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Alan Palmer's Language Chat podcastsTalking about language and some musical interludes along the way |
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Song Title: "I'll Be Back" by Alan Palmer (Original Artists: The Beatles from Hard Day's Night)
July 19, 2008 05:05 AM PDT
Hello,
July 14, 2008 02:52 PM PDT
More on conversations with native speakers
July 13, 2008 04:57 PM PDT
Hello everybody,
July 13, 2008 07:59 AM PDT
Hello everybody, The text of what I am saying on the video is here: Bye Alan
July 07, 2008 10:53 PM PDT
History of the English Castle
June 30, 2008 02:36 PM PDT
I am now posting on my new website www.language-explorer.co.uk - check it out, watch this space! Alan
My questionnaire!
June 24, 2008 04:08 PM PDT
Hello everybody
June 15, 2008 05:31 PM PDT
Send me any messages/comments to: alan_r_palmer@hotmail.com
June 15, 2008 05:25 PM PDT
Hello everybody
Mind word essays (normal speed speech)
June 15, 2008 05:23 PM PDT
Hello everybody Today I want to talk about a new idea I have had to do some language practice on our own with no more than a piece of paper and a pen. I call this idea “mind word essays”. With this idea, you can practice: Thinking in a language
You can do this anywhere, whilst travelling, at home, with friends. I had the idea when I was flying to Germany and I wanted to practice German but I had nothing with me except a pen and paper. The idea is simple and you can do this in any language. I will demonstrate it here using English. You start with a simple sentence: “My friend has a car” – you write it down Next, you quickly think of extra words to make the sentence bigger For example: “My good friend has bought a new car” – you write this down under the first sentence Now, you make another sentence from your head – don’t worry about making mistakes “My good friend from London has bought himself a new red car which he likes very much.” You write this down also Then you make a bigger sentence “My very good friend from London, who I spoke with last week, told me he has bought himself a new red car which he likes very much” 4 sentence are probably enough although you could write more. You can then check the sentences as well as you can for grammar and spelling and then read each sentence out loud and listen to how you say it. So, from four sentences, you have a lot of chance to practice many different language skills. I believe that this will help also improve fluency The important thing is to think of it like a game and enjoy it, getting the words from your head as youy can. This will make you think more clearly in the language and help you to think of the words you need when you have conversations with people. Enjoy your mind essays, you can keep them and look at them again a few weeks later and try the same sentences again to see if you can think of words more quickly than before. Be good, be happy Bye for now *NEW WEBSITE**NEW WEBSITE***NEW WEBSITE**
June 11, 2008 04:26 PM PDT
Hello everybody. My news is that I have a new website "under construction" My new website has also got a new name: You can have a preview already - but I have not put new material on this website yet. I'll keep you posted... take care Alan Chinese Dragon Boat Racing in England
June 08, 2008 09:36 AM PDT
Here is a video of the Dragon Boat Race that my son and I took part in yesterday. http://www.vimeo.com/1137389
May 25, 2008 12:18 AM PDT
Hello everybody
May 03, 2008 11:46 PM PDT
Hello everyone, good evening.
