All Students - Vowels Sounds & Accents - A Very Merry Mistake #MirryChristmus #AirNZXmas

We have been talking a lot recently about the vowel sounds in English and how many accents do not follow the standard patterns described in the phonemic chart based on Standard British English. In their new Christmas advert, Air New Zealand poke fun at the New Zealand accent and how it is often misunderstood. What does the advert tell you about the vowel sounds in New Zealand English?

Lombardi Segni & Associati - Legal English - Leson 7

12:00pm Level B1

Class

• Podcast resources for self study
• Discourse markers in telephone conversations - jigsaw exercise
• Using the phonemic chart - hidden names

Going further

Telephone language: http://seansenglishclassroom.pbworks.com/w/page/32872816/Using%20The%20Telephone

Pronunciation: http://seansenglishclassroom.pbworks.com/w/page/11442648/Pronunciation

Homework

Spend some time exploring the phonemic chart. Which sounds are the most difficult to distinguish? Which sounds are the most difficult to reproduce?

1:30pm Level C1/C2

Class

• Discussion and reading - the pros and cons of DPAs
• Listening for structure - the third conditional

See last week's listening at 13:40

"So if they hadn't given you information voluntarily, you might have found out what you needed and you might have prosecuted them and then they would have been convicted, perhaps."

Note the use of multiple result clauses with the same condition clause and how perhaps is used to soften would to suggest a possible outcome as opposed to a certain one. 

Vocabulary

To raise (your) eyebrows - to show surprise or disapproval

To shut the barn door after the horse has bolted

To flag up

To put right

To go some/a long way to doing something

To tackle (something difficult or negative e.g.a problem)
To make a mockery of something 

To rig something - to manipulate fraudulently

To go easy on someone/something

For a pittance

To kick off

Softball, toothless, declawed - lenient, ineffective

Homework

Read your partner's article on DPAs - use the links below:
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/nov/13/us-justice-department-criminals-juvenile-offenders
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=ad04ae0c-845d-4690-98f4-faea033fe971

Lombardi Segni & Associati - Legal English - Lesson 6

12:00 pm Level B1
Class

• Listening Skills: prediction, note taking
• Telephone Language 
• Expressions with get
• Present Continuous for future arrangements (The meeting is taking place on 23rd October), actions in the (general) present (I'm calling about the meeting, I'm putting togetherthe agenda for the meeting), hedging (I'm proposing a 10 o'clock start)
• Reflection on lesson aims

Vocabulary
I've got it  = I understand 
let me just get my diary
I'm getting back to her with some prices

fly into (an airport) 
check out (information)
go for = choose
put together = organise

Is that (name)?
Yes, speaking
How can I help you?
I'm calling about (noun/-ing)
By the way
Could I speak to (name)?
I'm afraid she's not in the office right now
Can I take a message?
Sorry can you spell your last name please?
One other thing
While I've got you on the phone there's one other thing
Could you let him know which/what/when/where/who/how
I hope you can manage to reschedule your other commitments

Corrections
quite nothing almost nothing
used to do (past habit), used to doing (current habit which was difficult at first)
I have a difficult difficulty with 
an information, informations information is an uncountable noun and therefore always singular.
pass the caller transfer the call
I felt really stress stressed
which (for things), who (for people)

Homework
Read the audio script again and decide which language feature (e.g. functional language for telephoning, phrasal verbs, expressions with get, uses of the present continuous) you would like to focus on for your self study.

1:30pm Level C1/C2
Class

Listening Skills: Using podcasts to work on lexical (collocation) and grammatical (3rd conditional) features

Source: Law in Action 21/03/2017

Deferred Prosecution Agreement 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08jb9nl

Item starts at 11:40 and runs to 19:00

Vocabulary

To turn (someone/yourself) in

To get off

To get off lightly

To get away with something

To do a deal

In the pipeline = on the way, expected, coming, close 

harm = injury

Homework

Listen to the podcast again noticing how the vocabulary and grammar is used in context. What do you think about DPAs? We will discuss this issue in class again next week. 

