If you read my previous post about fevers, you know we say, “I HAVE a temperature” or “I HAVE a fever.” I found a great movie clip showing this phrase in use. Enjoy!
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Take Me Out to the Ballgame!
Baseball is for all ages!
Are you a baseball fan? Most of us are. There is something about baseball that brings out the best in people. Maybe we just enjoy being outside. We like the sights, sounds, and smells of the ball park. In the United States, we have a seventh-inning stretch. It’s a great time for all the spectators to stand up, stretch their legs, and sing a song together.
The food sold at ball games are concessions. In the US, we buy a lot of hot dogs, soda, peanuts, popcorn, and cotton candy at baseball games. What kinds of concessions are sold at baseball games you attend?
I found this great video on YouTube that shows a funny fight at a Korean baseball game. What do you think is happening here?
Sick words
Since my children are sick, I decided to share the joy of it all with you! So today you get to learn some words we use when we’re sick.
Use a thermometer to take your temperature
First, how about the word FEVER. A fever is when your body is hotter than usual. We measure temperature in Fahrenheit, so a normal temperature is 98.7 degrees. If my child’s body temperature is over 102 degrees, I usually take them to the doctor.
When we measure someone’s body temperature, we say that we “take” their temperature. So I might say to my child, “Come here, I want to take your temperature.” And if it is too high, then I say, “You have a fever.”
When my child has a fever, I give them medicine, such as Tylenol or Motrin. This medicine helps reduce their fever and it helps them to sleep (which is VERY good).
If you have a fever, you might get the “chills.” This is when your body temperature is rising rapidly, and so you feel very cold. You might even begin shaking. We call this “the chills.”
When the fever ends, we say the fever “breaks.” Often my child’s fever will end suddenly, and so I know their fever has broken. I am always relieved.
I hope you survived this past winter without having a fever. What is a high fever in Celsius? How do you stop a fever?
Hooray! I’m Back!
I know, I know… I’ve been gone FOREVER! Where have I been? Well, the bottom line is: I had a baby. And she’s wonderful and darling and beautiful, and she keeps me busy(day and night). But now a little time has passed, I’m ready to roll up my sleeves and get back to work. Are you ready?
Just for kicks, I included a few idioms in this post. Can you name the movies and songs?
It’s great to be back. Thanks for waiting.
Working on correct pronunciation - Lesson 2
OK. So now you’ve mastered the F and V sounds, right? And you’re a professional at feeling your vocal cords vibrate. Good. Time to move on.
Today we’re going to focus on the common mistake of pronouncing ‘th’ like ‘d.’ When you make this mistake, the sentence, “I hope that they are there,” sounds like, “I hope dat day are dare.” This is an absolute no-no and makes it very difficult for native speakers to understand you.
To correct this problem, practice making the ‘th’ sound. Extend your tongue and lightly bite it with your teeth. The ‘th’ sound is sometimes made with air and sometimes with your vocal cords. If ‘th’ is at the beginning of a word, you will usually make the sound with your voice. If ‘th’ is at the end of word, you will only use air - no vocal cord vibration.
Again, practice makes perfect, so practice, practice, practice! Here are several words to work on.
TH at the beginning of a word: TH at the end of a word:
The With
That Health
There Path
This Fourth
They Wealth
Three Tenth
Working on correct pronunciation - Lesson 1
Many ESL speakers struggle with correct pronunciation. In the next few lessons, I hope to help you fix some common problems.
Today, I want to work on the two sounds made by the letters ‘F’ and ‘V’
Mouth formation is the same for both letters… place your front teeth lightly on your lower lip with your mouth slightly open.
Now place your hand on your throat. As you make the ‘F’ sound, do not use your vocal cords to make the sound. Only allow air to pass through to make the ‘F’ sound. You will not feel any vibration with the hand you have placed on your throat.
To make the ‘V’ sound, keep your mouth in the same position. This time, use your vocal cords as you push air. You will feel the vibration in your throat.
I recommend you practice this everyday for a week or two. Try it lots of different ways: in front of a mirror, with your eyes closed, with your hand on your throat, or without. Say lots of words that start with F and then with V. Here’s a list you can try. Keep practicing!!!
F V
Fan Van
Fly Violin
Fluff Vegetable
Fight Very
Four Vision
From Volume
Foot Vast
Fun Vent
Memorize Your Lines
This is a great idea from one of my students:
When she doesn’t have anyone with whom to practice speaking English, she recites conversations from movies or TV shows. Pick a short conversation and be both people.
Keep learning! Keep practicing!
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ARE YOU vs DO YOU
I had a great question from one of my students today. She wanted to know the difference between ‘are you’ and ‘do you.’ For example, what is the difference between these two sentences:
Are you swimming? and Do you swim?
What’s The Difference?
The word ‘are’ implies current action, so if you ask someone, “Are you swimming?” you may as well ask, “Are you swimming right now?”
The word ‘do’ implies knowledge or enjoyment of a subject, so if you ask someone, “Do you swim?” it’s like asking, “Do you know how to swim?” or “Do you like to swim?”
Practice
So lets just try it with a few other action verbs.
Are you reading? vs Do you read?
Are you reading right now? or Do you know how to read?/Do you like to read?
Are you speaking English? vs Do you speak English?
Are you speaking English right now? or Do you know how to speak English?
Are you cooking? vs Do you cook?
Are you cooking right now? or Do you know how to cook?/Do you like to cook?
I Want To Know
Hopefully, this helps someone with their English. If you have questions you want answered, please let me know!
Keep Learning, Keep Practicing!
Shannon
It’s about TIME
Telling someone the time is easy enough, especially with digital clocks — just say the numbers.
But when YOU are the one asking for the time…. you might hear it in a new way. Here are a few examples to think about and practice.
Quarters
Think about American money. We have a coin called a quarter. Four quarters = one dollar. So a quarter is 1/4.
9:15 might be said ‘nine fifteen‘ or it might be said ‘ a quarter after nine‘
9:45 might be said ‘nine forty-five‘ or ‘a quarter to ten‘
Fives and Tens
If you don’t need the EXACT time… then we round the time to the nearest five minutes.
Fives and tens can be said as ‘after’ or ‘to’ like this:
9:05 = five after (the 9 o’clock is implied) or five after nine
9:10 = ten after
9:20 = twenty after
9:40 = twenty to (meaning twenty minutes to 10 o’clock)
9:50 = ten to
and so on.
So, What time is it?
What time is it right now? Yes, look down at the bottom, right-hand corner of your monitor. Round to the nearest 5 minutes… and comment. I want to know what time you read this post.
Keep Learning… keep practicing.
Shannon