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English has a large number of similar sounds with only very small minor variations.

Today, we are going to practise two similar vowel sounds; /e/ 
and /eɪ/;

wet /e/

wait /eɪ/

test /e/

taste /eɪ/

Listen to the following words and put them into the correct columns. I will say each word two times:

/e/ /eɪ/
waited ✓
wreck 
rake
saint
sent
hail
hell 
shed 
shade
bend
vetted

Come back tomorrow and check your answers.

Flickr CC: Jeff Golden

Similar sounds

Syllable stress

A syllable is a word, or part of a word, which contains a single vowel sound. Every word contains at least one syllable, Some examples include: 
Pen
Watch
Cat

The following words are examples of words with two syllables. 
garden: gar / den
hotel: ho / tel
consist: con / sist

Here are some examples of words with three syllables:
September: sep / tem / ber
department: de / part / ment
telephone: te / le / phone

And these words have four syllables:
kindergarten: kin / der / gar / ten
information: in / for / ma / tion
January: ja / nu / ar / y

When words have two, three or four syllables we usually stress only one syllable and not the others. The syllable that is pronounced with the most emphasis we call a ‘stressed syllable’ and in spoken English the correct stress is important otherwise you may not be understood. Listen to the following words and choose the correct stressed syllable:

Frustration frus / tra / tion 
Delicious de / li / cious 
Flexibility flex / i / bil / i / ty 
Mysterious mys / te / ri / ous 
Incredible in / cred / i / ble

Write your answers in the comments box below and we will tell you if you are right or wrong.

Syllable Stress

Keeping a conversation going

To keep a conversation going it is important to show you are listening and want the conversation to continue.

Here are some things you can say to keep a conversation going:

‘Really’
A: I went to the beach yesterday. 
B: Really?
A: Yes, we drove there in the morning and had a lovely day.

‘I see’
A:I usually walk along the path by the river.
B: I see.
A: It’s lovely there in the morning.

‘That’s interesting’
A: My son is a great swimmer, he would swim all day if I let him. 
B: That’s interesting.
A: Yes, he’s going to start competing for his school.

You could ask a short question to keep the conversation going:

A: I’m really looking forward to the party on Saturday.
B: Are you?
A: Yes, I think everyone will be there.

We can also repeat part of what the other person has said to link to a follow up response.

B: I live in Paddington.
A: Paddington, that’s very close to the city isn’t it?

Flickr CC: Kevin Dooley

Keeping A Conversation Going

Past continuous

You use the past continuous tense to talk about something that occurred in the past.

Past continuous tense is used when the action you’re talking about started before the moment you’re describing, but had not finished.

For example, in past tense, you might say: 
‘I watched a film on TV yesterday. The film started at 7pm and finished at 9pm.’

When we use the past continuous we say:
‘At 8pm yesterday I was watching TV.’

The past continuous can be used to say that something happened in the middle of something else.

For example, in past tense, you might say:
‘I cooked dinner yesterday. My sister called me.’

When we use the past continuous we say: 
‘I was cooking dinner when my sister called.’

Flickr CC: Dwight Sipler

Past Continuous

Asking for advice.

There are many ways to ask for advice, here are some of the more common ones:

What do you think I should do about _____?
‘What do you think I should do about the broken window?’

What should I do about _____?
‘What should I do about John? He never does his homework.’

What would you do about____?
‘What would you do about finding a new job? I don’t know where to start.

What do you think I should do? 
‘I can’t decide which car to buy. What do you think I should do?’

What do you think I should do about_______?
‘What do you think I should do about a new hair style?’

Can you give me some advice about_______?
‘Can you give me some advice about how to apply for a new course?’

Flickr CC: Rita M.

Asking For Advice

Concern and Sympathy

There are many ways we can express concern and sympathy.

We could say:

‘That’s terrible.’ 
I had a car accident on the weekend.
That’s terrible, are you OK?

‘I am sorry to hear that.’ 
I can’t come to the party on Saturday night. 
I’m sorry to hear that.

