I think we all feel very much the same about oral tests, they are really stressful. I m not that old to have forgotten the ones I did while training to become a teacher facing, more often than not, a three member board of unsympathetic professors jumping at their chance to make you feel utterly miserable. They were my personal crossing of the Rubicon or, at least, this is how they are stored in my memory.
Having said that much, you all have to see the necessity of these tests or rather you don’t, but this is, I am afraid, not open to discussion. What I wanted to show you is that everybody gets nervous when they have to answer a question in public; moreover, if they cannot use their native language, which would be your case , But.. Miss South Carolina is American, isn’t she?
Well, she did what some students do when they are not very confident. She learnt, by heart, an answer she thought might suit every possible question and so, when asked one that didn’t quite fit in with this answer she struggled to make it fit. Unfortunately , ….
The only two coherent utterances are:
1. The judge’s question : Recent polls have shown a fifth of Americans can’t locate the US on a world map. Why do you think this is?
2. Miss south Carolina’s final sentence: …so we’ll be able to build up our future for our children.
Fancy watching it?
And now the hilarious explanation Jimmy Kimmel gives analysing her words on a blackboard.
Learning a new language can be difficult. We often wonder why it seems easier for some people, for some nationalities, to understand English better than for other speakers. The level of difficulty depends on various aspects but, most definitely, one of them is whether your first language is syllable-timed (giving syllables equal prominence) or stress-timed( temporal duration between two stressed syllables is the same ). English, as well as Danish, Swedish or German, are stress-timed languages whereas Spanish, French or Cantonese Chinese are syllable-timed.
♥Content and Function Words. This is important because we, as Spaniards, try to give equal importance to each syllable but in English, only some words in a sentence are considered important and therefore pronounced with more emphasis (Content words) while others are quickly spoken (Function words) some would say, swallowed.
Look at these two sentences. Although the first has 7 words and the second 12, it should take you the same amount of time to read both sentences. Why? Because as English is a time stressed language there is always the same distance between two stressed words.
Peter saidhorriblethings about your mother.
He left after dinnertaking most of his books in his suitcase.
♥ Another thing to take into consideration is Linking. Words , when they are pronounced in isolation do not sound the same as when pronounced in a sentence. Why? Because of this linking.
Linking occurs in English in these situations:
–Consonant+ vowel : when a word ends with a consonant sound and the next one starts with a vowel sound, we, very often, link them
Liked it | ˈlaɪktɪt |
And I /ən´aɪ |
–Vowel+ Vowel : when one word ends with a vowel sound and the next word begins with a vowel sound, we link the words with a sort of W or Y sound.
To simplify :
♥ If our lips are round at the end of the first word, we insert a W sound: Ex: do it /du:wɪt/
♥ If our lips are wide at the end of the first word, we insert a Y sound: Ex: Ray is /reɪyɪz/
– And then we have theLinking “r” for example, the “r” in “here” would not be pronounced in “Here they are ” (because it is followed by a consonant), but it would be pronounced in “Here I am”. Likewise, the “r” at the end of “far” would only be pronounced if the next word begins with a vowel, as in “far away” /fa:r∂wei/ or” far off”. /fa:rof/
Listen to these sentences and repeat after them paying attention to the linkings. linking.mp3
Not at all
Isn’t it a pity
Ian’s wearing odd socks?
Was ever a bride so pretty?
♥To be honest, I am not a big fan of Katy Perry but her song I kissed a Girl is great to practiseContent and Function Words and the chorus is just the perfect example to make students understand the issue of Linking Words and Function Words; by singing along Katy Perry” I kissed a girl and I liked it “, they’ll be practising linking words and weak forms without effort .
The thing is, this time I was looking for the real thing, I mean, a proper job interview but when I saw this sketch from Monty Python I just couldn’t help myself . I wanted you to watch it and have a big laugh. I am going to keep on searching the Net for a serious job interview, I promise.
Watch the hilarious interview from this English comedy troupe , one of the best , in my opinion .
and yet another one! this time from the mighty BBC. Again , I’ve chosen this one to help you practise pronunciation, reading and above all, listening. Hope you enjoy it!!
