Winter Solstice

The winter solstice is also sometimes called 'midwinter'.

Last night was the longest night of the year, and today was the shortest day. 'In the Bleak Midwinter' is one of my favorite carols, and it feels particularly appropriate this year.

A song or poem like this, with a slow, steady rhythm, is a great place to practice vowel sounds. Try reading the first stanza, and linger on each stressed syllable. Feel how the rhythm slows you down:

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, long ago.

“In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, long ago.

Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

Enough for Him, whom cherubim, worship night and day,
Breastful of milk, and a mangerful of hay;
Enough for Him, whom angels fall before,
The ox and ass and camel which adore.

Angels and archangels may have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;
But His mother only, in her maiden bliss,
Worshipped the beloved with a kiss.

What can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.”

— Christina Rossetti

Storytelling Workshop

Are you nervous when telling a story in front of a group? Do you worry about how you are doing, or whether people are getting bored, or having trouble following you?

Come join our first storytelling workshop! Learn to become a more effective communicator by practicing your oral storytelling skills in a mutually supportive small group, facilitated by me!

"You just have to be present, you have to be listening, you have to be paying attention..."

-- Levar Burton

James Earl Jones always worked on his stutter

The great actor, James Earl Jones, who died last week at the age of 93, had one of the most beautiful, resonant, and expressive voices I have ever heard. He worked as a stage, television and film actor, and created the iconic voices of both Darth Vader in Star Wars and Mufasa in the Lion King.

One thing I did not know about him was that he began stuttering badly when he was about 6, and was then almost completely silent until he was about 14. It was a high school English teacher, encouraging him to recite poems in front of the class, who helped him learn how to work to overcome his debilitating stutter.

In an interview in 1993, he described the way reading poems aloud helped his voice: "When there is a rhythm to carry you, then you can get past the trippings."

He continued to work on his voice for the rest of his career. In an interview with NPR, Jones said of his stuttering: “I don't say I was 'cured.’ I just work with it.”

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Listen

Happy Winter Solstice

Happy lingering…pausing…and being still...

on this, the darkest day of the year in the northern hemisphere.

"The word “solstice” derives from the Latin sol (meaning sun) and statum (stand still) …for two or three days, the sun seems to linger for several minutes in its passage across the sky, before beginning to double back."

--from the beautiful essay by Richard Cohen, "There Goes the Sun"

It's October! - How about those O sounds?

There are several ways to say "o" in English, so since it's October, let's practice some!

ock ·'toe · ber

/ɑ:k ˈtoʊ bər/

the first "o" is shorter and more open: /ɑ/

the second "o" is longer and more closed: /oʊ/

More Practice

foggy

ˈfɑ: ɡi

foamy

'foʊ  mi

---

astronomy

ə 'strɑ: nə mi

astrophysics

'æs troʊ ˈfɪz ɪks

---

solitude

ˈsɑ: lɪ tud

solo

ˈsoʊ loʊ

---

hot chocolate

hɑ:t    ˈtʃɑ:k lət

avocado toast

æ və ˈkɑ: doʊ    toʊst

---

robot

roʊ  bɑ:t

I hope you have fun playing around with these! Happy October 🍂🍁🕯

June Gloom

In Southern California in the early summer, we often experience what is called ‘June Gloom’.

“The gray, dreary skies you’re waking up to these days are a Southern California phenomenon known as ‘June gloom’. Geography, ocean currents and weather patterns conspire at this time of the year to cause overcast mornings and occasional coastal drizzle.

It’s all part of living with a marine climate. The condition is mostly confined to late spring and early summer. When the phenomenon occurs early, we call it ‘May gray.’ ”

— Los Angeles Times

June Gloom

Both of these words are pronounced with the long /u/ sound. 

Similar words:

June: cute, tune, use, confuse

Gloom: boot, bloom, soon, room

Happy 2023

Happy New Year

Wishing you much happiness in 2023!

🧡💕 Elizabeth

The Shortest Day

Happy Winter Solstice!

Here is a wonderful poem about the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, and the longest night.

Reading poetry aloud is a great way to practice your speaking: it is slightly more exaggerated and theatrical than every day speech, which stretches us to be more expressive. Listen to the way the actor reads the poem...then, perhaps, try reading a few lines aloud yourself. 

