L'inglese che vuoi quando vuoi - lezioni da un'insegnante madrelingua che parla italiano
Email: myskypeenglishteacher@yahoo.co.uk
Skype: myskypeenglishteacher
Only if you can pronounce this poem correctly then you can say that well and truly speak English!
Try to read it yourself then check by watching the video below.
Ration never rhymes with nation,
Say prefer, but preferable,
Comfortable and vegetable. B must not be heard in doubt,
Debt and dumb both leave it out.
In the words psychology,
Psychic, and psychiatry,
You must never sound the p.
Psychiatrist you call the man
Who cures the complex, if he can.
In architect ch is k
In arch it is the other way.
Please remember to say iron
So that it'll rhyme with lion.
Advertisers advertise,
Advertisements will put you wise.
Time when work is done is leisure,
Fill it up with useful pleasure.
Accidental, accident,
Sound the g in ignorant.
Relative, but relation,
Then say creature, but creation.
Say the a in gas quite short,
Bought remember rhymes with thwart,
Drought must always rhyme with bout,
In daughter leave the g h out.
Wear a boot upon your foot.
Root can never rhyme with soot.
In muscle, s and c is s,
In muscular, it's s k, yes!
Choir must always rhyme with wire,
That again will rhyme with liar.
Then remember it's address.
With an accent like posses. G in sign must silent be,
In signature, pronounce the g.
Please remember, say towards
Just as if it rhymed with boards.
Weight's like wait, but not like height.
Which should always rhyme with might.
Sew is just the same as so,
Tie a ribbon in a bow.
When you meet the Queen you bow,
Which again must rhyme with how.
In perfect English make a start.
Learn this little rhyme by heart.
If even that is too easy for you, fear not . ‘’The Chaos’’, a poem written in 1920 to highlight the irregularity of English spelling and pronunciation should be a challenge for anyone. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t get it right first time, the poem’s author was writer, traveller and teacher Gerard Nolst Trenité who was in fact Dutch!!
Dearest creature in creation
Studying English pronunciation, I will teach you in my verse Sounds like corpse, corps, horse and worse. I will keep you, Susy, busy,
Make your head with heat grow dizzy; Tear in eye, your dress you'll tear; Queer, fair seer, hear my prayer. Pray, console your loving poet,
Make my coat look new, dear, sewit! Just compare heart, hear and heard, Dies and diet, lord and word. Sword and sward, retain and Britain
(Mind the latter how it's written). Made has not the sound of bade, Say-said, pay-paid, laid but plaid. Now I surely will not plague you
With such words as vague and ague, But be careful how you speak, Say: gush, bush, steak, streak, break, bleak ,
Because of it’s length I have included only the first 5 verses. The brave can find the full version here -
Every day has something particular or special about it, whether it be the death or birth of a famous person, an awareness raising initiative or the commemoration of an important event in history. And today is no different. By googling today’s date I found links to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_28) , the BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/28) and the New York Times (http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/on-this-day/October-28/) and discovered that on this day in 1886, the Statue of Liberty, a gift from the people of France, was dedicated in New York Harbor by President Grover Cleveland. Reading the article got me thinking that this could be a great opportunity to explore new words and phrases associated with New York and in a wider sense, cities and city life.
First test your understanding of the definite article ‘the’ with this New York Quiz, then check out the links below.
NEW YORK QUIZ
Be careful – do you have to put the definite article before your answer or not?
1.What is another name for New York City?
2.What are the five boroughs of New York?
3.Manhattan has 2 rivers on either side of it. What are the names of these rivers?
4.One of the great bridges into Manhattan was designed by John Roebling with Gothic arches, and opened in 1883, it is ________________?
5.What landmark was a gift from the French in 1886?
6.What New York City (NYC) Art Deco building has six levels of stainless steel arches topped by a lit lancet spire on its top?
7.The largest art museum in the Western Hemisphere is located in NYC, what is its name?
8.An ice skating rink is erected each winter under the statue of Prometheus at _____________?
9.Which shop, opened in 1861 by two brothers, originally sold only hoop skirts?
10.What NYC area is home to Washington Square, the MacDougal-Sullivan Gardens Historic District and New York University?
11.What building was called the "eighth world wonder" when it was built in 1931?
12.Where were immigrants entering the United States through the port of New York medically
and legally inspected?
13.What area in NYC contains bridle paths, a children's zoo, and a world famous art museum
Quiz answers: 1. The Big Apple 2. The Bronz, Queens, Manhattan, Broooklyn, Staten Island 3. the Hudson River, the Harlem River 4. Brooklyn Bridge 5. The Statue of Liberty 6. The Chrysler Building 7. The Metropolitan Museum of Art 8.Rockerfeller Center9. Bloomingdale’s 10. Greenwich Village 11. The Empire State Building 12. Ellis Island 13. Central Park
