By the way, you can follow me, David Berlin, on twitter automatically by clicking *this* button:
Follow @davidberlinesl
And of course you can check out my website for details about what I can help you with and how, and you can check out (and hopefully "Like") David Berlin's ESL and Accent Reduction Training page on Facebook.
All right? All right. And remember to call (732) 618-4135 when you are ready to get your FREE short phone consult and your FREE no obligation full length trial lesson!
Saturday, October 22, 2011
The difference between /s/ and /z/, reprised.
Well, now it's really fall. Veteran's Day is coming soon, the 11th of November I believe. A sad day on which Americans are reminded of the horror and waste that is war. In this country we are currently engaged in two wars which the average American citizen seems to have almost forgotten about.
War is waste; wasted resources and wasted lives that could have been put to much better use in other ways at other tasks. War costs daughters their fathers, sons their mothers and mothers and fathers their sons and daughters.
It costs brave men and women their lives and limbs; many of them barely children, not even old enough to take an alcoholic drink in their country but old enough to absorb a bullet, or a piece of shrapnel, or kill another human being for it. Makes me wonder how straight we have our priorities at times.
We should go to war only when *absolutely* necessary, when all other avenues have been exhausted and all other diplomacy has been tried.
Very quickly, I will talk about the difference between /s/ and /z/. Essentially the difference, as usual, is that one is voiced (/z/ as in zebra or zest) and one is not voiced (/s/ as in sick, or sam). Both sounds are made the same way--put the center of your tongue to your alveolar ridge, the hard gum ridge behind your front teeth, and blow air through your bottom teeth. Try these words:
sell
seven
sire
slick
presto
musty
toast
close (describing distance between two things, not what you do to a door when you walk through it)
To make the /z/ sound, do the same as above, but use your voicebox--make your vocal cords buzz. /z/
Try these words:
zebra
zesty
zealot
zenith
zipper
zero
present
peasant
blazer
blizzard
grows
rows
signs
Notice that some of the words with a /z/ *sound* are *spelled* with an /s/. DO NOT FORGET that in English, spelling and pronunciation are *entirely* different things, and words are often not spelled the way they are pronounced.
Okay? Okay. If you get stuck, over on the right hand side of the page there is a link to a podcast you can download that will give you some idea of what this is supposed to sound like.
Remember that I offer a free no-obligation short phone consult and a free trial lesson. To get your phone consult or book your trial lesson, call me today at (732) 618-4135. Call today!
War is waste; wasted resources and wasted lives that could have been put to much better use in other ways at other tasks. War costs daughters their fathers, sons their mothers and mothers and fathers their sons and daughters.
It costs brave men and women their lives and limbs; many of them barely children, not even old enough to take an alcoholic drink in their country but old enough to absorb a bullet, or a piece of shrapnel, or kill another human being for it. Makes me wonder how straight we have our priorities at times.
We should go to war only when *absolutely* necessary, when all other avenues have been exhausted and all other diplomacy has been tried.
Very quickly, I will talk about the difference between /s/ and /z/. Essentially the difference, as usual, is that one is voiced (/z/ as in zebra or zest) and one is not voiced (/s/ as in sick, or sam). Both sounds are made the same way--put the center of your tongue to your alveolar ridge, the hard gum ridge behind your front teeth, and blow air through your bottom teeth. Try these words:
sell
seven
sire
slick
presto
musty
toast
close (describing distance between two things, not what you do to a door when you walk through it)
To make the /z/ sound, do the same as above, but use your voicebox--make your vocal cords buzz. /z/
Try these words:
zebrazesty
zealot
zenith
zipper
zero
present
peasant
blazer
blizzard
grows
rows
signs
Notice that some of the words with a /z/ *sound* are *spelled* with an /s/. DO NOT FORGET that in English, spelling and pronunciation are *entirely* different things, and words are often not spelled the way they are pronounced.
Okay? Okay. If you get stuck, over on the right hand side of the page there is a link to a podcast you can download that will give you some idea of what this is supposed to sound like.
Remember that I offer a free no-obligation short phone consult and a free trial lesson. To get your phone consult or book your trial lesson, call me today at (732) 618-4135. Call today!
