Outside of the classroom, students will often be using English with other non-native speakers. Therefore, it is good practice to listen to people speaking English to see how much, or how little, you understand.
With that in mind, here’s a short video on extending your vocabulary, learning ‘low-frequency words’, or better words. However, the instructor is from India and has an accent. To test your understanding, try listening first, then look to check if you are correct:
New Vocabulary
Instead of using ‘very’ + adjective (I am very tired), use a single word:
Try to use ‘sagacious’, ‘exquisite’, ‘colossal’ and ‘spacious’ EXAMPLES:
The classrooms in Block D are ……….. (big, plenty of room)
The furnishings are perfect, they are ………. (very tasteful)
Building an underground train network is a ………… undertaking (very big, challenging)
The old man was ………. People came to him for advice. (very clever, wise)
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“My favourite thing? Does my cat count as a thing? She’s not really a thing, but anyway. She’s a really beautiful little cat. I’ve had her since she was four months old. You know how some cats are really independent and hardly talk to you? I know cats don’t really talk, but you know what I mean. Well, she’s not like that at all. She’s really affectionate and comes up to me as soon as I get home, purring away like mad. She makes a lot of noise for a tiny thing. She loves being stroked and comes and curls up next to me when I’m on the sofa. She’s great company.”
Questions:
1 What is her favourite thing ? Her cat
2 How old was the cat when the girl got her. Four months old
3 Is the cat friendly ? Yes, ‘she’s really affectionate.’
4 What does the cat like ? Being stroked
5 How is the cat described as being ? Good company
Computer terms
Do you use a computer at work ? Is it essential or just useful ?
How old is St (Saint) Stephan’s Cathedral ? How many stairs does it have ?
When was the Ferris Wheel built ? Which is the tallest structure in the city ?
New York City guide
Listen for short periods (10 – 15 seconds). Answer questions about the dialogue. Can watch again with captions. Make a note of any new phrases or interesting words.
Answer the following questions:
How many people live in NYC ? 8 million
What do New Yorkers think their home is ? Centre of the world
What two adjectives describe NYC ? Loud and fast
What is the collocation with ‘energy’ ? Pulsates
Visitors can find the city … ? overwhelming
Manhattan is the … heart and soul of the Big Apple
What is in Lower Manhattan ? Financial district
Where is Central Park ? Upper East and West sides
Working life in Germany:
(01.26 – 02.07)
How long do they work in Germany ? How many breaks does the man have ?
What do you think about his situation ? How does it compare with VN ?
Listening
1 The Queen
When was their first meeting? During the G20 conference in London 2009.
Who came with President Obama ? Wife and two daughters.
When did they last meet ? Almost two years ago.
IELTS student (0:46 – )
Does she work ? No, she’s a student Where ? Manchester / Studies ? Business
The following websites are good for listening practice.
What are the pros and cons of each one ?
What do you like or dislike about them ?
How helpful do you find them ?
Try to use complex sentences in forming your answers, giving reasons and your thoughts.
Example: For me, the best site was (Speakgood.com) because it was well designed, easy to use and extremely helpful. I especially appreciated the subtitles which enabled me to understand what was being said.
This was recommended to me by my Brazilian friend, Ana (also a ESL teacher). Small news stories are told at three levels of English, and you can listen first, then read the text. Also a good way to learn new vocabulary. Having said that, the speaking is rather flat and lacking in intonation.
Obviously, one of the best ways to learn English is to listen to native speakers, and I’m so lucky that one of my friends, Alex, who is a radio broadcaster, has agreed to share some of his videos to help you learn.
I’m sure you’ll agree, Alex has a beautifully clear voice, perfect for the radio, perfect for English-language students. These videos, however, are not from a studio, but are live ‘on the road.’
Alex is cycling to raise money for charity, namely the UK Sepsis Trust. Sepsis, basically, is when the body tries to fight disease, but in fact hurts the body. His charity webpage is:
Cycle4Sepsis meets 91.Hayes FM Broadcast4Sepsis 2020
I shall include more information, weblinks and a chance for you to donate, later in the blog.
