Wadjasay? American English Pronunciation Practice

Follow on Telegram: https://t.me/NativeEnglishLessons

Lessons to help you understand and speak normal-speed American English. read less
EducationEducation

Episodes

Water Worlds
Apr 18 2024
Water Worlds
One of the science podcasts I listen to regularly is Astronomy Cast hosted by Fraser Cain and Dr. Pamela Gay. In today’s lesson, you’ll hear a short excerpt from Episode 705: Water Worlds - Looking for Life Beyond Earth. First you’ll hear a clip from their podcast, and then I’ll break their speech into shorter fragments so you can listen and repeat. You’ll hear that Fraser Cain in particular speaks quite rapidly. It would be hard to repeat at his speed!1- Wherever we find liquid water on Earth, we find life.2- So it makes sense to search for water across the universe, and hopefully, we can find evidence of life.3- But what about worlds which are completely covered in water?4- Oceans, hundreds of kilometers deep. Can there be too much water?5- So this idea of water worlds, I mean, we learned everything we needed to know from that Kevin Costner movie, right?6- No, no, one of the things that I was thinking about preparing for this show 7- is just how magnificently wrong in pretty much every way that movie appears to have been, 8- except from a climate change perspective.9- And really, if you want one thing to be wrong, you want it to be the climate change part that's wrong.10- Yeah, but climate change causes sea levels to rise by a couple of hundred feet in the worst case scenario.Let's listen to the original podcast excerpt again.11- Right, no, that's true. It won't eat the entire planet. There will still be soil.12-  The coastlines will be roughly where they were, especially in places that are very mountainous.13- So it won't be hard where you're trying to find evidence of islands.14- No, no. But this idea of water worlds, we know they exist here in the solar system, and so we assume that they're out there.15- So give us sort of like an idea, what is the quintessential water world here in the solar system?You've listened to the original speakers, you've listened to me, and you've had a chance to listen and repeat. Now listen to the original one more time. Remember: you can't listen too much when you're studying a new language!Intro & Outro Music: La Pompe Du Trompe by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com Support the showYou can now support my podcasts and classes:Help Barry pay for podcast expenses--thank you!
Cold calling Part One
Apr 12 2024
Cold calling Part One
The phone rings and it's a stranger trying to sell you something. This is part one of a multi-podcast series based on a real script. Have fun!Hi, this is Barry calling from Scam-O-Rama Car Services. I’m calling regarding your 2016 Chevrolet Survivor. How is your 2016 Chevy Survivor running? Do you know the approximate current mileage? Great! I’m calling because the original factory warranty that was on your vehicle has expired. We're running a promotion today for reinstating your original factory coverage. We're going to add 12 months of service at no additional cost. You can take your vehicle to the DownTown HotShot dealership. Are you familiar with them? Do you know where they're located? For the next 12 months you'll take your vehicle there for all your service needs, all your oil changes, tire rotations, and they will also provide you with roadside assistance. 1- Hi, this is Barry calling from Scam-O-Rama Car Services. 2- I’m calling regarding your 2016 Chevrolet Survivor. 3- How is your 2016 Chevy Survivor running? 4- Do you know the approximate current mileage? Great! 5- I’m calling because the original factory warranty that was on your vehicle has expired. 6- We're running a promotion today for reinstating your original factory coverage. 7- We're going to add 12 months of service at no additional cost. 8- You can take your vehicle to the DownTown HotShot dealership. 9- Are you familiar with them?  Do you know where they're located? 10- For the next 12 months you'll take your vehicle there for all your service needs, all your oil changes, tire rotations, and they will also provide you with roadside assistance. Intro & Outro Music: La Pompe Du Trompe by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com Support the showYou can now support my podcasts and classes:Help Barry pay for podcast expenses--thank you!
