Here is my latest guitar tune...

I have a new idea. It is called "Tea-break training"  because we can do this when we have a tea-break. Some people like to read a newspaper, do a crossword or puzzle. With this idea, all you need to do is find a text of easy-to-understand English and then read it and speak it. This is not about serious study. It's just about practicing speaking and a little writing.
 
Here is the idea:
 
1. Read the example text below a few times. The idea is to have no real problem understanding it.
2. Speak it slowly in the best way you can. Maybe three times.
3. Concentrate on the intonation, the word syllables and the word endings. Just enjoy it - don't study it!!!.
4. Play around with the words and see if you can make up three sentences to describe what you have read and spoken.
5. Don't forget to finish your tea!
 
Example text:
 
"Many people in England like to take their holidays in other countries. This is because a lot of people look for very sunny weather for a couple of weeks per year. It isn't that England has bad weather so often, it is just that compared to many other countries, we do not have so much sunny weather. . The favourite holiday destinations for English people are: France, Spain,USA, Italy and Greece. More and more English people like to go to Turkey and some even like to go to a place called Goa in India. But, wherever we go, we also like to come back to England. We complain a lot about the weather, however, we are very lucky because we do not have extremes of weather: hurricanes, tornados, huge thunderstorms, very low temperatures. But we only really complain about the weather because it helps us keep a conversation going and it's also a good way to start a conversation!

First sentence:  English people like to complain about the weather!

Second sentence: But they realise they are lucky because the climate in England is mild.

Third sentence: English people like to holiday around the world, but mostly they visit other European countries, especially those which have very sunner weather!
 
So, I have given you the idea. You can find other texts from many websites. But for this idea make sure they are quite easy to read and understand and not very long. This is just for  "tea break training" 

You can use this for the language you are learning.
 
Bye
Alan

Hello everybody

Have you seen on TV when the film can be "frozen" (stopped) so that we can analyse something better?

Football matches, news items, game shows. This idea is useful.

And we can do the same thing with language speaking practice on our own.

1. Look at a situation (real or imaginary)

2. "Freeze it" 

3. Ask a question about it:

Example: a ladder (next to) a wall,

"why is that ladder there?"

4. Answer the question:

"someone is painting? someone needs to repair something?"

5. Expand the sentences:

"I wonder why that ladder is there? I wonder if someone is doing some painting or repairing something?"

5. Look at the gaps in you vocabulary. Words you know, words you don't know, words you want to know.

6. Revisit the situation and "freeze" it again

"Ah, maybe someone put a ladder next to the wall ready to do some work and then walked away to get something, or maybe they have forgotten something they need"

This way, from a simple situation with a few words:

Ladder

near to

a wall

You then get more words in your mind about a situation:

Maybe

someone

ladder

next to

ready to do

something

they

forget/forgotten

need

You can make this idea simpler or more complex

For example:

Simple situation "I want a cup of tea"

I

want

(cup of) tea

Complex situation: "wanting to book a holiday, a plane ticket and a travel visa"

wanting

book a holiday

book a plane ticket

book a visa

bye for now

Alan

Hello! This is my welcome page! I have a new-look website for 2010!

On the "home page" there will always be this "welcome message" and also my most recent article. All my other podcasts and text blogs and music are still there. All you need to do is just click on any category from the list on the left of this page!

You can also use the Libsyn Player to play MP3 recordings.

Have a Happy New Year 2010 everybody!

Your webhost Alan Palmer

alan_r_palmer@hotmail.com (for your valuable feedback!)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My name is Alan Palmer. I am a 53 year old Conformity Manager from Lancashire, England. My hobbies are learning languages and playing guitar I've been learning French for 18 years. I started German at the age of 11 and learned it for 3 years. I restarted German again in 2001. I'm also learning Mandarin Chinese (the most important dialect in China) and I learn some Spanish when time permits. Over the years I've realised certain things about learning languages that I think may be useful to others, so my podcasts and textblogs will be language-based (or musical) and mostly in English, but I will post things in other languages too occasionally. I hope you find my webcasts interesting and I hope to post at least two per week. Take care and be good, be happy! October 2009 

Hallo! Ich bin 53 Jahre, Conformity Manager aus Nordwest England. Ich bin verheiratet und habe 2 erwachsene Söhne. Mein Interesse Sprachen zu lernen begann bereits in meiner Jugend. Mit 11 Jahren fing ich an Deutsch zu lernen. Erst mit 35 Jahren habe in angefangen Französisch zu lernen. Seit dieser Zeit habe ich mir zum Ziel gesetzt diese Sprachen zu beherrschen und betreibe es als ernsthaftes Hobby. Im Jahr 2001 begann ich wieder Deutsch zu lernen. Auch habe ich jetzt angefangen Chinesisch und Spanisch zu lernen.

你们好! 我是Alan Palmer。 (我中文的名字是阿伦）我生活在英国西北部，我是一名53岁的公司经理。我已经结婚，并且有两个已经长大成人的儿子。 在我年轻的时候，就开始对学习外语产生兴趣。我从十一岁起开始学习德语，直到35岁时才开始学习法语。从那时起，我已经开始认真对待这个学习外语的爱好，希望能把外语讲得更流利。 2001年，我开始重新学习德语；而在2007年,我又开始学习汉语

Bonjour. Je suis Alan Palmer. J'ai 53 ans et je suis Responsable Qualité dans le Lancashire, au Nord-Ouest de l'Angleterre. Je suis marié et nous avons deux fils d'âge adulte. Mon interêt pour les langues a commencé quand j'étais petit. J'ai débuté par l'Allemand à l'âge de 11 ans. Je l'ai appris pour 3 ans, puis à 35 ans j'ai commencé à apprendre le Français. Depuis, mon passe-temps est de poursuivre mon objectif, c'est-à-dire de parler des langues couramment. J'ai recommencé à apprendre l'Allemand en 2001 et je viens de commencer le Mandarin, qui est un dialecte chinois, et l'Espagnol.

Hola! Mi nombre es Alan Palmer. Soy un de 53 años de la conformidad Administrador de Lancashire, Inglaterra. Mis aficiones son el aprendizaje de idiomas y de guitarra que he estado aprendiendo francés de 19 años. Empecé en  Alemania a la edad de 11 y e aprendido durante 3 años. Me reinicia alemán de nuevo en 2001. También estoy aprendiendo chino mandarín (el dialecto más importante en China) y puedo aprender a algo de español, cuando el tiempo lo permite. Con los años me he dado cuenta de ciertas cosas sobre el aprendizaje de idiomas que creo que puede ser útil a los demás, así que mis "podcasts" (MP3) y "textblogs" serán basada en el lenguaje (o musical) y en su mayoría en Inglés, pero voy a publicar cosas en otros idiomas también de vez en cuando. Espero que mi webcasts sea  interesante y espero enviar al menos dos por semana. 

Your webhost 

Alan (Language Explorer)

www.language-explorer.co.uk

Have you ever thought of practicing a one-word conversation? You might say "what is that?" It is where two (or more) people can have a conversation just using single words. Here is an example:

Hello!

Hello!

OK?

Yes!

You?

Fine!

Hungry?

No

Thirsty?

Yes!

Coffee?

Tea?

Yes

Chinese?

Indian?

Yes

Here!

Thanks!

Great!

Cheers!

20 words in total.

What is the reason for practicing this? Well, you can put more concentration into:

The story (someone meets someone and they go and have tea together)

Intonation (how the words are pronounced with tone)

Pronuciation (the actual pronunciation)

Style (the way the words are said)

Pauses (the gaps between the words)

Emotions (the thoughts behind the words)

You don't have to think of many words to have this sort of practice.

Bye for now

Good?

Good!

Bye

Alan

When we get cold, we put on more clothes. We add on clothes to keep ourselves warm and to protect ourselves from the weather. We can also wear special clothes to protect us: gloves, for example.

