Wadjasay? American English Pronunciation Practice

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1. My idea was rejected for being too risky.

2. Lightning struck a tree and set it on fire.

3. I’m not crazy about the American ‘R’ sound but it’s everywhere.

4. My dog ran after a car yesterday.

5. This is a sentence without any ‘R’ sounds. Well, almost.

6. My reward for working for so many hours? A headache and a sore throat.

7. If I were rich, I would travel around the world.

8. The railroad tracks run near my house.

9. My father was a firefighter in his youth.

10. The watchers were angry at the bad actor.

11. The buyer asked the baker to create a tall birthday cake with blue frosting.

12. The biker asked me for a favor.

13. We weren’t eager to sit on the floor. We would have preferred chairs.

14. The rarest rabbits are raised by ranchers.

15. My granddaughter is a good reader.

16. If you dry grapes, they turn into raisins.

17. Grrrrrrrr is the sound a dog makes when it growls.

18. Do you have a favorite recipe for scrambled eggs?

19. Sometimes I have to reboot the hard drive in my computer.

20. I’d rather read an interesting book than watch boring TV.

21. The word “internet” contains “R”, as do these words: rain, raise, real, recite, recall, and reduce.

22. He agrees with me that it is cold in the arctic.

23. I never argue with a cardiologist about arteries.

24. He put on an apron and started to prepare dinner.

25. The three bears in the barn set off an alarm last April.

26. Robert Frost was a celebrated American poet.

27. A large number of health-care workers are going on strike.

28. I like to buy fresh pears at the farmers’ market.

29. Last year I studied French, history, geography, chemistry, and astrophysics.

30. If you’re hungry, you should have some bread and butter. I have orange marmalade too, or strawberry jam if you prefer.

Intro & Outro Music: La Pompe Du Trompe by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

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This podcast will be doing double duty.* First, it's another regular podcast to help you learn how to use "to be used to". If you practice all these examples, you should have a good feeling for when and how to use this form. Second, I'll be using this podcast along with a couple of Tandem classes, so that Tandem users can practice the lesson before the class. We'll see how it goes.
To be used to = to be accustomed to
1 I'm used to doing that.
2 She's used to working a lot.
3 Our dog is not used to us yet.
4 I can't get used to her accent.
5 I'm not used to so much homework.
6 He's used to traveling for his job.
7 Now that I'm used to my job I like it.
8 Robert is used to helping his parents.
9 John is used to eating a big breakfast
10 I'm used to drinking water with dinner.
11 In the army he got used to taking orders.
12 Mary is used to running 5 km every morning.
13 We are used to cooking for a lot of people.
14 She's used to taking a shower every morning.
15 She is used to practicing piano twice a day.
16 Charlie is used to going to the gym after work.
17 Medical students are used to working all night.
18 Are you used to the cold weather where you live?
19 I'm getting used to studying English all the time.
20 He is used to watching TV for hours every evening.
21 Olympic athletes are used to training all the time.
22 I'm used to sleeping at least seven hours every night.
23 My wife is used to my bad habits. And I'm used to hers.
*24 How can I get used to the terrible food in this country?
25 My dog Ollie is used to going for a walk every afternoon.
26 My wife is French. She's used to drinking wine with dinner.
27 I used to play a lot of basketball when I was in high school.
28 His wife is a doctor. He's used to staying home with the kids.
29 We have a vegetable garden so I'm used to eating fresh vegetables.
30 He's used to speaking English now. All his co-workers are Americans.
31 Now that we have a baby we're used to getting by on very little sleep.
*32 Now I'm living in Britain and I can't get used to the way people speak.
33 In school my language teacher was American so that's the accent I got used to.
*34 I grew up in the country. I can't get used to how noisy it is here in New York.
35 I'm the youngest of seven children so I'm used to wearing hand-me-down clothes.
36 After you've lived in Paris for a year you'll be used to speaking French all the time.
[Note: to get used to is the process of becoming used to something. "He's getting used to his new job," for example. Or "I got used to his accent after a few weeks."
* To do double duty means to do the work of two people, or to do two jobs.

Intro & Outro Music: La Pompe Du Trompe by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

