to a restaurant, and you have to ask for directions. Next, an exclusive mini-story to improve your fluency in English. Remember that you can get the text of the episode at SpeakEnglishpodcast.com. So, let's get started. As you know, it's very useful to know how to ask for directions when you go to a place for the first time, and you're a bit lost. Okay, yes, I know that nowadays with smartphones, you can check the GPS and you don't need to ask for help anymore, but think about this: Asking for directions is an excellent opportunity to practice English. In this episode, we will see the most common expressions with some examples: All right, the best way to ask for directions is by using this expression: "Excuse me, how do I get to _?" "Could you tell me the best way to get to _?"  For example, if you want to ask how to get to Times Square, you say: Excuse me, how do I get to Times Square? You could also say… "What is the quickest way to get to the movies?" "Excuse me. Where's the nearest (post office) please?" "Excuse me. I'm looking for _." And if you are very close to your destination, you could simply ask:           "Where is the hotel?" If you get lost, just ask this simple question: "Where exactly am I?"  Okay, great. Now let's see how to give directions.  Here are some useful phrases for giving directions on the street: TURN LEFT TURN RIGHT GO STRAIGHT AHEAD An example: "Sorry, what is the quickest way to get to the city center? "It is easy. Go straight ahead and then turn right. They can also tell you to TAKE the first, second, or third, street, for example. Let's look at the same example: "Excuse me, could you tell me the best way to get to the city center?" "It is easy. Go straight ahead and take the second street on the right." (END OF THE EXTRACT). Get the transcript here:  https://speakenglishpodcast.com/asking-for-directions-in-english/