Six Minute English: Talent Shows

Hello everyone. You have probably seen those TV 'talent shows' in which people who are totally unknown have a chance to become famous singers. Six Minute English explores talent shows, the organisers and the participants.

Read the questions and then listen to the programme:

1. How old was the oldest contestant?
(a) 49 (b) 84 (c) 101

2. What exactly are 'talent shows'?

3. Why do people participate in talent shows?

4. What does Neil think of the music in talent shows?

5. What does Pete Waterman think of the contest organiser, Simon Cowell?

6. What's the difference between a 'single' and an 'album'?

7. What usually happens to singers who appear on a talent show after the show has ended?

Now listen to Six Minute English.

Write your answers on the Tag Board, or in the Comments section below this post.

Honourable mentions to people who have recently participated in this Blog: Kannan from India, Savina, Mario, Anna, Giovanni, Claudia and Marianna. Thank you all very much for your answers to Listening exercises, and your other comments.

Marianna wonders whether listening to Six Minute English is the best way to practise listening. I would say that this is just one way to practise. There are many other methods. Here are some of them:

• listening to the radio;
• listening to songs in English;
• watching films in English: audio combined with video;
• trying out as many of the links in the 'Listening and Video Sites' section on this Blog. Elementary Video, Randall's Cyber-Listening Lab and English Language Listening Online should be on your priority list.
• listening to English speaking visitors in some of the bars round Campo dei Fiori. How much can you understand?

These are just a few suggestions. Never forget that developing your listening skills in English needs regular practice by you. In this respect it is no different from any other skill, such as learning to play a musical instrument or becoming an expert footballer.

Marianna is also concerned by the fact that she had to repeat Six Minute English several times before she felt able to answer the questions. This is absolutely normal, and is one of the great advantages of the Internet. Of course in real life you cannot always obtain a repeat. This is all the more reason for regular practice.

Notice that I have rearranged the list of sites on the right-hand column of this blog. And I have added a special section dedicated to the BBC's Learning English site. This is an enormously important resource for you. I urge you to visit it as often as you can.

So if you can visit this Blog two or three times a week, trying out a different listening site each time, you should begin to notice an improvement in your listening abilities after two or three weeks. You will find that you will understand more words and especially more phrases. You should find that the questions in Six Minute English become easier.

And if you can manage a few visits during the Christmas and New Year break, you'll find it much easier to return to classes after the holiday is over.

Which brings me to conclude: Season's Greetings, a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Next post: in January 2010.
Yours,
 - Mike

Practising Pronunciation; Six Minute English

My friends: this week I'd like to start with some Honourable Mentions. This is a list of students who have contributed recently to the Blog by leaving messages or comments. Their names are: Savina, Marina, Cristian and Anna.

Congratulations to those people! However, there are only four of them, out of the many students who could be reading this blog and trying out the links. Please don't limit yourself to reading the Blog. Try out a link - and tell us if you found it useful. Likewise, try the Six Minute English quiz - and write the answers on the Tag Board or in a Comment.

Some students have expressed concern about Pronunciation. This is a complex area, and right now I can only give you a quick answer. On this Blog, go down the page and check the right hand side for this heading: "Web Sites for New English File". Choose the book you are using and click on the link.

On the left hand side of the window, look for "Pronunciation". Click here, and in the new window that opens, choose what you'd like to practise: Vowels, Diphthongs, Consonants and - an interesting one here - Stress Monsters. This is a video game that tests your knowledge of word stress.

As always, let everyone know how the Pronunciation pages helped them, or didn't, by leaving us a message.

And now it's time for Six Minute English. Eyes down on these questions - then click on the link I will provide, and try to answer them all. This week it's about Keeping a Diary.

1. Anne Frank's Diary, published in 1947, has been read by:
(a) 10 million people;
(b) 17 million people
(c) 31 million people.

2. Has Neil (one of the speakers on the programme) ever kept a diary? Why (not)?

3. Why do people keep diaries? Because ..... (give a short answer)

4. Why does Gyles Brandreth ( a writer and politician) keep a diary?

5. Gyles Brandreth re-read his diaries for the first time in many years.  What was this experience like for him?

6. The most interesting thing about many diaries is the ....... (short answer)

7. What is a 'time capsule'?

Now listen to Six Minute English and leave your answers in a Comment after this posting, or on the Tag Board.