When you’re speaking with a text, it’s not quite the same as when you’re speaking just from your head, if you like, speaking aloud, as you would when you’re speaking with friends and family. And of course it means that you can hear when I pause, when I think about things a little more, and then when I decide to say something. And for those of you who are learning English, I think this makes it more interesting - maybe more difficult to understand, but also mmm, you can hear when I stop a bit, then start again. And that is how conversations go. When someone reads from a text we just follow the words on the paper, or on the computer screen of course. But when you’re speaking normally, you’re thinking of the words in your head and then you say them. And of course this cannot be continuous, it has to have some small stops and starts, and this I think demonstrates that it’s useful when, mmm, people are learning English and they can hear that a native speaker would also sometimes stop and think about what they are saying before they say something more. And I have people asking me quite often, how can they understand native speakers better? For instance, they may watch the news to TV or listen to the radio and the speakers are very fast when they speak and they don’t always things, …, the words are sometimes complicated. And I say to myself, well, you know, when we watch TV, watch the news, all the words are prepared before, They need to get as much information in as short a time possible and so they choose the words carefully and they say them rather fast. And I think this isn’t a very good way for people learning English to improve their English. Of course the can hear new words and things, but it may be a little off-putting to hear someone speaking very fast on TV. Other people has said to me that I don’t speak as fast (here) as I do normally because they are used to hearing teachers, maybe, speaking very fast. But I say, not all English speakers, native speakers, speak quickly. Some people speak a little slower. And I don’t think that my “normal” speed is very slow but do not think it is very fast either. So my advice to those of you who are listening to me speaking and wanting to improve your comprehension, your understanding, I say listen to this podcast a few times and listen to when I make my small pauses and when I start speaking again . And you can see very easily when I think about what I am saying and when I decide to say something that I’ve thought about. So I hope this podcast has been interesting for you – it’s just me speaking, talking, chatting without a text. See you next time, excuse-me, bye for now
May 02, 2008 12:04 PM PDT
I hope you like my guitar piece which I played this evening and a nice sunny evening in England
April 24, 2008 10:17 AM PDT
Hello everyone, Today I would like to talk about how better to get conversations started. When we learn languages, we always want so much to speak with native speakers – but at the same time, we also worry about it. Will they understand us? Will they find what we say interesting? Will they get frustrated with us, or bored, or both? Lots of these sort of thoughts go through our mind. Even if we are lucky enough to have friends who speak the language we are learning as native speakers, it doesn’t mean that we don’t still think these things. Another difficulty when speaking another language is that after we have said something, it is often difficult for us to remember what we just said! In our own language, we remember what words we say better than when we say something in a different language. I think this is because we are busy trying to think of correct words to use and make sure we are understood, so we only remember the ideas of what we were talking about, not the actual words we used to say it. Often, we have little or no chance to speak with native speakers. We practice in class, at home, with friends etc, but unless we live in the country or can visit it, then the opportunities for speaking the languages we are learning with native speakers can be quite rare. Even when we visit the country, or find a native speaker to speak with in our country, maybe we don’t know who we will speak with or how long we will have to speak with them, or what we will need to say. So, what can we do that gives us a little more confidence to speak with native speakers when we have the chance? My opinion is, whenever we have the opportunity, we should take it, but also be very kind on ourselves and do not try to make it into a “language test” that we must “pass”. I also think that we should not expect so much from the people we speak with. They might be very busy or have other things on their mind. Negative experiences always make us question why we even want to learn the language. For example, someone ignores us, or says something we don’t understand, or doesn’t seem interested. We have to understand that not everyone is interested in languages and that people have their own lives to get on with. I’ve had some experiences like this over the years. This is where a relaxed attitude can be very useful. Enjoying the opportunity to speak a different language however well we can, should always be a positive thing. So we must do our best to make sure that any conversations we have are as positive and pleasant as we can make them. We have a lot to do with making sure this happens. So here are some ideas for helping any conversations we have with native speakers be as pleasant as possible: 1. Don’t expect to have a very interesting conversation, it might be a quite ordinary even a bit boring conversation. Many people just want to “pass the time of day” which means they just talk about very ordinary things such as the weather. So, be prepared to talk about the weather…a few useful phrases can really set off a conversation well: “ Oh, isn’t it cold today?” “What a beautiful sunny day!” “Oh, it’s very windy today isn’t it?” These sort of friendly openings are called “icebreakers” and nearly everybody does this. So why shouldn’t we do it also? 2. Remember that many, many people love to talk about themselves and what they are doing, subjects such as