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Pronunciation - Podcast 55

Pronunciation - Podcast 55

In this week's Premier Skills English podcast, Rich and Jack talk about Euro 2016 and the problems they have pronouncing the names of different players correctly. We also have some tips to help you with your pronunciation and you still have a chance to win a Premier League shirt in our great competition!

How much did you understand?

Vocabulary 

In the podcast, Rich and Jack used some vocabulary that might be new for you. Try the activity below to see how much you understand:

In this activity, you have to match the words and phrases at the top with the descriptions below.
Match the words with the descriptions.

Jack Wilshere is not an easy name to pronounce for some.

Language - Pronunciation

In this week's podcast, we spoke about pronunciation. Some learners have problems with specific sounds. Let's look at some of these sounds in a bit more detail:

/v/ and /w/ 

Can you say these English sounds? Practise saying words like ‘west’ and 'vest' which contain the consonant sounds /w/ and /v/.

Have a look at the table below. Can you hear the difference between the two sounds when you say these words? Remember, when you say the /v/ sound, your teeth should be above your bottom lip. When you say the /w/ sound, your lips should be forward and make a circle. 

/w/ /v/
Jamie Vardy Kyle Walker
vest west
waste vast
veil whale
vine wine
roving rowing

In the podcast, Jack and Rich used some sentences that are difficult to say that include the /v/ and /w/ sounds. Practise your pronunciation by saying these sentences:

When the winter weather’s warm Kyle Walker walks to work.

I’m very worried when Vardy and Walker don’t play.

Now, have a go at this activity, which focusses on the /v/ and /w/ sounds in more detail. If you want to learn more about different sounds, take a look at the British Council's ESOL Nexus website.

Activity 2: In this activity, listen to some words with either the /v/ sound or the /w/ sound. Can you spot the difference?
Which word can you hear?

Jack and Rich had problems pronouncing Jakub Błaszczykowski, who is playing for Poland at Euro 2016.

/r/ and /l/

Can you say these English sounds? Practise saying words like ‘correct’ and 'collect' which contain the consonant sounds /l/ and /r/.

Have a look at the table below. Can you hear the difference between the two sounds, /l/ and /r/, when you say these words? Remember, when you say the /l/ sound, you put the front part of your tongue behind your teeth. You make the /r/ sound by pushing your lips forward and pulling your tongue back. Practise saying words with these sounds:

/l/ /r/
Jack Wilshire Wayne Rooney
light right
collect correct
alive arrive
pilot pirate
play pray

There are lots of common phrases that use these two sounds in English. Take a look at the list below and practise saying them. Can you spot the difference between the /l/ sound and the /r/ sound?

  • Are you alright?
  • I'm nearly ready.
  • I'm really grateful.
  • Do you read a lot?

If you want a sentence that is a little more difficult, have a go at this tongue twister:

Lilian Thuram was a World Cup winner with France and could play on the right or the left flank. 

Now, have a go at this activity, which focusses on the /r/ and /l/ sounds in more detail. If you want to practise the /r/ and /l/ sounds more, and other sounds that might be difficult for speakers of your native language, then take a look at the ESOL Nexus website from the British Council.

Activity 2: In this activity, listen to some words with either the /v/ sound or the /w/ sound. Can you spot the difference?
Which word can you hear?

André-Pierre Gignac is in action for France at Euro 2016. How do you pronounce his name?

Transcript

If the listening was a bit difficult, you can listen again and read the transcript at the same time.
Read the transcript and listen at the same time.

 Welcome

Rich: Hello my name’s Rich and welcome to this week’s Premier Skills English podcast.

Jack: Hi everyone. I’m Jack and every week we talk about football and help you with your English.

Rich: Euro 2016 is underway in France and the Copa America is already in full swing in the USA and there have already been some great matches involving Premier League players.

Jack: We’ll speak more about that later but let’s look at some of the language you used in that sentence, Rich. The first word is underway, you used this in the podcast last week and it was one of the items in the vocabulary activity as well. I think it’s a tricky word.

Rich: Underway means that something is happening now. So Euro 2016 is underway; it’s started and it’s taking place now. You can also use the phrase ‘get underway’ to mean start or begin. The new Premier League season gets underway on the 13th of August.

Jack: OK, I’ve got it. The other phrase was ‘in full swing’. This is a tricky phrase. It means something like a party or a competition that is at its liveliest or most exciting part. So, you might say ‘when I arrived at the party, it was in full swing’. This would mean that lots of people were having fun and dancing when I arrived.

Rich: I said the Copa America was in full swing because it’s already at the quarter-final stage but Euro 2016 has just got underway; it’s just started. I think the most exciting matches are still to come.

Jack: Right, OK, so later we’re going to speak more about these two tournaments and we’re also going to talk about pronunciation. We’re going to try to help you with the pronunciation of some difficult names in the England team and give you some tips about how to approach words that look difficult to pronounce.

Rich: And, we will also give you an update on our exciting competition that you can still enter. to win a fantastic prize!

Jack: But, before we talk more about that let’s catch up with what you’ve been chatting about on the website this week.

Social

Rich: Our football phrase last week was to make a debut! Which is when you do a performance for the first time. In football, you can make a debut for a new club or make a debut for your country. You make your debut when you play for a club or your country for the first time.

Jack: Manchester Utd’s Marcus Rashford scored on his Manchester Utd debut, his Premier League debut and his international debut.

Rich: That’s a pretty good start! Well done to Kwesimanifest from Ghana, Alex from Ukraine, Elghoul from Algeria and Haydi from Tunisia who all got the right answer. We’ll have a new phrase for you at the end of the podcast.

