How good is your English pronunciation?

Practise reading the following sentences aloud, then go to the link below and compare your pronunciation with a native speaker’s:

1) Yogi Bear shared his chair with Tony Blair.
2) Walter won’t want you to walk to work.
3) Water the vegetables on Tuesday and Thursday unless we get wet weather.
4) What height and weight are Cathy’s parents?
5) Did your colleague manage to answer your question about the law?
6) The term “turn” was the first word the girl heard.
7) Don’t hit it; heat it and eat it!
8) Paul taught a short course for four dwarfs.
9) That fat man can’t stand jazz.
10) I thought you had read it through thoroughly though.

The English the English Really Speak

Test your knowledge of idiomatic English by trying to match an answer to each of the following questions:

1) Can you cook?
2) How often do you go out?
3) How’s it going?
4) What would you like to drink?
5) What did you do last weekend?
6) How much does it cost?
7) What did you think of the book?
8) What colour is it?
9) What are your main qualities?
10) What are you doing next Saturday evening?
11) Is it true?
12) Why haven’t you finished yet?
13) How would you feel if you didn’t pass your exam?

a) I just chilled.
b) There are just too many to list.
c) I could murder a cold beer.
d) The computer’s on the blink.
e) I’d get over it.
f) It blew me away.
g) We have people coming round.
h) It looks like it.
i) It’s hard to tell in this light.
j) Not as well as it might be.
k) Peanuts.
l) I can rustle up a dish of pasta if I have to.
m) Pretty much every day.


Answer Key:
1)l 2)m 3)j 4)c 5)a 6)k 7)f 8)i 9)b 10)g 11)h 12)d 13)e


A wide range of alternative responses, together with exercises and answer keys, can be found in 1000 Real Answers: English Phrasebook & Self-Study Guide (available on all amazon sites):
www.amazon.it/1000-Real-Answers-Phrasebook-ebook/dp/B00AUHFGC0/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1356087726&sr=8-1

Bari International

Tra le tanti doti degli abitanti di Bari, quello che forse colpisce di più il visitatore è la capacità dei cittadini del capoluogo pugliese di appropriarsi delle ricchezze culturali (e non solo) di altri popoli. San Nicola è stato preso in prestito permanente da Myra, la città vecchia si vanta delle proprie origini arabe, e il senso civico proviene da un altro pianeta. È nota, inoltre, da decenni, l’esistenza di un gemellaggio culturale tra Bari e Parigi (vedi http://baripaul.blogspot.it/2008/07/bari-lezione-di-cultura-per-i-parigini.html), che ha portato alla diffusione nella testa di molte signore baresi non solo dell’idea che “elles sont Catherine Deneuve” ma anche che possono parcheggiare la macchina dove cavolo vogliono.

Con il terzo millennio, però, è arrivato un nuovo capitolo nel fare proprie le risorse degli altri: il barese ha cominciato ad adocchiare la lingua inglese. Non è un’impresa facile: impossessarsi di una lingua richiede molto più tempo e molta più furbizia della rimozione delle ossa di un santo, anche quando per avere la reliquia in questione bisogna andare a vincere fuori casa in Turchia. E in effetti, i primi approcci del barese alla lingua di Shakespeare non sono stati incoraggianti. Basta pensare alla famosa insegna che accoglieva i turisti all’aeroporto (“Welcome in Bari”) o all’insistenza di chiunque sia nato qui nel chiudere ogni “a” in “e”: “I love the rep!” [non nel senso di “Amo il commesso viaggiatore!" ma come apprezzamento della musica rap]; “He is pest this morning” [“He passed by this morning”]; “I go to met you” [I’m going to speak to Matthew”].

Recentemente, però, le cose hanno cominciato a cambiare. Confesso che quando, qualche settimana fa, un’impiegata alla posta ha pronunciato correttamente il mio cognome al momento di consegnarmi una raccomandata, non mi sono preoccupato più di tanto; ho attribuito l’accaduto al semplice fatto che era raffreddata. Ma poi, durante il weekend di Pasqua, un uso spaventosamente corretto del Present Perfect Continuous da parte di un controllore che parlava in treno con dei turisti coreani mi ha messo in allarme. E domenica scorsa, passeggiando a Japigia (non chiedere!), ho avuto la conferma incontrovertibile di quello che temevo:





I baresi ormai non solo hanno la padronanza dell’apostrofo ma sanno usare (e sanno usare bene!) i phrasal verbs. Il giorno è arrivato: non avete più bisogno di me. My work here is done. Me ne vogg.

Allora te la cavi con l'inglese?

Chiunque abbia mai studiato la lingua inglese sa bene quanto sia difficile percorrere la strada che porta dalla conoscenza della grammatica alla capacità di parlare o scrivere. Mettete alla prova le vostre capacità comunicative tentando questa serie di sfide linguistiche.

A. Senza l'aiuto di un vocabolario o di un libro di grammatica, prova a elaborare, in due minuti, quante più risposte possibili alla domanda "What do you do in your free time?" .

B. Prova ad abbinare ogni domanda a una risposta:

1) What time do you get up?
2) What do you have for breakfast?
3) How do you get to school/university/work?
4) Where do you have lunch?
5) Do you ever sleep after lunch?
6) How often do you go out?
7) What do you do in your free time?
8) How do you spend your evenings?
9) What time do you usually go to bed?
 
a) Around midnight.
b) I don’t have any free time.
c) No, but I always feel sleepy.
d) By train.
e) Either watching a DVD or playing games on the computer.
f) Never later than half past six.
g) In the canteen with my colleagues.
h) I never feel hungry in the mornings.
i) Three or four times a week.

