Listening activities

 

Comprehension exercises

Find the exercises at the following link:  https://agendaweb.org/listening-exercises.html

The 9 Weirdest Things About The English Language

I before e, except for in a bunch of random words that don’t rhyme with “neighbor” or “weigh.” English is hard. Let’s discuss.

English is hard. English is a baffling language to learn. And without the trials and tribulations of people who had to learn English as a second language, us native speakers would probably never realize the true extent of its utter nonsense.

🔔 https://youtu.be/134EMstdwO4

Perhaps you’ve seen this particular ode to English weirdness in an email chain your uncle forwarded to you, but it seems appropriate to recall right now that “you may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice / yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.”

If you can write an entire poem devoted to confusing inconsistencies in plural noun forms and pronunciation, imagine what you can do with the rest of the language!

Here are nine weird quirks of the English language that make it one of the hardest languages for non-natives to learn.

1. Words that look like they should rhyme, but don’t (at all)

It’s perhaps one of the hallmarks of English that words can be spelled similarly with absolutely no guarantee of sharing a similar pronunciation. Think: cough, rough, though and through.

2. Words that look exactly the same, but with different meanings and pronunciations

There are some words (like “record”) that mean two completely different things when used as a noun versus a verb. And on top of that, we use different stress patterns when we say them out loud: “REcord” for your Dad’s old Beatles album, and “reCORD” for when you’re leaving a voicemail.

3. Words that don’t sound like they look, because why should anything make sense

Exhibit A: “queue.” Because why not? Apparently, we have 16th century academics to thank for a lot of this, though. Words like “debt” and “doubt” inherited a “b” as a reminder that they came from the Latin debitum. A similar thing happened with “receipt.” But on top of this, some spellings were changed to match completely unrelated Latin words. The Old English “iland” became “island,” for example, as a nod to the Latin word insula.

4. That “i before e” rule leaves a lot to be desired

Almost everyone is familiar with “i before e, except after c, and except as in ‘neighbor’ and ‘weigh.'” It’s a rule that almost every English-learner is taught to make things “simpler.” But that doesn’t account for words like weird, heist, leisure, ancient, efficient, neither and conscience.

5. Some nouns have corresponding verbs, and others, well, don’t

“Why is it that writers write and painters paint, but fingers don’t fing? Why don’t grocers groce, why don’t hammers ham, and why don’t dumpsters dumpst?” — Author unknown

6. Adjectives must go in a very specific order (or else!)

This is one of those intrinsic “rules” that you never really think about as a native English speaker — somehow you just know that it’s supposed to be “big, bad wolf,” not “bad, big wolf.” But for everyone else, there’s this order of adjective placement to contend with: opinion, size, age, shape, color, origin, material, purpose. This is why it sounds right to say “that nice little old plump white dog,” but it sounds plain weird to say “that old white plump little nice dog.”

7. We have a whole extra sound you have to get used to

Would it surprise you to learn that in most other languages around the world, the “th” sound you hear in “father” is pretty much non-existent? This is known as the voiced dental fricative, and it’s a stumbling block for a lot of learners who want to master their pronunciation.

8. Tenses can be…tense

If the past tense form of “complete” is “completed,” then why wouldn’t the past tense of “go” be “goed?” Tenses can be a really tough topic for English learners. Some languages (like Mandarin) don’t use verb tenses at all, so this concept can be a bit of a mind game for some learners. We’ve got at least eight different ways to express future tense alone. Eight!

9. Do you even phrasal verb, though?

Most native speakers never even think about this, but another reason English is hard is because we have these things called phrasal verbs, where two or more words strung together as a verb have a totally different meaning than their individual component words. If you “go over” someone’s homework, you’re reviewing it, not literally moving over it. And if you “run something by” someone, you’re briefly updating them, not literally running past them with an object in your hands.

👉 https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/weirdest-english-rules

How can I improve my English pronunciation?

Try these simple and effective activities to improve your pronunciation.

Pronunciation is really important for communication and making sure people understand your message. 

Pronunciation is also helpful for your listening skills. When you know what words sound like in a sentence, you'll understand much more of what you hear.