Jack: Last week, we had lots of interesting  comments on the website. IhorV from Ukraine, who has taken our course about Leicester City, said that he had never heard of Leicester before this season. But, he now says that he would love to visit Leicester.

Rich: I think we’re doing a good job of marketing Leicester to our international audience.

Jack: We now have the final week of the Leicester City: Champions of England course up on the website. This week’s course materials include a discussion about visiting cities in the UK. Register on the course and tell us which city in the UK you would like to visit or, if you’ve visited the UK before, tell us about a city that you like.

Latest news

Rich: So, as we mentioned earlier, the Copa America is in full swing and Euro 2016 is underway and it’s been a great start for some Premier League stars.

Jack: At the Copa America in the USA Ecuador have reached the quarterfinals and the two Valencia’s helped them get there. Manchester Utd’s Antonio Valencia and West Ham United's Enner Valencia have both been on the score sheet in the group stages.

Rich: And West Brom’s Salomon Rondon helped Venezuela reach the quarter-final with a winner against Uruguay. Rondon has become the first Venezuelan to score at three different Copa Americas. But the big story is that Brazil are going home!

Jack: Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho scored a hat-trick against Haiti but a shock defeat against Peru means Brazil are going home early to prepare for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Rich: It’s the first time Peru have beaten Brazil in 31 years so well done to them!

Jack: Moving to Euro2016 there have been plenty of Premier League players in action. France opened the tournament with a 2-1 win against Romania. Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud scored and West Ham’s Dimitri Payet got a fantastic last-minute winner for the French.

Rich: The World Champions, Germany got off to a good start, too. Manchester Utd’s Bastian Schweinsteiger got on the scoresheet after a great assist from Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil.

Jack: Eric Dier scored a great goal for England and Gareth Bale scored for Wales who went on to beat Slovakia 2-1. There have also been wins for Croatia, Poland and Switzerland in the first few days of the tournament.

Rich: Remember we are running a competition to give you the opportunity to win a new Premier League shirt for the start of the season.

Jack: And it’s very easy to enter. All you have to do is: decide which group at Euro 2016 will have most goals by Premier League players.

Rich: At the moment group A has the most after France’s win against Romania but that can all change in the next week or so.

Jack: The vote is on the podcast page on the Premier Skills English website. If you are listening to this on the Premier Skills English website you just need to go down the page a bit to where it says Euro2016 competition.

Rich: Remember, you have to register on the website to win. We’ve already had lots of votes from anonymous listeners. You can’t win if you are anonymous because we won’t be able to send you the prize!

Language Focus

Jack: We’ve seen lots of the matches at Euro2016 and we’ve heard the commentators having a few problems.

Rich: Yes, there are lots of new names to learn and some commentators are having a few difficulties when they try to pronounce the names of players.

Jack: I see that you have some information about different players at Euro2016.

Rich: Yes, I’ve been reading an article about the pronunciation of players from different countries at Euro2016. Shall I give you a little test?

Jack: Go on then, I’m sure I’ll be awful at the names.

Rich: Right my first player. Do you know the french striker who plays in Mexico? Can you pronounce his name?

Jack: Ah yes, that’s André-Pierre Gignac.

Rich: Not sure that’s how you say it. Good try though I think it’s more like Andre-pee-air Jin-yack.Here, take a look. The next one is a defender for Iceland.

Jack: OK, I’m not that good at Icelandic but I think you would say Haukur Heidar Hauksson.

Rich: The information I’m looking at says you say it like this: How-koor Hey-thar Howk-son. A little bit different from what you said! OK, last one. He’s a midfielder for Poland, here you go.

Jack: This looks really difficult. I’m going to say Jakub Błaszczykowski.

Rich: Good effort. It says here that it’s Ya-koob Blash-chi-kov-ski but I’m not sure I’m pronouncing it well either.

Jack: We’re no experts on players names from different countries but we can help you with the English names.

Rich: We thought in this week’s podcast, we’ll help you pronounce a few of the England player’s names. The sounds that we use will help you with your pronunciation more generally, too.

Jack: OK, which player shall we start with.

Rich: We’ll start with Eric Dier, who scored England’s goal against Russia at the weekend. There are two syllables in his surname and it sounds a bit like a person who dies! Die-er so you can have a builder, a baker, and a dier!

Jack: The word dire; spelt D I R E actually means something that is very bad but his performance for England was excellent. But, it shows that the connection between spelling and pronunciation can cause problems.

Rich: Some words that rhyme with Eric Dier are: tyre, higher, fire and buyer.

Jack: We got a message on the Premier Skills English Facebook page from a follower in Vietnam who was having problems pronouncing Jack Wilshere. The /w/ and /l/ sounds can often cause problems. The name sounds like ‘will’ followed by a /sh/ sound like when we say ‘shell’ or ‘shut up’.  So we have: Will-sh, Jack Wilshere, Jack Wilshere plays for Arsenal and England.

Rich: Why don’t you try saying it at home? Repeat after me: Will-sh, Jack Wilshere, Jack Wilshere plays for Arsenal and England.

Jack: Like we saw with Eric Dier’s name, one problem with English is that the pronunciation and spelling of a word doesn’t follow the same rules. Regions in the UK often end with -shire, we have Yorkshire and Lancashire that are large regions in the north of England, Leicestershire and Warwickshire in the middle and Hampshire and Wiltshire in the south of England.

