OK, I know you’re thinking that I haven’t posted very much recently – and you’d be right! That means that things have been very hectic with the day job! Right now things are hotting up at university as students realise that a lot of their coursework is due to be handed in over the next few weeks. When things get busy it is really important for you all to plan your work so that you don’t forget something, or something isn’t left to the last minute. Just the other day a student came up to me and told me that he had forgotten to hand in his coursework! He had done it, but had just forgotten to submit it. Get an academic planner and write in ALL your assignments on it and put it on the wall of your room so you don’t get caught out. Get the easy marks first of all by handing in your work on time!
Last time I posted I talked about a video-based pronunciation dictionary (and as James pointed out is no good at all for China based folks because Youtube is blocked for them!!) and this week I am going to mention another pronunciation site howjsay.com. This is a free online Talking Dictionary of English Pronunciation and I have been having some fun with it. The title ‘Howjsay’ is a good one because it shows the difference between written and spoken English. The words How do you say spoken at normal speed come out as three syllables – how/dja/say – and this is something that many students need to think about. What I like about Howjsay is that it also has some phrases in it too. You can type in a word and hear the word pronounced. Try ‘What’s the time’ and you’ll get it, and lots of other similar phrases as well. Check out howjsay.com here.