Even More Pronuciation Practice: Hard and Soft "th", "l" and "r"

In American Headway 2 Unit 10 we have learned a new word, "through". "Through" has two difficult sounds.

Here's a funny cartoon showing how to pronounce "th". This cartoon was originally posted by an English teacher called Rafael de Carvalho Pullen Parente on his blog, Teacher Rafael.


Now, here are two videos to help you pronounce "through". The "th" sound in "through" is the soft "th" (/θ/) sound. The hard "th" (/ð/) sound is the "th" sound in "this".
These videos were made by an English teacher and soccer coach from Glasgow, Scotland called Brian Gallagher. He has a unique school in Japan called Fair Play Soccer School. Students at Fair Play Soccer School learn English and Soccer.
Since Mr. Gallagher is Scottish, his accent is a little difference from mine. However, it's close enough.

Watch the videos. Look at the speaker's mouth. Use a mirror and practice the pronunciation of "th", "l" and "r".

Hard and Soft "th"
l" and "r"


Watch again! Practice! Enjoy!

Special Occasions and Dates

This is a video from Real English.com. In this video people talk about their birthdays and other special occasions. Listen. can you hear the dates? Listen and practice saying the dates.

Practice pronouncing "th" in dates, for example: fourth, fifth, sixth, and so on. Look at the picture below to help you. The picture below shows the shape of a mouth making the "th" sound. Look at the tongue. It's between the teeth.

Click the image in order to make it bigger

Many student make the "s" sound instead of the "th" sound. For example, some students say, "tense" (緊張した)when they want to say "tenth" (10th).

The picture below shows the shape of the mouth making the "s" sound. You can't see the tongue.

Practice the dates that you hear on the video using a mirror. Then you can see if you are making your mouth the correct shape.

Making a Date

Recently we have been learning about dates and time in the FE4-Speaking Class at Toyo Gakuen University. For the next test you will have to make a date to go to a movie. Here's a video from EF Education First to help you. The video talks about polite ways to make a suggestion in English. There are various ways to make a suggestion including:

• How about....?
• Would you like to...?
• I was wondering if...?

Which of the ways above do you think is the most polite? Watch the video and find out.

Here's another video about making dates. This video is an animated video. My friend Paul made this video. Paul has a video podcast called ESLpodTV. It's a great podcast. This video is about an English man called Ed. U. Cator. He calls his new friend to invite her to his house. You can learn more about making suggestions, invitations and polite requests (丁寧語、招待) in this video. here's some vocabulary to help you:

guy - person, usually a man

anytime - whenever

nothing special - nothing different or unusual

accent - the way your voice sounds shaped by where you’re from

housewarming party - special event celebrating moving into new home

neighbours - the people living nearby

got nothing on - not doing anything at that time

few - a small number of something

funny - strange

I was wondering if… polite expression requesting somebody do something

If you’re free… - expression often used to ask for a date or request favour

Educator Diaries 3 from kibishipaul on Vimeo.

When we make a date in English we need to be able to say dates. For example: June 11th, August 30th, December 25th. We need to be make to make the "th" sound. You can watch some videos about making the "th" sound by clicking here.

When we make a date in English we need to be able to talk about time as well as dates. Here's a video from Real English about time.

Here's another video that talks about prepositions of time. This video comes from JenniferESL

For your next test you will have to make a date to see a movie. Good luck!

Toyo Gakuen University Freshman English 4 - Semester 2 Test 1 Study Guide

Image by estherase

The time has come. You will take your first test of semester 2 in your next class. Here's your task:

Roles: Caller, Receiver
Situation: There's a Hallowe'en Party in the English Lounge
Tasks:
A. Caller

1. Call your new English friend Chrissie.
   
2. When a different person answers your call, ask if you can leave a message for your friend.
3. Leave a message:

a. Say your name
b. Spell your name
c. Say your telephone number
d. Say the day, time, and location of the party

B. Receiver

1. Answer the call
2. Take a message
3. Check the information: caller's name, telephone number, details of the message
   

Click these links to prepare for the test:
Unit 7 - Special Occasions
Taking and leaving a phone message
Pronunciation of "th"

Remember! If you prepare and practice you will get an "A".

Toyo Gakuen University Freshman English 4 - Unit 7: Special Occasions

Today we are going to talk about special occasions. Look at the picture. What special occasions can you see? What other special occasions can you think of?
Holidays are special occasions too. What holidays are on these dates?:

• January first
• February third
• February fourteenth
• March third
• April first
• April twenty-nineth
• May fifth
• December twenty-third
• December twenty-fifth
  

Let's listen and practice saying dates.
Click this link: Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab - Calendars.

Let's review the pronunciation of "th".

More Pronunciation Practice: /Th/, /s/ and /z/

Here are two videos from Action Language Academy. Watch the videos and practice.