How to make a perfect English cup of tea http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art39370.asp Guest Author - Hellie T. One of the things you need to be able to do is to sit down and enjoy a really good cup of tea. As a tea drinker myself I drink tea at breakfast, eleveneses, lunch, afternoon tea and quite often in the evening as well! This gives you plenty of opportunities to enjoy a cuppa in your garden. To make a really delicious cup of English tea - just follow the instructions below. Please note that if your tap water is heavily chlorinated it will make the tea taste horrid and you will need to filter the water before boiling it. Make a Pot of Tea to drink in your English Garden · Put freshly drawn cold water into the kettle – never use water that has been boiled more than once – and make sure your kettle is kept clear of scale · Boil the kettle. · Pour a little boiling water into the empty tea pot – swirl it around carefully to warm it up. Pour away this water that you used to warm the pot. · Put tea into the teapot - one teabag for each person or one rounded teaspoon of loose tea for each cup needed. It is better to add one extra bag or teaspoon “for the pot” to get a really good flavoured cup of tea. I recommend you use a tea generally called English Breakfast tea. A tea pot taking 20oz is about right for 2 people · When the water is boiling pour it directly onto the tea. · Then leave it to brew for a few minutes. 3-5 minutes is best and a tea cosy helps the tea stay piping hot whilst brewing.(Why not make one decorated with English garden flowers?) · In an English Garden you will be sitting at your wooden table using a china teapot and china teacups.In teacups - the milk should always go in the cups first – because you have made the tea in the pot – it is different when making tea in a mug - see below!) Semi- skimmed milk tastes the best, never put cream or powdered milk in tea because they completely spoil the flavour. · Pour the tea into the cup, don't forget to use a strainer if you are using leaf tea. · If required add a teaspoon of fine white sugar - never ever use brown sugar or honey! – stir and take into your garden carefully. Sit by your lavender or English Garden feature and sip the tea savouring the taste and enjoying your garden at the same time. If you are making tea in mugs it is important that you warm the mug before you add the tea, swirl and empty. Put in the tea in and pour the freshly boiled water onto it. Never put the water in first and add a tea bag – this will make the tea taste disgusting! Don't put the milk in first either or prod or stir the bag whilst it is in the water! Just wait about 2 minutes before you take out the teabag. Then is the time to add the milk to taste. Now you can drink your tea!

Here is my version of "L'auvergnat" (Song for the person from the Auvergne) It was written and sung by Georges Brassens It is ano old French song - and I like it a lot I hope you like my version Bye for now Alan If you want the English words - just e-mail me at alan_r_palmer@hotmail.com

Hello everybody, I have had some nice feedback from visitors to my site. I have realised that to help people with English, it is sometimes very useful to talk about cultural activities. Today I want to talk about small markets we have in some towns in England. Today, we went to a town called Skipton, near where I live. We visited a small market. This was called a “Farmers' market”. It is where local produce can be sold. It is an alternative to supermarkets which are the shops where most people go shopping for groceries. However, these markets give people the chance to buy some produce made locally by private business owners and which can be very good – although more expensive that supermarket equivalents. The produce we saw today was: cheese, meats, fruit and vegetables, herbal oils, sweets (called fudge) and not just food, there was also pottery and jewellery. Also in the town was a European market. These are sellers from France and Germany. They sell speciality products also, but prices are more expensive – because they have to travel from France and Germany and bring their products with them. With high fuel prices, it perhaps makes their products a little too expensive. At the European market we saw: special German beer, French cheese, biscuits from Brittany (a region in France) many types of olives and special salami sausages with meat from wildboar and wild deer. It is interesting to have the chance to visit these markets. They are held in quite a number of towns around the country, usually on a Saturday or Sunday. Of course, many towns have weekly markets. Skipton's weekly market is held each Saturday and the stallholders put their stalls along the main street. This market sells food, clothes and many other products. Take care Be good be happy Bye for now

Here's a guitar tune I recorded today. I hope you like it It is called "Bubble and Squeak" This is actually a food we eat in England: Bubble and squeak From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubble_and_squeak Bubble and squeak (sometimes just called bubble) is a traditional English dish made with the shallow-fried leftover vegetables from a roast dinner. The chief ingredients are potato and cabbage, but carrots, peas, brussels sprouts, and other vegetables can be added. It is traditionally served with cold meat from the Sunday roast, and pickles. Traditionally the meat was added to the bubble and squeak itself, although nowadays the vegetarian version is more common. The cold chopped vegetables (and cold chopped meat if used) are fried in a pan together with mashed potato until the mixture is well-cooked and brown on the sides.