their family, their work and their hobbies. If we allow people to talk about themselves first, then we can have a perfect opportunity to listen and it gives us time to get used to the person’s accent, their preferred speed of speaking and we can get to know more about them quickly. So, maybe a conversation would go like this: (you) “Hello, how is it going?” (other person )“Oh, very well thanks. I’ve been busy and many things are happening at the moment, I have a new job, a new house. My kids are enjoying school and very soon we will be going on holiday…..” (you)“oh, that’s nice, where will you be going to?” (other person)“we will go to Spain this year, we’ve never been there and we are really looking forward to it” Even though you have not said much yourself and you may wish that you were speaking more, accept that you may need to do this at the beginning of the conversation. It shows that you are a good listener and people like knowing that they are being listened to, and also you will show that you are understanding normal conversation speed and vocabulary. This is important for you to know as much as the other person. 3. Always use polite words, even if the person you are speaking with doesn’t. This will mean everyone will always consider you as a polite, friendly person. From my experience, I know that this will make people want to speak with you more – and then you will have chances to say more about what you like, what you want to do and who knows, maybe you will make friends. 4. Always accept a compliment in a matter of fact way. “Oh, your English is great!” You should accept and acknowledge, but only a short “thanks, I keep trying my best to learn more” will be enough. You don’t need to say “oh yes! I have just passed all my English language exams and I had top marks!” Very few people would be interested in all this information. Of course, if they asked you “have you passed any exams in English?” then you could say this then. 5. Give yourself time by starting to speak in short sentences at first. “How’s it going?” “what’s new?” “I’m doing fine myself” These sort of well known conversational link phrases are fantastic at giving you chance to say something and then you should have an answer. When the other person is speaking, you just need another phrase ready in your mind “oh really?” “I see” “right, ok” – these are all useful to give yourself more time to form better sentences in your head when you need to do it – such as when they ask you a question. So, see how you find it when you next have the chance to speak with a native speaker. See if my advice works for you as it has for me. See you next time Bye for now
April 15, 2008 04:33 PM PDT
Hello everybody It’s nice to be here again to talk to you. I’ve been having some nice feedback about my podcasts recently and it’s always nice to receive it. Thanks to those of you who sent me messages of encouragement either here or on Livemocha.com. I’m always glad to know that you find my podcasts useful and interesting. Today I want to suggest an idea for those of you who want to know how your English is progressing and also a small English practice test. My idea is this. I want to give you a topic here that you can read about and then you can write a small text in your own words to explain my text. Maybe between 50 and 100 words will be enough. Copy any words I have written – but don’t copy out my text word for word – or it will not be useful for the test. You must create a new text yourself in your own words. If you have access to recording equipment, make a recording of your voice saying my words and also read out aloud your written text. Keep this text and voice recording for a month and then do the same test again. Do not check your previous work and try to write the best text and speak as well as you can. Record your voice again copying my voice recording and also your new writing. Once you have done this – keep the text and recording safe for a few days. Then get both recordings and texts together and listen to and read to the first one and then the second. You will be able to see if you have improved: Your pronunciation, speed of speaking and confidence
You can see how much progress you have made across all four language skills. I think this will be useful for you. Now I will read out the text below at normal speed. My country Today I want to talk about my country. Did you know that I live in 4 different places? Well, I mean that my country has four different names. My country is called England Great Britain is the name of the largest island. Eire is the name of the next biggest island. There are many other smaller islands. Together these islands are called “The British Isles (Isles also means islands) United Kingdom means England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. This is the political union of the country. The capital of the United Kingdom is London. The United Kingdom does not have an official language – but of course, most people here speak English. Although English is the most common language, there are other languages in the British Isles. These are: Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Irish Gaelic, Manx (Isle of Mann) There was also a language that used to be called Cornish –this was spoken by people in the south-west part of England which is now called Cornwall. There are many different people living in Great Britain. Those people who are born here are called “British” This is true even when their parents come from other countries There are 50,000,000 British people living in the United Kingdom The flag of the United Kingdom is very well know and is a red cross (for England) a blue cross for Scotland and “St Patrick’s cross” for Northern Ireland. There is no part of the flag to represent Wales – which is something that some people would like to see changed. So, when I say “I am English” I mean that I live in one country of the United Kingdom of Great Britain which is called England I hope you like this idea and I am very interested to know if it helps you judge your progress Bye for now
April 06, 2008 04:42 PM PDT