Rich: These are pronounced in exactly the same way as the England player, Jack Wilshere. Listen: Yorkshire - Wilshere, Leicestershire - Wilshere, Hampshire - Wilshere.

Jack: Differences between spelling and pronunciation can often cause problems. What other England players have problematic names?

Rich: Jamie Vardy might cause some people some problems. The /v/ sound at the beginning of Vardy can be difficult. When you make the /v/ sound you put your teeth over your bottom lip. So, you say Jamie Vardy, Vardy.

Jack: Let’s try saying this, repeat after me: Vardy, Jamie Vardy. Have you watched the Jamie Vardy movie?

Rich: Kyle Walker plays right back for England and his surname can cause some problems, too. When you make the /w/ sound your lips need to be forward and rounded like in a circle.

Jack: Try repeating these words: when, weather, winter, warm, work, walk, Kyle Walker. Try repeating this sentence: When the winter weather’s warm Kyle Walker walks to work.

Rich: That’s a difficult sentence. The difference between /v/ and /w/ can sometimes be confusing. Practise the examples above. Can you hear and feel the differences.

Jack: Let’s try this sentence. I’m very worried when Vardy and Walker don’t play.

Rich: I think if you can say that sentence, you’re doing very well. Very well another tricky phrase to pronounce.

Jack: When you see a word that is difficult to pronounce, what can we do? These are our tips on what to do when you come across a tricky looking word in English.

Rich: First, just have a go with what you know. You already have a good idea about English pronunciation so what you say will probably be quite good.

Jack: Another idea is to go to an online dictionary. If you know the phonetic script, you will see the word written in phonetic script. Alternatively, there is often a button to click so you can hear the word, which will help you pronounce it yourself.

Rich: But, names can be more difficult. You don’t normally find names in a dictionary. One way to find out how to pronounce a name is to search on youtube for examples. If you can find an interview with a footballer or other famous person with that name, you will often hear the name in the introduction.

Jack: I think the most important thing is practice. It doesn’t matter if you pronounce a name wrong. Many English people have strange names that are difficult to pronounce.

Rich: There used to be a TV series on the BBC about a woman called Mrs Bucket. She insisted on people calling her Mrs. Bouquet because she thought it sounded more posh/ posher!

Jack: The BBC has done some great TV shows but that wasn’t one of them!

Rich: Right, that brings us to this week’s questions and we’re focussing on pronunciation. Question 1: Are there any players names that you have difficulty saying?

Jack: Question 2: Different languages have different pronunciation problems. What are some of the sounds that you have difficulties with in English? Can you give us some examples?

Rich: Question 3: Is pronunciation something that you’d like to improve? Is pronunciation important? What do you do to improve your pronunciation in English?

Football Phrase

Rich: Have you got a football phrase for us this week?

Jack: Yes, I have. This week’s football phrase is the **** ** *****. This phrase is used to describe groups at football world European Championships or Champions League groups that have four strong teams in them. It is called the ***** ** ***** because it’s a very difficult group and nobody knows who will survive. I’m not sure there is a ***** ** ***** at Euro2016. If I had to choose one I would say it’s group d with Spain, Croatia, Turkey and the Czech Republic.

Rich: A nice cheerful way to end this week’s podcast!

Jack: That’s it for today - we’ve run out of time! Thanks for listening. And don’t forget to write your answers to our questions, and anything you want to say about the website or football English in the comments below.

Rich: And don’t forget to enter the competition to win a football shirt at the bottom of this page!

Jack: If you sign in, you can win our competition but you can also score points to see if you can get your club, your country and your name to the top of our leaderboard.

Rich: Bye for now and enjoy your football! 

Quiz

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Form

Euro 2016 - Competition

Which group will have the most goals by Premier League players in the group stages?

A winner will be chosen, at random, from the correct answers. You need to register on the website to win and you are only allowed to vote once. The vote will be open until Saturday 18th June at 2400. The prize is a Premier League shirt of your choice.

What do you think?

In this week’s podcast, we spoke about Euro 2016 and pronunciation. Can you answer these questions in the comment section below?

  1. Are there any players names that you have difficulty saying? Are there any names or sounds, in your language, that foreigners have a lot of difficulty pronouncing?

  2. Different languages have different pronunciation problems. What are some of the sounds that you have difficulties with in English? Can you give us some examples?

  3. Is pronunciation something that you’d like to improve? Is pronunciation important? What do you do to improve your pronunciation in English?

Remember to enter the Euro 2016 competition above, and then, make your guess at this week's football phrase in the comments section below.
 
If you want us to correct your English, just write 'correct me' at the beginning of your comment.

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Comments

gil_foot
09/01/2023
FR
566
points

To improve my english, I watch as many TV show in English and also all your episodes.


gil_foot
09/01/2023 11:19
France
Arsenal
566

To improve my english, I watch as many TV show in English and also all your episodes.

