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