English is a Tough Stuff part 2

Posted by Teacher Tya on August 11th, 2011

It seems that the first part of English is a Tough Stuff is selling like a pancake :p, so I am giving you the second part of the poem. If you haven’t perfected the first part, just keep on reciting those and watch out for the pronunciation.

Practice reading the poem first, then check out the words you don’t understand, and search for the meanings of those words. Then try to use them in your own sentences. So, in this second part, you can do two English exercises, pronunciation and vocabulary development. Write your sentences using the new vocabulary you learned from this poem in the comment box too.

Now, here’s the second part of the poem:

Just compare heart, beard, and heard,
Dies and diet, lord and word,
Sword and sward, retain and Britain.
(Mind the latter, how it’s written.)

Now I surely will not plague you
With such words as plaque and ague.
But be careful how you speak:
Say break and steak, but bleak and streak

Listen here:

Watch out for the pronunciation of these words:

heart – beard – heard

sword – sward

plague – plaque – ague

break – bleak

steak – streak

To do this exercise, go to the comment section below this post and click “Video Comment”. You don’t need a webcam to record, a microphone is enough.

 

Posted in English, Pronunciation Tags: english is a tough stuff, english pronunciation, pronunciation practice

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4 Responses to “English is a Tough Stuff part 2”

1. tom says:

   August 16, 2011 at 4:31 pm

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   Reply
   • teachertya says:

     August 16, 2011 at 4:48 pm

     great! just one word:
     plague – /pleyg/

2. kais says:

   August 12, 2011 at 8:10 pm

   He had a heart to heart talk with his parents
   He asked the hairdresser to can his hair and shave his beard
   I heard that you are travelling a broad

   Take your sword and come face me
   The ball was running on the sward

   The sad news plagues the atmosphere
   In front of his office there was a plaque on which it is indicated his name
   He had a terrible ague last night that he couldn’t sleep at all

   Don’t break my heart
   It’s a bleak house with a gloomy atmosphere
   What do you want to have in dinner, beef steak or lamb chop?
   He usually streaks downtown when he is free

   [kaltura-widget entryid=”1_8s5tatqh” size=”comments” /]

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   • teachertya says:

     August 15, 2011 at 3:52 pm

     Please note the pronunciation of these words:
     diet – /dI-ut/
     latter – /la-tur/

     He asked the hairdresser to can to cut his hair and shave his beard.
     I heard that you are travelling a broad abroad.
     The ball was running rolling on the sward.
     In front of his office, there was is a plaque on which it is indicated with his name.