gil_foot
09/01/2023
FR
566
points

Pronunciation is key to be more confident in English but the most difficult thing is the different accent across UK


gil_foot
09/01/2023 11:18
France
Arsenal
566

Pronunciation is key to be more confident in English but the most difficult thing is the different accent across UK

gil_foot
09/01/2023
FR
566
points

The football phrase is "Group of Death" we have the same expression in French


gil_foot
09/01/2023 11:16
France
Arsenal
566

The football phrase is "Group of Death" we have the same expression in French

gil_foot
09/01/2023
FR
566
points

In France, let's say, the pronounciation isn't the hardest thing. Compare to English language but conjugation is hard


gil_foot
09/01/2023 11:08
France
Arsenal
566

In France, let's say, the pronounciation isn't the hardest thing. Compare to English language but conjugation is hard

gil_foot
09/01/2023
FR
566
points

A lot of English player in the Premier League are difficult to pronounce...
One of them was Wojciech Szczęsny


gil_foot
09/01/2023 11:06
France
Arsenal
566

A lot of English player in the Premier League are difficult to pronounce...
One of them was Wojciech Szczęsny

hsn's picture
hsn
06/07/2021
TR
5525
points

What do you think?
1-I'm used to pronounce "strange" words when I listen it two ore more times.
Foreigners generally find difficult to say the name of M.City International player İlkay Gündoğan because there are no "ü" and "ğ" sounds in English.
2-Words like “buoy”, “cough” , “vocabulary” A bit hard for me to pronounce.
3-First step of learning a language is pronunciation have to be correct to be able communicate.
Phrases
• Euro 2020 and Copa America are underway and are in full swing each of them on the semi-final round on the other hand Tokyo Olympic Games get underway on the 23th July.
• Posh people don't like to be anonymous.They prefer to be known by media.
P.S.
• I've always wondered how the commentators know correct pronunciation of foreign players name. Is there any arrangement of FIFA? Sometime the same name is being pronounced in different ways.


hsn's picture
hsn
06/07/2021 12:44
Turkey
Tottenham Hotspur
5525

What do you think?
1-I'm used to pronounce "strange" words when I listen it two ore more times.
Foreigners generally find difficult to say the name of M.City International player İlkay Gündoğan because there are no "ü" and "ğ" sounds in English.
2-Words like “buoy”, “cough” , “vocabulary” A bit hard for me to pronounce.
3-First step of learning a language is pronunciation have to be correct to be able communicate.
Phrases
• Euro 2020 and Copa America are underway and are in full swing each of them on the semi-final round on the other hand Tokyo Olympic Games get underway on the 23th July.
• Posh people don't like to be anonymous.They prefer to be known by media.
P.S.
• I've always wondered how the commentators know correct pronunciation of foreign players name. Is there any arrangement of FIFA? Sometime the same name is being pronounced in different ways.

mobeckham's picture
mobeckham
13/05/2020
TR
6510
points

The football phrase is ( Group of Death ) because we have the same expression in our own language as well :)


mobeckham's picture
mobeckham
13/05/2020 08:42
Turkey
Manchester United
6510

The football phrase is ( Group of Death ) because we have the same expression in our own language as well :)

mobeckham's picture
mobeckham
13/05/2020
TR
6510
points

Language is a way of communication so it's important to improve your speaking skills and a major part of that is how to pronounce words and phrases so it's really essential

I usually listen to English podcasts while walking or riding the bus such as united we stand podcast and talksport
They are really helpful to learn how to pronounce and catch the accent too :)


mobeckham's picture
mobeckham
13/05/2020 08:02
Turkey
Manchester United
6510

Language is a way of communication so it's important to improve your speaking skills and a major part of that is how to pronounce words and phrases so it's really essential

I usually listen to English podcasts while walking or riding the bus such as united we stand podcast and talksport
They are really helpful to learn how to pronounce and catch the accent too :)

mobeckham's picture
mobeckham
13/05/2020
TR
6510
points

The only thing I find it difficult in English is the loads of different accents everywhere like RP or cockney or mancunian or southern
That's really confusing
Apart of that , everything is fine :)


mobeckham's picture
mobeckham
13/05/2020 08:00
Turkey
Manchester United
6510

The only thing I find it difficult in English is the loads of different accents everywhere like RP or cockney or mancunian or southern
That's really confusing
Apart of that , everything is fine :)

mobeckham's picture
mobeckham
13/05/2020
TR
6510
points

Yes we do have some letters and sounds that are quite tricky
For example :
ç as in çalışma
ı as in ışıl
ö as in özür
ş as in şimdi
ü as in üç

Foreigners find them difficult to pronounce properly


mobeckham's picture
mobeckham
13/05/2020 07:58
Turkey
Manchester United
6510

Yes we do have some letters and sounds that are quite tricky
For example :
ç as in çalışma
ı as in ışıl
ö as in özür
ş as in şimdi
ü as in üç

Foreigners find them difficult to pronounce properly

mobeckham's picture
mobeckham
13/05/2020
TR
6510
points

For me Lwanduweski was quite hard when I was young but now it's a piece of cake :)


mobeckham's picture
mobeckham
13/05/2020 07:53
Turkey
Manchester United
6510

For me Lwanduweski was quite hard when I was young but now it's a piece of cake :)

assemjuve's picture
assemjuve
21/07/2016
PS
3705
points

The phrase is a steel group.


assemjuve's picture
assemjuve
21/07/2016 19:19
Palestinian Territory
Liverpool
3705

The phrase is a steel group.

assemjuve's picture
assemjuve
21/07/2016
PS
3705
points

Yes i would,yes it is,I try to repeat the words a lot.


assemjuve's picture
assemjuve
21/07/2016 19:18
Palestinian Territory
Liverpool
3705

Yes i would,yes it is,I try to repeat the words a lot.

assemjuve's picture
assemjuve
21/07/2016
PS
3705
points

I think the sound G and J,Jordan,gordon.


assemjuve's picture
assemjuve
21/07/2016 19:18
Palestinian Territory
Liverpool
3705

I think the sound G and J,Jordan,gordon.

assemjuve's picture
assemjuve
21/07/2016
PS
3705
points

I think that Jakub Błaszczykowski is the most difficult name to pronounce.


assemjuve's picture
assemjuve
21/07/2016 19:16
Palestinian Territory
Liverpool
3705

I think that Jakub Błaszczykowski is the most difficult name to pronounce.