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Wow. Well. It's Halloween time, the time of year when American children dress up in all kinds of scary costumes and go around "trick or treating". See last years post about All Hallow's Eve (All Hallow's Eve is the Catholic name for Halloween, which is followed by November 1st--All Saints Day in the Catholic Faith).
In any case, if you have any questions about American culture or corporate culture, or you'd like a FREE no obligation phone consult or to schedule a free trial lesson, email me by clicking this link or give me a call @ (732) 618-4135.
All right? All right!
In any case, if you have any questions about American culture or corporate culture, or you'd like a FREE no obligation phone consult or to schedule a free trial lesson, email me by clicking this link or give me a call @ (732) 618-4135.
All right? All right!
Friday, September 16, 2011
Remember that /θ/ and /ð/ are two DIFFERENT sounds in American English!
The /th/ sound comes in two different varieties in English--the unvoiced /θ/ as in thick and the voiced /ð/ as in the or these. The difference, obviously is that you use your voicebox/vocal cords to make the second one--as in either.
The best rule to remember is that when the /th/ sound comes between two vowels, it is voiced. This is because vowels in American English are always voiced, so it is easier. But there are exceptions to this rule, for instance the word "ether" (the chemical that used to be used as an anasthetic). But also, remember that "ether" is a scholarly or technical word, not an everyday word. In English, scholarly or technical words are often exceptions to the rules used in everyday speech. This is because scholarly or technical rules are typically drawn from other, non-English languages, with different rules.
Okay? Okay. And remember that I offer a free no obligation phone consult and a free trial lesson. Give me a call @ (732) 618-4135 to schedule yours today! I'd love to hear from you!
The best rule to remember is that when the /th/ sound comes between two vowels, it is voiced. This is because vowels in American English are always voiced, so it is easier. But there are exceptions to this rule, for instance the word "ether" (the chemical that used to be used as an anasthetic). But also, remember that "ether" is a scholarly or technical word, not an everyday word. In English, scholarly or technical words are often exceptions to the rules used in everyday speech. This is because scholarly or technical rules are typically drawn from other, non-English languages, with different rules.
Okay? Okay. And remember that I offer a free no obligation phone consult and a free trial lesson. Give me a call @ (732) 618-4135 to schedule yours today! I'd love to hear from you!
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Some Great Links!
Hi everyone! Here are some great links to some of my other ESL sites--
The first is my twitter feed: Dave Berlin's American Idiom of the Day Twitter Feed.
And Like my page on facebook: David Berlin's ESL and Accent Reduction Training.
And remember that I offer a free phone consult and a free, no obligation trial lesson. So call me today at (732) 618-4135! Call today!
The first is my twitter feed: Dave Berlin's American Idiom of the Day Twitter Feed.
And Like my page on facebook: David Berlin's ESL and Accent Reduction Training.
And remember that I offer a free phone consult and a free, no obligation trial lesson. So call me today at (732) 618-4135! Call today!
A Good Way To Open A Conversation
I know that some of you have trouble making what Americans call "small talk"--the talk that Americans make in social situations that helps move a situation along--talk to our co-workers, the people we do business with, and so on.
A good way to open a basic conversation in America is to make a remark about the weather. This may seem obvious, but culturally it's a good way to breach conversation with someone you don't know very well or don't know at all. It's considered a "safe" topic, and if you need to progress further you can.
Remarking on the weather will not make you an excellent conversationalist, but it'll get you started--it also depends on how you do it. "It's very hot outside." is a pedestrian thing to say, but if you walk into work and say, "Hoooooooweeee, it's hot. My goodness." in a loud voice, someone will take up the thread of conversation.
Americans tend to be very loud and expressive of emotion. We aren't reserved at all; we are informal speakers and we have no problem showing others how we feel--we are not subtle or delicate about our emotions, we express them everywhere and anywhere, with anyone.
This can be a hard thing to learn if you are not a native speaker of American English or if your culture is not as openly expressive of emotion. Some people perceive Americans as aggressive because we are so loud. That's one way to look at it. Another way is that Americans feel things very primally and very deeply.
Americans, by the way, tend to express their emotions in their speech via the use of intonation--the up, the down, the stretching of vowels, the stressing of and emphasis on certain words and syllables in speech, the changes in musical pitch when we speak, so on and so forth. If you are interested in learning how that works, I give accent reduction lessons and lessons in American speech. Give me a call at (732) 618-4135 to get your free phone consultation and remember that I offer a free no-obligation trial lesson. Call me today!