So, how can you improve your pronunciation? Here are some ideas.

1. Listen and write

Take a short clip from a song, film, show or audio file. Write down the words that you hear and replay it until you have got them all. Play it at 0.75x or 0.5x speed if you need to.

Then compare your version with the lyrics, transcript or subtitles. Did you get it exactly? Note any differences. This really helps you to focus on particular pronunciation features.

Finally, say the words yourself, copying the same sounds that you heard. Repeat the practice until you can pronounce the sounds smoothly and comfortably.

2. Speak and check

This is the reverse of the previous tip. Now, you say the words and let a dictation app or website write down what you say.

If it writes down what you said correctly, you must have pronounced it well! But if it doesn't, check those misunderstood words because you might not have pronounced them clearly. (Note, however, that dictation programs do sometimes make mistakes.)

For this tip, you'll need a dictation app or website. Many phones have voice dictation functions. You can also use websites such as https://dictation.io/ (make sure you set the language to English).

3. Record yourself

Prepare a few sentences and record yourself saying them, using your phone. Then listen to the recording. Are you satisfied with your pronunciation? Were any sounds unclear? Was it too fast or slow? 

You can also try saying the sentences that you listened to for tip 1 and compare your recording with the original.

Many people dislike listening to their own voice! But if you can get past this reaction, it's a good way to identify things to improve in your pronunciation.

4. Learn pronunciation symbols

Did you know that English has 26 letters but over 40 different sounds?

We use special symbols to show pronunciation. For example, the word enough is /ɪ'nʌf/. This helps us see that the first sound of enough is actually an /ɪ/ sound, not an /e/ sound, even it's spelled with 'e'.

It's worth learning these symbols because then you can identify individual sounds more precisely. Learning the symbols takes a little work, but it's not too hard – in fact, many are obvious. You can probably guess what sounds /n/ and /f/ represent!

Most dictionaries use these symbols. You can also see and hear all of the symbols in the Sounds Right app.

5. Focus on confusing sounds

We suggest focusing on sounds that can cause confusion for listeners if they are pronounced incorrectly. Here are some examples.

• Long and short vowels, e.g. I want to leave here (long /i:/ sound) vs I want to live here (short /ɪ/ sound)
• /r/ and /l/, e.g. Can you correct the file? vs Can you collect the file?
• Consonant clusters, e.g. clothes – some people say it like close or closes.

When you practise English, make a note of any confusions like these and practise pronouncing them clearly.

Now you've read our advice on improving your pronunciation, go and try out some of the ideas. Good luck!

Learning English? Here Are 5 Books I Highly Recommend You Own

Looking for the best books to learn English?

The real challenge with finding the best English books is not that there aren’t enough resources, but there are too many!

There are some great books, some average books and some that just aren’t really worth the money.

So, today I’m going to share with you 5 of my favorite textbooks to learn English.

I’ve also added some alternative language resource suggestions on to the end of the post in case you’re looking for more!

Let me know if there’s a book you’d recommend me adding to this list.

1. English Short Stories For Beginners - Olly Richards

This book doesn’t teach English.

It’s a graded reader aimed at beginner learners of English and is part of a very popular series in the polyglot community.

The whole point is to get you reading material that’s at your level as a new learner - stuff that’s challenging (but not too much).

It doesn’t give you the option to look up the English translation either.

You just get vocabulary lists and exercises, and can download the audio online.

I highly recommend the English Short Stories book to you if you like learning languages using stories.

2. Shaum’s Outline Of English Grammar - Eugene Ehrlich

Shaum’s has been an authority in language grammar books for a very long time.

They’ve produced some of the most comprehensive and thorough books outlining grammar, and their English edition is no exception.

Eugene Ehrlich (professor of English literature at Columbia University) has compiled hundreds of English exercises and painstakingly outlined every topic of English grammar, such as verb tenses.

If there’s one grammar book you get for English, make it this one.

3. Practice Makes Perfect Advanced English Reading And Comprehension - Diane Engelhardt

This is for very advanced English learners.