And you may like to read more about Gyles Brandreth.

That's all for today. I look forward to seeing your answers on the Tag Board or in a Comment.

Ciao4now!
 - Mike

Laughter Yoga: The Answers

Hello everyone! Just a short update for now.

Laughter Yoga on Six Minute English: you can find the answers in the Comments section below the previous post.

Many thanks to Savina, Anna, Mario and Alessandra for their answers.

Thanks also to Marina and Christian for their messages on the Tag Board.

It is clear that you all want more listening exercises. So watch this space. Later this week, I'll give you another listening exercise, most likely from Six Minute English.

However, don't neglect "Words In The News". Here's my suggested procedure for pronunciation practice.

1. Have a tape recorder or digital voice recorder ready.
2. Play "Words In The News", and read the lext as you listen.
3. Now switch on your recorder. Read the text yourself. Imagine you are a real newsreader. Imitate not only the pronunciation, but also the intonation, stress and pauses.
4. Listen to the BBC voice again.
5. Now listen to your own recording. Are there any differences? Make a note of them.
6. Now read and record the text again.
7. Listen again to the official voice.
8. Listen to your second recording.
Have you made any corrections?

Don't worry about this. Achieving good pronunciation takes time and practice. Try the above exercise once a week, and then twice a week when you gain confidence.

And don't worry about listening to your own voice. We all hate our own recorded voices, just as we often hate looking at our own photos, and for similar reasons. Do this exercise in the privacy of your own room, and make yourself as comfortable as possible.

Tell us all about it in a message on the Tag Board, in an e-mail to me, or when we next meet.

Of course, if you are not studying at the British Council Rome, then I recommend this exercise anyway.

More soon,

- Mike

Laughter Yoga on Six Minute English

Hello everyone.
If you are a Level 3 or Intermediate student, and you're using 'New English File Intermediate', you may recall unit 5A, in which you hear an expert giving advice on How To Slow Your Life Down.

One of his 'tips' is: "Forget the gym. Do yoga instead." It so happens that a recent edition of Six Minute English is devoted to "Laughter Yoga", and I would like to share it with you.

Read the questions before you listen. To start with, here's the official question as set out on the site:

1. In which Indian city did Laughter Yoga originate? Was it
(a) Delhi
(b) Darjeeling
(c) Mumbai

Some more questions: fill the spaces with one or two words. Each _____ indicates one word.

2. Indian expert Dr. Madan Kataria's exercises combine ________ (one word) with _______  __________ . (two words)

3. "Endorphins" are a chemical released in the _______, and which make us feel ________ and _______ .

4. BBC reporter Rob Crossen went to India to try out 'laughter yoga'. What, for him, were the health benefits?

5. How, according to Rob Crossen, do you 'laugh for not reason at all'?

6. Did Rob Crossen enjoy 'laughter yoga'? Why? or why not? as the case may be.

When you have listened to the programme, write your answers to the questions in the Comments at the end of this message. For questions 4, 5 and 6, just write short answers.

Please note that whoever you are, wherever you are from, you are always welcome to use this blog, try out the sites and exercises and post comments. You can be a student of English anywhere, or even just an interested visitor. You are always welcome to participate.

All for now! Back again next week.

 - Mike

The meanings of "get"

Hello everyone.
In my last post I asked you to deduce the various meanings of "get" from a list of occurrences generated by the Concordancer at the Hong Kong Polytechnic. The only person to reply so far has been Claudio, who has given a list of phrasal verbs with "get".

So here is a short list of sample sentences from the Comcordancer, with the meaning of "get" below each sentence:

1. plot about a Bronx mother-of-three who gets a job to bail out her philandering hu get = "obtain"
2. re is a link between star signs and who gets along with whom. Even those dubious a get along = "have a good relationship"
3. at 1,000m in the eastern Alps probably gets as much snow as a resort at 1, 500m ( gets = "becomes"
4. union. This is where the debate gets interesting. When the Bank governor w gets = "becomes"

That's all I have time for right now! Can you do the rest?s classes are all downstairs, but as he gets older his year group will also be tau

1.  
2. used after she saw a couple with a baby getting into a car. She told The Sun: "I s
3. ther about providing he goes to bed and gets up at reasonable hours. 3. A s
4. " "I wouldn't like to think that I was getting you down." "No, don't worry about i
5. e Rolling Stones, and they shouldn't be getting married in the first place — modern
6. well. IDEAL FOR A BREAK If your idea of getting away from it all is relaxation, the best o
7. tends to press ahead with its policy of getting rid of 15,000 staff a year over the next t
8. e tonight." "Umm, well, I think we were getting a taxi." "Please; let me. Please. Fiona. Y

Write your answers in a comment or on the Tag Board, quoting the question number. Thank you!
 - Mike

 

How Words Work: Using a Concordancer

Hello all. In recent lessons we have explored some difficult questions on the meanings and uses of words. What, I am asked, does "get" mean?