Jane Lost
07/07/2016
RU
90
points

Sure,pronunciation is an essential part of language learning.I wish I could improve my English altogether.


Jane Lost
07/07/2016 18:11
Russia
Arsenal
90

Sure,pronunciation is an essential part of language learning.I wish I could improve my English altogether.

Jane Lost
07/07/2016
RU
90
points

I guess there are plenty of difficulties in my language for foreigners,not even speaking about pronunciation.What I find pretty interesting in English is 'i' sound.As I have learnt,there are different types of pronouncing this letter in different words.I can't explain why,but its pronunciation cause sometimes issues for me..


Jane Lost
07/07/2016 18:09
Russia
Arsenal
90

I guess there are plenty of difficulties in my language for foreigners,not even speaking about pronunciation.What I find pretty interesting in English is 'i' sound.As I have learnt,there are different types of pronouncing this letter in different words.I can't explain why,but its pronunciation cause sometimes issues for me..

Jane Lost
07/07/2016
RU
90
points

De Bryune...I can't understand how to pronounce that correctly.Koscielny is very hard to pronounce,as well as the names of French players.Jedrzejczyk is another Polish name difficult to pronounce.


Jane Lost
07/07/2016 17:58
Russia
Arsenal
90

De Bryune...I can't understand how to pronounce that correctly.Koscielny is very hard to pronounce,as well as the names of French players.Jedrzejczyk is another Polish name difficult to pronounce.

aragorn1986's picture
aragorn1986
23/06/2016
ME
3557
points

Pronounciation is very important. I'm always trying to listen the native speakers as much as I can.


aragorn1986's picture
aragorn1986
23/06/2016 00:28
Montenegro
Arsenal
3557

Pronounciation is very important. I'm always trying to listen the native speakers as much as I can.

aragorn1986's picture
aragorn1986
23/06/2016
ME
3557
points

This week's phrase is 'group of death'.


aragorn1986's picture
aragorn1986
23/06/2016 00:26
Montenegro
Arsenal
3557

This week's phrase is 'group of death'.

Rich's picture
Rich
23/06/2016
ES
594
points

Yes, you're right! Good to see you back Aragorn1986!


Rich's picture
Rich
23/06/2016 08:05
Spain
Liverpool
594

Yes, you're right! Good to see you back Aragorn1986!

aragorn1986's picture
aragorn1986
23/06/2016
ME
3557
points

Thank you Rich!


aragorn1986's picture
aragorn1986
23/06/2016 10:04
Montenegro
Arsenal
3557

Thank you Rich!

aragorn1986's picture
aragorn1986
23/06/2016
ME
3557
points

Personally, I have difficulty of pronouncing Alderweireld's name.


aragorn1986's picture
aragorn1986
23/06/2016 00:25
Montenegro
Arsenal
3557

Personally, I have difficulty of pronouncing Alderweireld's name.

Alex_from_Ukraine's picture
Alex_from_Ukraine
20/06/2016
UA
6278
points

The week's phrase is **** ** ***** :-(


Alex_from_Ukraine's picture
Alex_from_Ukraine
20/06/2016 12:18
Ukraine
Liverpool
6278

The week's phrase is **** ** ***** :-(

Rich's picture
Rich
20/06/2016
ES
594
points

You're right! I suppose you're not too happy with Ukraine's performances at Euro2016 sad.


Rich's picture
Rich
20/06/2016 12:52
Spain
Liverpool
594

You're right! I suppose you're not too happy with Ukraine's performances at Euro2016 sad.

Alex_from_Ukraine's picture
Alex_from_Ukraine
22/06/2016
UA
6278
points

I am not, of course, but I knew from the start that Ukraine's coach ( Great Lobanovsky's pupil and follower Mikhail Fomenko) was not good in choosing winning tactics - he's too wary for such a tournament and a team as Ukraine. He's made a lot of strange decisions choosing players for the team before the Championship and on the pitch during the games.


Alex_from_Ukraine's picture
Alex_from_Ukraine
22/06/2016 05:46
Ukraine
Liverpool
6278

I am not, of course, but I knew from the start that Ukraine's coach ( Great Lobanovsky's pupil and follower Mikhail Fomenko) was not good in choosing winning tactics - he's too wary for such a tournament and a team as Ukraine. He's made a lot of strange decisions choosing players for the team before the Championship and on the pitch during the games.

Rich's picture
Rich
22/06/2016
ES
594
points

I saw that Anatoliy Tymoshchuk came on as a substitute against Poland for his 144th cap. That's an amazing achievement! Is he going to retire now?


Rich's picture
Rich
22/06/2016 07:39
Spain
Liverpool
594

I saw that Anatoliy Tymoshchuk came on as a substitute against Poland for his 144th cap. That's an amazing achievement! Is he going to retire now?

Alex_from_Ukraine's picture
Alex_from_Ukraine
22/06/2016
UA
6278
points

He's going to retire from the national team but not, as I know, from Zenit or another possible future team. He is very enduring and steady.


Alex_from_Ukraine's picture
Alex_from_Ukraine
22/06/2016 13:38
Ukraine
Liverpool
6278

He's going to retire from the national team but not, as I know, from Zenit or another possible future team. He is very enduring and steady.