What have clothes to do with language?

Well, just as we can add more layers of clothes to keep warm, we can add more "layers" of language to help us cope with a language situation.

So, what are language clothes?

As we need strong shoes, we need good strong words that tell people what we want to do, or need.

"I want to buy a train ticket please" (definate words that say all we want to say)

Some clothes are underneath others, so we don't see them but they keep us warm:

These words are support words that we just bring in when we need them:

"thank you" " please" "could you?" "is it ok if?" "would it be possible"

"I hope you don't mind if" " that would be so nice" " do you mind if?"

These words give you support and chance to bring in other words that do more work

As we need outer bright clothes, so we are seen in the dark, we need "bright" words so people can understand us well:

"I would like very much to visit you next week . Can I come and see you?" (bright and clear words)

Sometimes we get dressed up for a special occasion to show our best clothes. So we need "best dress" words for showing off our best language skills:

special vocabulary, interesting words, interesting expressions, slang, technical words

So, wear the right clothes for the right time and use the right words at the right time.

Bye for now

Alan

Here is a great article by Tamara McGee Andersen from this website:

http://www.ehow.com/how_5513489_learn-english-thoroughly.html

Step 1

Read as many books as you can in English. Choose reading material that covers a variety of topics. Make sure you read books by different authors. Ask friends, teachers, neighbors and the local librarian what reading material they would recommend to you. Reading will help you improve your comprehension of written English

Step 2 

Seek opportunities to hear spoken English. Listen to the radio or attend debates at a local college. Pay attention to conversations in the grocery store. Go to an English speaking church. By taking advantage of every English listening opportunity you have, you will be better able to understand the nuances of spoken English.

Step 3

Watch television and movies. Observe how characters react to each other. Try to understand the jokes on the comedies. Attempt to follow the story line. After you have watched a movie or show once in English, watch it again with subtitles in your native language. Listen carefully as you read the subtitles to ensure that you understand the story correctly.

Step 4

Learn the rules of the English language. Attend classes that explain grammar rules. Make note of speech patterns. Make sure you understand the basic rules for writing properly in English. Study verb tenses and how to use singular and plural words. When you understand the rules of English you are better prepared to thoroughly learn the language.

Step 5

Focus on building vocabulary. Write down words you do not understand from books and look them up. Ask a friend to define an unfamiliar word from a conversation. Purchase flash cards that contain English words and definitions. Memorize one of these words daily.

Step 6

Ask for explanations. Solicit the help of a friend if you do not understand an idiom on a TV show. Request that words be repeated when you do not understand what has been said. Make an appointment with your teacher to explain a concept you do not understand. By asking questions you will clarify any uncertainty you have about English.

In English the word "could" can be used in different ways.

1. First way to use "could" is like this

I could visit you next week

I could not visit you last week

What about these sentences?

We could go on holiday next week

Last week we could not go on holiday

or these?

we could not swim, because it is too cold

we could not swim, but now we can swim

The best way to understand is to ask yourself a question. Is the sentence about the past or about the present or the future

If it is about the past, change "could" in your mind to "was/were able to" and "could not" to "was/were not able to"

Now the sentences read different:

I could visit you next week (is possible to visit)

I was not able to visit you last week (not possible to visit)

We could go on holiday next week (will be possible)

Last week we were not able not go on holiday (not possible)

We could not swim, because it is too cold (not possible)

we were not able to swim, but now we can swim (we did not know how to swim, but now we have learned to swim, we can swim)

2  The second way is as a polite request:

Could you open the door for me please?

Could you pick up my newspaper from the newsagent please?

Could you stop shouting!

So, I thing you could learn more about "could" if you could (were able to) know more about "could".

So, could you learn about "could" please?

Bye!

Alan

When we speak in our own language, we speed up and slow down naturally without thinking about it.

When we learn a language and want to speak it, we often think everything has to be at the same speed, the same level, the same complexity.

Speech varies to suit the mood, situation and person or persons we are speaking with:

For example, speaking to a child who is crying is different to speaking to a person in a bank!

So, like in a car, let's "change gear" as we need to, so we can speak at the right speed at the right time.

Here is an example speaking to a person in a railway station: "Hello... could I buy a ticket to (London)... please?  Which station?  ......oh.... I want to go to.....Euston station please. Yes, that's right...thank you.  Bye bye."

To a child:  "hello....! do you like.... ice cream? ........very good!"

To a friend:  "hey! shall we go out? What do you think? Yes? Great!"

If you find that you cannot remember some words, then just slow down a bit:

"hey! shall we go out? what.....(forgetting "what do you think?") do you agree?....Yes? Great!

"hello!  do you like...(forgetting word for "ice cream") something to eat? what about ....this? (point to ice cream)

Changing gear keeps us driving at the right speed!

Bye for now

Alan

Happy New Year everybody!

When we learn languages, usually we learn in a classroom. Sometimes, like me, we learn at home.

Eventually, we need to use our languages as we cannot be a student forever!

In fact, personally I do not like the word "student". The reason is, when we speak with and write to native speakers, it does not matter how long we have been learning, we stop being a student, and immediately we are a "speaker".

So, when we do actually use our language skills (at whatever level we have) then we need to protect ourselves from problems as much as we can.  I think of this as like being out in the rain. We get wet! But with an umbrella we can keep drier.   This is because we must "go out in the rain" (do something active, such as speak with people and write something for people to read) 

Our "language umbrella" has holes in it!

So, to cover the holes, we can do some things:

1. Learn polite phrases

2. Learn how to ask questions well

3. Keep learning new words

4. Keep using as many words as we can remember

5. Don't forget to smile

6. Think of interesting subjects to talk and write about

7. Learn some slang (so you know some, but no need to use it)

8. Learn some common expressions

Here are eight "patches" for the umbrella. How many more holes are there to patch? Let's patch up that umbrella! Then we can keep dry wherever we go!

Bye for now

Alan

I wish everyone a happy and prosperous New Year 2010!

Kind regards

Alan

Here is Explorer's Lore 5

Happy New Year!

The word "because" can be very useful for language practice. It helps us confirm our thoughts. It can be useful for writing or speaking.

For example:

"I like learning languages, because this is my passion"

"It's great to have friends in foreign countries, because we can share language learning ideas"

You can also start the sentences (spoken or written) with "Because"

Because I like sharing language ideas, I think it is great to have friends in foreign countries

Because it is my passion, I like to learn languages

Notice how when I use "because" at the beginning, I feel that I have to add more detail to explain. This is something to do with how we understand English sentences. I am not sure why precisely.

Because is a useful word in many circumstances and practicing speaking and writing becomes easier, because(!) we have a word "because" to put in to help us explain our thoughts,

I like playing football, because I like sport

I don't eat meat, because I am a vegetarian

I want to go to the football match, because I am a football fan

Because my friends like my company, I like to go out with them.

When we are speaking with native speakers and they ask us a question, we can use "because" as a good way to give ourselves time to think of words and what we want to say.

For example:

"How long have you been learning Chinese?"

"2 years"

"Why do you learn Chinese?"

"Because......I like to learn Chinese as a hobby, and because.....I hope to visit China in the future.

Why did I write this article? Because I wanted to show how because can be useful, because "because" is a really useful word!

Bye for now

Alan

Christmas words and phrases:

Christmas Eve, Christmas Day

Happy Christmas! Merry Christmas!

Christmas holiday/vacation, Christmas party

Christmas greetings, Christmas tidings

Christmas present/gift, Christmas wrapping

The Festive Season, Christmas time, Noel

Christmas tree, Christmas cards, Christmas crackers,

Christmas dinner, Christmas pudding, Christmas cake, Yule log

How many more can you think of?

Have a good Christmas!