So now, without further ado, my friend Alex. First, listen to the videos. Don’t be afraid about pausing and replaying. try to see how much you understand. I’ve added a transcript of the first video to help you, after the UK Sepsis photo.
Hello, boys and girls, welcome to cycle for sepsis live. It’s pitch black and I’m cycling. Yes, so I’m living a bit dangerously and that’s not just because it’s dark and I’m cycling but I’ve decided to … I’ve reached my target of fifty miles but I realised I didn’t challenge myself enough so Cycle For Sepsis is going that bit further and I’m going to cycle another fifty miles between now and Thursday so wish me luck.
Notice how most native speakers pronounce ‘going to’ in real-time – we say “gonna.”
The number of tourists visiting China is … more than those visiting Vietnam
Discourse Markers
Additionally / as well as / furthermore / moreover
Therefore / consequently
On the other hand / having said that / although / despite
Describe this Korean lady using at least two discourse markers.
Expressions / chunking phrases
At the end of the day / Am I pronouncing that correctly ?
Turn a blind ear / it fell on deaf ears
Friends and family / According to …
Same thing, day in, day out / You get what you pay for / a waste of money
How does this man feel about his job ?
Like / Dislike
Like:
I absolutely love … / I’m crazy about … / I (really) like / I’m into / I haven’t heard (seen/read) this before, but I think it’s great / I’m a big fan of … / I’m quite keen on /
No strong opinion:
I don’t mind / I have mixed feelings about …/ It’s OK / I don’t really have any strong views / feelings either way
Dislike:
I hate / I can’t stand / I don’t really like / I think it’s awful / I detest / I’m not a big fan of … / I’m not that keen on …
What do you think of:
T-ara from South KoreaThe sport cricketLitter, trash, rubbish on the streets
To buy time
Remember … never leave silence; use these time-fillers:
That’s a good / interesting question
Let me think …
Well, I would say …
How can I put it … ?
Sentence building
Use adjectives to describe nouns
adverbs to describe adjectives and verbs – give more information
opinion phrases
linking words to connect positive to positive or positive to negative
reasons why an action is being done
I like coffee
I like coffee so much because it tastes great and makes me wake up although too much will stop me from sleeping at night but, in my opinion, the benefits far out weigh the disadvantages.
Using Relative Clauses
who For people: This is the man who sold me the fake Rolex !
which For things: We tried fish and chips which is delicious.
where For places: Let’s go to the shop where we saw the great bargains.
Whose Possessive: That’s the singer whose record we heard last night.
The car, whose driver was young, won the race.
Exercises
We arrived at a nice beach ______ we could swim and lie in the sun.
A man ______ mobile phone was ringing did not know what to do.
The patient, ______ had a serious disease, was taken to hospital immediately.
Smithsfield is a small village ______ people live a quiet life.
A boy ____ sister is in my class was in the bank at that time.
I know a person ____ can speak seven languages.
We visited the church _____ is in the middle of the square.
It is a protected area of land _____ you can see a lot of interesting wildlife.
This dress is made of silk, _____ is a very expensive and delicate material.
A police officer _____ car was parked at the next corner stopped and arrested them.
Listening Websites: A list with links can be found on this page:
This listening is quite hard, but the website allows you to pause and replay, as well as seeing the text.
New vocabulary: attractions – famous sights, places to visit
guide – a person to show you around a building or area.
fantastic – adjective meaning very good
I’m sure that .. – to be certain or to be 100% . I’m sure that it will rain today.
not my cup of tea – idiom meaning I don’t like it / it’s not my interest
What would you like to see in London ?
What do you think of … ?
New vocabulary
exciting / interesting / stressful / expensive / scary / historic / crowded / exclusive / unmissable / world-famous / intimidating / not my cup of tea (not what I like) /
From the top = to start at the beginning.
As you can see
Tourists at The British MuseumOxford Street for shoppingDocklands, a new financial district with expensive housing Street food in LondonA walking tour, with a guide, around old London
Top Gear is a famous British show about cars, motoring, driving and crashing !