AleksandarR
19/06/2016
ME
518
points

This week's phrase is **** ** *****


AleksandarR
19/06/2016 22:26
Montenegro
Manchester United
518

This week's phrase is **** ** *****

Rich's picture
Rich
20/06/2016
ES
594
points

Well done AleksandarR! Yes, that is this week's phrase. Welcome back to Premier Skills English!

Rich - The Premier Skills English Team


Rich's picture
Rich
20/06/2016 08:01
Spain
Liverpool
594

Well done AleksandarR! Yes, that is this week's phrase. Welcome back to Premier Skills English!

Rich - The Premier Skills English Team

kwesimanifest's picture
kwesimanifest
18/06/2016
GH
4768
points

In ghana we are named according to our days of birth
I was born on sunday so am called Kwesi
It's difficult for foreigners to pronounce such names like kwesi


kwesimanifest's picture
kwesimanifest
18/06/2016 10:04
Ghana
Manchester United
4768

In ghana we are named according to our days of birth
I was born on sunday so am called Kwesi
It's difficult for foreigners to pronounce such names like kwesi

haydi's picture
haydi
20/06/2016
TN
3189
points

Hi kwesimanifest, it's so weird!!!! You have just 7 names in all Ghana? just because there are seven days in a week!!!


haydi's picture
haydi
20/06/2016 15:36
Tunisia
Newcastle United
3189

Hi kwesimanifest, it's so weird!!!! You have just 7 names in all Ghana? just because there are seven days in a week!!!

Rich's picture
Rich
20/06/2016
ES
594
points

I didn't know about this. It's very interesting and I've just read some more about it. Kwasiada is Sunday and Kwesi is a version of this!

Thanks

Rich - The Premier Skills English Team


Rich's picture
Rich
20/06/2016 08:32
Spain
Liverpool
594

I didn't know about this. It's very interesting and I've just read some more about it. Kwasiada is Sunday and Kwesi is a version of this!

Thanks

Rich - The Premier Skills English Team

kwesimanifest's picture
kwesimanifest
18/06/2016
GH
4768
points

Great 2nd half display from England to win 2-1 against wales


kwesimanifest's picture
kwesimanifest
18/06/2016 06:25
Ghana
Manchester United
4768

Great 2nd half display from England to win 2-1 against wales

kwesimanifest's picture
kwesimanifest
18/06/2016
GH
4768
points

El shaarawy I find it difficult to pronouncexplain his name


kwesimanifest's picture
kwesimanifest
18/06/2016 06:23
Ghana
Manchester United
4768

El shaarawy I find it difficult to pronouncexplain his name

haydi's picture
haydi
20/06/2016
TN
3189
points

Hi kwesimanifest, in 'El shaarawy', there two 'a'! Why? the first 'a' is to subtitute an Arabic letter that have no homologue in any language. Just like the word 'Arabic' or 'Arabs'. The first 'A', is not an 'a' sound. Try to put it in google translate, translate it and then listen to Arabic pronunciation.


haydi's picture
haydi
20/06/2016 15:35
Tunisia
Newcastle United
3189

Hi kwesimanifest, in 'El shaarawy', there two 'a'! Why? the first 'a' is to subtitute an Arabic letter that have no homologue in any language. Just like the word 'Arabic' or 'Arabs'. The first 'A', is not an 'a' sound. Try to put it in google translate, translate it and then listen to Arabic pronunciation.

haydi's picture
haydi
17/06/2016
TN
3189
points

I’m really exhausted to pass all the evening writing. But I’m so happy, because, it’s since three months that I have wanted to write the rules about pronunciation of past regular verbs. I extract them from a video.

Please correct me: it’s the present progressive is the right tense here: (it’s since three months that I have wanted to)?


haydi's picture
haydi
17/06/2016 19:30
Tunisia
Newcastle United
3189

I’m really exhausted to pass all the evening writing. But I’m so happy, because, it’s since three months that I have wanted to write the rules about pronunciation of past regular verbs. I extract them from a video.

Please correct me: it’s the present progressive is the right tense here: (it’s since three months that I have wanted to)?

haydi's picture
haydi
17/06/2016
TN
3189
points

Yes, pronunciation is the most important thing that I’d like to improve.
For writing, the automatically correction in word help us. Also, dictionaries and several websites can give us a full support, so we can cope.
But when we have to speak with others, we can’t stop at every word to correct it, for that pronunciation is important. Here in francophone countries, fluency in English means a good pronunciation, not a good grammar or vocabulary.
What I do to improve my pronunciation in English? I’m just listening for the moment. I like to subscribe in an English class to optimize my English. It’s not bad, but not like native speakers.


haydi's picture
haydi
17/06/2016 19:24
Tunisia
Newcastle United
3189

Yes, pronunciation is the most important thing that I’d like to improve.
For writing, the automatically correction in word help us. Also, dictionaries and several websites can give us a full support, so we can cope.
But when we have to speak with others, we can’t stop at every word to correct it, for that pronunciation is important. Here in francophone countries, fluency in English means a good pronunciation, not a good grammar or vocabulary.
What I do to improve my pronunciation in English? I’m just listening for the moment. I like to subscribe in an English class to optimize my English. It’s not bad, but not like native speakers.

haydi's picture
haydi
17/06/2016
TN
3189
points

Please correct me or add some information.
In English, the sound of each letter (consent or vowel) separately doesn’t present a big difficulty. There are some exceptions like the silent l.
The big problems we find to be fluent in English pronunciation is to master:
- Spelling and pronunciation, which mean that every word has its spelling and pronunciation, e. g. knife /nyf/, often /often/ or /offen/.

- Links between words, there are the /w/ sound and the /y/ sound between a first word ending with a vowel and the second starting with a vowel.