‘I know how you feel.’ 
I’m so upset this morning. I lost my wallet on the way to work.
I know how you feel, that happened to me a few years ago.

‘I hope you feel better soon.’
I’m going to leave early. I’ve got a bad headache.
I hope you feel better soon.


Concern And Sympathy

Loud / aloud / allowed

‘Loud’ is an adjective and means to make a lot of noise.
Turn the music down, it is so loud.
And it can also refer to bright clothes.
Wow, look at his shirt, it sure is loud.

‘Aloud’ is an adverb and means to speak out, so you can be heard. 
The teacher told the students to read aloud.

And ‘allowed’ is a verb meaning to have permission.
We are not allowed to ride our bikes in there, look at the sign on the gate.

Flickr CC: Sam Leighton

Loud Aloud Allowed

Advice or advise?

‘Advice’ is the noun.
'You should follow your doctor’s advice.'

‘Advise’ is the verb.
'I advise you to listen carefully.'
'My doctor advised me to stop smoking. '

Flickr CC: Vic

Advice or Advise?

Wander or Wonder?
 
To ‘wander’ is to walk around without a clear purpose.

An elephant wandered into the garden.

‘Wonder’ refers to feeling curious.
I wonder why the elephant is there.

Flickr CC: muzina_shanghai

Wander or Wonder?

Up

‘Bring up’ means to take care of and educate a child.
Some people think it is better to bring up a child in a small country town.

The past tense is ‘brought up.’
She was born in Sydney but brought up in Melbourne.

‘End up’ means to become or turn out to be.
She started doing business at university but ended up doing medicine.
No matter what she ends up doing, she will succeed.

‘Use up’ means to finish.
Someone’s used up all the bread.
Don’t use up all the toothpaste, I haven’t brushed my teeth yet.

‘Take up’ means to begin or resume.
Do you want to play chess? Let’s take up where we left off last time.
When did you take up fishing? You’re very good at it.

Flickr CC: Eigenberg Fotografie

Word Pairs

‘Wine and dine’; means to entertain someone with food and drink - often with a motive in mind. 

The only way to win the new contract is to wine and dine the clients.

‘Sink or swim’; means to fail or find a way to succeed.
Note that we always say ‘sink or swim’ in that order.

The phrase ‘sink or swim’ is used to talk about someone who is thrown into a difficult situation where they must succeed without help from others.

It’s a difficult job and there’s no training. He will sink or swim.

Word Pairs

More tongue twisters

Tongue twisters are an excellent way to practise your pronunciation. Listen to the following tongue twisters and follow the script below. Then, practise saying the tongue twister yourself.

Practise a few times slowly so you can pronounce the sounds of each word. You will hear yourself improve each time. You might also like to record your voice then compare your pronunciation to ours.

Tongue twister number 1 
A big black bug bit a big black dog on his big black nose.

Listen again. 
A big black bug bit a big black dog on his big black nose.

Tongue twister number 2
Santa's short suit shrunk.

Listen again.
Santa's short suit shrunk.

Tongue twister number 3
Whether the weather is warm, whether the weather is hot, we have to put up with the weather, whether we like it or not.

Listen again. 
Whether the weather is warm, whether the weather is hot, we have to put up with the weather, whether we like it or not.

Flickr CC: Thorsten Ludewig

More Tongue twisters

The final ‘s’ sounds in words can be confusing as there are three different ways that we can pronounce ‘s’ endings. Listen to the following three words and listen for the difference:

Cooks Earns Damages

There are slight differences here: 
Cooks makes the /s/ sound. Cooks / cooks. Other examples are:

Checks
Graduates
Hates

Earns makes the /z/ sound. Earns / earns. Other examples are:

Boys
Girls
Hours

Messages makes the /iz/ sound. Messages / Messages. Other examples are:

Closes
Damages
Faces

Listen to the following examples of words ending with ‘s’ and Identify the correct sound. We will tell you if you are right or wrong:

wants
things 
sandwiches 
products 
loves
places
paints 
lives 
phrases

Flickr CC: William Chew

'S' Sounds

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