"The Shortest Day" 

So the shortest day came, and the year died,

And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world

Came people singing, dancing,

To drive the dark away.

They lighted candles in the winter trees;

They hung their homes with evergreen,

They burned beseeching fires all night long

To keep the year alive.

And when the new year's sunshine blazed awake

They shouted, revelling.

Through all the frosty ages you can hear them

Echoing, behind us — listen!

All the long echoes sing the same delight

This shortest day

As promise wakens in the sleeping land.

They carol, feast, give thanks,

And dearly love their friends, and hope for peace.

And so do we, here, now,

This year, and every year.

Welcome Yule!

-- Susan Cooper

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving

Where is the stress in the word "Thanksgiving"?

Here's an interesting thing: the primary stress is in the middle of the word on 'give' (not at the beginning), and the secondary stress is at the beginning, on 'thanks'.

So...we say

Wishing you and yours a beautiful Thanksgiving day!

Elizabeth

Happy Halloween!

It's almost Halloween...

which means it's time for...

The Monster Mash!

I often recommend singing songs as a way to practice. There are 3 reasons that this song is particularly great for practicing English speech patterns:

1. It is spoken!

2. The language is fun and exaggerated, so you can really lean into the shape and feel of it.

3. It has a strong rhythm and lots of rhymes (night & sight, lab & slab, rise & surprise, mash, smash & flash…).

Listen to it once, and then try speaking it aloud :) Have fun! 🎃

I was working in the lab, late one night
When my eyes beheld an eerie sight
For my monster from his slab, began to rise
And suddenly to my surprise

He did the monster mash
(The monster mash) It was a graveyard smash
(He did the mash) It caught on in a flash
(He did the mash) He did the monster mash

From my laboratory in the castle east
To the master bedroom where the vampires feast
The ghouls all came from their humble abodes
To get a jolt from my electrodes

They did the monster mash
(The monster mash) It was a graveyard smash
(They did the mash) It caught on in a flash
(They did the mash) They did the monster mash

The zombies were having fun (Wa hoo, tennis shoe)
The party had just begun (Wa hoo, tennis shoe)
The guests included Wolfman, Dracula and his son
The scene was rockin', all were digging the sounds
Igor on chains, backed by his baying hounds
The coffin-bangers were about to arrive
With their vocal group, 'The Crypt-Kicker Five'

They did the monster mash
(The monster mash) It was a graveyard smash
(They did the mash) It caught on in a flash
(They did the mash) They did the monster mash

Out from his coffin, Drac's voice did ring
Seems he was troubled by just one thing
He opened the lid and shook his fist and said
"Whatever happened to my Transylvania Twist?

It's now the monster mash
(The monster mash) And it's a graveyard smash
(It's now the mash) It's caught on in a flash
(It's now the mash) It's now the monster mash

Now everything's cool, Drac's a part of the band
And my Monster Mash is the hit of the land
For you, the living, this mash was meant too
When you get to my door, tell them Boris sent you

Then you can monster mash
(The monster mash) And do my graveyard smash
(Then you can mash) You'll catch on in a flash
(Then you can mash) Then you can monster mash

🕸 🕸 🕸 🕸 🕸

Happy Labor Day!

Do you know how to correctly pronounce the word labor? Let's take it apart:

• How many syllables are there?

  There are 2 syllables: LA - BOR

• Which syllable is stressed?

  LA is the stressed syllable​

•   Can you break it into separate sounds? 

  1st sound: LAY

  2nd sound: BRR

Then put it back together:

• First, practice the 2 parts of the word separately a few times:

  LAY - brr

• Then, say the word slowly:

  LAbor

• Try it in a sentence:

  We went camping over Labor Day weekend. 

Remember that 'bor' is reduced to the sound 'brrr' when it's unstressed. 

Compare: 

Stressed: BORN, BORing, BORed

Unstressed: LAbor, DOCtor, SENator

More practice 

sailor

SAY ler

flavor

FLAY ver

mirror

MIH rer

Trevor Noah's Awesome Shortcuts for Learning Languages

Hi everyone,

I hope you're having a lovely summer!