Here is an opportunity to hear British English being spoken at a natural pace, and to learn new expressions and colloquialisms (everyday spoken words, not usually found in student text books).
Top Gear Vietnam
The chaps arrive in Vietnam are are given a challenge … to buy a car for 15 million Dong. That sounds a lot of money, but it is nowhere near enough to buy a car, not even an old, second-hand one. Instead they decide they can only afford motorbikes.
The following clips are provided not only for listening practice but also for speaking: try to copy, to imitate, the speakers. Listen out for the intonation, stress and rhythm of these native-speakers.
And now, without further ado, the first clip:
The Queen
Every Christmas, The Queen addresses the nation (make a ten-minute TV appearance). This clip has subtitles so you will be able to follow what Her Majesty says, looking up any new words.
For pronunciation practice, I suggest listening to very short extracts and trying to copy the voice. The Queen, naturally, speaks Queen’s English (the most prestigious form of standard English).
Actor Benedict Cumberbatch
Do you know this actor ? How much can you understand ?
Shakespearean pronunciation:
This includes the famous opening lines from Richard III
Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this son of York
The phrase ‘winter of our discontent’ or ‘winter of discontent’ has entered the language and is frequently quoted in newspapers, blogs and everyday conversation.
In the quote, Richard is referring to the new king, Edward IV, from the York dynasty. He plays with the words ‘son’ and ‘sun’, comparing the new king with the spring sun chasing away the misery and despair of an English winter.
Taiwan has featured in many online news clips recently. Here are some which caught my eye (made me notice) and which, furthermore, will be useful for students to practice listening to ‘real-world’ English speaking; the rhythms, stresses and intonations of everyday speech.
As with other blogs, I will drop in certain phrases or expressions, which I will highlight. In addition, there will be a lot of new vocabulary in the listening clips. Watch them in short sections, writing down any new words or phrases.
Feel free to ask me to explain anything you can’t understand
Additionally, I’d like to share a blog from my online friend, Silk Chatters, who is based in the USA, and writes extremely interesting articles. One such article, a blog which caught my eye, is about being critical when listening to news reports. Silk ends her blog with:
Question what you read and hear, and avoid a steady diet of one type of information, it’s as bad for the mind as eating only one type of food is for the body.
I know she will be delighted if you read and ‘like’ her blog.
In the UK, we pride ourselves on having a free press – newspapers, TV and other media are able to write what they want without fear of persecution (there are exceptions, naturally, but that is outside the scope of this blog).
However, newspaper readers generally know the political views of the paper they’re reading. In the USA I believe I’m right in saying that many TV news stations report the news according to their political opinions … or of those who own the station. For example, Fox News is seen as Republican (right-wing), while CNN is viewed as Democrat (left-wing).
Readers in the USA, please correct me if I am mistaken.
Therefore, when you see or read news, remember to ask questions and try to check the facts for yourself. A sophisticated readership will necessitate more sophisticated journalism … ideally … and what can be more ideal than the search for truth ?
The Corona Virus, COVID 19, continues to spread, and there are opposing theories as to its origins. The consensus is that it started in Wuhan Province, Mainland China. Taiwan, which is so close, has relatively few cases (at time of writing, 388 cases with 6 deaths compared to the official figures for China 82, 052 and 3, 339).
Relations between China and Taiwan are contentious (if you don’t know the history, the internet will help to fill you in – give you information)
Taiwan, whose capital is Taipei, “Shall be a democratic republic of the people, to be governed by the people and for the people.” Tsai Ing-wen is the President, and she features in our first clip: A YouTuber called Potter King met Tsai Ing-wen, and angered China by addressing her as ‘President’.
We now move on to a video clip that went viral. Dr Bruce Aylward was asked about Taiwan being admitted to the WHO (World Health Organisation). This is what happened:
‘The Guardian’ is seen as a liberal, left-leaning paper, and is probably more for the educated reader than mass circulation. As such, the language will be challenging but rewarding for English-language students.
In the interests of fairness, I will show the WHO reaction to the above interview, which was somewhat awkward or embarrassing, to say the least.
Thay Paul's Notes 