Hello everybody Alan here and welcome to www.alanlancs1.podomatic.com. And today I'm just speaking without a text. Usually, as you know, I prepare a text. To make it easier for me and also easier for you to read as I say the same things as I've written. But today I'm just doing a “chatcast” and what I mean by a chatcast is I just chat. I just speak about things I am interested in and hopefully you find it interesting too – well I hope so anyway. So today I'm going to speak about reading in a different language and just recently I was on holiday in France and I was reading some French newspapers and French books during the holiday and sometimes I find the text very difficult. In fact, very often I find it very difficult to follow the text as I would do in English for example. So I was trying to find was as in how to improve my reading skills and firstly I thought to myself how do I improve my understanding of the text? So I came with an idea which I seem to think works quite well and so I'd like to share this idea with you. The idea is that to understand the text better, maybe read it more than once, everyone says that of course. But I started to read each sentence more than once. Just read a sentence, then re-read a sentence quickly. So, hopefully it would not take much more time to read a text than it would do if you didn't do that, because usually people read a text in other languages rather slowly, but my idea is to read the text quickly, but read it twice. So read each sentence twice quickly rather than one sentence read slowly to try and understand it. See if you like this idea it may help you. It certainly is helping me to read in other languages. I think reading each sentence twice helps us to understand it more because you are seeing the words twice. So that is my idea for today – my weekend words for today and I hope you find this idea useful. So, I'll see you next time and be good be happy and I'll see you again soon Bye

Hello everybody, I'm back from my holidays in France. Today I want to talk about when people speak fast and what you can do to help understand what is spoken. I think listening is the most difficult skill of the four skills in language learning For example: With writing, we have the chance to decide what we want to write and spend time on this. With speaking, we have the chance to decide what we say With reading, we usually have the chance to read the text many times if we want to. I don't mean that the other skills are easy, they are often very difficult. What I mean is that with listening to conversational speech we often have no control over it. To explain more details:  Often the speaker has an accent  We cannot control the speed of the words (unless we deliberately ask the speaker to slow down – and very often we can't do that)  Maybe the speaker is using slang or expressions – sometimes dialect words  Maybe more than one person is speaking at the same time, for example at a dinner table  Maybe the subjects being discussed are cultural, social or political – and these subjects can be difficult even in our own language. So, what can we do to make it easier to understand spoken language? I have some ideas that can help sometimes. Listen for key words (important words that help understand what is being discussed) Listen for small pauses when people think a bit more what they want to say Listen carefully to the stressed words (this is useful in English because English words have stress on the pronunciation If you don't understand something and it is possible to ask for more information, then ask a question. Instead of “could you say that again please?” , say “oh, was I correct in thinking you said this…….?” If you listen to English radio, then be careful not to listen to something very complex or you will think you understand nothing, when it is mostly because the radio speaker is using vocabulary that you don't yet know. The most important thing to remember is not to worry –keep relaxed. The reason I say this is because I know from experience that many people can communicate well with very few words - providing people are relaxed and friendly. To demonstrate, I'll read a text very fast and then show you why it is perhaps difficult From today's “Daily Mail” Teenager Holly Herdman clearly hadn't heard that it's not a great idea to mention you're having a party on a social networking site. And it is especially unwise if you have been left in charge of the house while your parents are away. What she claimed was intended as a drink with a few friends ended with a mob of teenage youths running riot through a small market town. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1047373/Couple-say-sorry-neighbours-newspaper-advert-daughter-holds-party-leaves-street-like-war-zone.html Key words: Teenager Holly Herdman not a great idea - having a party -social networking site- unwise left in charge parents away – claimed –drink with a few friends – ended up – mob of youths – running riot – through town If you listen again now to a slower version, you can see that the language is complex and only 70 words. Many news items use lots of descriptive words and the language puts a lot of information in a few sentences. This is difficult to understand if it is spoken fast as much information is there. So, knowing more about why listening is difficult helps us to think of ways we can improve our listening skills Be good, be happy

Hello everybody This podcast is about the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is the longest canal in Northern England at 127 miles (204km) long. It passes through 91 locks with a summit level of 487 feet (148 metres) http://www.penninewaterways.co.uk/ll/ll48.htm The canals of Great Britain are a major part of the network of inland waterways in the United Kingdom. They have a colourful history, from use for irrigation and transport, to becoming the focus of the Industrial Revolution, to today's role mainly used by pleasure boaters. Despite a period of abandonment, today the canal system in Great Britain is again in good shape, with many abandoned and derelict canals being reopened, and even the construction of some new routes under way. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canals_of_Great_Britain Along the canal bank is a nice place to walk in summer.