I came across a couple of fun videos of Trevor Noah (comedian, Daily Show host and master of many accents) talking about his favorite accents to do, and shortcuts he recommends when learning a language (he speaks 8!).

I wanted to share them with you because I love his advice and totally agree with it.

Enjoy 🌞 

"If you want to learn languages, there are 2 things you have to understand. One, language is mostly about rhythm... and two, you have to be willing to be an idiot to learn a new language."

(from 0:43)

Funny exchange between Trevor and a French member of the audience re "work" vs. "walk" (from 10:40).

Did you work there, or did you walk there? 😜

Solstice

Happy Summer Solstice!

In the word solstice, the first syllable SOL 

is pronounced like 

soul

or

sole

The final L sound is what is sometimes called a 'syllabic L'

The syllabic L sounds like this: /əl/

It is formed by gliding from the schwa sound /ə/ to /l/

Practice saying the whole word slowly, like this:

'so əl · stəs

Etymological Tidbit

The word solstice comes from the Latin words for sun (sol) and to stand (sistere), because at the solstices, the Sun's declination appears to "stand still"; that is, the seasonal movement of the Sun's daily path (as seen from Earth) pauses at a northern or southern limit before reversing direction.

Happy NEW year!

In this phrase, the main stress is on the second word:

Happy new year!

It's a beautiful fall day.

 How do you say that phrase?

 

  beautiful 

  It's a                         fall 

                                              day.

Take your time, and linger on each stressed vowel (beau, all, ay)

Let your intonation be higher on 'beautiful', then let it gradually go down a little more on 'fall', and then land on 'day'. Give some tone and time to the last word 'day', so we really feel the end of the phrase there.  

Listen to 4 different people say it:

"Quarantine"

The word quarantine can be a little confusing to say.

The dominant stress is on the first syllable, and the secondary stress  is on the last syllable. Not everyone says it in exactly the same way, but this is the general pattern:

 ˈkwɔɹ  ən   ̩tin

or

 ˈkwor  un  ̩teen

say the first syllable like “quarter”

say the last syllable like ‘thirteen’

---

Historical Tidbit

The word quarantine comes from the Italian "quaranta giorni", meaning "forty days". During the Black Death plague epidemic in the 14th-15th centuries, all ships arriving in Venice were required to be isolated for 40 days before anyone could go ashore.

It's almost HalloWEEN!

Halloween, like many other words ending with 'ee', has the stress on the last syllable:

haa·luh·'ween



🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸

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Fun Halloween Events

(special pandemic edition)

Socially Distant

Pumpkin Patch Picking

ˈsoʊʃəli ˈdɪstənt

pʌmpkɪn pætʃ ˈpɪkɪŋ

Horror Movie

Drive-ins

'hɔːrər muːvi 'draɪv-ɪns

Haunted Car Wash

hɔntɪd 'kɑr wɑʃ

Outdoor Victorian

Mourning Faire

ˌaʊtˈdɔr vɪkˈtɔriən ˈmɔrnɪŋ fer

🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸🕸

“Look at the stars, look how they shine for you”

Practice stress patterns by singing along. Feel which words the rhythm invites you to highlight and stretch.

Look at the stars, look how they shine for you, and everything you do

“Look at the stars
Look how they shine for you

And everything you do
Yeah, they were all yellow

I came along
I wrote a song for you

And all the things you do
And it was called ‘Yellow’

So, then, I took my turn
Oh, what a thing to’ve done
And it was all yellow

Your skin
Oh, yeah, your skin and bones
Turn it into something beautiful

And you know

You know I love you so
You know I love you so

I swam across

I jumped across for you
Oh, what a thing to do

Cause you were all yellow
I drew a line

I drew a line for you
Oh, what a thing to do

And it was all yellow”

For all you FAST talkers

Many of my clients are fast talkers. If you naturally speak quickly, it can be hard to slow down.

"But people ask me to repeat myself--I hate that!"

Let's look at 3 easy tools that will help you to slow down strategically and be understood no matter what, without losing any of your personality or flair.

1. Use more tone on stressed syllables

2. Stretch word endings at the end of phrases

“Ah, It feels so good to stretch...”

3. Pause between thought groups

A cup of black coffee / a bowl of fresh fruit / and a warm croissant. // Perfect breakfast!