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The Bumper Book of Great English Stories

Welcome to the American English Pronunciation Guide. My name is Trevor Kafka, and I am your host.

There are many different varieties of American English. I was born and raised in New York, which has given me General American English pronunciation. The English that I speak has 15 vowel sounds. 

Please view the transcript for help while listening.

Today, we will talk about the vowel sound number 2 of 15: /eɪ/ grey day. This vowel is what we call a diphthong, meaning that it’s really two vowel sounds smooshed together as one. The mouth begins very open when the sound begins, but then turns into a smile as the teeth come together.

Listen to me saying this sound and repeat: /eɪ/, /eɪ/, /eɪ/

Listen to and repeat the following single-syllable words:
gray
day
pain
whale
waste
straight
tail
wait
shade

Listen to and repeat the following multiple-syllable words:
chamber
embrace
greatest
labor
vacation
translate
Canadian
information

Listen to and repeat the following sentences:
The way you say “gray” makes my day quite okay.
I embrace the shade to stay out of the sun’s rays.
The greatest of Canadian vacations have no space for rain.

I would like to thank Shirley Thompson and Karen Taylor for their work in developing the set of key phrases that I use with each vowel, such as /æ/ black cat, /eɪ/ grey day, etc. 

📢 American English Pronunciation Guide

Episode 2 - Vowels: /eɪ/ gray day (2 of 15)

Hi! On this very small episode, I introduce myself to you guys a bit, and also some fireworks interrupted me. Enjoy, lol :)

LESSONS WITH GUI: The Podcast

PILOT: Hello! (Why were there fireworks?)

I'll talk about how to say ' I want ice cream naturally. You'll learn how to use ' V고 싶다' Vs  'N 원하다'  in this episode.  *V :verb  *N:noun
To say 'to want' 'V고 싶다' is more commonly used in everyday conversations. Whereas 'N 원하다' is not that frequently used because it is more poetic, formal, and literate.

I want to go there. 거기 가고 싶어요.  *거기 there  가다 * to do
I want to eat it.        그거 먹고 싶어요.  *그거 that thing  *먹다 to eat
I want to sleep.        (잠)  자고 싶어요.  *(잠) 자다 to sleep
I want to dance.            춤 추고 싶어요.  *춤 추다 to dance

I want ice cream.        아이스크림 먹고 싶어요.
I want ice water.        시원한 물 마시고 싶어요.   *시원한 물 ice water *마시다 to drink
I want a new iPhone.  새 아이폰 사고 싶어요.     *새 아이폰 new iPhone  *사다 to buy
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I want world peace.  세계 평화를 원해요.  *세계 평화 World peace
I want love.                  사랑을 원해요.           *사랑 love 

Thank you. 감사합니다. 




Korean with Yuna

I Want Ice Cream _아이스크림 먹고 싶어요 (Beginner)

저는 지난주말에 친구들과 합주를 했어요.
합주는 여러 사람이 여러가지 악기를 같이 연주하는 것을 뜻해요.
제가 연주하는 악기는 드럼이에요.

I played drum in a band last weekend with my friends.
Is there any 악기 that you can play?

Yejin's Podcast for Korean Learners

Is there any 악기 you can play?

In this episode we are going to learn a Real Chinese Conversation【Take-away lunch】. 
------------------------------------------------
Step 1: Listen and catch the words you know already, have a guess about the content.
Step 2: Check the script to learn one by one. 
Step 3: Listen and repeat after it.
Step 4: Practice until you can perform the dialogue. 
------------------------------------------------
店员(diànyuán, clerk)：欢迎光临，这是我们的菜单，看下想吃点什么？
huān yíng guāng lín ， zhè shì wǒ men de cài dān ， kàn xià xiǎng chī diǎn shén me ？
Welcome, this is our menu, what would you like to eat?
顾客(gùkè, customer): 有推荐的吗？
yǒu tuī jiàn de ma ？
Any recommendations?
店员：喜欢吃猪肉、鸡肉还是牛肉？
xǐ huan chī zhū ròu 、 jī ròu hái shì niú ròu ？
Do you like pork, chicken or beef?
顾客：猪肉吧。
zhū ròu ba 。
Pork please.
店员：叉烧饭是我们的招牌菜，要不要试试？
chā shāo fàn shì wǒ men de zhāo pai cài ， yào bu yào shì shì ？
Rice with char siu is our signature dish, would you like to try it?
顾客：看起来不错，那就一份叉烧饭吧。
kàn qǐ lái bú cuò ， nà jiù yí fèn chā shāo fàn ba 。
It looks good, I will take rice with char siu.
店员：单点二十块钱，加五块钱有一杯饮料。
dān diǎn èr shí kuài qián ， jiā wǔ kuài qián yǒu yì bēi yǐn liào 。
A single order costs 20 yuan, and you can get a drink by adding 5 yuan.
顾客：有什么饮料？
yǒu shén me yǐn liào ？
What drinks are available?
店员：柠檬茶和奶茶。
níng méng chá hé nǎi chá 。
Lemon tea and milk tea.
顾客：柠檬茶吧。
níng méng chá bā 。
Lemon tea please.
店员：打包还是这里吃？
dǎ bāo hái shì zhè lǐ chī ？
Do you want to take away or eat here?
顾客：打包。
dǎ bāo 。
Take away.
店员：打包费一块钱。一共二十六块。
dǎ bāo fèi yī kuài qián 。 yí gòng èr shí liù kuài 。
The take away fee is 1 yuan. A total of 26 yuan.
顾客：付了。
fù le 。
(scaned and)Paid.
店员：请在那边取餐。
qǐng zài nà biān qǔ cān 。
Please pick up the food over there.
顾客：谢谢。
xiè xie 。
Thank you.

Daily Chinese With Yuli

打包午饭 Take-away lunch（Beginner）


yì xiǎo shí  
一  小   时               one hour

 yì tiān 
 一  天                    one day

yì zhōu 
一  周                       a week

yí gè yuè  
一  个   月                a month

yì nián 
一   年                        a year

HSK vocabulary

Chinese words in life

Accurate pronunciation of English words is just one of many components of effective communication in the workplace. There is a lot to gain personally and professionally from improving your American English pronunciation! You'll build your confidence, gain more respect at work, reduce communication misunderstandings, and learn more about how the English language is spoken.

People are motivated to invest in pronunciation training for many reasons. Whether it is a quest for learning or feeling fed up with being judged, at risk, shamed, or frustrated, it takes a lot of courage for someone to turn to help with their pronunciation.

While working with a professional pronunciation teacher or coach is one of the best ways to get results, there are some steps you can take to improve your American English Pronunciation. I share tips to get started on your path of improving your pronunciation as well as stories from the professionals I've helped to improve their American English Pronunciation. At the end of the episode, you'll get definitions and examples of idioms and phrases for everyday life and the workplace.

Episode originally published on June 8, 2020.  
Infographics for this episode are available at https://www.pinterest.com/ExpresstoImpress/. 
A transcript is available for this episode at https://www.express-to-impress.com/american-english-pronunciation/. 

Express to Impress

American English Pronunciation Tips for Workplace Success

It is very important to use contractions in your speech. They are not informal, they are always required. I discuss this in today's podcast.