Corrections

condemned - convicted

Going Further

How To Get Away With Murder

ANIA Group Courses

2:00 pm Group 8, Level B2

Lesson 26 (last in the cycle)

Class
Listening Skills - podcast On Point

InsureTech: ‘A Tool, Not Something to Fear’

Source: https://www.insurancejournal.tv/videos/15530/

Key vocabulary from today's listening
to play a leading role
to bridge the gap
independent agent/broker versus captive agent (U.S. law)
persona/pen portrait
hype/buzz
a knee jerk reaction
a clean slate
a rash decision

Corrections
time countable and uncountable meanings:
I have gone there many times (c) = frequently
I have spent a lot of time there (u) = duration

Lombardi Segni & Associati - Legal English - Lesson 5

12:00 pm Level B1

Class

Listening/Pronunciation Skills - Utterance Stress

(1) Neutral Utterance Stress

Past or Present? 

Noticing features of fast connected speech: assimilation, elision, intrusion

(2) Contrastive Stress

Intonation directions - signpost

Source: http://seansenglishclassroom.pbworks.com/w/page/11442648/Pronunciation

Vocabulary
utterance
to cycle

Homework

Do some listening practice this week from a t.v. show or podcast. What do you notice about the stress or intonation? Can you find any examples of contrastive stress? 

1:30 pm Level C1/C2

Class

Listening/Pronunciation Skills - Utterance Stress

(1) Neutral Stress

Third Conditional

Noticing features of fast connected speech: assimilation, elision, intrusion, strong/weak forms.

Noticing the pronunciation of grammatical structures

(2) Contrastive Stress

How intonation affects meaning

Intonation directions - compass

Sources:

Conditionals in general: http://seansenglishclassroom.pbworks.com/w/page/11442621/Conditionals

Third conditional pronunciation exercise: http://seansenglishclassroom.pbworks.com/w/page/32174148/Conditionals%20and%20Pronunciation

Pronunciation in general: http://seansenglishclassroom.pbworks.com/w/page/11442648/Pronunciation

Vocabulary:
to skid
to catch fire
to brake

Going further: 

Leaving New York
Check answers here: http://seansenglishclassroom.pbworks.com/w/page/40022307/REM%20Listening%20answers

In the film The Conversation (1974) an important plot twist hinges on the difference between the neutral and contrastive stress used in the phrase: He'd kill us if he had the chance. 

ANIA Group Courses

12:30 pm Group 8 Level B2
Lesson 25

Class
Insurtechs - discussion, reading and vocabulary
Source: https://www.yahoo.com/news/insurtech-report-financial-technology-firms-080600292.html

Vocabulary
bracelet
to age/to get older
to take out insurance
grocery store
supermarket 
drivers
takeaways
off your own back - a variation, some say a mistake, of off your own bat

Corrections
many much money
fastly

Homework

• Reading: Deductible versus Excess
• Listening: Insurance Journal Podcast https://www.insurancejournal.tv/videos/15530/October 9, 2017 in On Point: InsureTech: ‘A Tool, Not Something to Fear’

ANIA Group Courses

12:30 pm Group 5 Level C1
Lesson 26 (last in the current cycle)

Class

1. Reflection on course progress
2. Feedback on Exam Writing
3. Free Speaking - Language Learning and Travel

Vocabulary
worthwhile
long haul (flight)
self defence 
associate with (verb + preposition collocation)

Homework
Reading: Word of the year 2017  https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/nov/02/fake-news-is-very-real-word-of-the-year-for-2017
Listening: Recommended podcasts

• The Allusionist https://www.theallusionist.org
• The Memory Palace http://thememorypalace.us

2:00 pm Group 6 Level C2

Lesson 26 (last in the current cycle)

Class

1. Contrast, Reason and Manner Clauses (Proficiency Masterclass pp. 103 -104)
2. Fixed expressions with make: to make for, to make do with, to make like, to make good
3. Word of the year 2017 
4. Referring to decades - the noughties. But what do we call the current decade? The teens? The tens? This is a linguistic enigma: https://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-61226,00.html http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/what-should-we-call-the-decade-after-191569