Linking Sounds Lesson 1: Y and W glides
Mar 29 2024
Linking Sounds Lesson 1: Y and W glides
This is the first in a series of lessons about connected speech. One of the ways in which we link syllables and words together is with "glides" -- for example a Y sound is added between "be" and "able" so it sounds like "bee yable".  Listen to the sentences and you'll get the idea of these glides.Y glides:/iy/1) I would like to be able to speak fluent English.2) Will you be able to come?3) She likes to create small sculptures. 4) Let’s create something new.5) My dog loves being in the house.6) Mary is seeing her French cousin for the first time./ey/5) Please say it again.6) Lay it down over there.7) He’s paying for the new table.8) We’ll be staying at a hotel. 9) Don’t stay up too late.10) She’s praying for her father./ai/11) She’s in her room crying.12) I can hear him sighing.13) My son is trying out for the basketball team.14) She is very naive.15) I will bring my own soup. 16) He will be flying here from Naples.17) The cat is eyeing my dinner. It’s fish./ɔy/18) He has a new toy airplane.19) The cat was toying with the mouse.20) His name is Roy Adams.21) He has a boyish face.22) My sister is annoying me.==========================W glides:23) His car is a bluish color.24) Where are you going?25) However, she does speak Hungarian.26) You should do it now.27) I wish that dog would go away.28) Now is the time for us to leave./uw/ 29) I’ll sign my name in blue ink.30) Are you in the kitchen?31) His name is Stuart./ow/ 32) There’s no art in that room.33) The word “Noel” is often heard in Christmas songs.34) No one is listening to us./aw/ 35) How is it going?36) We need some more flour.37) How’re you doing?Intro & Outro Music: La Pompe Du Trompe by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com Support the showYou can now support my podcasts and classes:Help Barry pay for podcast expenses--thank you!
Sentences about parachutes
Mar 16 2024
Sentences about parachutes
1- Do you think you know what a parachute looks like? 2- Guess what: There are tons of parachute types out there, and you probably don’t know ’em all! 3- Here’s a rundown of several of the normal and not-so-normal types of parachutes… 3a- …that help skydivers (and far-flung cargo) make their way softly back down to terra firma.4- Round parachutes were the first tools for fabric descent. 5- If your mental image of a parachute involves a big, inverted pouch of fabric… 5a-…suspended over a helpless jumper, then it’s a round parachute you’re thinking of. 6- Round parachutes served a purpose for a very long time (and still do, in some very specific circumstances)…7-…but there were a few issues with this design that caused them to eventually fade from regular use. Commercial break ! Do you ever wonder what it costs to produce and share a podcast like wadjasay? Let me tell you. Putting my podcasts online so you can listen and download them costs $12 per month for up to 3 hours. If I want to go over 3 hours, It costs more. The software I use for recording and editing costs about $16 per month. So my current cash out-of-pocket expenses total $28 dollars per month. Then there’s my time. Each recorded hour of the podcast requires on average two to three hours of time for research, preparation, recording, editing, and uploading the finished podcast. So if I upload three hours of podcasts each month, and pay myself an imaginary $20 per hour, and I’m very efficient so it only takes me 6 hours to make the 3 hours of podcasts, I owe myself $120 per month. So the grand total? I’m investing at least $150 per month in cash and my time to keep wadjasay running.In the first week after I upload a new podcast, it is usually downloaded between 50 and 100 times. I am recording this on March 16th, and I presently have two monthly subscribers to wadjasay. (Thank you, and thank you!) But what about everyone else? If you take the time to download the podcast, I can only conclude that you find it helpful. If that’s true, please help support it. A few dollars a month would tell me that I’m not wasting my time and that my efforts are worth continuing. Thank you! Now back to practicing English.8- First off: They’re (gulp!) unsteerable. Secondly, they’re (double gulp!) not super-likely to land lightly.9- Cruciform parachutes can be seen as kinda-sorta a subset of round parachutes. 10- They’re not round, per se, but they’re certainly not the square modern parachutes we use for most purposes today. 11- The difference is this: their squared-off profile decreases oscillation 12- …and ends up resulting in fewer landing injury rates for the jumpers and cargo that dangle helplessly below. 13- The bump at the end is about 25% softer than the cruciform’s rounder cousin, 14-…but it’s still nowhere near as good an idea as the modern skydiving parachute, so this one also stays firmly in the military world.Intro & Outro Music: La Pompe Du Trompe by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com Support the showYou can now support my podcasts and classes:Help Barry pay for podcast expenses--thank you!