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(Remember DeepL for translations...)
My apologies for the long delay since the last podcast. The time between our Thanksgiving holiday at the end of November, and the Christmas holiday in December is always very busy. Choosing presents for the grandchildren, preparing for winter, and lots more. But I’m back! When we left off, Goldilocks had settled into the baby bear’s bed and was fast asleep. Let’s continue our story:
Goldilocks was dreaming, but at the local police station two bear policemen were arguing.
“I’m not going!” insisted Officer Mo. “The last time we went to that house, it was full of snakes and spiders!”
“We have to go,” replied Officer Curly. “It’s our job to respond when there’s an alarm.”
“It takes half an hour to bicycle there,” said Officer Mo. “By the time we arrive, whoever set off the alarm will be long gone.”
“Mo, are you hungry?” asked Officer Curly.
“What? What does hungry have to do with an alarm?”
“Well,” said Officer Curly, “we could stop at that new steakhouse on our way to the house of the three bears and grab some dinner. It’s always better to investigate a crime scene after a good meal.”
"Dinner?" said Office Mo. "Curly, it's only 9 in the morning."
Office Curly slapped his forehead. "I'm all messed up," he said. "I didn't eat dinner last night and I've been thinking about it all morning."
"No problem," said Officer Mo. “We can peddle our bikes to Betty Bears Breakfast Bonanza, enjoy one of her famous five-course breakfasts, and by the time we arrive at the house, the three bears will have solved the crime all by themselves.”
“Exactly,” said Officer Curly. “We’ll congratulate them, tell them how smart they are, and come back to the station and spend the rest of the day loafing and playing cards.”
“You’re a genius!” said Officer Mo.
“I know,” replied Officer Curly. “Now let’s get going—I’m hungry!”
1. Goldilocks was dreaming, but at the local police station two bear policemen were arguing.
2. “I’m not going!” insisted Officer Mo. “The last time we went to that house, it was full of snakes and spiders!”
3. “We have to go,” replied Officer Curly. “It’s our job to respond when there’s an alarm.”
4. “It takes half an hour to bicycle there,” said Officer Mo. “By the time we arrive, whoever set off the alarm will be long gone.”
5. “Mo, are you hungry?” asked Officer Curly.
6. “What? What does hungry have to do with an alarm?”
7. “Well,” said Officer Curly, “we could stop at that new steakhouse on our way to the house of the three bears and grab some dinner.
8. It’s always better to investigate a crime scene after a good meal.”
9. "Dinner?" said Office Mo. "Curly, it's only 9 in the morning."
10. Office Curly slapped his forehead. "I'm all messed up," he said. "I didn't eat dinner last night and I've been thinking about it all morning."
11. "No problem," said Officer Mo.
12. “We can peddle our bikes to Betty Bears Breakfast Bonanza, enjoy one of her famous five-course breakfasts,...
13...and by the time we arrive at the house, the three bears will have solved the crime all by themselves.”
14. “Exactly,” said Officer Curly.
15. “We’ll congratulate them, tell them how smart they are, and come back to the station and spend the rest of the day l

Intro & Outro Music: La Pompe Du Trompe by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

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Let's continue with our story about Goldilocks and the three bears. You will recall that the bears went for a walk and while they were away, Goldilocks came into their house, ate the baby bear's breakfast, and broke his rocking chair. Now she is upstairs in the bears' bedroom, trying out the beds.
As before, listen to this part of the story two times—or more if you like—and then practice repeating the sentences.
The first bed was huge and very high. Goldilocks climbed up and put her head on the pillow. The bed was as hard as a sidewalk and the pillow was just as bad. “No way!’ said Goldilocks. “It’d be easier to sleep in the street.” She slid off the biggest bed and regarded the middle-sized bed. It was covered with a mountain of quilts and blankets. She climbed up and sank down. And down. And down.
“Help!” she shouted. “I’m drowning!” After a long struggle, she finally was able to escape. "That was scary!" she said. Feeling discouraged, she examined the last bed which was child-sized. Carefully she sat down. Not too hard, not too soft. Just right, in fact. With a happy sigh, Goldilocks put her head on the pillow and pulled the blanket up to her chin. “I’ll just rest for a little while before I go home.” In a minute she was fast asleep.
1. The first bed was huge and very high.
2. Goldilocks climbed up and put her head on the pillow.
3. The bed was as hard as a sidewalk and the pillow was just as bad.
4. “No way!’ said Goldilocks. “It’d be easier to sleep in the street.”
5. She slid off the biggest bed and regarded the middle-sized bed.
6. It was covered with a mountain of quilts and blankets.
7. She climbed up and sank down. And down. And down.
8. “Help!” she shouted. “I’m drowning!”
9. After a long struggle she finally was able to escape.
10. "That was scary!" she said.
11. Feeling discouraged, she examined the last bed which was child-sized.
12. Carefully she sat down. Not too hard, not too soft. Just right, in fact.
13. With a happy sigh, Goldilocks put her head on the pillow and pulled the blanket up to her chin.
14. “I’ll just rest for a little while before I go home.”
15. In a minute she was fast asleep.

Intro & Outro Music: La Pompe Du Trompe by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

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One of the science podcasts I listen to regularly is Astronomy Cast hosted by Fraser Cain and Dr. Pamela Gay. In today’s lesson, you’ll hear a short excerpt from Episode 705: Water Worlds - Looking for Life Beyond Earth. First you’ll hear a clip from their podcast, and then I’ll break their speech into shorter fragments so you can listen and repeat. You’ll hear that Fraser Cain in particular speaks quite rapidly. It would be hard to repeat at his speed!
1- Wherever we find liquid water on Earth, we find life.
2- So it makes sense to search for water across the universe, and hopefully, we can find evidence of life.
3- But what about worlds which are completely covered in water?
4- Oceans, hundreds of kilometers deep. Can there be too much water?
5- So this idea of water worlds, I mean, we learned everything we needed to know from that Kevin Costner movie, right?
6- No, no, one of the things that I was thinking about preparing for this show
7- is just how magnificently wrong in pretty much every way that movie appears to have been,
8- except from a climate change perspective.
9- And really, if you want one thing to be wrong, you want it to be the climate change part that's wrong.
10- Yeah, but climate change causes sea levels to rise by a couple of hundred feet in the worst case scenario.
Let's listen to the original podcast excerpt again.

11- Right, no, that's true. It won't eat the entire planet. There will still be soil.
12- The coastlines will be roughly where they were, especially in places that are very mountainous.
13- So it won't be hard where you're trying to find evidence of islands.
14- No, no. But this idea of water worlds, we know they exist here in the solar system, and so we assume that they're out there.
15- So give us sort of like an idea, what is the quintessential water world here in the solar system?
You've listened to the original speakers, you've listened to me, and you've had a chance to listen and repeat. Now listen to the original one more time. Remember: you can't listen too much when you're studying a new language!

Intro & Outro Music: La Pompe Du Trompe by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

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Email me: [email protected]
You can now support my podcasts and classes:
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