Compound nouns podcast

Compound nouns have a unique pronunciation pattern in English. Kathy L. Hans teaches you how to identify and pronounce compound nouns.

Compound nouns podcast

More information on Pronunciation In English is available from AmEnglish.com

Idioms podcast: “Take the bull by the horns” and “Think out of the box”

Kathy L. Hans of AmEnglish.com introduces the concept of idioms in English.

Listeners will learn how to pronounce and use the following idioms:

• Take the bull by the horns
• Think out of the box

Idioms podcast – “Take the bull by the horns” and “Think out of the box”

These examples are taken from the program Idioms in English authored by Kathy L.  Hans

TOEIC Pronunciation Tip: counting syllables with past tense

In verbs that end in t or d the -ed is pronounced as an extra syllable. This is the only time the past tense has an extra syllable.

Examples: project (2 syllables) projected (3 syllables)

plead (1 syllable) pleaded (2 syllables)

In contrast, the following words that do not end in t or d do not add an extra syllable in the past tense.
Examples: wash (1 syllable) washed (1 syllable) delay (2 syllables) delayed (2 syllables)

This tip is taken from Pronunciation in English.

TOEIC Pronunciation Tip: syllables

In English every word has one or more syllables. A syllable always has a vowel sound. Think of the vowel sound as the heart of the syllable.

Examples: good (1 syllable), remarkable (4 syllables), gorgeous (2 syllables)

This tip is taken from Pronunciation in English.

TOEIC Writing Tip: the verb + -ing

The verb + -ing can be used as an adjective, but it has a different meaning from the adjective formed from the verb + -ed. Think of the -ing form as active and -ed form as passive.

Examples: That book was interesting. She was interested in that book.

Get more information on writing from Writing in English.

TOEIC Writing Tip: Infinitives

An infinitive is formed by putting to before the base form of a verb. It can be used as a noun.

Example: She often forgets to lock her car.

Get more information on writing in English from Writing in English.

TOEIC Pronunciation Tip: schwa

The schwa (the uh sound) is important because it is the most frequent sound in English. You can hear the schwa in the first and third syllable of the word, banana.

The second syllable in this word is stressed.

Example: ba NA na

This tip is taken from Pronunciation in English.

TOEIC Pronunciation Tip: acronyms

 

The stress in acronyms (words that are made from the first letter of a group of words) is almost always on the last letter.

Examples: UCLA, PC, WTO, PDF

 

 

This tip is taken from Pronunciation in English.

TOEIC Writing Tip: prepositions + gerunds

Prepositions are followed by gerunds, not infinitives or the base form of the verb.

Examples: Thank you for responding so promptly. After looking over his application, the manger decided to hire him.

Get more information on writing in English from Writing in English

Go Postal

Definition: Act out in an angry way, especially in an outburst of violence

Examples:

I got a really negative reaction. He went postal in the meeting.

Did you read the newspaper? Some guy went postal and shot his co-workers.

Source:

Using idioms in conversation demonstrates mastery of a foreign language. Idioms in English shows you how to use stress in sentences in order to pronounce an idiom in a sentence like a native speaker.