C. Senza l'aiuto di un vocabolario o di un libro di grammatica, prova a elaborare, in sei minuti, una risposta personalizzata a ognuna delle 9 domande dell'esercizio precedente.

D. Prova ad abbinare ogni inizio frase (1-10) con una fine (a-j):

1) I get up at…
2) I usually just grab…
3) I rarely…
4) One of my colleagues…
5) Where I have lunch depends…
6) I don’t think my boss would approve…
7) I go out…
8) I spend most of my spare time…
9) By the time I get back…
10) I don’t really have…

a) …a quick coffee
b) …gardening.
c) …a fixed routine.
d) …pretty much every day.
e) …gives me a lift to work.
f) …have time for breakfast.
g) …the crack of dawn.
h) …on how long I have.
i) …if I slept at work.
j) …it’s too late to do anything.

E. Prova a completare le frasi usando le parole fornite sotto:

1) I get up when the ______________ goes off.
2) A ______________ of cereal does me for breakfast.
3) I go to school on ______________ .
4) I grab a quick ______________ for lunch.
5) I like to get my ______________ down for half an hour after lunch.
6) I go out far too often for my parents’ ______________ .
7) I go to the ______________ three times a week.
8) In the evenings I hang out with my ______________ or just collapse on the ______________ .
9) I go to bed around ______________ .

- alarm       - bite        - bowl        - foot       - friends

          - gym      - head       - liking       - midnight         - sofa


F. Abbina a ogni risposta una delle domande dell'esercizio B:
1) __________________________________________________ ?
I have lunch at my grandmother’s.
2) __________________________________________________ ?
I never seem to have any free time.
3) __________________________________________________ ?
I catch the bus.
4) __________________________________________________ ?
Every Saturday night.
5) __________________________________________________ ?
I sometimes cat-nap in the afternoon.
6) __________________________________________________ ?
When my mother calls me.
7) __________________________________________________ ?
When my eyes start closing.
8) __________________________________________________ ?
Most evenings I have to study.
9) __________________________________________________ ?
It depends what time I get up.

LE SOLUZIONI

A. Alcune possibili risposte:

I don’t have any free time.
I listen to music.
Sleep, mostly.
I go running a lot.
I play in a band.
I never seem to have any.
I spend most of my spare time gardening.
I’m trying to write a book at the moment.
It all gets taken up with the children.
I like to get out in the fresh air.
When I’m not helping my mother, I hang out with my friends.

B.

1) What time do you get up? Never later than half past six.
2) What do you have for breakfast? I never feel hungry in the mornings.
3) How do you get to school/university/work? By train.
4) Where do you have lunch? In the canteen with my colleagues.
5) Do you ever sleep after lunch? No, but I always feel sleepy.
6) How often do you go out? Three or four times a week.
7) What do you do in your free time? I don’t have any free time.
8) How do you spend your evenings? Either watching a DVD or playing games on the computer.
9) What time do you usually go to bed? Around midnight.

D.
1) I get up at…the crack of dawn.
2) I usually just grab…a quick coffee
3) I rarely…have time for breakfast.
4) One of my colleagues…gives me a lift to work.
5) Where I have lunch depends…on how long I have.
6) I don’t think my boss would approve…if I slept at work.
7) I go out…pretty much every day.
8) I spend most of my spare time…gardening.
9) By the time I get back…it’s too late to do anything.
10) I don’t really have…a fixed routine.

E.

1) I get up when the alarm goes off.
2) A bowl of cereal does me for breakfast.
3) I go to school on foot .
4) I grab a quick bite for lunch.
5) I like to get my head down for half an hour after lunch.
6) I go out far too often for my parents’ liking.
7) I hang out with my friends .
8) I go to the gym three times a week.
9) I tend to just collapse on the sofa.
10) I go to bed around midnight .

F.

1) Where do you have lunch? I have lunch at my grandmother’s.
2) What do you do in your free time? I never seem to have any free time.
3) How do you get to school/university/work? I catch the bus.
4) How often do you go out? Every Saturday night.
5) Do you ever sleep after lunch? I sometimes cat-nap in the afternoon.
6) What time do you get up? When my mother calls me.
7) What time do you usually go to bed? When my eyes start closing.
8) How do you spend your evenings? Most evenings I have to study.
9) What do you have for breakfast? It depends what time I get up.

Tutte queste attivita (e le relative soluzioni) sono prese da 1000 Real Answers – English Phrasebook & Self-Study Guide. Il libro è disponibile sia in brossura che in versione elettronica (per Kindle, iPad, iPhone, PC, Mac, ecc.) su amazon.it

http://www.amazon.it/1000-Real-Answers-Language-Questions/dp/1481278525/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1356087726&sr=8-1

e anche sui seguenti siti: amazon.com, amazon.uk, amazon.de, amazon.fr, amazon.es, amazon.ca, amazon.co.jp e amazon.com.br.

Are you good at English?

- Yes, I think I am.
- Not really.
- I’m getting better.
- Not as good as I’d like to be.
- I get by.
- No, I’m completely hopeless.
- People say I am.
- I’m probably not the person to ask.
- No worse than any of my friends.
- I’m good at reading and writing but I find listening and speaking more difficult.
- I can usually make myself understood.
- My teacher doesn’t think so.
- I’m sorry, I didn’t understand what you said.

 

From 1000 Real Answers - English Phrasebook & Self-Study Guide