Types of Parachutes
Mar 12 2024
Types of Parachutes
What parachute types are there? Do you think you know what a parachute looks like? Guess what: There are tons of parachute types out there, and you probably don’t know ’em all! Here’s a rundown of several of the normal and not-so-normal types of parachutes that help skydivers (and far-flung cargo) make their way softly back down to terra firma.1. ROUND PARACHUTESRound parachutes were the first tools for fabric descent. If your mental image of a parachute involves a big, inverted pouch of fabric suspended over a helpless jumper, then it’s a round parachute you’re thinking of. Round parachutes served a purpose for a very long time (and still do, in some very specific circumstances), but there were a few issues with this design that caused them to eventually fade from regular use. First off: They’re (gulp!) unsteerable. Secondly, they’re (double gulp!) not super-likely to land lightly.2. CRUCIFORM PARACHUTESCruciform parachutes can be seen as kinda-sorta a subset of round parachutes. They’re not round, per se, but they’re certainly not the square modern parachutes we use for most purposes today. The difference is this: their squared-off profile decreases oscillation and ends up resulting in fewer landing injury rates for the jumpers and cargo that dangle helplessly below. The bump at the end is about 25% softer than the cruciform’s rounder cousin, but it’s still nowhere near as good an idea as the modern skydiving parachute, so this one also stays firmly in the military world.3. ROGALLO WINGSYou’ll pretty much never see a rogallo parachute in the sport skydiving world — but you just might see one in paragliding, where they’re commonly used as rescue parachutes. The wing design is highly recognizable: two partial conic surfaces with both cones pointing forward, vaguely triangular or hang-glidery in appearance. Springy and flexible, the Rogallo wing is most often seen in toy kites, but has been used to construct descent parachutes for spacecraft, as well as provide an airfoil for ultralight powered aircraft like trikes.4. RAM AIR PARACHUTESSo what are you most likely to see on a skydiving dropzone? Far and away, you’ll be looking at the venerable ram air parachute. As a matter of fact, just about everyone in the sky today uses ram air canopies to get down. You’ll recognize them instantly: a square or rectangular fabric wing, wherein a top and bottom sheet of nylon are attached by a set of fabric ribs between them.That’s the magic, right there: The ribs divide the parachute into a set of individual cells that inflate when fast-moving air is pushed in through the front, and inflates the parachute all the way to the back. When that inflation happens, the wing inflates to the point that it becomes a steerable airfoil. Bingo! A stable flying machine that slows you down, steers like a dream and “flares” to land you as softly as a pretty little fairy princess.My thanks to the folks at Long Island Skydiving for permission to share this information. To learn more about skydiving, please visit their website.To see the page on their blog about parachute types, click here.Intro & Outro Music: La Pompe Du Trompe by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com Support the showYou can now support my podcasts and classes:Help Barry pay for podcast expenses--thank you!
