Listening: Good website for English podcasts
All levels
Here is a link to nearly 300 English podcasts from a teacher called Luke:
These ones have full transcripts: http://teacherluke.co.uk/episodes-with-transcripts/
Tag Archives: Pronunciation
Learning tip: Learning by listening
Learning tip: learning by listening
All levels
Have you ever had the experience of thinking you knew how to pronounce a language and then when you listen to a native speaker, it just sounds different? You should try learning by listening. Continue reading
Pronunciation: The ə sound in British English
Pronunciation: the ə sound
Elementary to advanced level (A2-C1)
The ə sound is everywhere in English. It’s almost impossible to speak British English for more than a few seconds and not use ə! It is not a letter but many vowels can be pronounced /ə/. Continue reading
Pronunciation: Long or short vowels?
Pronunciation: does a word have a long or short vowel?
Elementary to Intermediate (A1-B1)
One way to find out is to see if it has doubled consonants after it. Continue reading
Matthew’s 10 language learning tips
Matthew Youlden speaks 9 languages – here are his learning tips
I saw this list in an advertisement for Babbel courses. I think these language learning tips are really useful (edited by me): Continue reading
Pronunciation: English sounds
Pronunciation: English sounds
All levels
If you want to hear the individual sounds of English, you can use Adrian Underhill’s interactive phonemic chart. Just click on the symbol to hear the sound and an example word. http://www.macmillanenglish.com/phonemic-chart/. There is also a great free app http://www.soundspronapp.com/ Continue reading
Pronunciation: Silent ‘e’
Pronunciation: silent ‘e’
Elementary to Intermediate (A1-B1)
English pronunciation has changed over hundreds of years. Today you will often see a silent letter ‘e’ at the end of words. This ‘e’ often shows that the vowel sound in the syllable before it is long. Continue reading
Pronunciation: Hesitating to sound natural (2)
Pronunciation and speaking: hesitating
Lower intermediate to advanced level English (B1-C1)
Speaking continuously is quite difficult, even for native speakers. Almost all speakers of English need to pause frequently. Hesitating gives you more time to think and choose the right words. Continue reading
Pronunciation and speaking: Sound natural (1)
Contractions (he is → he’s)
Lower level English (A1-A2)
Speakers of English sometimes pronounce two words as one word. May be you have noticed this with the verb ‘be’. Continue reading
Pronunciation: Stressing syllables
Pronunciation rule: stressing syllables
Lower to higher level (A1-C1)
English does not have pronunciation rules for everything but there are some rules about syllable stress that can help you. Continue reading
Pronunciation: Stressing and unstressing
Pronunciation: not stressing syllables
All levels
Effective English pronunciation is often about deciding which part of a word is important and which part or parts are not important. If a syllable is not important, we often change the standard vowel sound to something more relaxed. You should try to learn how to do this. Continue reading
Pronunciation: Syllable stress practice
Pronunciation: syllable stress
Pre-intermediate to advanced level (A2-C2)
The highest mountain in Britain is Ben Nevis in Scotland. However I think the real mountains are in the language! Some students speak English with a flat accent but this makes their pronunciation very difficult to understand. Continue reading
Pronunciation: Linking English words – a Mini story
Pronunciation and listening: Word linking
Intermediate and higher level (B1-C2)
In normal conversation it is common for many words to be linked together. This can make listening to English a little difficult at the beginning. You can learn how to link words together. Practising linking English words will improve your listening and speaking. Continue reading
Vocabulary: ‘Must not’ and ‘don’t have to’
Vocabulary: verbs ‘must’ and ‘have to’
Pre-intermediate level (A2/B1)
Here are some of the rules for the staff at 2 companies using ‘must not’ and ‘don’t have to’: Continue reading
Pronunciation: Which sound is different?
Pronunciation: vowel sounds
Elementary to intermediate level English (A2/B2)
English pronunciation is not very phonetic so it is useful to remember groups of words that have similar sounds. On each line 3 words have the same vowel sound but 1 is different. Which one is it? Continue reading