Bye for now

Alan

Hello everybody I don't know if the following story is true, but whether or not it actually happened, it is a wonderfully inspiring Christmas story. In this season of love, may we all remember the beautiful love of a small child. I wish you all a meaningful and love-filled holiday season and New Year ahead. THE GOLD WRAPPING PAPER - An Inspiring Christmas Story Once upon a time, a man punished his five-year-old daughter for using up the family's only roll of expensive gold wrapping paper before Christmas. Money was tight, so he became even more upset when on Christmas Eve, he saw that the child had used the expensive gold paper to decorate a large shoebox she had put under the Christmas tree. Nevertheless, the next morning the little girl, filled with excitement, brought the gift box to her father and said, "This is for you, Daddy!" As he opened the box, the father was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, now regretting how he had punished her. But when he opened the shoebox, he found it was empty and again his anger flared. "Don't you know, young lady,” he said harshly, "when you give someone a present there's supposed to be something inside the package!" The little girl looked up at him with sad tears rolling from her eyes and whispered: "Daddy, it's not empty. I blew kisses into it until it was all full." The father was crushed. He fell on his knees and put his arms around his precious little girl. He begged her to forgive him for his unnecessary anger.

I'm looking for better ways to remember words.
 
I have this idea of making a small personal dictionary which we can build up slowly over time.
 
I've called it "colour-key learning"
 
1. "word-colours" (to help memory)
 
red colour for words we will need and use a lot
blue colour for words we will need to use often
green colour for words we will use sometimes
yellow colour for words we will use rarely
 
2. We can then make a pronunication key with syllables (with English this can be how you want to show it - I have shown examples)
For Chinese - pinyin is the best way I think
 
3. Then describe the word: noun, verb
 
4. Then a small sentence to help remember the word

 I think the colour idea will make the words seem like a picture in our "mind's eye". I already realised I can remember the word  zhao3 (to find) easier now,because I can think of me trying to find a red car.

Download the photo 

Bye

Alan

Here is a useful website for listening and reading practice.

http://www.internetpolyglot.com/

Bye

Alan

Many people say that to learn a language we must learn words!

How right they are!

But, learning words and phrases is difficult, certainly for me anyway!

I've been thinking more about words recently.

I think if we think about what words are and what words are used for, it will help us learn them, know them and use them.

So what qualities do words have? They have:

a spelling: the way the word is written down

a meaning: the word has a meaning on its own or when put with other words.

a sound when spoken: so we recognise it when spoken

a purpose: the word is used for certain reasons

a link to other words: in speech, in writing

a belonging to a category of words: verb, noun, adverb, adjective

sometimes a word is associated with an emotion:  for example: hate, love, fear

So, when we learn words, we can take a little time to think about the word, what we need it for, what we will do with it and what it will mean to us when we use it.

Let us make words belong to us!

Bye for now

Alan

A useful website I think.

http://www.uel.ac.uk/skillzone/resourses/docs/resourc/engl_skill.htm

Bye for now

Alan

Hello everybody

Today I want to talk about pronunciation of consonants

Many language teachers and text books discuss vowel sounds in detail, but what about consonants? Often they are forgotten about.

We can practice them easily.

How do we do that?

Well, quite a few consonants are linked together when we do not realise it.

P and B

T and D

F and V

C, K, Q and X

S, Z and X

P is known as an "unvoiced” consonant and B is voiced. The way to move lips and tongue is the same but voiced involved sound coming from your vocal chords through your mouth to make a different letter.

T and D     T is unvoiced and D is voiced. The way to move lips and tongue is the same

 F and V     F is unvoiced andV is voiced. The way to move lips and tongue is the same

C, K and Q   are unvoiced and can sound the same with some words

S, Z and X     S can be unvoiced as in "still” and voiced as in “closed” when it sounds like a Z.

Z is voiced ： Zero, Zenith, Zodiac

X usually sounds like a KS together  "eXtreme" "X-Factor" "eX-husband" 

Occasionally it sounds like a Z      "Xerxes" (zerkszees) "Xenon" (zenon)

Try saying this slowly and carefully:

"PeTer anD BoriS were Talking and DiScuSSing. They are FriendS anD Very Very gooD FrienDs. PeTer and Boris Couldn'T KiCK a FooTBall QuiTe well, BeCauSe They were BuSy Seeing animalS aT the Zoo. When the Zoo CloSeD, They wenT home Through The eXiT gaTe". The Zoo haD Xenon lighting so iT was really bright.

So practice your consonants and you can enjoy the challenge!

I"ll record my voice for this podcast later so you can hear me speak. In the meantime “look after your consonants and they'll look after you!”

Bye for now

Alan

PS. Here is a useful website:

http://languagearts.pppst.com/index.html

Many of us have very few or nobody to speak our languages with face to face. Some people are lucky enough to be able to visit another country or find a native speaker to talk with.

I believe we can practice speaking on our own with some success.

I have some tips on how to do this:

1. Find a place where you can speak with normal voice without disturbing anybody (a private place: a quiet room, in a car, in a train)  Don't feel embarassed. It is a good way to practice speaking!

2. Find an interesting subject where you have some vocabulary.

3. Start in a simple way with some words to get your pronunication working well.

4. Speak in small sentences: Examples: "I like learning English. I find it interesting. I would like to write a diary today..."

5. Expand on the sentences: Example: "I think learning Chinese is very interesting...maybe I should learn some more words?"

6. If you cannot think of a word in the language, put in your own word from your own language: Example:  "I like practicing my speaking when I have time, it is really (your own language word e.g. "useful") for me. 

7. When you run out of things to say, or you feel tired, Stop.

Happy speaking!

By for now

Alan

1. Find some well-known food types from the places where the language is spoken: e.g. "Fish and Chips" is popular in England

2. Make your own "dictionary entry" to describe words. Here are some examples:

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandwich : "Sandwich" is a food item consisting of two or more slices of bread with one or more fillings between them,or one slice of bread with a topping or toppings, commonly called an open sandwich.

Now, my description:  Sandwich is food that is made from slices of bread (usually two, but can be more) with a filling put between the slices to form a convenient food which is easy to eat. The fillings can be sweet or savoury. An open sandwich is one slice of bread covered with a topping. Sometimes the bread slices are also buttered.

3. Make sentences from words that make a rhyme,and also that makes sense as a sentence then speak them as a tongue twister.

"Roger ran right around the roundabout"

"Fred fried four fresh fish on Friday for Frank"

4. Write about or talk about the weather. English people love to do this:

"Today was a murky, grey, rainy day."

" The north wind was cold and we also had blustery showers."

" what a lovely, sunny, clear, cloudless day"

5. Link two different sentences with a well-thought out middle sentence:

My dog is quite friendly

The kitchen is well decorated.

My dog is quite friendly, (he came in with muddy feet and I didn't like that because) the kitchen is well decorated.

Here is my friend's car

People play football in the park

People play football in the park, (I think my friend is there to play football because )here is my friends' car in the car park next to the park.

6. Name as many of the things from your memory that you can see in the room you are sitting in.

I can see:  a lamp, a television, a clock, 5 pictures on the wall...etc

Bye

Alan

When we learn languages, we often need encouragement. We can do this for ourselves.

1. When we make some mistakes, don't understand so well, pronounce wrong, someone misunderstands us, we can say to ourselves:

"these are things to think about"

2. When we make some progress, do something well, remember words, write a good text, understand some spoken language. We can say:

"I am as happy as Happy Harry's happy hippo!"

 I think saying these sentences to ourselves can keep up thinking positively!

Bye for now

Alan

This is only a short blog message.

Have you ever thought about this?

When people talk about things, show films, write books and describe about something other than language, we can understand well what they mean to say.

One of the big problems with language learning is that we cannot understand well about it, and how it feels to know another language until we can actually do it.

We can read about other peoples' experiences and listen to them speak in a different language, but we cannot have the feeling of understanding what it is like to know a different language: read, write, speak and listen to it - until we can do these things for ourselves.