hello everybody For my weekend words today, I want to talk about why sometimes it is difficult to understand native speakers, even when you may have been learning English a long time. I discovered a long time ago that the language you hear in class with a teacher, or normally on sound recordings can be easily understood, and yet when you go to the country and listen to native speakers - you may not understand so much. There are many reasons for this, and firstly I want to say - don't worry about it. The more you worry, the more it will either frustrate or annoy you when this happens. Just accept that this will happen, the moment you set foot in the country. Here are some reasons I believe can make listening to native speakers difficult: 1. There is usually some background noise - some examples:street noise, other people speaking nearby, television is on. This makes it difficult to concentrate on the person speaking to you. 2. The native speaker will hear you speak first and assume you know much more than you know - and they make speak quite fast - this makes it difficult to hear everything they say and make sure you understand it, 3. The native speaker may use dialect words, slang words or common expressions that you may not be familiar with - or only some. This makes it harder for you to understand, because you have first to understand the slang words or expressions and then translate that to normal speech and then understand it. Don't be afraid to say "I am not familiar with this word/these words, what do they mean exactly?" 4. The native speaker can also make mistakes themselves--- did you think of that one? There are few native speakers who speak perfectly! 5. The native speaker may have an accent that you are unfamilar with. In England for example, there are many different accents and some accents may clip the words short, use different sounding vowels or even miss out words. In the north of England where I come from, sometimes we clip words and drop "h"'s. This is especially done when we speak with family and friends. Here is an example: Standard English: " Are you going to come with me to the cinema?" Northern accent: "Are yer goin' t'come wi' me to th'cinema?" You can easily hear that the first is easier to understand than the second, but both are saying the same thing. Don't worry.In my experience, the native speaker will not mind changing his/her speech to make it a little more controlled and easier for you to understand - providing you ask! So the key to understanding a native speaker better is to accept that you are not a native speaker - but a serious non-native learner and don't be afraid to tell people you meet this fact. It will not mean they become frustrated with you, on the contrary - the native speaker will usually be very glad to make sure you understand everything - and even explain things more precisely to you. So you end up with good communication and a language lesson for free! Bye for now See you next time
April 01, 2008 12:52 PM PDT
Hello everybody, Today I have just decided to talk - no text prepared. So I will listen back to it later and write down for you what I said - so you can read along with me speaking. In the meantime, for those of you who are learning English - see how you find it listening without text for the time being... take care everybody... Alan
March 23, 2008 04:10 AM PDT
I hope you like my latest guitar tune
March 17, 2008 10:21 AM PDT
I hope you like this guitar tune I recorded today on my 12-string acoustic guitar...
March 15, 2008 02:21 PM PDT
Hello everybody
See you next time Bye for now
March 01, 2008 01:53 PM PST
Hello everybody, I hope you are all well. It has been a little while since I made a podcast. Thank you for all you nice messages. Today I would like to talk about being positive and relaxed about learning languages and also being willing to take risks with language too. Learning a language is a difficult thing to do, but as I have said before, we can always enjoy our language at any level. Young children do this. When we see a small child start to learn their mother tongue – they maybe don’t say so much at the beginning, They listen and maybe try some sounds that don’t sound like words. But later, when they start to say words, their mother or father will be happy to hear them say things and then they encourage them by speaking back to them – usually in a kindly way. That way, a small child learns in a positive place with a friendly teacher (mother or father) and then the child enjoys using whatever language they have – they often don’t want to stop talking! I think that as adults, we should try to copy this method a little. Of course we can’t act like a child, but we can use some of the attitude of a child: positive about learning, relaxed when we speak, read, write or listen. We can also not worry about mistakes – of course, try to correct these mistakes when we can or when someone helps us – for example if we are in a class. My belief is that we can learn and at the same time make what we have already important. We can also be willing to take some risks too. For example, when we speak with people we know who speak the language as a native speaker – try to see if we can push the language level a bit higher when we speak with them. If we make a mistake or use a wrong word, then maybe our friend will kindly advise us – without criticising us. It is the same with writing letters – try some things that are new to us. Of course, in exams this is different, because this is a test of what we know. But with letters, e-mails, text messages with friends – always try a little extra and see if you can get things right and learn more. When we listen – try to listen to language that is a higher level than we have ourselves – because we always understand more than we can speak. The same thing with reading. Read short articles, magazines where there is conversation or interviews written down for reading like a conversation would be in reality. So, we can be relaxed and happy to learn and still try hard to become better at the same time if we think about things carefully and we can keep getting better and better. Take care and bye for now
February 15, 2008 01:18 PM PST
Hello everybody.