Diane Engelhardt, herself an experienced ESL teacher, has covered some of the most advanced English language topics I’ve ever seen in an ESL book.

This resource will get you developing your critical thinking skills, and taking your academic language to a new level.

4. English Made Easy - Jonathan Crichton

English Made Easy takes a unique - and very popular - approach to teaching English.

The book uses stories with pictures in the form of comics to teach English language concepts. The language explanations themselves are incredibly clear and concise, and the comics demonstrate the usage.

It’s a really high quality resource from Jonathan Crichton, who holds a PhD in Linguistics and an MA in Applied Linguistics. He also has extensive English teaching experience.

5. English For Everyone

English For Everyone (DK) is a lot like the old Headway and Cutting Edge books for English students.

It’s really well presented, full of images and activities. This is a really good series for any English student wanting to work on their own with a good workbook.

Consider using Learning With Texts for English

So, Donovan’s written at length on a tool called Learning With Texts (LWT for short).

It’s a free and open source program that you can install on pretty much any computer (see installation instructions for LWT here) with some patience.

For languages like English, it’s an amazing tool for helping you read texts.

It’s called an assisted reader.

If you’re not technically-minded, there is a paid alternative called LingQ which is very similar in function and has a large database of reading material on it.

The basic idea is that you take a English story or article, copy the text into LWT (or LingQ), and then add the audio file if you want to.

Listening to English while reading is definitely more beneficial!

You can then go along and click the words to highlight definitions, get translations, mark how well you know the term, and so on.

If you’re into reading and want to use reading material to help your English, then I highly recommend installing LWT and using it as an assisted reader for English content you find online.

Other English resources, courses and alternatives to books

Of course, there are so many great alternative resources for learning English.

You can head over to the language tools page or list of English dictionary apps for starters, but if you’re looking for a few quick ideas, here are a couple of great ones:

EnglishClass101: For the podcast learner.

EnglishClass101 (part of the Innovative series) is one of the most popular platforms for learning English these days.

It has a massive library of lesson content for English learners.

Lingoda: This should be part of every English student’s toolkit.

It eliminates the need to travel to an English-speaking country. You can book an inexpensive class on Lingoda (they also offer Business English classes).

Rocket English: Probably the most comprehensive online course for English covering multiple levels.

Rocket has a very structured, linear format taking you through each lesson from start to finish. For someone brand new to English and an inexperienced language learner, it’s perfect.

More expensive definitely but a lot more overall value and long-term use.

Taken from: https://www.mezzoguild.com/learn/english/resources/books/

Best Reasons to Learn a New Language

 Are you considering studying a language in 2025? Discover the wide range of benefits that language learning can have on your career, social life and even health!

There are the obvious, everyday advantages to speaking a foreign language, such as impressing your friends, turning around a date that's going badly, and one of the strongest senses of pride and achievement that you can have. It can also open many potential career doors, not only in terms of the range of jobs but also the range of destinations to find a job abroad.

Become more employable

Learning a new language is a great way to make yourself stand out from the competition.

As the world becomes more and more globalized, the demand for language speakers from companies is on the increase as they expand operations into new markets. These companies, therefore, need language speakers to satisfy the demands of their clients across the world. It is much easier to build a relationship with somebody when you speak the same language as them. You can simply connect with them on a more personal level and breakthrough communication barriers if you speak the same language.

There are financial gains to be enjoyed from learning a second language too. It’s even estimated that multilinguals earn 8% more than their monolingual counterparts.

Improve your skills

Learning a new language also demonstrates that you have a host of other skills. According to studies, multilinguals are better at problem-solving, more creative, and are better multitaskers. All of these skills are very attractive to any potential employer.

Language learning also helps to make you more tolerant – multilinguals are usually more open-minded and accepting of change.

It can also help you learn other languages more easily. For many, the initial embarrassment barrier can really hold learners back from mastering a language. Getting through this barrier can help improve your confidence and help you go on to learn further languages. The confidence that you gain can also help to give you that boost to do things that you’ve never done before, such as moving abroad.

Another important reason to learn a language is that it makes you more attractive according to 71% of Americans and 64% of Brits.