So, language learning can be a bit lonely to decide on "what to do" and "when to do", "why we do" and "where we do"...

But, whatever we do.......let's enjoy it!

Bye for now

Alan

Hello everybody,

I know that I talk a lot on my website about "relaxed learning”. I do believe this is the best way to learn; with a relaxed mind and attitude.

However, sometimes I talk about “challenges”. When we choose to learn a language, we also accept that we will be challenged. These challenges come from the challenge of learning the language itself, but also the challenge of the “real world”.

There are any number of situations in life which would present a challenge to us, even in our own language.

In a different language, the challenges increase.

So, how do we use relaxed learning ideas to meet challenges that are not relaxing?

Here are some challenges that have happened to me in a foreign country:

1. Trying to find my way around.
2. Somebody got angry with me when I did not know why
3. Getting on the wrong bus
4. Ordering food and the wrong food comes.
5. Being stopped by a policeman and being asked for my passport.
6. Driving on the right and trying to reading road signs (In England we drive on the left)
7. Being accosted by a drunken person
8. Ordering breakfast in a hotel but not knowing what the food actually is.
9. Going through customs in an airport and having to explain what is in my suitcase.
10. Losing my wallet.

These are 10 examples of challenges.

So, what can we do as a language explorer?

We can:

1. Practice some important question words: “can you help me please?” “where do I find?” “could you tell me?”
2. Have a small situation in our mind that we can use in difficult situations “I am a visitor here, would you please allow me some time to answer your questions please?”
3. Practice shouting in the language “Help!” “Come here please!” “Leave me alone!” “Why do you want that?!”
4. Make a small notebook with important words in it: Customs, toilets,money changing, credit card, e-mail, internet, airport, bus station etc.
5. Prepare your mind to avoid panic. Find the words for “calm down!” “it's ok!” “it"s very kind of you to offer assistance”
6. If you can, ask someone to try out a scenario. In the airport, on a train, booking a table at a restaurant. But not just the words that we see in text books, make sure you add new ideas for something going wrong.

When a person is training for the police, they do not meet up with criminals during the training. But they meet with special trainers who act like real criminals so the trainee can understand what can happen after they have completed the training.

When we learn to drive, we must study about the special hazards that happen when we drive: bad weather, people walking in the road, bad light, speeding drivers.

Then we practice driving to discover these in practice.

This is called “simulation” and “role-play”.

We need to do the same in language exploration. Let’s practice before we are in the not-so-relaxing situations that we will come up against eventually.

The Scout movement motto says it all: “Be prepared” 

I hope you like listening to the word spoken with each "mood" so you can hear how we use "tones" in English.

I think you will like the funny pictures also.

Bye for now

Alan

Our language is affected by our moods and feelings.

We can practice mood words as a way of developing our language skills:

Here are some NEGATIVE MOOD WORDS with corresponding POSITIVE MOOD WORDS

I've written some sentences for practice.

*Tense "I've been feeling tense lately about all my problems”

*Light-hearted  "I try to be light-hearted about my problems”

*Gloomy “Cooking food every day makes me gloomy”

*Playful “I like to be playful about cooking food”

*Violent   “my girlfriend gets quite violent when she drinks alcohol” 

*Tender   “my girlfriend is quite tender”

*Pessimistic “I am a pessimistic person”

*Optimistic “I am an optimistic person” 

*Cold   “I'm cold with people I don"t like”

*Warm  “I"m warm with people I like”

*Hopeless  “It’s hopeless, I’ll never go to China”

*Hopeful  “I’m hopeful that I can travel to China in the future”

*Haunting   “Seeing that old photo is haunting”

*Nostalgic  “When I look at old photos it makes me nostalgic”

*Nightmarish “Christmas is a nightmarish time with my family”

*Peaceful    “Christmas is a peaceful time with my family”

* Hostile      “My neighbours are quite hostile to me”

*Welcoming   “My friends are welcoming when we visit them”

*Suspenseful   “The office can be quite suspenseful when the boss arrives”

*Harmonious  “Things are quite harmonious in our office”

*Foreboding  “Travelling to other countries is quite foreboding”

*Trustful   “It’s best to be trustful when travelling to other countries”

*Threatening  “I can’t speak English there. The people seem threatening”

*Confident  “I want to be confident speaking to people in English”

*Terrifying “It’s terrifying when I fly in an airplane” 

*Joyous  “A marriage is a joyous occasion”

*Heartbroken “I feel heartbroken when I make many mistakes when speaking a foreign language”

*Empowered  “I feel empowered when I speak another language”

*Lonely   “It’s lonely being a language learning on my own

*Inclusive  “My club is inclusive, it welcomes all new members”

For Chinese visitors:

What do you think if I start a Chinese/English website?

I need to know if you will visit it, because this will cost me $6 per month. I am happy to pay this if I know I will have people interested in visiting it.

My question is:

Do you think it is a good idea and will you want to visit it?

I am wanting to know if Chinese friends who visit my website now (language-explorer) would want to visit a new website "language-people-culture"
=我现在想知道的是：访问我现在这个网站（language-explorer）的中国朋友，是否希望访问我的新网站"语言、文化和人民"

alan_r_palmer@hotmail.com

谢谢

 再见

阿伦

Hello everybody. A new idea is about "different vocabulary for language learning"

how many times do we see people say:

"I must study hard"

"I must study very hard"

What exactly does "study hard" mean?

Does it mean read a lot? speak a lot?

Does it mean get stressed and worry a lot?

To me the words "study hard" are a bit meaningless.The words "study hard" are meaningless, because it means different things to different students:

Some students love learning and nothing is "hard". Others study and study and learn little. Both types of students would perhaps say "I am studying hard", but it would not mean the same thing to each type of student. Many people say this without really thinking about what they are saying.

When I read or hear language students saying this, I get a bit worried, because the more they say "I must study hard", the more they can make themselves stressed or frustrated.

Instead of the word "study hard", what about saying:

 "intelligent enjoyment "

Also, another thing I have been thinking about is descriptions of language levels. Many academics, teachers and employers refer to language ability as different levels.

beginner or novice or "newbie"

intermediate

upper-intermediate

advanced

I have some new vocabulary:

Instead of: "beginner"

What about saying "enjoyment level 1"

"intermediate" could be "enjoyment level 2"

etc...

What do you think?

One of the problems with English is there are many different ways to say the same thing

and sometimes there are the "conventional phrases" that people say often but do not really think carefully about what it means.

"my English is poor"

"I want to speak like a native speaker"

"I cannot speak well"

"can you help me with my English, it is so bad?"

These phrases are not good phrases in my opinion

My English is poor , better to say

"I like learning English and I want to improve it"

"I cannot speak well" better to say more "I'd like to make my pronunication more like a native speaker and make my language flow better when I speak"

More words, but better words!

What do you think?

Bye for now

Alan

Here are voice recording contributions from Carrie, Yuli, Dawn and Kay.

Many thanks!

Alan

Here is issue 4 of ExpLoRErs LoRE

Many thanks to all who contributed some wonderful articles and voice recordings.

Bye for now

Alan

Here is my new guitar tune.

I hope you like it.

Bye

Alan

When we learn languages, it's often quite difficult to get the chance to actually hear someone speaking in a casual way.

It is interesting how words are created. Computer and Internet terms are springing up all the time and the two words "blog" for "weblog" or "web diary" and "podcast" from "I-pod (MP3 player) and the word "broadcast". These are recent words in English which are now well known to Internet users.

The English language is always expanding. It's interesting to think how many words have come into the language since I was a child. Also words become old-fashioned and disappear from use. This makes English one of the biggest languages in terms of vocabulary as well as number of people who speak it.

