Tag: pronunciation

Accents, dialects and pronunciation

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Geordie AccentAccents Dialects and Pronunciation.

An accent is the way people in a certain area pronounce words and a dialect refers to the specific words that are characteristic of a particular group of people. Despite the fact that I can’t understand the Geordie accent, it is my favourite British accent. 

The first 4 minutes of this Youtube video are all British accents.  I stopped counting how many he impersonates. However, there are a lot!  He also uses some very bad language which my mother wouldn’t approve of so please take care not to repeat anything he says!  In addition, I’m not too keen on his Yorkshire accent; it isn’t like mine, is it?

Finally, what is he saying in the Cork accent? OMG, your guess is as good as mine!!  So, which accents are the hardest and easiest to understand?

 

Pronunciation and voice recognition

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voice-recognitionIndividual words, and the sounds of them, help people to communicate their thoughts and emotions.  In addition,  in today´s techno-centric world, the sound of words can help you to give instructions and commands, for example, using voice recognition to operate a lift.  So, you might think this is an extremely useful piece of technology. However, if you are Scottish, it is highly likely that you will completely disagree.

If you don´t understand exactly what I mean, watch this video in which two Scottish guys are trying to operate a lift with voice recognition.   It´s incredibly funny!

This video was emailed to me by a client, Fabian.  Thanks Fabian, I was laughing my pants off for hours!  If you have any video you would like to see on the Inglés Málaga website, don´t be shy, send me them and I´ll upload them for you.

 

LISTENING CHALLENGE: 5 EASY STEPS TO LONDON SHOPPING

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5 best shopping areas in London5 Easy steps to London Shopping:

Step 1: High-Street Shopping: Oxford Street

Step 2: Luxury Shopping: Knightsbridge

Step 3: Alternative Shopping: Camden Town

Step 4: Food Shopping: Borough Market

Step 5: Antiques Shopping: Portobello Road

OMG, this video is ‘vocabulary central’.  If you would like to review adjectives, idioms and expressions, then this is the video for you.  It’s fantastic! Click, click, click

LISTENING CHALLENGE: INCREDIBLY DIVERSE LEEDS

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we are leedsLeeds is my home town, it’s the 5th biggest city in England and the epicentre of the historical county, Yorkshire. It’s wonderful spirit comes largely from the diverse number of people who live there. Having said that, it seems to me, that although we all have different cultural reference points and tastes, essentially we all have the same hopes and aspirations.

Listen to 50 people in Leeds answering the question: What would you like to happen before the end of the day?

That’s right, the three most common topics are: Money, Sex and Shopping. How would you answer the same question? And, how do you think I would answer the same question?