February 10, 2008 02:18 PM PST
Hello everybody. For my weekend words today I wanted to talk about using short newspaper, magazine or Internet articles to help develop language and also how, at the same time to understand more about a country's culture as well as language. Also how to "think in pictures" to help make the text interesting and to retain vocabulary. If you find interesting articles like the one I have chosen, then language and culture start to merge together a bit more. These are not just words on paper or on a screen, but they make you think of situations and events in the past, at present or in the future. I read somewhere that to learn a language well, we need to: 1. Understand the structure (grammar) of a language and have a good vocabulary.
No small task! Having said that, all of us are learning new things all our lives and learning another language should add to the enjoyment of learning in a positive way. Always be pleased with what you know already - but keep learning as and when you can. Today, let's analyse a text that is about English culture. It's about Pub signs. Many Public houses and hotels (where the word "pub" comes from) name the building and hang painted signs outside. It's a long-standing tradition in my country. I've copied a short piece of a bigger article to discuss. The full text is here:
So, I'll read the text first British Pub Signs - a short history
Everyone loves an “Olde Worlde” pub with its oak beams, horse brasses and roaring log fires. Nevertheless, no matter how old the pub itself, the name on the sign outside is probably the most historic thing about the place. The idea of the pub sign came to Britain at the time of the Roman invasion. Wine bars in ancient Rome hung bunches of vine leaves outside as trading signs but when the Romans came here, they found precious few vines in the inhospitable climate. Instead, they hung up bushes to mark out the inns and the names Bush or Bull & Bush still survive.........(text continues...) This text is full of cultural references: "Olde Worlde" is a way of describing old things as the pronunciation has a feel of times gone by when people spoke with more endings to the words Pub sign
And some good short phrases like:
Take some time to get a "feel" for what is being said in the text. The author wants to make it interesting and make you, as a reader think in pictures as well as words. So, rather than reading through a full article that is difficult to read and becoming frustrated with it. Chose a small part of the text - say, the introduction and read it fully, taking it apart like a puzzle and then putting it back together again. This way you can practice all four skills: Reading
Finally, use a dictionary to check the meaning of words or phrases you can't guess well - more to confirm your thoughts after you have made a good attempt to guess it. See you next time
February 02, 2008 01:21 PM PST
Hello everybody, Today I wanted to talk about my ideas on increasing fluency (which in my opinion is about how easy you can use a language at a high level) I wanted to tell you about a new idea I have had about building up vocabulary and fluency at the same time. I have a lot of trouble remembering words and I believe that everyone agrees that the secret to learning a language is knowing enough words and enough of the structure of the language (sometimes call rules of grammar) Some languages have complex grammar (like German) and other languages have simpler grammar (like Mandarin Chinese) Whichever language we learn, we need a knowledge of enough words and grammar to converse with others who speak the language. Of course other areas of language ability are important - such as pronunciation, but generally speaking, with some words and grammar and a reasonably understandable accent - most people could make themselves understood and understand what was being said to them. In English this is often called "get by". Anyway, to explain my idea. If you were wanting to learn some new words, let's pick three unusual unrelated words: A noun: condominium
To remember these words, explain them with easy language by using a dictionary: Condominium = apartment (or flat)
Make up a sentence and write it down: Nothing is straightforward, there is not enough space in my condominium that I cannot perform my dance change it... I cannot perform my dance. I need to practice every day in my friend's condominium. Nothing is straightforward - as it is too small
I'm going to try this idea myself with learning new words in the languages I am learning. I'll let you know how it goes! Maybe this way it will not take so long to build up a good amount of words in my head and become more fluent. Take care and see you next time
January 30, 2008 03:43 PM PST
Hello everybody, Today I wanted to talk about practicing phrases to make it easier to remember how to say things and the right words to use I want to go shopping because my sister is coming and we enjoy going to the shops together. It is surprising just what language you can practice with only one sentence: Because my sister is coming, I want to go shopping and we enjoy going to the shops together We enjoy going to the shops my sister and I and my sister is coming, so I want to go shopping That is three sentences saying the same thing, more or less - but if you practice the sentence in different ways - then you can become more fluent. You can then expand it a bit more: My sister is coming to see me. We always like to go shopping together because we like going to the shops together. It is always nice when my sister comes, because we like going to the shops together to do some shopping. I want to go shopping anyway - so I will wait until she comes This way, you can build up the language practice. Just keep thinking of different ways to say the same thing and If you make a mistake, it isn't such a problem because people will still understand So, say for example you said I want to go to the shopping when my sister comes, because we like shopping together
You could always simplify it more... When my sister comes, we like going to the shops together. We like going shopping together my sister and me (maybe it should be "my sister and I" but most people in England would say "my sister and me" Try making up a sentence, writing it in a few different ways and then saying it. Or you could just try making a sentence in your head and then say it - you will become more fluent! Have you ever tried learning words from a visual dictionary? I like these type of dictionaries because you can see the picture and read the word. I have just found a very good one that shows many pictures and photos with the words in 4 languages. This is called "5 Language visual dictionary by Dorling Kindersley. English, French, German, Spanish & Italian The ISBN number is ISBN 0-7513-3681-5
It is quite expensive at around £20/ $27 but I think it would be worth every penny and a very interesting way to learn new words. Bye for now and see you next time bye!