In Britain there are many accents. I speak with a Northern English accent, or more precisely with a Lancashire accent. But even in Lancashire there are quite a number of slightly different sounding accents. So I could say that I speak with an East Lancashire accent. Even then, I could say that some words and vowel sounds are a little different between the town where I live and the next town nearby.
These differences are very small and you would probably have to have been brought up in the region to hear these differences.

In fact accents are also changing quite a lot in my country. Most people used to speak with a pronounced (or very strong) regional or local accent, and many still do, but for a lot of people, their accents are not as strong as they used to be and this is because people move around the country more than they used to in the past. Also, TV and films have a big influence and people modify their speech to make themselves more understandable to others.

Some of the more noticeable differences are the short open vowels in the North such as "bath" (short "a")where in the South it would sound more like "barth" (long "a")

In the North of England people often shorten the word where the "th" in the word "the" sometimes is shortened to "t" - walking t"dog instead of "walking the dog". A recent Northern pronunciation which sounds quite funny is " t'Internet" instead of "the Internet". If you find that some of the words or phrases a little difficult to understand, then please leave me a comment and I"ll try to explain it.

I’ve started to use podcasts myself for learning languages. It’s great that we can listen to interesting presentations so easily these days. I remember when I was young, I used to have a small short-wave transistor radio and I used to try an listen to other languages but the quality was always poor and the radio stations I did find were very faint and the language and country seemed so far away.

Nowadays it is so easy to contact people on MSN, QQ, Skype and speak with them around the world. I think it is really fantastic that the technology exists that allows this to happen. It makes you wonder how this will develop in the future.

If you have any suggestions for my webcasts let me know. For the moment, I am just talking about things that interest me in the hope that you find it interesting too.

Fluency - setting up a conversation

Hello everybody. Today I want to talk about how to make your spoken English flow better and to help you with making it a little easier to talk to people, particularly native speakers.

To have a good conversation you need to start well, enjoy the conversation and make it a two way thing and to find a good way to finish. This is useful and has nothing to do with the length of time you speak for.

To start off a conversation, try to remember some good opening sentences: If you know somebody already… (informal)

"How are you today?”

 “Nice to see you, how's it going?”

“What"s new? How are things?”

 “It’s good to see you”

If you are meeting someone for the first time (formal)

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, my name is…..”

“Nice to meet you, my name is, how are you?”

“Let me introduce myself, I’m……(name)”

The next part is to let the other person do something similar and then you have names. If they use first names, then you can also use first names.

The next stage is to give yourself time to think. The small pauses seem to be a long time, but they will only be a few seconds.

“I’m learning English and…………. I’m finding it so interesting”

 “It’s great to be able to speak with you in English………………, I’m enjoying learning it”

“I would like to improve my English…..I do have a few problems now and then, so forgive me if I am a little slow at times….”

“What a pleasure it is to be able to speak some English…… I like learning it and I’m hoping to improve it”

Then you can follow my advice about keeping the conversation going by letting the other person speak more, asking questions, saying phrases like:

“ah really?”

“that’s interesting”

“I see”

“hmmm, well you make a good point there”

“I agree with you…” (if you do agree)

 “That’s right!”

 If you are uncertain, or you don’t understand so well

“Oh, I’m not sure what you mean there…”

“Could you repeat that please?”

“That’s interesting, but I’m not sure what you meant by……”

“Really? Well, it’s certainly something to think about”

Many of these sorts of sentences can be used to keep conversations going and also give you time to relax and enjoy the conversation because most of the work will be on the other person.

The more time you can give yourself in a conversation, the more time you have to think of the right words you want to say . If they ask you what you think about something and you are not sure what to say, then you can use these sorts of phrases:

 “Oh, I’m not sure about that, tell me what you think again please?”

“Well, I would think it is something to consider yes,”

“I think it’s not easy to answer that, what’s your opinion?”

All the time, these sentences and pauses give you more time without the other person realising that you are doing this because they are also answering your questions.

Enjoy your conversations!

Bye for now

I speak this in Chinese and English on the recording.

Here is a little project for you.
5 reasons for learning English
"I like learning English because........"
Here are mine about Chinese
我喜欢学习中文。因为。。

I like learning Chinese because

1。我能交中国朋友
2。我可以学习一些中国的国学
3。我能去中国度假，说一点中文。
4。我可以看一些汉语书
5。我能和中国人交流，特别(尤其)是我的中国朋友们

Bye

阿伦

Another way to make a text easier to read and understand, is to make gaps between words and phrases. We cannot do this with books, but we can do this with computer texts.

Bye for now!

Alan

Here is a text from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

May you live in interesting times

May you live in interesting times, often referred to euphemistically as the Chinese curse, is reputed to be the English translation of an ancient Chinese proverb and curse, although it may have originated among the English themselves (or Americans). No known user of the English phrase has supplied the purported Chinese language original, and the Chinese language origin of the phrase, if it exists, has not been found, making its authenticity doubtful. One theory is that it may be related to the Chinese proverb, "It's better to be a dog in a peaceful time than be a man in a chaotic period" (寧為太平犬，不做亂世人; pinyin: níng wéi tàipíng quǎn, bù zuò luànshì rén).

Here is the same text split up.  We can use the gaps to add explanations:

May you live in interesting times,        

often referred to

euphemistically>(subsituted name) 

as        

the Chinese curse,          

is reputed>(accepted without evidence)          

to be              

the English translation     

of an ancient      

Chinese proverb and curse,              

although           

it may have originated>(started)           

among     

the English themselves (or Americans).

Origins

No known user>(speaker)         

of the English phrase            

has supplied         

the purported> (same as reputed) 

Chinese language        

original,         

and the Chinese language origin             

of the phrase,                 

if it exists,>(if it is real)            

has not been found,            

making its authenticity>(truthfulness)    

doubtful.>(undecided)                

One theory             

is that      

it may be related         

to the Chinese proverb,          

"It's better            

to be a dog            

in a peaceful time         

than be a man          

in a chaotic> (disordered/completely confused)

period" (寧為太平犬，不做亂世人;

pinyin: níng wéi tàipíng quǎn, bù zuò luànshì rén).

I've copied the webpage for those of you who can't open it - you can download it here.

Bye for now

Alan

Here are some sentences for pronunication practice:

R

Right royal rebellions really rock regal regents randomly

Th

This is the thought that the three thinking thatchers thought

W

When we walk we wander where we will

V

Very viscious vixens vexed very vunerable vermin

Y

Yesterday your young yobs yomped yonder yolking your yellow yacht  

D

Deeds done daily don't doubt dainty daughters digging dirt

S

Strumming sun seekers stretch strong strings

F

Friends frown for fresh flowers fetch for friendly fellows

B

Be bountiful by bringing black beer breaks by buskers

L

Lovely Linda likes looking longer lately

M

May my mind make me mild mannered

N

Nine knights never needed nine new necklaces Nigel knows

H

Happy hippos heaved heavy horses heartily

T

Try to take Tim's ten T-shirts to tiny tailors 

Here is a good website with facts about different countries. This is the link to the United Kingdom.

Bye for now

Alan

http://www.nationmaster.com/country/uk-united-kingdom

Have you ever thought about keeping a "language learning scrapbook"?

Many children and teenagers keep a scrapbook for reminding them of nice holidays with postcards, friends' photos, special poems, hand-written texts, magazine articles.

We can make a language learning scrapbook (either a real scrapbook, or a computer folder with different files in it)

Here are some ideas for the scrapbook:

1.Photos/postcards with captions 

2. Diary entries

3. words you find difficult to remember

4. friends messages

5. grammar notes

6. special words of things that you are interested in

7. Internet addresses

8 Newspaper or magazine articles

9 Maps of the country of the language you are learning

10 Pictures of national or local costumes

11. local customs

12. Food and drink recipes

13. Word games

14. Crosswords or card games

15. Tongue twisters

Bye for now

Alan

Here is a good website: http://thecreativescrapbooker.wordpress.com/2007/04/29/scrapbook-materials-photos/

Hello everybody,

When we need to understand a complex text, what can we do to make it easier?