A good way to open a basic conversation in America is to make a remark about the weather. This may seem obvious, but culturally it's a good way to breach conversation with someone you don't know very well or don't know at all. It's considered a "safe" topic, and if you need to progress further you can.
Remarking on the weather will not make you an excellent conversationalist, but it'll get you started--it also depends on how you do it. "It's very hot outside." is a pedestrian thing to say, but if you walk into work and say, "Hoooooooweeee, it's hot. My goodness." in a loud voice, someone will take up the thread of conversation.
Americans tend to be very loud and expressive of emotion. We aren't reserved at all; we are informal speakers and we have no problem showing others how we feel--we are not subtle or delicate about our emotions, we express them everywhere and anywhere, with anyone.This can be a hard thing to learn if you are not a native speaker of American English or if your culture is not as openly expressive of emotion. Some people perceive Americans as aggressive because we are so loud. That's one way to look at it. Another way is that Americans feel things very primally and very deeply.
Americans, by the way, tend to express their emotions in their speech via the use of intonation--the up, the down, the stretching of vowels, the stressing of and emphasis on certain words and syllables in speech, the changes in musical pitch when we speak, so on and so forth. If you are interested in learning how that works, I give accent reduction lessons and lessons in American speech. Give me a call at (732) 618-4135 to get your free phone consultation and remember that I offer a free no-obligation trial lesson. Call me today!
Saturday, July 9, 2011
The difference between "put out" and "put off"...
There are two expressions in American English, two idioms, that have different meanings in American English than they do in British English. They are "put out" and "put off".
In British English, to be "put out" means to be angry.
Example: "I was put out with Ian for running around in the garden."
Another way the British say it is to be "cross".
Example: "I was cross with Ian for running around in the garden."
In American English, "put out" means something VERY DIFFERENT. You'll want to know the difference. "Put out" in American English is a verb--an action word--and it's very vulgar slang used to describe offering sexual favors. It really isn't used even in gatherings of men only. It's very, very vulgar.
In American English, there is another expression: "Put off". To be "put off" is *similar* to the British "put out" but to be "put off" is to be made uncomfortable or somewhat upset but NOT angry.
Example: "I was put off by his constant use of slang."
There is another meaning to "put off"--to "procrastinate". To procrastinate means to avoid doing something you have to do by saying you'll do it later. Someone who procrastinates rarely has everything together when they go to meetings, and is rarely prepared when they need to be. This is because they don't do what they need to do before the meeting.
Another way to say "put off" or "procrastinate" is to "put off for tomorrow."
This leads us to two English proverbs or words of advice (a proverb is a word of advice commonly offered): "Never put off for tomorrow what you can do today."
Okay? Okay. And as always, if you have any questions about this or any other issue in American culture, or about American language, or if you just want to get your free phone consult and book your free no-obligation trial lesson, give me a call at (732) 618-4135. My name is David Berlin. Call today!
In British English, to be "put out" means to be angry.
Example: "I was put out with Ian for running around in the garden."
Another way the British say it is to be "cross".
Example: "I was cross with Ian for running around in the garden."
In American English, "put out" means something VERY DIFFERENT. You'll want to know the difference. "Put out" in American English is a verb--an action word--and it's very vulgar slang used to describe offering sexual favors. It really isn't used even in gatherings of men only. It's very, very vulgar.
In American English, there is another expression: "Put off". To be "put off" is *similar* to the British "put out" but to be "put off" is to be made uncomfortable or somewhat upset but NOT angry.
Example: "I was put off by his constant use of slang."
There is another meaning to "put off"--to "procrastinate". To procrastinate means to avoid doing something you have to do by saying you'll do it later. Someone who procrastinates rarely has everything together when they go to meetings, and is rarely prepared when they need to be. This is because they don't do what they need to do before the meeting.
Another way to say "put off" or "procrastinate" is to "put off for tomorrow."
This leads us to two English proverbs or words of advice (a proverb is a word of advice commonly offered): "Never put off for tomorrow what you can do today."
Okay? Okay. And as always, if you have any questions about this or any other issue in American culture, or about American language, or if you just want to get your free phone consult and book your free no-obligation trial lesson, give me a call at (732) 618-4135. My name is David Berlin. Call today!
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