Why does the letter Y sound completely different in "yes," "gym," "happy," and "my"? This episode unravels the mystery behind Y's four pronunciations in British English: the consonant /j/, the short vowel /ɪ/, the long vowel /iː/, and the diphthong /aɪ/. Discover the patterns (and exceptions) that govern when Y makes each sound, and learn about common pronunciation pitfalls for learners from French, German, Romance, Slavic, and Chinese language backgrounds. From over-articulating "yes" to flattening diphthongs in "fly," understand why these errors happen and what they reveal about the quirks of English pronunciation. Essential listening before the hands-on practice episode!


British Pronunciation Tips 

The Mysterious Case of the Letter Y: Four Sounds, One Letter

Formas IMPERFECTAS
I was - yo era
You were - tú eras 
She was, he was - Ella era, él era
We were - nosotros éramos
You were - ustedes eran
They were - ellos eran

(Examples in the same order with English then Spanish)

I was tall, short, thin - yo era alto, bajo, delgado.
You are  Costa Rican, a man, a woman - tú eras costarricense, un hombre, una mujer
She was from Costa Rica, he was from Chicago - Ella era de Costa Rica
We were friends, we were family, we were cousins - nosotros éramos amigos, éramos familia, éramos primos
You were colleagues, you were partners  - ustedes eran colegas, eran socios
They were lawyers, they were students, they’re  - ellos eran abogados

***Special note for “it”***

It was late, early,  - era tarde, era temprano
It was an example - era un ejemplo
It was a good day - era un buen día
It was a class - era una clase
It was a student - (él, Ella) era una estudiante
It was my brother - (él) era mi hermano
It was a gift for you - era un regalo para ti
it was a good friend - era un buen amigo
It was last night - era ayer en la noche
it was yesterday morning- era ayer por la mañana
It was yesterday afternoon - era ayer por la tarde


conjuguemos y conjugamos 

CAPÍTULO 13 - ERA - I WAS

How do you improve your IELTS band score. In this podcast I’m going to give you 1 simple strategy to help you get the band score you need.

The technique I’m going to teach you is paraphrase. Yes, paraphrasing is very important, and it’s something that IELTS examiners listen out for. In the IELTS band descriptors you will see that you can not get a band score 6 or 7 unless you can paraphrase effectively.

Let me give you an example.

Let’s say in part 1 the examiner asks you about your hometown and asks you this question: Is your hometown a popular destination for foreigners?

You should answer the question by choosing a synonym for foreigners, for example, tourists.

You could also choose a synonym  for destination, for example visit.

So, when the examiner asks you “Is your hometown a popular destination for foreigners?” you could answer like this:

Yes, many tourists visit my hometown. 

So, you’ve answered the question using paraphrase.

Instead of foreigners you said tourists and instead of destination, you said visit.

Let me teach you again. If the examiner asks you “Is your hometown a popular destination for foreigners?” you could answer:

Yes, many tourists visit my hometown. 

Book an IELTS speaking exam preparation lesson with me to improve your IELTS score.




IELTS Speaking Practice

1 IELTS strategy to improve your IELTS score - paraphrase

¿Sabían que la tradición de disfrazarse viene de actos simbólicos celtas para alejar a espíritus malignos? Conversemos sobre las raíces celtas del Halloween. 
En el siguiente enlace encuentran el artículo del podcast: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iNjR_5-beWgGpzKlzb-Y_ibC6E2LGDmmuAwxgIwz9jo/edit?usp=sharing

Voces Difusora

Halloween: la sabiduría celta detrás de esta celebración

In this podcast episode, I'll guide you through the process of introducing your family in Sinhala. "Paula" means family, and if you're at a beginner level, this episode will help you understand how to do it step by step. Feel free to reach out to me if you have any doubts or questions!

Sinhala corner 

මගේ පවුල - Mage Paula

Korean Speaking Practice 7. Grammar                                                                                             1. Future tense  / ex)  이 모자를 쓸 거예요. 오늘 저녁에 불고기를 만들 거예요.                                 2. V-(으)지 마세요 : An expression used to prohibit the act mentioned in the preceding statement. / ex)  거기에 가지 마세요. 도서관에서 이야기하지 마세요. 

Speaking Practice - Beginner

7.  Future tense, V-(으)지 마세요

Blabla Chinese 

05. Internal Friction of Spirit 精神内耗

Spanish México

CONDESA.

In this episode we are going to learn 【 Go to the Barber's】in Chinese. 
--------------------------------------------------
As a beginner, there're some vocabularies that you didn't learn before, and native speaker's speed seems too fast to understand. But don't worry, let's do it step by step. 
Step 1: listen and catch the words you know already, have a guess about the content.
Step 2: look at the text to check if you guessed it right. 
Step 3: listen one more time, repeat after it.
Step 4: practice until you can speak as the normal speed without looking at the text.
 --------------------------------------------------
昨天我去理发店了。
zuó tiān wǒ qù lǐ fà diàn le 。
I went to the barber's yesterday.
我打算烫头发。
wǒ dǎ suàn tàng tóu fà 。
I was going to perm my hair.
发型师先帮我洗头、吹头发。
fà xíng shī xiān bāng wǒ xǐ tóu 、 chuī tóu fà 。
The stylist shampooed and blew my hair first.
我的头发又长又多，发型师帮我剪短剪薄。
wǒ de tóu fà yòu cháng yòu duō ， fà xíng shī bāng wǒ jiǎn duǎn jiǎn báo 。
My hair is long and long. The stylist helped me cut it short and thin.
我选了一个最近很流行的发型：大波浪。
wǒ xuǎn le yí gè zuì jìn hěn liú xíng de fà xíng ： dà bō làng 。
I chose a hairstyle that is very popular these days: big waves.
发型师说染棕色很适合我，我决定试试。
fà xíng shī shuō rǎn zōng sè hěn shì hé wǒ ， wǒ jué dìng shì shì 。
The stylist said that dyeing brown would suit me, so I decided to give it a try.
我的朋友看到我的新发型都说好看。
wǒ de péng yǒu kàn dào wǒ de xīn fà xíng dōu shuō hǎo kàn 。
When my friends saw my new hairstyle, they all said it is nice.