Opportunities to travel

By learning a new language, you open up a whole new section of the world for you to comfortably explore. Remember, if you only speak English then you can only communicate with 20% of the world’s population. If, for example, you learn another widely spoken language like Spanish or French, you immediately open up a whole other percentage of the world’s population that you can interact with. Being able to travel with your language is a great way of meeting new people and creating everlasting friendships, or even finding love!

Having skills in more than one language also opens up a world of entertainment – the ability to understand international art and literature can really help to appreciate the world around us.

Brain benefits of learning a language

Perhaps the most important benefit of learning a language is not the most well-known. According to studies in Sweden, learning a language causes areas of the brain associated with memory, namely the cerebral cortex and hippocampus, to increase in size. Like any muscle in the body, regularly exercising your brain can make it stronger and more flexible.

What's more, it has been suggested that learning a second language helps prevent brain diseases like dementia and Alzheimer's, and can even have a profound effect on your ability to understand music.

Learning a new language has never been easier. The amount of free online language learning tools is so varied and in-depth that you are running out of excuses to be monolingual in this day and age. Why not check out which language you should learn?

Taken from: https://www.educations.com/articles-and-advice/the-importance-of-language-learning-14459

5 days to improve your speaking

5 Days of tips and challenges to help you improve your speaking

Welcome to Day 1 - Today's challenges

Here is Tim's question for you today:

• Look at the video from Day 3 in the series: 5 days to improve your pronunciation. Can you spot three items that are in Tim's room in that video, that aren't in today's video?

FOLLOW THIS LINK TO FIND THE ANSWER TO TODAY'S QUESTION

Tim's tips

Today Tim talks about what it means to be a good speaker, and he gives an overview of areas that feature in the days to come.

Being a good speaker involves combining different skills: from vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation and listening.

It's not easy! So be prepared to work at it, and you shouldn't expect instant results.

You need to have confidence in yourself, and although accuracy is important, don't be too worried about making mistakes. 

One of the important areas to think about is pronunciation. Clear pronunciation is essential to being a good speaker and today Tim directs you to some of the BBC Learning English pronunciation resources.

Next

Don't forget to come back for Day 2 to find out the answer to Tim's question. 

 

Latest 5 days to improve your speaking

• 

  Day 5 - Final thoughts

  Episode 210129 / 29 Jan 2021

  Day five of Tim's 5-day guide to better speaking.

• 

  Day 4 - Listening & Badge Day!

  Episode 210128 / 28 Jan 2021

  Day one of Tim's 5-day guide to better speaking.

• 

  Day 3 - Shadow Speaking

  Episode 210127 / 27 Jan 2021

  Day three of Tim's 5-day guide to better speaking.

• 

  Day 2 - Vocabulary

  Episode 210126 / 26 Jan 2021

  Day two of Tim's 5-day guide to better speaking.

• 

  Day 1

  Episode 210125 / 25 Jan 2021

  Day one of Tim's 5-day guide to better speaking.

Taken from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/features/themed_weeks_speaking/ep-210125

How To Write a Professional Email

 Email is one of the most widely used forms of communication both in and out of the workplace. Because of its speed and efficiency, you will likely use email in some capacity no matter your role or industry. You can write professional emails for a variety of reasons. For example, you might need to recap an important meeting, exchange information, relay an important update, or send a letter of introduction.

A well-composed email provides the recipient with a friendly, clear, concise and actionable message. Learning how to write an email that meets all of these criteria can take practice.

Consider the following tips and best practices to help you write effective, professional emails: Identify your goal, consider your audience, keep it concise, proofread your email, use proper etiquette and remember to follow up.

Six steps for writing professional emails

If you’re not sure how to start an email, these five steps can help you craft a professional message:

1. Identify your goal

Before you write an email, ask yourself what you want the recipient to do after they’ve read it. Once you’ve determined the purpose of your email, you can ensure everything you include in your message supports this action. For example, if you want the recipient to review a report you’ve attached, let them know what the report is, why you need them to review it, what sort of feedback you need and when you need the task completed.  