Here is a text.

Look at what you already know.. and highlight it

Charles John Huffam Dickens 7 February 1812 - 9 June 1870), pen-name "Boz", was the most popular English novelist of the Victorian era and one of the most popular of all time. He created some of literature's most memorable characters. His novels and short stories have never gone out of print. A concern with what he saw as the pressing need for social reform is a theme that runs throughout his work

Now read again the words in simpler way...

*Charles John Huffam Dickens-  

*the most popular English novelist

*of the Victorian Era - 

*most popular of all time.

*He created memorable characters.

*His novels and short stories never gone out of print.

*Need for social reform,

*theme that runs throughout his work

Then look for words you do not know and then read the whole text again..

Charles John Huffam Dickens 7 February 1812 - 9 June 1870), pen-name "Boz", was the most popular English novelist of the Victorian era and one of the most popular of all time. He created some of literature's most memorable characters. His novels and short stories have never gone out of print. A concern with what he saw as the pressing need for social reform is a theme that runs throughout his work.

If you understand even 10% more now, you have made some progress!!

Bye for now

Alan

Thanks to all who have contributed so far. I will make the next magazine issue on Sunday 15th November.

If you want to record your voice, I am happy to put the recording on my website also.

If you want me to check the text first, please send to:

alan_r_palmer@hotmail.com

Look forward to reading and hearing you!

bye

Alan

Here are some happy words and let's link them to language..

We need happy words to keep us learning. Lets make some sentences..

aglow -  I was aglow when I discovered I could speak some Spanish with a native speaker

amazed - I am still amazed that I can learn any Chinese

amused - I was amused when I read a joke book in German

anticipation - the anticipation about learning a language is almost as good as actually learning it.

beautiful - French is considered a beautiful language "la belle langue"

blessed - I feel blessed when people find my website articles interesting.

blissful  - a blissful way to learn, is by keeping relaxed

bright -  I think some of my friends who learn languages are very bright

 
celebrate - let's celebrate our language achievements!

cheerful -  a cheerful attitude goes a long way to helping us learn a language!

comedy - comedy helps us appreciate things and we can learn more when we laugh I think.

 
compassion - compassion is when we feel for others and wish to help them

content - I feel content when I think of a new language learning idea

delight  - it's a delight to help people with English

elated - I am elated when I get some nice feedback to my website articles.

So just make up some sentences and feel better about language learning

Then read them out loud a few times...

You can make you own sentences...

Here are some more words..

enjoy
enthusiastic
euphoric
exuberant

fortunate
fun
gay
give
glad
golden
gracious
gratitude
hallelujah
happy
heaven
hopeful
humor
inspiration
inspired
jolly
joyous
jubilant
light
lighthearted
love
merry
optimistic
overjoyed
play
pleased
pleasure 
relief
satisfaction
serendipity
smiles
spontaneous
surprise
sweet
thrill
upbeat
vivacious
whole

Be good BE HAPPY!

Alan

Here is my latest guitar tune...

Bye for now

Alan

Here is a suggestion for speaking practice:

It may seem silly, but I believe it helps speaking.

1. Find a good text to read out loud. Maybe 200 words.

2. Before you read it, get a text in your own language, maybe 100 words.

3. Read out loud your native language text pretending to be English person with a foreign accent

4.Read slowly with accented speech like an actor

Then...after doing this

5. Read out the English text without stopping

It seems a bit silly, but it makes you think the English sounds in your mind, before you speak English.

I do this with French, German, Chinese and Spanish.

I read English with a "pretend" foreign accent before I try to speak the language I am learning.

You can try it....see if you like this idea

If it seems silly, don't worry

Just see if you can read the English more fluently after trying it!

It's worth a try!

Bye for now

Alan

When we are children, we spend many many hours learning new things. Our minds are well-prepared for this. As a child, we just learn new things by experience or from adults teaching us. We even learn from other children.

As adults learning a foreign language, we need to trust our brains also know how to learn.

As a child or as an adult, we need to find ways to get understandable written or spoken language to our ears and eyes, so we can build up our skills.

We also need to produce language: spoken and written.

I think our minds know when this information is useful and helpful and also when we are learning well.

I also think our minds know when we have tried too much and when we are tired. When we need to relax, when we need to work well.

So we can trust our minds to help us!

Bye for now

Alan

Hello everybody.

A lot of serious students of English listen to BBC radio for practicing English listening. I believe that this can be useful, but we must not expect too much to be gain from this. It is good to listen to speech patterns, certain words and phrases and pronunciation. But, I want to show you with this article, that just 30 seconds of a news bulletin (2 November 2009) contains only 106 words, but more than 20 cultural, historical and special words and phrases. This is a huge amount of information to listen to and understand.

My recommendation, is if you want to listen to English on the radio, then only listen to very short passages. This will give you plenty of things to discover and learn.

Now I will play the passage for you, then I will speak the same words more slowly. You can compare my accent with that of the newsreader.

cNow here in Britain, Windsor Castle is hosting a unique gathering of religious leaders over the next three days. A meeting for what's been called "a celebration of commitments by the world"s religions to take action on climate change”.

 The conference has been sponsored by the United Nations. And faith groups are presenting firm plans showing how they’ll tackle the issue.

 Pledges include making all China’s Daoist temples solar-powered, and printing sacred books on environmentally-friendly paper.

Our religious affairs correspondent Christopher Lander has been to New York to find out about the Jewish plan , which includes a pledge to halve the community’s intake of meat.

106 words.

1.Windsor Castle  - Famous English castler             

2.Unique gathering  - a gathering of people for a special meeting

3. Religious leaders  - leaders from different religions

4. Celebration of commitments  - a complex new phrase someone has thought up to show that the meeting participants are both committed to the reasons for the meeting and also linking to the use of the word “celebration” as a religious idea.

5. World’s religions 

6. Climate change    - the way the worlds climate is changing through “global warming”

7. Conference 

8. Sponsored

9.United Nations

10. Faith groups  = religious groups

11. Firm plans  - definite plans agreed

12. Tackle the issue -  discuss the subject to find solutions and ideas

13.Pledges  = promises

14.China’s daoist temples

15. Solar-powered – powered by sunlight

16. Sacred books 

17. Environmentally-friendly  - a special phrase meaning “not harmful to the environment”

18. Religious affairs correspondent  - a journalist who looks at religious matters

19. New York

20. Jewish plan – a plan made by Jewish people in New York

21.Pledge

Hello everybody.

When we learn a language, we need solid foundations:

1. Grammar (rules of language)

2. Syntax (word order & inflection) "inflection" means how words change for different reasons:  tense, mood, voice, aspect, person, number, gender and case

3. Semantics (meaning of language)

4. Phonology (pronunciation)

These are complex linguistics ideas. I am not a trained linguist. However, we can think in more simple terms.

1. How the language rules work.

2. Which order to put the words and how to change them in the correct way

3. The meaning of what we want to say

4. Pronunciation of words and phrases.

I use the photo of the Eiffel Tower in Paris to demonstrate these 4 important things.

The Eiffel Tower is very high and heavy. It is made from iron.

Its four tall "legs" rest on four strong pillars.

We can build our language "tower" on our four language pillars.

So, we should enjoy learning:

1. The structure of language we speak or write (our language output)

2. Do our best to put words in the right order for understanding.

3. Make sure that people understand the meaning of what we want to say or write.

4. Concentrate on pronunication of words and phrases.

We have 4 language pillars!

That is 4 BIG ways to develop our language skills!!

Bye for now

Alan

. 

We often want to speak and write in a complex way.

 But it is interesting what we can do with no more than 7 words!

