Hi everyone!  Well, its a *sweltering* hot summer...the word "sweltering" means, "hot and sweaty" or "hot and wet" or "very hot and very humid"--the word "humid" refers to the amount of moisture in the air--as are most summers in my "neck of the woods", which is New Jersey. 

(The phrase "neck of the woods" means "area" or "region"--if you tell someone you are from New Jersey and they say, "So how are things in your neck of the woods" they are asking you how things are in New Jersey and you could talk about the Yankees or the Jets--American football teams--or our governor--Phil Murphy or our ex- Chris Christie--or whatever the case may be.   Or you could say, "the heat here is brutal, absolutely sweltering--how are things out by you?")

Anyhow.   I just want potential students to know that I am now accepting students for Fall.   My rates are reasonable and I will travel in person to your location or work via Skype.   For an example of a lesson, with a student of mine named Sergey--take a look at this video.   There is a bit of American profanity at the beginning; Sergey wanted to learn some "street talk".  I can teach that, I can teach American formal or corporate language--whatever your English needs are.   For more information, give me a call at (732) 807-5424 OR check out my Accent Reduction and English Training Website or my American Idiom of the Day Twitter Feed.

All right?  All right.  Hope to hear from you and meanwhile, stay cool!

A Break From Winter!

Well, these past couple of weeks we have had a little break in New Jersey from the cold, cold temperatures.  One day it got to 57°F in my little corner of the world!  Nice!

(You may have noticed that I often begin a blog post by commenting on the weather.   Commenting on the weather *is* a great conversation opener as long as you make the comment unique or personalize it to the person you are talking to.   So you could say, "Wow, its supposed to snow all day tomorrow.  Do you think the kids will have off school?"  

 That *personalizes* the weather comment--first of all it tells the person you're talking to that you know they have kids and second of all it tells the person you're talking to that you care about their kids.  In addition, if YOU have kids, it can lead to a conversation about what arrangements you and the person you're talking to have for your kids when they're off school--do you leave them home alone?  Do you leave them in the care of a relative?

(Most parents, unless one parent stays home or unless there is another adult at home, regard snow days from school as a minor hassle.)

In any case, I came out with a new video.  Check it out!

Its a demonstration of how to make the "ee" /ɪ/ sound as in beat vs the "i" /i/ sound as in bit.   Now remember, one thing that may help you with the short /i/ sound as in "bit" --like "a little bit"-- is that you sort of hang your jaw down a little bit but not too far.  You don't open your mouth wide--you relax your jaw and let it hang a little bit.

Try it!

BIT

SIT

MITT

versus

BEAT

SEAT

MEAT

SLEET

HEAT

and so on.   All right?  And remember, if you're interest in ESL or accent reduction lessons a consult or two to get yourself straightened out on any American cultural issues you may have, give me a call at (732) 807-5424 or check out David Berlin's ESL and Accent Reduction website.    You can also check out my ESL and Accent Reduction YouTube channel or my American Idiom of the Day Twitter Feed.  All right?   Give me a call TODAY!