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Video LessonsMy good friend Charlie and I run a Youtube Channel for foreign learners of English. Here is a list of some of my favourite videos that we've made, and some tips on how you can use them to improve your English.
Understanding Native Speakers
We can spend our whole lives learning a language...we master the grammar, widen our vocabulary and even find time to learn those god awful phrasal verbs.. but the moment we speak to a native English speaker, we forget everything and barely understand a word they are saying! How frustrating! The chances are, the English that you learned in those old textbooks isn't very common in daily, informal English. Which is why Charlie and I did some interviews with Native speakers so that we can show you guys how native speakers really interact and the language that you are likely to encounter when you start up a conversation in England with a native speaker. My recommendation... 1) Watch the first video WITH SUBTITLES. 2) Note down any unknown words and expressions. 3) Watch the 2nd video where we analyse the language that was used in the video. 4) Re-watch the first video WITHOUT the subtitles.
In this episode Charlie and I interview Londoners about their jobs. We have picked out the most interesting expressions used by the interviewees and given definitions so that you, the learners, can follow the conversations and enjoy a simple and fun learning experience.
Interestingly, we ran into a pair of Canadians who were on holiday at the time, so you are able to hear the pronunciation differences between the British and Canadian accents. The standard stereotype among Americans is that Canadians sound like Americans, except they say ‘eh’ a lot and pronounce ‘out and about’ as ‘oot and aboot’. Many Canadians, however, will tell you that Canadian English is more like British English, and as proof have kept the British English spellings colour and centre and the name zed for the letter Z, whilst the American versions are color, center, and 'zee', respectively. Have a watch and leave a comment. What do you think of the Canadian accent? Can you hear the difference between US & Canadian accents? |