 A sentence needs a subject: candles

1."candles are lighting up the room"

2."the room is lit up by candles"

3."lighting up the room by candles"

4. "by candles, the room is lit up"

5. "the room; candles light it up"

6. The candles light the room up

7. The candles light up the room

8. Do the candles light the room?

9. The room is lit up by candles?

10. Is the room lit by candles?

Here is another: grass

1. The grass is green in the garden

2. In the garden, the grass is green

3. Garden grass is green

4. Green grass in the garden

5. The grass in the garden is green

6. Green garden grass

7. In the garden is green grass

8. Is the garden grass green?

9. Is the grass in the garden green?

Good exercise?

Bye for now

Alan

When it comes to speaking a foreign language, I have a system I call  "the Six Keys"

1. Speaking 5% slower than you normally feel you want to - to give yourself a little more time to think of what you want to say, how to say it, to work at great pronunication and grammar.

2. Remember that people listening to you speak will not notice that you are slowing down 5% or will not mind if you told them!

3. Speak to non-native speakers with as much enthusiasm and interest as native speakers. All conversations are useful. If a native speaker conversation gives you a "full meal", then a non-native speaker provides a "snack". Either way, we still have "language food".

4. End words carefully. The English language has important word endings:  Try this word for example: welcome/welcoming/welcomed, welcomer,welcomes,

5. Take careful note of word syllables: example word: meanderingly

me-an-der-ing-ly (5 syllables)

6. Take careful note of word intonation: example word: meanderingly

meANderingly

So, next time you try speaking, try the "six keys"

Bye for now

Alan

If we are reading a difficul text, we can mark up the text in a way to separate the words and phrases. I don't believe it matters exactly how this is done. I just think that adding some colour, or making the text different in some way, helps reading. I think this makes our eyes recognise phrases and identify difficult words. The small words: and, a,to,in, as, are can be left in the original style.

Here is a text that I think is quite difficult, I will show it before and then after "text". See which you find easiest to read and understand.  

Bye for now

Alan

http://www.self-confidence.co.uk/social_skills.html

Before highlighting

6 Key Social Skills

Social skills are arguably the most important set of abilities a person can have. Human beings are social animals and a lack of good social skills can lead to a lonely life, contributing to anxiety and depression. Great social skills help you meet interesting people, get that job you want, progress further in your career and relationships.

Happily, like any skill, social strategies and techniques can be learned…

The main social skills are as follows:

1) The ability to remain relaxed, or at a tolerable level of anxiety while in social situations

2) Listening skills, including letting others know you are listening

3) Empathy with and interest in others' situations

4) The ability to build rapport, whether natural or learned

5) Knowing how, when and how much to talk about yourself - 'self disclosure'

6) Appropriate eye contact

After highlighting

http://www.self-confidence.co.uk/social_skills.html

6 Key Social Skills

Social skills are arguably the most important set of abilities a person can have. Human beings are social animals and a lack of good social skills can lead to a lonely life, contributing to anxiety and depression. Great social skills help you meet interesting people, get that job you want, progress further in your career and relationships.

 Happily, like any skill, social strategies and techniques can be learned…

 The main social skills are as follows:

 1) The ability to remain relaxed, or at a tolerable level of anxiety while in social situations

 2) Listening skills, including letting others know you are listening

 3) Empathy with and interest in others' situations

 4) The ability to build rapport, whether natural or learned

 5) Knowing how, when and how much to talk about yourself - 'self disclosure'

 6) Appropriate eye contact

Hello everybody.

Remember when you were very young. Do you remember being excited about people being interested in what you could do? Your parents, friends and family would encourage and support you.

Remember when your team members in a sports team used to encourage you and challenge you to play well?

Remember when you achieved something special and the people there applauded you?

Remember being happy when your teacher in class gave you a good mark and said "keep trying"?

Everybody remembers these times when we found achievement, encouragement and a
positive response to something we did well.

When we learn a language, especially on our own, I think a part of our mind thinks we are still the small baby, the schoolchild, the sports player or the performer.

However, this can be dominated by all the negative thoughts sometimes: apprehension, anxiety, hesitation, indecision, uncertainty, doubt, reservation, reluctance..... need I go on?? 

The only use these negative words have for us is to know them as part of a vocabulary, but not as words we want to use to describe our language learning!

I often talk about being relaxed when we learn. I even call it "relaxed learning". I believe this is a good attitude to take.

However, we need to challenge ourselves at the same time. The challenges we faced as small children, on the sports field, in class, performing something on stage.

To guide ourselves, we need a way to both meet a challenge, work to achieve it and then congratulate ourselves if we do achieve it, or if we do not quite get there, then give ourselves special thanks for trying.

This way, we get a feeling of continuing along our learning path and meeting the challenges in a way where we can see a "straight line" not a zigzag line.

Some people are very disciplined, like a professional soldier or a professional sportsperson. They are ready, willing and able to meet any challenge big or small. These confident people are to be admired. However, I am not one of these people. So to keep myself motivated, I need to set myself small challenges for getting to where I want to go with language learning. Let's keep these feelings we had when we achieved something and were encouraged to do it well and were congratulated.
Each time we meet a challenge successfully, we feel we are on the right pathway.
 
Of course, we cannot always meet a challenge and succeed. There are times when we don't do something as well as we think we could, despite trying our best. There are times when we become very disappointed, or frustrated. But there is a difference between feeling disappointed or frustrated with one or more small challenges that are not achieved, compared with having general feelings of disappointment or frustration with language learning altogether.

Here are 10 small challenges we can enjoy with our language learning:

1.Getting a difficult text correct when we didn't think we could do it.
2.Speaking a word we didn't know before and finding we said it correctly.
3.Understanding a newspaper article even when there is slang, political or cultural words in it.
4.Understanding some strange accented speech we are unfamiliar with.
5.Surprising ourselves that we can speak about something we don't know much about.
6.Being able to say a tongue twister. Here is an example: "she sells sea-shells on the sea shore"
7.Being able to speak with a native speaker better than we thought we could do, despite having a limited vocabulary.
8.Having a good idea about learning that we didn't think we could do.
9.Writing something that others find interesting to read.
10.Listening to more than one person speaking and being able to understand most of what they say.

How many can you think of?

Bye for now

Hello to Chinese visitors 你们好！Because I want to keep this "Language Explorer" website mostly English posts, I have decided to practice a little Chinese on "QQ"!

再见

阿伦

audacity sound recording program.

You must change this to an .exe file when you download it or it will not work.

Bye

Alan

Definition: An emotional word picture is a communication tool used to help convey to your family member or close friend how you are feeling. It is a way of clarifying your thoughts and feelings so the other person can experience them.

Example: (man to his wife)

"When our children were young and taking delight in experiencing something new like having a catepillar walk on the back of their hands, I felt joy, wonder, thanksgiving, and awe. There was a sense of quiet excitement to this feeling. That's the feeling I have when we work on a project together and everything turns out great!"

Example: (friends talking)

"I really like going out for a Chinese meal. It isn't just the different food and tastes, it is also the different styles of food; how it is served and presented.  The other thing I like is the social occasion of people sat around the table sharing to food. I also like the challenge of trying to use chopsticks! Although I am a bit ham-fisted (clumsy) with them, it all adds to the enjoyable experience of eating Chinese food"

Try some "emotional word pictures"! Just write or speak using any words you can think of to bring in some emotion to what you say or write.

Happy emotional words:

joy, awe, wonder, excitement, happiness, cheerful, glad,

Bye for now

Alan

When we spend a lot of time learning language, we can spend just a little more time to "smooth out" our language skills. This is like planing some wood and sandpapering it to make the wood smooth and look nice.

Why should we try to smooth out our language skills? Because we can make the language we speak and write more interesting and attractive to ourselves, and hopefully for anyone reading our writing or listening to us speak.

How do we smooth out our language skills? Here are a few ideas:

1. Speak about 5% slower than you want to. This gives us 5% more time for thinking out more interesting words or a grammar point.