- The pronunciation of the same syllable in several sounds. For example, the past form of regular verbs:
 When the verb is ended with ‘T’ or ‘D’ sound, the (ed) is pronounced /id/ like handed, tasted, wanted, needed, melted.
 When the verb is ended with voiceless sound ‘p’ ‘k’ ‘f’ ‘s’ ‘sh’ ‘ch’ ‘th’, the (ed) is pronounced /t/ like worked, walked, glanced, helped, washed, missed, sliced, fixed, promised, pushed.
 When the verb is ended with any vowel or any voiced sound ‘l’ ‘m’ ‘n’ ‘j’ ‘r’ ‘g’ ‘b’ ‘v’ ‘w’ ‘z’, the (ed) is pronounced /d/ like ordered, arrived, called, played, studied, closed, used.

- The short forms, like (have to) which becomes /havta/. (They are) becomes /ther/…

- The biggest issue is to know which syllable we pronounce the stress in long words, like advertisement
employee, payee, volunteer, engineer, decisive, exclusive, disability, quality, photography, technology, precious, simultaneous. There is no magical rule, we need to listen and practise.


haydi's picture
haydi
17/06/2016 19:13
Tunisia
Newcastle United
3189

Please correct me or add some information.
In English, the sound of each letter (consent or vowel) separately doesn’t present a big difficulty. There are some exceptions like the silent l.
The big problems we find to be fluent in English pronunciation is to master:
- Spelling and pronunciation, which mean that every word has its spelling and pronunciation, e. g. knife /nyf/, often /often/ or /offen/.

- Links between words, there are the /w/ sound and the /y/ sound between a first word ending with a vowel and the second starting with a vowel.

- The pronunciation of the same syllable in several sounds. For example, the past form of regular verbs:
 When the verb is ended with ‘T’ or ‘D’ sound, the (ed) is pronounced /id/ like handed, tasted, wanted, needed, melted.
 When the verb is ended with voiceless sound ‘p’ ‘k’ ‘f’ ‘s’ ‘sh’ ‘ch’ ‘th’, the (ed) is pronounced /t/ like worked, walked, glanced, helped, washed, missed, sliced, fixed, promised, pushed.
 When the verb is ended with any vowel or any voiced sound ‘l’ ‘m’ ‘n’ ‘j’ ‘r’ ‘g’ ‘b’ ‘v’ ‘w’ ‘z’, the (ed) is pronounced /d/ like ordered, arrived, called, played, studied, closed, used.

- The short forms, like (have to) which becomes /havta/. (They are) becomes /ther/…

- The biggest issue is to know which syllable we pronounce the stress in long words, like advertisement
employee, payee, volunteer, engineer, decisive, exclusive, disability, quality, photography, technology, precious, simultaneous. There is no magical rule, we need to listen and practise.

Rich's picture
Rich
20/06/2016
ES
594
points

Thanks for all your comments regarding pronunciation. Thinking about how to say different sounds and being aware of possible mistakes can definitely help in this area. Have you looked at the pronunciation exercises here: https://esol.britishcouncil.org/content/learners/skills/pronunciation

 


Rich's picture
Rich
20/06/2016 08:28
Spain
Liverpool
594

Thanks for all your comments regarding pronunciation. Thinking about how to say different sounds and being aware of possible mistakes can definitely help in this area. Have you looked at the pronunciation exercises here: https://esol.britishcouncil.org/content/learners/skills/pronunciation

 

haydi's picture
haydi
20/06/2016
TN
3189
points

You are welcome Rich and all classmates who want to improve their English skills, including me.
By the way Rich, there is a word that my English teacher (High school) used it to respond someone who tells him 'thank you'.
I remember it but not sure. It's 'not at all'. It's right? The problem that I didn't hear it from anyone else, since those days!!!


haydi's picture
haydi
20/06/2016 15:30
Tunisia
Newcastle United
3189

You are welcome Rich and all classmates who want to improve their English skills, including me.
By the way Rich, there is a word that my English teacher (High school) used it to respond someone who tells him 'thank you'.
I remember it but not sure. It's 'not at all'. It's right? The problem that I didn't hear it from anyone else, since those days!!!

haydi's picture
haydi
20/06/2016
TN
3189
points

Oh yes that woman, I watched her before in YouTube, in "Came or Game". Thank you so much Rich for the link. I liked the video. There are two cameras to show her mouth in front and by side, a smart idea. I need to organise my time! Mission impossible IV.


haydi's picture
haydi
20/06/2016 15:15
Tunisia
Newcastle United
3189

Oh yes that woman, I watched her before in YouTube, in "Came or Game". Thank you so much Rich for the link. I liked the video. There are two cameras to show her mouth in front and by side, a smart idea. I need to organise my time! Mission impossible IV.

haydi's picture
haydi
17/06/2016
TN
3189
points

The Arabic language is famous of its hardness. There are 11 or may be more letters that the Greek and Latin origins’ languages can’t have their homologues. For that, when we translate our names, we need to substitute them by the closest sound Latin letter.
Foreigners, who want to learn Arabic, find lot of difficulty pronouncing, for that they need to learn it in early age, to train their throat and tongue.
We find some homologue letter sounds:
We have a letter like the ‘r’ sound, in French.
We have a letter like ‘j’ sound, in Spanish.
We have two letters like ‘th’ sound (the) and ‘th’ sound (three) in English.
The Persian language is the closet to Arabic.
For example, Ryadh Mahrez has two substitute letters in his name: the (dh) in Ryadh and the (h) in Mahrez.


haydi's picture
haydi
17/06/2016 18:19
Tunisia
Newcastle United
3189

The Arabic language is famous of its hardness. There are 11 or may be more letters that the Greek and Latin origins’ languages can’t have their homologues. For that, when we translate our names, we need to substitute them by the closest sound Latin letter.
Foreigners, who want to learn Arabic, find lot of difficulty pronouncing, for that they need to learn it in early age, to train their throat and tongue.
We find some homologue letter sounds:
We have a letter like the ‘r’ sound, in French.
We have a letter like ‘j’ sound, in Spanish.
We have two letters like ‘th’ sound (the) and ‘th’ sound (three) in English.
The Persian language is the closet to Arabic.
For example, Ryadh Mahrez has two substitute letters in his name: the (dh) in Ryadh and the (h) in Mahrez.

