Hi everybody, this is Misterduncan in England. How are you today? Are you OK? I hope so! Are you happy? I hope so! Here we are all together once again for a weekly glance through a selection of those e-mail questions, sent in by you, to me! So without any more delay, let's have our first question for today.
Could you show us how to pronounce the sounds made using W and V? This question comes from Sean Zhao in China. It is very common for those learning English to have trouble pronouncing certain words or a part of a word. The most common problems come from sounds made by TH, CH, W, V and OU. So let's take a look at the V and W sounds. For this I'm going to use my other camera to take a close look at the movement of my lips as I make these sounds.
To learn how to make the V sound, start by using the F sound. F F F F. Now move your bottom lip back and rest it between your teeth. Now use the F sound again and as you do it, force your bottom lip away. V V V V. That is the V sound. Your bottom lip is being forced away by the air coming from your mouth. V V V. Vision. Very. View.
To make the W sound, you need to start by making the H sound. H H H H. Now before you make this sound again, close your lips as if you are about to kiss someone. Now as you force the air out, think of the W sound and let your lips open as you do it. W W W W. The sound is formed by your breath and the changing shape of your lips and of course your voice. Remember not to blow as you do it. Just let the air travel gently. W W W. Let's say… Window. Watch. Wonder. Thank you for your question Sean and a big hello to your friend Jason, who you are asking this question on behalf of. Thanks also for your suggestion of making some 'Business English' lessons in the future. That is a very good idea.
Could you please explain the differences between American and British pronunciation? This question comes from Luc Thuy Binh, who is from Ho Chi Minh, in Vietnam. Well I can help you here by directing you to my full lesson (Lesson 52) all about the differences between British and American English. Hopefully that particular lesson will help to put your mind at rest.
When do I know that I have Learned enough English and when do I stop studying it? This question comes from Gianni who lives in the beautiful Italian city of Venice. The amazing thing about learning any language is that you never actually stop. Normally we build our ability over time and place the levels of what we have learned into categories. Such as 'beginner'… which means we only know basic words and have a very limited grasp of grammar. Then there is intermediate. Most students who watch my videos are at this level. So when a person has reached the intermediate level this means that they can read and understand many lexical words and have a fairly good grasp of how both simple sentences and slightly complicated grammatical clauses are used. So having an intermediate understanding means there is still more to learn. By the way, a lexical word is a word that contains a definitive meaning, rather than one which forms a grammatical clause.
From my own experience of teaching Oral English, I have found that the level between beginner and intermediate is the hardest level (group) to instruct. Explaining the basic grammar and then taking it up to the next level can leave some students confused and this can be where many decide to give up (quit). If you can use long sentences and have a good grasp of grammar, then you can spend more time on building up your word power.
Of course there are always going to be problems, but most intermediate level students find that as their ability grows, then the parts they are unsure of become much clearer. It is rather like putting on a pair of spectacles for the first time. The more you learn, then the clearer everything will be. It may sound strange, but moving up from (Upper) intermediate to advanced English is probably the easiest part.
There are no magic methods available at any level of learning a new language. Knowing (and learning) the basics such as A-B-C and learning new lexical words is always the place to begin. But where you finish learning is up to you. There are thousands of words in the English language, so it would be fair to say that there will always be new words to discover. Even I, as a native speaker have the option to increase my vocabulary. But as I always say to my students, knowing (or learning) many words is (would be) useless (pointless) unless you are going to use them often.
Before I leave you today, I would like to say a special 'hello' to… Miguel Grandez in Peru, Zaki in Somalia, Paula in Spain, Gerard in Indonesia and Eliecer Gonzalez who is following my lessons in Santiago, the capital of Chile. A country which is still recovering from the recent devastating earthquake that occurred there. Thank you for your kind words concerning my lessons Eliecer and my thoughts are with you and your country during this difficult time. That is all from me for today. Keep sending in your questions. That all important e-mail address will be popping up before your eyes in a moment. This is Misterduncan in England saying thank you for asking me… and… ta-ta for now.