2. Check through your written texts one sentence at a time, and read it out loud. This is good speaking practice, but also you can hear how the language flows and see if all the sentences make sense.

3. Take care with vowel sounds. A E I O U.  Try saying these words so that you can hear a difference between them: "cap" "cup" "see" "say" "look" "luke" "lick" "like" "not" "nut" "mad" "made" "silk" "sulk"

4. Take care with consonants. Make sure that words are ended well. Try saying these words: "see" "seeD" "seal" "sealed" "seeN" "seaT" "sieVe" "seaP" "seeTH" "siFT" "seeR" "cieliNG" (don't say the G sound too much, just slightly)

5. Take care with syllables. Make sure you don't add them.

tel e vis ion (4 syllables(

Rum ple stilts kin (4 syllables)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumpelstiltskin

com mun i ty (4 syllables)

Aus tra li a  (4 syllables)

se ren di pi ty (5 syllables) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serendipity

6. Start some ideas with a friendly link words "well," "ok" "So," "now"

ok, now we can discuss... ok, now we will go shopping

well, it's a nice idea

so, what do you think?

now, what shall we do?

7. Take notice of the intonation of words. Small two syllable words are the most important: toDAY, weekEND, ice CREAM, FIRE works, APril.

Enjoy smoothing out language!

Alan

I want to keep talking about my idea for a language diary. I believe this idea is very useful.

As an extension to the diary idea, I think we can develop the diary to get even more learning and development from it.

Here are my original text blogs concerning the "language diary"

http://www.language-explorer.co.uk/index.php?post_id=490822

http://www.language-explorer.co.uk/index.php?post_id=500877

Hello. This time I want to show you examples of where we use alternative sentences to those that would normally be taught in English classes. I"m also trying to avoid (as much as I can) using examples of dialect because some dialects in England shorten words as a feature of the dialect. I'll give you an example: Do you have a pen I can borrow please - often becomes Have you got a pen please? and in my dialect, I could say "d"y'ave a pen please?” So I"m not trying to show you dialects in this podcast - I'm simply discussing how we choose different sentences sometimes - because they seem less formal, friendlier, easier to say - for quite a number of reasons. Often it may be simply because of habit. Do y"want a coffee? is much more common to ask as a question to a friend or member of the family than "would you like a cup of coffee?”This type of "everyday speech” is, I think, what can make it more difficult for English learners to understand when listening to spoken English - it is quite often not like the written standard forms.Some other examples:

Hello! it's very nice to see you, please come in - "Hi, come on in!”Well, I am really tired so I should go to bed - "I"m off to bed - I'm tired”Did you enjoy that TV programme that was shown yesterday evening? Did you like that programme on telly yesterday evening?Hopefully, you"ll be able to hear and read these differences and it may give you more understanding of why English may seem more complex - when in fact, it is often being made simpler to make it easier and quicker to have a onversation between friends and family. See you next time

Bye!

Today I'd like to talk about common mistakes which people make when they are learning English. These are often only small mistakes and really don"t matter to a native English speaker like me when we hear them - but I thought it might be interesting to discuss some of these small mistakes here,

Remember that part of my learning philosophy is to not worry about making mistakes - so with this podcast I'd like you to know that am not trying to make you worry about them – just to know a little more about my language.

The first common mistake people make is to use the word "since” when talking about things that are happening now that started in the past, for example when people say "I am learning English since 2 years” when this should be “ I have been learning English for 2 years”. We use the word “since” to describe things that started in the past, but not for talking about duration of time someone has been learning or doing something. Some examples of English using “since”

“Since I started learning English I find I enjoy writing letters more”

“Since you left I have been very sad”

“I"ve changed a lot since we last met”

Another common mistake is to use the phrase “of course” in the wrong context. If, for example someone offers you a cup of tea “would you like a cup of tea?” the correct answer would be “yes, please” or “no, thankyou”. Sometimes learners of English will say “ of course!” meaning to them “how kind of you, I would like a cup of tea, yes”

But if they say “of course” it could sound to the native English speaker something like “ yes I do, and you should already know that I do!” – in other words a little bit impolite. Of course, we do you the phrase “of course” – which I just used!

Some examples:

“Of course, when we go to the beach, we must not forget our towels”

“Of course I would like to go with you to the show – because we’d love seeing it together”

“I would, of course, need to bring my swim suit if we are going to the beach!”

These statements are used to agree with someone or affirm something needs or should be done.

Of course, there are many more uses for “of course” and of course, I would like to tell you more about it, but of course, I haven’t much time to do this today!

Common pronunciation difficulties:

The “th” sound as in think, thought, thanks as also the slightly different sound with the, these, though, there and those for example

The “r” sound for running, riding, rowing, rocking and rolling!

Learning a language is like making a long uphill footpath.

I use this "footpath analogy" because we can use the idea

to help us with language learning.

1."We need to see a destination".  In language learning, we need a destination, a direction

to go, so we keep going towards this.

 Some people just call  the destination "fluency".

 I think we can have many such "destinations"

able,capable, competent, proficient, adept, skilful, practiced, accomplished

2."We need to go towards our destination and not veer off the path".

In language learning, we need to keep our mind focused on the things that help us learn and enjoy language. This keeps us on the path.

3."We need a smooth surface to walk on"   We can keep our path smooth by being relaxed and moving carefully along our "path".

tranquil, calm, comfortable, restful,stress-free, hassle-free, unpeturbed, 

4. "Our path sometimes has little pot-holes and puddles". We can not avoid walking through them. This is like when we make mistakes when speaking, listening, reading or writing. We must remember that "we can get our feet wet in puddles, or trip in a pothole, but it does not stop us continuing to walk along the path." 

So, thinking of our "path" helps us to keep going and keep learning!

Bye for now

Alan

English can be a bit silly sometimes

Saying Hello to "Hello”

English has a lot of intonation on syllables, which sometimes can change meaning.  I chose the word “hello” to demonstrate this.

I have recorded the pronunciation of each example along with a full sentence that explains the meaning. My advice is to listen and copy the pronunciation.

/ rising tone

\ falling tone

V falling-rising

… steady tone

The word hello has two syllables: 1.hell  2 o

1. Hello  hell o (no intonation) very few, if any, people would say it this way.
2. Hello (Hell… o/ ?)  asking if someone is there (on the phone) Hello? Is someone there?    
3. Hello (Hell\ o\)   shouting to see if someone is there “Hello! Where are you?”
4. Hello (HellVo)  a pleasant greeting with a slight enquiry. A dog walks past without an owner and comes to greet… “Hello, doggie,where is your owner?”
5. Hello (Hell…o\) a pleasant greeting - meeting someone for first time –but in an informal setting. “Hello, nice to meet you”
6. Hello (Hell/ oV) a man greeting some pretty young women. “Hello! Girls!”
7. Hello (Hell o\) a normal greeting in formal setting “Hello, how are you?”

Interesting?

Bye for now

Sometimes we need to challenge ourselves with language learning. I like to use the words "relaxing challenge"

I want to use the word "L.E.A.D.E.R" as a way to remember the technique: "Look- Enquire- Assess- Do- End Result"

*LOOK -  for a subject to talk or write about

*ENQUIRE - for information about the subject

*ASSESS -  what you think you can do well

*DO - what you can to the best of your ability

*END RESULT - see what you can do

Here is an example:

I LOOK for a subject:  "Facebook"

I ENQUIRE some information about "Facebook"

I ASSESS the information - I found some information

I then DO some writing (or speaking) practice

The END RESULT is this:

"Facebook is a social utility networking website that connects people with their friends and others who work, study and live around them. People use Facebook to keep up with friends and family;things they are doing and to share information and opinions.

Follow the LEADER!

Bye for now

Alan

Here is my latest guitar tune

"Pendle" is a mysterious hill near where I live.

Bye for now

Alan