January 23, 2008 04:24 PM PST
Hello everybody. This is a continuation of my podcast about difficult sounds in English. English often uses stress or emphasis on syllables within a word. Stress is sometimes used in spoken English as a language technique to change the meaning of what is being said and emphasise a certain thing or idea. Normally this doesn't show in written English unless the word is written differently. Here's an example: 1. He wants me to give her the book
Easy sentence - but stressed words make a big difference to meaning. The first sentence just has a basic meaning. There is no extra stress on the first sentence - so someone listening would just hear it as a statement. Number 2 is emphasising the person who wants me to give the book Number 3 is emphasising that the person want me in particular (that is no one else but me) to give her the book Number 4 is emphasising that the person wants me to give her the book - that is, not do something different with the book Number 5 means the person wants me to give her a book and not something else instead So, it's interesting how English uses this stress on words to change the meaning of the sentence without changing the words in the sentence. You'll notice that all the words are the same in each sentence. Take care and see you next time
January 19, 2008 11:48 AM PST
Well, I decided that for all my podcasts, I'll write a little introduction and then put the transcript for the voice recording for you. So, welcome to "Alan's Weekend Words January 19th". Today some advice on pronuciation for all you English learners! Hello, for my weekend words this week I want to talk about pronunciation difficulties for learners of English. It seems to me that there are some sounds that present more difficulties that others. For example the English "th" sound. think
are some words starting with or containing the sound 'th". For this sound place the top of your tongue against your top teeth - push some air through without too much pressure and say the word. think, thought, thank, thesis,therapy,nothing,tether,teeth The other 'th" sound is the same tongue position - but with less air movement and more voice. See if you can hear the difference between the two different 'th" sounds the,there,those,with,feather Try practicing these "th" sounds slowly then speed up Make sure that you keep relaxed when you speak and don't worry if you find it difficult - just keep practicing when you have a little time. The other sound I wanted to talk about today is the English "r"
run
the american sounds more "strong" - in other words add more sound to your voice as you speak - with a little more energy. run
I can't really speak with an american accent very well - but I just wanted to show you an example. Your tongue needs to be curled back about half-way in your mouth - but not touching any part of your mouth and then curl it back forward again and keep it quite loose as you do. "a Rumanian runner was running a revolution around a really rocky racetrack" Tongue twisters like this can be very useful for pronunciation practice Take care and see you next time http://www.englishsecret.com/pages/sound.jsp?pid=12
January 18, 2008 01:30 PM PST
Buenos dias, bom dia,hallo, bonjour, jo napot,ni hao, Guten Tag!
So today, "fluency". What does it mean? In fact what made me think about it was, I was speaking with a friend at work today and we were discussing..uhm..language learning because he said that he would like to learn French and I was giving him some tips and hints and we were discussing what fluency was. He said he would like to have a conversation with people (in French) and he considered that would be fluency. And my opinion is, that fluency changes the more you learn a language, or your idea, should I say, about fluency. Because the more you learn about a lan | |||