2. Consider your audience

When you compose an email message, make sure your tone matches your audience. For example, if you’re emailing a business executive you’ve never met, keep the email polished and free of any jokes or informalities. On the other hand, if you’re emailing a colleague with whom you have a good relationship, you might use a less formal, more friendly approach.

3. Keep it concise

Your audience might have little time to read through your email, so make it as brief as possible without leaving out key information. Try not to address too many subjects at once as this can make your message lengthy, challenging to read and difficult to take action on. When editing your email, take out any information that’s irrelevant to the topic you’re addressing. Use short, simple sentences by removing filler words and extraneous information. This will make your note shorter and easier to read.

4. Proofread your email

An error-free email demonstrates diligence and professionalism. Before you send an email, take a moment to check for any spelling, grammar or syntax errors. Also, double-check to ensure you’ve included any attachments you may have referenced in your message. If it is an important email to critical stakeholders, you might ask your direct supervisor or a trusted colleague to read over it before you send it.

5. Use proper etiquette

Include a courteous greeting and closing to sound friendly and polite. Additionally, be considerate of the recipient and their time. For example, unless it’s an emergency, avoid emailing a contact asking for something after-hours or while they’re on leave.

6. Remember to follow up

Most people receive several emails per day, so they might miss or forget to respond to your message. If the recipient hasn’t replied within two working days, consider reaching back out with a friendly follow-up email.

Format and structure of formal email

There are five elements to consider when formatting your email. Here is a breakdown of each:

1. Subject line

This is a short phrase that summarizes the reason for your message or the goal of your communication. It is important to include a subject line when sending a professional email so your audience knows exactly what to expect and is able to locate the message easily if needed. For example:

“Follow Up: Product Presentation”

2. Salutation

This is the first line of your email and generally acts as the greeting. For example:

“Hi Mr. Samson,"

3. Body

Just like the body of a letter, this is where you’ll share your full message. For example:

“Thank you for attending the new product presentation this afternoon. I’ve attached a video file of the full recording so you can share it with your team. Please let me know if you have any questions.”

4. Closing

This is the last line of your email before your signature and should wrap up your message. This is also where you may reiterate any requests you’ve made in the body of your message. For example:

“I look forward to speaking with you on Wednesday. Thanks again!”

5. Signature

The signature is where you identify yourself by name, title and any other information relevant to your communications. Most email programs allow you to set a fixed signature that’s automatically added to the end of every email you send.

“Sincerely,

Jillian Jones

Senior Software Engineer

ABC Company, Inc.”

Examples of professional emails

Here are three examples of professional emails:

1. Email to a new contact

Subject Line: UX Research Contract Opportunity

Hello Amal,

I hope this message finds you well. I’m reaching out today because I’m managing an application redesign project here at ABC Company and seeking a skilled UX research contractor to help analyze several sets of usability testing data.

This is a three-month project beginning February 1st, and we estimate it will take roughly 15 hours per week. All work can be completed remotely, but you’re welcome to use our workspace.

Please let me know if you’re interested in this project and we can set up some time to discuss the details further. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Alan Goto

User Experience Director

ABC Company, Inc.

2. Email to a group

Subject Line: Marketing Meeting Canceled

Hi team,

The marketing strategy meeting scheduled for this afternoon has been canceled.

I apologize for the late notice, but I know everyone will welcome the extra time back in their day. We will reconvene at our regularly scheduled time next Wednesday.

Thanks,

Gretchen Van Buren

Senior Marketing Manager

3. Follow-up email

Subject Line: Re: Availability for Introductory Meeting

Hi Elizabeth,

I just wanted to check back in regarding the date for your meeting with Mr. Al-Jamil. Just let me know whether June 5 or June 6 works better for your schedule.

Thank you!

Adam Moore

Executive Assistant

123 Company

Whether you’re entering the workforce for the first time or just looking to improve your electronic communication skills, learning how to write a professional email is a critical skill. By using the above tips and examples to guide your email efforts, you’ll be composing effective messages in no time.

Tomado de: https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/how-to-write-a-professional-email