Collocations with "back"
Feb 20 2024
Collocations with "back"
1 - Gymnasts have broad, muscular backs.2 - I worked in the garden all morning and now my back aches.3 - He broke his back in a terrible car accident.4 - Have you ever read The Hunchback of Notre Dame?5 - My dog always stretches his back and yawns when he wakes up.6 - My cat arched his back and hissed loudly at the neighbor’s dog.7 - She leaned her back against the door and looked at me suspiciously.8 - He patted and scratched his dog’s back affectionately. 9 - Tall people are prone to back trouble.10 - I need an office chair with good back support.11 - If there’s a problem, please tell me to my face. Don’t go behind my back.12 - He got a bad case of Covid and was flat on his back for weeks.13 - What are you carrying on your back?14 - She stood with her back to the fire, sipping hot chocolate. 15 - Watch your back—there are people who would like to get you fired.16 - The boss gave me a slap on the back and told me I was going to get a raise soon.17 - The children were sitting back to back in a large cardboard box.18 - We could only get seats at the back of the stadium for the Taylor Swift concert.19 - I prefer to sit near the front of the bus, not at the back.20 - The dog wasn’t out front, so we went around back and looked for him there.Intro & Outro Music: La Pompe Du Trompe by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com Support the showYou can now support my podcasts and classes:Help Barry pay for podcast expenses--thank you!
Job Scams
Jan 25 2024
Job Scams
The full text of this podcast along with additional information about job scams can be found on the US Federal Trade Commission website.Here are some sentences to use for pronunciation practice. They are at the end of the podcast.1- Scammers advertise jobs the same way honest employers do — online (in ads, on job sites, and social media), in newspapers, and sometimes on TV and radio. 2- They promise you a job, but what they want is your money and your personal information. 3- Here are some examples of jobs scams and advice on how to avoid them.4- Scammers place ads, often online, claiming that they have jobs where you can make thousands of dollars a month working from home with little time and effort.5 - Sometimes the scammers try to get you interested by saying that you can be your own boss, start your own business, or set your own schedule.6 - But instead of making money, you end up paying for starter kits, so-called training, or certifications that are useless. 7 - You might also find that your credit card is charged without your permission.8 -  Or you get caught up in a fake check scam, where you deposit a check from your new employer.9 - The employer then asks you to send some money back due to “overpayment,” but the check will ultimately bounce, and the bank will want you to repay the full amount of the fake check, while the scammers keep the real money you sent them.Intro & Outro Music: La Pompe Du Trompe by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com Support the showYou can now support my podcasts and classes:Help Barry pay for podcast expenses--thank you!
What's in a word? - Pain
Jan 20 2024
What's in a word? - Pain
There are many collocations in English using the word “pain”. Here are a few to practice with.1) He immersed himself in the music and for a little while forgot the pain of losing his father.2) She took medications for a few days to ease the pain in her leg.3) It took me a long time to get over the pain of getting divorced.4) We shared both the joy and pain of raising our children.5) Her husband is a soldier. She knows the pain of separation. 6) Her addiction to drugs caused her family a lot of pain.7) I would like to spare you the pain of getting fired.8) He tried to conceal the pain in his foot.9) My boss is a huge pain in the neck. And HIS boss is a pain in the ass.10) Dr. Jones specializes in medications to manage pain. 11)  I have a high tolerance for pain.12) On a scale of one to ten, what is the level of your pain?13) A sharp pain shot up my arm.14) The pain increases when I try to lift something heavy.15) The pain goes away after I take a hot shower.16) She groaned with pain and pushed the baby out.17) I ignore the pain in my knees when I go for a walk.18) She wants to learn guitar so she puts up with sore fingers.19) My father was rushed to the hospital suffering from severe pains in his lower abdomen. 20) Sitting all day makes the pain in my back worse. 21) He stayed in bed all day with back pain.22)  The bee stings caused my sister extreme pain.23)  The soldier feels phantom pain in his missing leg.24) I have read that snow blindness can cause excruciating pain.25) The cause of my mother’s intermittent pain is a mystery.[I like DeepL for translations.]And a thank you to my supporters who help me pay the costs of running this podcast. Every penny helps! Buy me a coffee for a one-time donation or use the support link below:Intro & Outro Music: La Pompe Du Trompe by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com Support the showYou can now support my podcasts and classes:Help Barry pay for podcast expenses--thank you!