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Hi, I’m Sarah. Welcome to The Daily English Show.
Today’s mistake is: mixing up before and ago.
For example if I offer you a piece of cake and you say: Oh, no thanks, I’m still full. I ate lunch one hour before.
That should be: I ate lunch one hour ago.
Ago is used if you’re counting from now, or the time of speaking, to some time in the past.
She moved here 5 years ago.
He died 6 months ago.
And you use before if you’re counting from some point in the past to another point further back in the past.
The example in this book is:
Napoleon died in 1821, he had lost the battle of Waterloo six years before.
This is an example I found online:
This was way back in the summer of 2002, two years before Google went public.
But if I was speaking in 2006, I could say: Google went public two years ago.
And now I could say: Google went public four years ago.
click here
Today’s site is http://www.manythings.org/
This is one of my favourite sites. I actually talked about it before, but that was quite a while ago, , so I thought it was worth mentioning again.
One of the cool pages is this one which has minimal pair practice.
For example, Japanese speakers often have trouble telling the difference between (the sounds) l and r. So, there’s an exercise which helps you with that.
But of course, everyone is different and people from other countries have no problems with l and r, but have problems with other sounds.
You probably know a lot more about this than I do if you’ve travelled a lot or if you’re a student who has studied in a class with people from many different countries or if you’ve taught people from many different countries.
There’s a great guide in this book on page 141 – by the way this is an excellent book if you’re looking for a book on pronunciation – anyway this guide tells you which speakers have trouble with which sounds.
I also did a really quick search and found a passage about this in a book called: Teaching Science to Language Minority Students
The sounds of spoken English differ from those in some other languages. For example, the 'th' sounds (as in thunder or then) do not exist in Farsi, Japanese, or many of the Indian languages.
Native speakers of those languages may have difficulty pronouncing 'th', thereby substituting a 't', ‘s’, ‘z’, or ‘d’ sound, saying tunder for thunder or den or perhaps zen for then.
* I said therefore by accident – it should be thereby.
So, if you have trouble with the th sound, you might find lesson 18 useful, which is the difference between they and day.
STICK NEWS
Kia Ora, in Stick News today, there’s been a public outcry against an eavesdropping law in Sweden. The associated press reported more than 1 million emails have been sent to politicians.
Sweden’s parliament has passed a bill which will allow officials to eavesdrop on all cross-border email and telephone traffic. The new law is due to be implemented in January.
The Associated Press reports that critics say the law will encroach on privacy and jeopardise civil liberties.
While supporters claim it is needed to fight international crime and terrorism.
A tabloid newspaper has launched a campaign against the law and a parliamentary spokesperson says protesters have sent over a million emails about the law to politicians.
And that was Stick News for Wednesday the 2nd of July.
Kia Ora.
Today’s word is substitute.
v. use, add, or serve in place of; replace with another
I found this question using the word substitute online:
Can I substitute "all-purpose" flour for "cake flour"?
And the answer was:
Cake flour contains less gluten than all-purpose flour and produces a more tender texture. Though the results won't be the same, in an emergency, you can substitute 7/8 cup of all-purpose flour for one cup of cake flour.
conversations with sarah
#481 What’s your favourite event?
Step 1: Repeat Pat’s lines.
Step 2: Read Pat’s lines and talk to Sarah.
Pat Are you looking forward to the Olympics?
Sarah Mmm, yeah, kind of. When are they on?
Pat August.
Sarah The thing about the Olympics though is that there are so many events, that it’s really hard to decide what to watch.
Pat Hmm, I guess so.
Sarah What’s your favourite event?
Pat Probably the sprinting.
Sarah Yeah, the sprinting is cool. I like watching their bodies – they’re like works of art.
Pat Which athletes do you think have the best bodies?
Sarah Mmm. Definitely not marathon runners, they look a bit sick because they’re so thin, and weightlifters look a bit scary, gymnasts look a bit scary too because the can bend so much. Probably swimmers, because they have nice muscles, and they also have a layer of fat which gives a kind of soft effect.
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music
show start
artist: BrunoXe
album: aprendiendo desde 2004
track: Mandrake
from: Jerez, Spain
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
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click here start
artist: #NarNaoud#
album: Green Vision
track: Oriental Standing
from: Gironde, France
artist at Jamendo
album at Jamendo
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WOD start
artist: DJ iPep's
album: Home Mix 2007
track: Game Toy
from: EVREUX, France
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cws start
artist: San Sebastian
track: Happy Sad
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artist: ioeo
album: triptracks
track: triptrack2
from: Saint Raphael, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
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qa bgm
artist: ioeo
album: Groovetracks
track: endless
from: Saint Raphael, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
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