Notes

The exercises from Proficiency Masterclass raised a few knotty problems

• even though More emphatic than although, even though introduces a condition which is currently true (a fact). Not to be confused with even if which introduces a hypothetical condition which is not yet true. 
• like/as The general rule is that like is a preposition which can be followed by a noun or a gerund and as is a conjunction which is followed by a more complex clause containing a verb. However, like is used as a conjunction in colloquial language a lot and this has been a source of controversy as outlined by Grammar Girl here: http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/like-versus-as  As if and as though follow the verbs feel, look and sound and in informal situations can be replaced with like as in today's example It sometimes feels like you know them personally. 
• in that can be used instead of because to add a reason or explanation for a preceding statement. In that, however, can only show a causative relationship whereas as, since and now that can also show a temporal relationship e.g. explaining a present relationship which was demonstrated in today's examples: We can see films we want at home now that (temporal) we get on-demand TV.  Watching TV is a very different experience from what it was 10 years ago in that (causative)/now that (temporal) there are now so many channels to choose from.

Homework

Reading: Word of the year 2017  https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/nov/02/fake-news-is-very-real-word-of-the-year-for-2017
Listening: Recommended podcasts

• The Allusionist https://www.theallusionist.org
• The Memory Palace http://thememorypalace.us

Lombardi Segni & Associati - Pronunciation Spot - English and Italian Vowels Compared

Following on from yesterday's discussion about pronunciation compare the two charts below which compare Standard British English and Italian Vowels. What does this information tell you about potential pronunciation problems? Note any differences in the symbols and their position.

Italian Vowels 

Standard British or R.P.

All Students - Listening - The Allusionist

This very moving episode from The Allusionist discusses how letter writing is still important even in the digital age.

From Me To You’s Alison Hitchcock and Brian Greenley didn’t know each other well. But when Brian was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, Alison offered to write him letters. 100 letters later, their lives were changed.
One of the newest members of Radiotopia is Ear Hustle, a podcast made inside San Quentin by and about the men incarcerated there, in collaboration with Nigel Poor. In prison, a letter is a precious thing.

To listen to the podcast from the website click here: https://www.theallusionist.org/allusionist/open-me-1
To listen to the podcast via Soundcloud click here: https://soundcloud.com/allusionistshow/open-me-1

Lombardi Segni & Associati - Legal English Course - Lesson 4

12:00 pm Level B1

Class

Introduction to phonemic chart and things to notice about pronunciation:

Place and manner of articulation

Assimilation

Elision

Insertion

Utterance stress

Tone

Homework

Explore the phonemic chart and get to know the sounds

1:30 pm Level C1/C2

Class

1) The Top Words for 2017

Discussion and reading

Source:https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/nov/02/fake-news-is-very-real-word-of-the-year-for-2017

2) Legal English Idioms

3) Introduction to the phonenic chart and the importance of pronunciation for developing listening skills.

Homework

Read the notes on pronunciation and start exploring the phonemic chart.

Vocabulary

Twirl/Swirl/Whirl  - note how this sound /ɜːʳl / is associated with circular motion. Are they all synonymous or are they used in different circumstances? 

Dip

Noughties

Snap election

Vocabulary Notes

Translating crediti = payables (debts to be paid)

If A lends money to B

B has a debt

A has a claim

Corrections

I'm making confusion - Do you mean I'm causing confusuon (making others confused) or  I'm confusing X with Y (I am mistaking one thing for another)?

I saw at in the dictionary

ANIA Group Courses

12:30 pm Group 1 - Level B2

Lesson 26 - final lesson in current cycle

Class

Topic: International business and foreign markets

Language focus: Vocabulary skills - collocation and phrasal verbs

Source: BEC Vantage Masterclass p. 71

Key vocabulary

Head office

Sales subsidiary

Sales outlet

Distributor

Chamber of commerce

Trade fair

Trade delegation

Embassy

2:00 pm Group 2 - Level C1

Lesson 26 - final lesson in current cycle

Class

1) Revision of confusing words: rise/arise/raise, discrete/discreet

To what extent does pronunciation play a role in this confusion?

2) The most popular words of 2017. Reading and discussion.

Source:https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/nov/02/fake-news-is-very-real-word-of-the-year-for-2017

Key vocabulary

Dip (noun, verb) Think about its metaphorical use when describing trends. 

Twirl Note the pronunciation of the vowel. 

The noughties