Hey there! This is TOP episode 53: Pronunciation Tip: World, Girl, Hermione
My name’s Ola and I am an English teacher. This podcast is for you if you want to start speaking English fearlessly. I help people fight the fear of speaking, become confident, fluent and independent. I have eliminated a massive language blockade myself and now I teach others how to achieve that.
In this episode, you’ll practise speaking and in turn boost your vocabulary, brush up your grammar and improve your pronunciation. Go to my website for full transcripts and worksheets to each episode. Happy learning!
Hello there! I’m so happy you’re here today because this episode is sooo important. I can’t even express how awesome it was to learn that the sound /ɜː/ is everywhere. I mean, in words you use in every sentence. When I learned this sound I noticed an immediate, on spot change in the way I sounded. I gained soo much confidence instantly. That’s why I’m so excited today. I noticed also that if a word caused a problem if I didn’t know how to read it, most of the time it was this baby. This vowel sound /ɜː/. Please always keep in mind. It’s not about the accent.
I’ll keep repeating it till I die. There’s nothing wrong with your beautiful Polish accent! Keep it, unless you want to sound like a native, that’s brilliant too. Go on, practice hard, record yourself and so on. But that is not my focus. I want to help you eliminate the fear, this feeling of shame that grips you because you’ve no idea how to say the words. So! Here we’re learning proper pronunciation so that you are understood. Communication first. I hope we’re on the same page. If so, we’re ready to begin.
In your learning journey, you have to be active. This will speed up the whole process. Believe you me. Speak to yourself, out loud. Make sure you’re listening to this episode actively, apply shadowing and repeat the words and sentences out loud. By the way, if you don’t know what’s shadowing, tune in to episode 25. I’ll link it to the shownotes to this episode.
First, let’s listen to and repeat words with the /ɜː/ sound:
fur
pearl
surf
church
birth
earth
worthy
murder
purpose
surface
virgin
word
world
girl
work
worse
worst
prefer
disturb
deserve
bird
purple
determine
absurd
Murphy
Bernard
Percy
Jersey
Turkey
Birmingham
Petersburg
Gettysburg
Hermione
Alright! That was the last word. Hermione. At teacherola.com/53 there’s a transcript to this episode, and it’s free. Grab it and check if you understood all the words we’ve just practised. The more active you are in your learning process, the fastest results you can expect! Be active, produce language.
Shall we move on? Now, we’re going to practice whole sentences. Repeat after me.
girl?
that girl?
Who’s that girl?
surgeon.
a perfect surgeon.
turned out to be a perfect surgeon.
Percy turned out to be a perfect surgeon.
Gettysburg.
went to Gettysburg.
Bernard went to Gettysburg.
certain Bernard went to Gettysburg.
perfectly certain Bernard went to Gettysburg.
I’m perfectly certain Bernard went to Gettysburg.
perfectly clear.
made it perfectly clear.
The colonel made it perfectly clear.
absurd.
commercial is absurd.
This commercial is absurd.
his visit?
purpose of his visit?
What’s the purpose of his visit?
the concern.
the surface of the concern.
barely touched the surface of the concern.
You’ve barely touched the surface of the concern.
wide world.
the whole wide world.
thing in the whole wide world.
the worst thing in the whole wide world.
This is the worst thing in the whole wide world.
Well done. Nice practical part. I hope you’ve made the most of it. Time for some proverbs with the /ɜː/ sound. Let’s begin:
Courtesy costs nothing.
First come, first served.
It’s not work that kills but worry.
Good words are like string of pearls.
Awesome! Time for rhymes.. This is the last task today. Listen and repeat:
There was a little girl
Who had a little curl
Right in the middle of her forehead.
When she was good, she was very, very good,
But when she was bad, she was horrid.
There was a little girl
Who had a little curl
Right in the middle of her forehead.
When she was good, she was very, very good,
But when she was bad, she was horrid.
There was an old owl, lived in an oak.
The more he heard the less he spoke.
The less he spoke, the more he heard,
Oh, if men all were like that wise bird.
There was an old owl, lived in an oak.
The more he heard the less he spoke.
The less he spoke, the more he heard,
Oh, if men all were like that wise bird.
Here you have it. Words, sentences, proverbs and rhymes with the sound /ɜː/.Thank you for staying till the very end. I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s practice.
Please don’t forget to download the worksheet and translate Polish sentences from this episode into English. This free worksheet is available for you at teacherola.com/52. Be productive when it comes to learning a language, ok?
Please spread the word, share this podcast with someone you think might need it.
Next Wednesday, we’re going to learn new animal idioms. Subscribe to this podcast if you haven’t yet. I’ll see you next Wednesday. Goodbye! Happy learning.