Rich's picture
Rich
20/06/2016
ES
594
points

Yes, I would love to be able to pronounce Riyad Mahrez better. We spoke about him a lot last season and I think we will be speaking about him again! I need to practise my pronunciation!


Rich's picture
Rich
20/06/2016 08:25
Spain
Liverpool
594

Yes, I would love to be able to pronounce Riyad Mahrez better. We spoke about him a lot last season and I think we will be speaking about him again! I need to practise my pronunciation!

haydi's picture
haydi
20/06/2016
TN
3189
points

I tried to put his name in google translate from French/ Englishto Arabic. The spelling is ok, but the woman who pronounces the word did it in a very Classic Arabic way. In spoken Arabic, we don't pronunce all letters, especilay at the end of word, so classicaly. You need to ask any Arabic to help you. Spain is full of Moroccans.


haydi's picture
haydi
20/06/2016 15:10
Tunisia
Newcastle United
3189

I tried to put his name in google translate from French/ Englishto Arabic. The spelling is ok, but the woman who pronounces the word did it in a very Classic Arabic way. In spoken Arabic, we don't pronunce all letters, especilay at the end of word, so classicaly. You need to ask any Arabic to help you. Spain is full of Moroccans.

haydi's picture
haydi
17/06/2016
TN
3189
points

The German players names are so difficult for me.


haydi's picture
haydi
17/06/2016 18:13
Tunisia
Newcastle United
3189

The German players names are so difficult for me.

haydi's picture
haydi
17/06/2016
TN
3189
points

Rich, the Liverpool player Daniel Sturridge has scored the extra time goal against his teammate Daniel Ward, the goalkeeper in the match of yesterday (England v Wales)?


haydi's picture
haydi
17/06/2016 17:50
Tunisia
Newcastle United
3189

Rich, the Liverpool player Daniel Sturridge has scored the extra time goal against his teammate Daniel Ward, the goalkeeper in the match of yesterday (England v Wales)?

haydi's picture
haydi
17/06/2016
TN
3189
points

So, what I have understood about squad is right. For example, if France will play against England, Jamie Vardie will play against his teammate N'Golo Kante. Won’t he?
But what I have understood about the competition is false, or not so right.
The competition question is: Which group will have the most goals by Premier League players in the group stages?
I have picked the Group B (England - Russia - Slovakia – Wales), as I though that Premier League is mostly English players. I confused the nationality and the team.
When I observed the players’ teams of all national teams, I noticed that Premier League players are distributed in the majority of national teams.


haydi's picture
haydi
17/06/2016 17:49
Tunisia
Newcastle United
3189

So, what I have understood about squad is right. For example, if France will play against England, Jamie Vardie will play against his teammate N'Golo Kante. Won’t he?
But what I have understood about the competition is false, or not so right.
The competition question is: Which group will have the most goals by Premier League players in the group stages?
I have picked the Group B (England - Russia - Slovakia – Wales), as I though that Premier League is mostly English players. I confused the nationality and the team.
When I observed the players’ teams of all national teams, I noticed that Premier League players are distributed in the majority of national teams.

Rich's picture
Rich
20/06/2016
ES
594
points

The competition is trickier than it appears at first glance!


Rich's picture
Rich
20/06/2016 08:23
Spain
Liverpool
594

The competition is trickier than it appears at first glance!

haydi's picture
haydi
20/06/2016
TN
3189
points

Yes, I hope that England and Wales both will be qualified to semi final. I think that's the only way to score maximum of goal by Premier Leaugue players. I think!


haydi's picture
haydi
20/06/2016 15:01
Tunisia
Newcastle United
3189

Yes, I hope that England and Wales both will be qualified to semi final. I think that's the only way to score maximum of goal by Premier Leaugue players. I think!

Leaderboard

Top Scorers
RankNameScore
1mobeckham6510
2Alex_from_Ukraine6278
3hsn5525
4wsanta5086
5kwesimanifest4768
6Liubomyr4408
7elghoul3988
8assemjuve3705
9aragorn19863557
10Gergő Nagy3396
Country ranking
RankNameScore
1Colombia71478
2Ukraine33300
3Spain28277
4Serbia27289
5Brazil23896
6Albania20578
7Vietnam19939
8Turkey19810
9Macedonia19074
10Bosnia and Herzegovina16333
Club ranking
RankNameScore
1Manchester United141846
2Liverpool110282
3Chelsea88559
4Arsenal85669
5Manchester City56951
6Tottenham Hotspur19169
7Newcastle United10457
8West Ham United7454
9AFC Bournemouth4454
10Crystal Palace4240

Level

3
Average: 3 (1 vote)

Goals

Skills: Listening

Vocabulary: Football English

Skills: Pronunciation