The answer, of course, is that it means many things. And it's impossible to give a definitive answer in the course of one, or more, lessons.

This is where you can do some research. And the Net can greatly assist you - through a 'concordancer' program.

A concordancer is a simple search tool. You type in a word on which you want more information. The Concordancer will rapidly search through a large body of text - called a 'corpus'. When done, the program will display all occurrences of your key word down the centre of your computer screen. The sentence in which it has been found will be shown to left and right of the word. Then you examine each occurence to see how the word is used.

Here is an example. I search on the word 'get' and display some of the results below. How many meanings of 'get' can you find?

1. plot about a Bronx mother-of-three who gets a job to bail out her philandering hu
2. re is a link between star signs and who gets along with whom. Even those dubious a
3. at 1,000m in the eastern Alps probably gets as much snow as a resort at 1, 500m (
4. union. This is where the debate gets interesting. When the Bank governor w
5. s classes are all downstairs, but as he gets older his year group will also be tau
6. used after she saw a couple with a baby getting into a car. She told The Sun: "I s
7. ther about providing he goes to bed and gets up at reasonable hours. 3. A s
8. " "I wouldn't like to think that I was getting you down." "No, don't worry about i
9. e Rolling Stones, and they shouldn't be getting married in the first place — modern
10. well. IDEAL FOR A BREAK If your idea of getting away from it all is relaxation, the best o
11. tends to press ahead with its policy of getting rid of 15,000 staff a year over the next t
12. e tonight." "Umm, well, I think we were getting a taxi." "Please; let me. Please. Fiona. Y

Here are two quick links to concordancers:

1. The Virtual Language Centre in Hong Kong

2. Corpus Concordance English

Please do leave your answers on the Tag Board or in the Comments section after this post. Include the line number and the meaning of 'get' in the line concerned.

I look forward to your answers.

Coming up: more on Listening.

All the best!
 - Mike

Grammar, Vocabulary and 6 Minute English

Good day everybody.
First, a message to this year's Levels 2 and 3 students. If you are not in these categories, please do stay with me because I try to include everyone in this blog.

Level 2. We have recently been studying Defining Relative Clauses. It's well worth doing some extra practice on this, and this link will take you straight to a simple test. When you have finished, go on to the second test, in which you have to put the words in the right order.

When you have finished further practice on Relative Clauses, try some vocabulary. Here's an exercise revising body vocabulary, which we studied last week.

These are all exercises to be found in your book's official web site.

Level 3. We have been studying Conditionals, both 'real' and 'unreal'. This link takes you straight to some further practice on the book's web site. As for vocabulary, how about some extra practice on the language of education?

These exercises are from the book's official web site. These links are also to be found in the list down the right-hand column of this blog. For more grammar and vocabulary sites, check out the 'Practising and Learning English' section.

Please do leave a comment or a message on the Tag Board to say what you thought of these exercises. Were they easy, difficult or Elementary?

Let me remind you that even if you are not one of my Level 2 or Level 3 students, you are warmly encouraged to participate in this Blog by doing the exercises and leaving messages and comments.

Now for Six Minute English. This time it's about Shopaholics and how to control your spending habits. Before you listen, read these questions:

1) Official question: According to some sources, what percentage of the population are shopaholics? Is it:

(a) 1%  (b) 10% (c) 50% ?

2) Complete this definition: "Shopaholics are ........." [use a relative pronoun in your definition.]

3) Listen to shopaholic Helen. What kind of things did she spend money on? Choose from these:

• cars
• furniture
• holidays
• jewellery
• shoes

 4) Why did Helen buy so many things?

5) How, according to the expert, can we stop spending money uncontrollably?

Now, listen to Six Minute English. When you have finished, send your answers to this Blog in a comment.

I look forward to hearing from you!
More very soon,
 - Mike