Alan Palmer's Language Chat Podcasts

Well, I decided that for all my podcasts, I'll write a little introduction and then put the transcript for the voice recording for you. So, welcome to "Alan's Weekend Words January 19th". Today some advice on pronuciation for all you English learners! Hello, for my weekend words this week I want to talk about pronunciation difficulties for learners of English. It seems to me that there are some sounds that present more difficulties that others. For example the English "th" sound. think thought thank thesis therapy nothing tether teeth are some words starting with or containing the sound 'th". For this sound place the top of your tongue against your top teeth - push some air through without too much pressure and say the word. think, thought, thank, thesis,therapy,nothing,tether,teeth The other 'th" sound is the same tongue position - but with less air movement and more voice. See if you can hear the difference between the two different 'th" sounds the,there,those,with,feather Try practicing these "th"

Buenos dias, bom dia,hallo, bonjour, jo napot,ni hao, Guten Tag! So many languages. But of course, as usual, I am speaking in uhm, English my mother tongue and today, I wanted to speak a little about fluency, but today I'm trying to do this as a "chatcast" - and my way of doing chatcasts now is to just...chat without a text. So, I will produce a text for the "PODOMATIC" site so that you can read what I've said, but I won't do that until after I've finished speaking. So today, "fluency". What does it mean? In fact what made me think about it was, I was speaking with a friend at work today and we were discussing..uhm..language learning because he said that he would like to learn French and I was giving him some tips and hints and we were discussing what fluency was. He said he would like to have a conversation with people (in French) and he considered that would be fluency. And my opinion is, that fluency changes the more you learn a language, or your idea, should I say, about fluency. Because the more you le

I hope you like my latest guitar tune recorded today...

hello everybody. Alan here. Buenos dias, ¿Cómo estás? hablo poco espagnol a hora! Today I wanted to talk a little about learning Spanish. I'm starting to learn some Spanish. I wanted to start seriously to learn a few months ago, but for some reason or another I couldn't get started properly. It's always difficult starting a new language I think. Anyway, recently I started to visit Alba's podomatic spanish learning site here in Podomatic and also I borrowed a course "Michel Thomas" introductory course (2 CD's) from my local library. I think now I can get started correctly. I think that the best way to start learning is to start with some good materials - and this is what Alba's site and the Michel Thomas course do. They allow you to learn without stress. I think too many people learning languages put themselves under a great deal of stress and strain in pushing themselves too hard. Trying to learn vocabulary lists, memorise phrases and expressions and remember as much as they can. Perhaps the easiest and be

Punctuation has been defined in many ways. Some grammarians use the analogy of stitching: punctuation as the basting that holds the fabric of the language in shape. Another writer tells us that punctuation marks are the traffic signals of language:they tell us to slow down, notice this, take a detour, and stop. But the best of all, I think, is the simple advice given by the style book of a national newspaper:that punctuation is "a courtesy designed to help readers to understand a story without stumbling.". Examples: "What would you do with the king?" "What? Would you? With the king?" "A woman, without her man, is nothing." "A woman:without her, man is nothing." "Why English is crap" Have you ever asked yourself... Why when the stars are out, that can be seen, but when the lights are out, they cannot be seen? Why when one gets fit one is healthy, but when one has a fit one is ill? Why a fast horse runs and fast colours don't Why one can ship by truck and send a truck by ship? Why a seeded loaf of

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7162692.stm. New Year's resolution success tip have chance to Only 25% of people succeeded in quitting smoking Most of us will make a New Year's resolution - maybe to quit smoking or lose weight - but only one in 10 of us will succeed, say researchers. But before you give up altogether, it is possible to boost your chances of success, UK psychologists report. A year-long study of 3,000 people found men should set specific goals and women should tell the world about their resolution if they are to succeed. And the key for everyone is not to leave the decision to New Year's Eve. TIPS FOR SUCCESS Men should set specific goals Women should tell others about their resolution Choose a new approach Do not leave the decision to New Year's Eve Study leader Professor Richard Wiseman, who is based at the University of Hertfordshire, found more than half of those in the study believed they would be able to stick to their resolution. But by the end of the year, just 1

Hello, Text is below this time (for those who can't view my blog)  Well hello everyone and welcome to my podcasts and also to 2008! This time, uhm, for this time I thought I would just chat. Usually I try to prepare a script of sorts, a text… and then I use the text to make the podcast. But this time round I thought it might be more interesting for you to just hear me speaking. I will make a text, but I will obviously listen to what I have said and then write it down afterwards. So, at the moment, I’m just speaking , uhm, as I think about things and hopefully you will find this podcast just as interesting as the others. Uhm, I’m using a new microphone. Hopefully it will have a good sound. It’s just something I got before Christmas but I didn’t have chance to try. So, I’m trying it today and hopefully it will be clear and you will be able to listen to what I am saying without any problem. So, 2008 is here. It’s a quiet day in England and I’m just relaxing before I go back to work. So, what will 2008 bring

New intro tune Words on my blog Take care Alan

I hope you like my new podcast - sorry no music recorded this time Transcript here: www.alanpalmer.blogspot.com

Here’s a podcast about informal style of conversations in English As usual, the text is on my blog www.alanpalmer.blogspot.com Any comments welcome – see you next time

I'm on holiday for a week - so here are my weekend words - see you in a week! Take care! Alan

This time I talk about sleep words in English Text here: www.alanpalmer.blogspot.com I hope you don't fall asleep listening - haha See you next time!

This chatcast is about how we thank people in England using different words and phrases. Don't forget that the transcript for the recording is here: www.alanpalmer.blogspot.com Take care - see you next time - keep the comments coming!!

I talk about the way we ask questions in English - well, in England anyway I hope you find it interesting As usual, the text is on my blog www.alanpalmer.blogspot.com

I talk about how we shorten sentences in conversation with friends and family You can find the transcript here: alanpalmer.blogspot.com

A guitar interlude for you - I hope my playing gets you on your feet! The title is actually "rockabilly" - but I decided that it looked better as "Rock Abby Lee"

Hello again. I've often wondered why so many people learning English want to have "near-native" accents. I discuss this phenomenon a little here... Transcript at: www.alanpalmer@blogspot.com See you in after the 3rd of June! Keep the messages coming...

This is a new idea. I'm calling this "Alan's Weekend Words" I'm going to just chat about things I hope you find interesting You can find the transcript on my blog: www.alanpalmer.blogspot.com Let me know what you think! Thanks Alan

I'm just "chatting" about language here today Transcript at my blog: alanpalmer.blogspot.com