Hello everybody. Many people I speak with who learn English would like to know how to “improve” their English accent. It's always difficult for me to advise on this subject. Every nationality has a certain accent when they speak English, including the English themselves. For those of you who are interested in the way we speak in Britain, here is a good website http://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/ To help answer the question, I've made a list of things to think about and I'll discuss them a little here. What is an accent? http://www.buzzin.net/english/accent.htm This website says: Accent refers to a speaker's style of pronunciation. It may signal the regional or social identity of the speaker. Accent does not refer to the content of what is said So, this means that most of the time accent is not important for conversation. Regional Accent A “Geordie” accent is the regional speech style used by speakers in the North East of England. A “Cockney” accent is the speech style used by some people in the London area. 'Book' might be pronounced as 'Bewk' in northern England, but 'Back' in southern England. Similarly, the term 'car' might be pronounced as 'kaar' and 'caw' in these two regions. Use Every geographical area has its own characteristic and recognisable accent which is used by a group. Everybody speaks with an accent. Those people who speak with an accent called received pronunciation [RP] are just using the accent of prestige. It is quite common for a person to speak Standard English with a regional accent. Accent is not the same thing as dialect. The term dialect refers to grammar and vocabulary as well as pronunciation. That is, it describes the content of speech. Fewer than six percent [yes! - 6%] of the UK population speak Received Pronunciation (RP). Perhaps this statistic is surprising when we consider what prestige it has held historically and currently. RP was once itself a regional accent - that of the East Midlands. It acquired its status because East Midlands speakers converged on London as it became a centre for merchants. In other words, London became the power base and the financial centre, and the East Midlands accent became the spoken standard. This prestige accent developed alongside the regional accent of the London area. The co-existence of these two accents still exists today. The “ Cockney” accent is spoken in the East End of London by many original Londoners, whilst RP is spoken by many politicians and by upper-class people who live and work in the same area. The Cockney accent is a regional accent, and RP is class-based. Many regional speakers feel uncomfortable about their accent. This perpetuates the deference and prestige given to RP. Recent studies have shown that RP speakers will often be chosen for jobs, despite the superior skills of regional-speaking competitors. Some presenters on radio and television are employed even though they have strong regional accents. However, they tend to be used on programmes which are not very prestigious, such as weather forecasts, arts programs, and regional news bulletins. Accent can still be a very powerful indicator of status, and it is often an emotive item in social interaction. Speech varies subtly between individuals using the same accent. Because of this, a broad description is all that can be achieved. This applies to the classification of other accents too. (more on the website http://www.buzzin.net/english/accent.htm) My feeling is that many people from other countries want to have an “RP” accent. My opinion is that the most important thing is clarity of speech. In other words, as long as other speakers understand, then is it so important? Of course, when a British person speaks English to an American, the American will know it is an English person speaking. Some nationalities are good at disguising accents. Dutch people often sound a little like an American when they speak English. How do we “improve” an English accent? My feelings are that we should try to: Speak as clearly as we can when we are talking. Clear speaking is always appreciated Speak a little slower than we would want to – it does make a difference Speak with clear vowel sounds: A E I O U Speak with good endings to words: clocK, workinG, gardeN, studiO, floweR Speak with the correct stress on words (use a dictionary to check the intonation) WELcome, frusTRAtion, LANGuage. Often English people like to hear different accents. They like the sound of a foreign accent. It often has a charming sound, an appeal. Even small mistakes are forgiven. So, now you know a little more about accents, you can visit the websites I have given you and make your own mind up. I only write about my own opinions, so you must always form your own opinion. That is why I prefer to call my podcasts “guides” I am on holiday now for two weeks, but when I am back on the 19th August I will try to make a podcast for you just after then. In the meantime, have a great August (summer in the northern hemisphere, and for those of you in the southern hemisphere, I hope it is not too cold) Bye for now

Fluency - setting up a conversation Hello everybody. Today I want to talk about how to make your spoken English flow better and to help you with making it a little easier to talk to people, particularly native speakers. To have a good conversation you need to start well, enjoy the conversation and make it a two way thing and to find a good way to finish. This is useful and has nothing to do with the length of time you speak for. To start off a conversation, try to remember some good opening sentences: If you know somebody already… (informal) “How are you today?” “Nice to see you, how's it going?” “What's new? How are things?” “It's good to see you” If you are meeting someone for the first time (formal) “It's a pleasure to meet you, my name is…..” “Nice to meet you, my name is, how are you?” “Let me introduce myself, I'm……(name)” The next part is to let the other person do something similar and then you have names. If they use first names, then you can also use first names. The next stage is to give yourself time to think. The small pauses seem to be a long time, but they will only be a few seconds. “I'm learning English and…………. I'm finding it so interesting” “It's great to be able to speak with you in English………………, I'm enjoying learning it” “I would like to improve my English…..I do have a few problems now and then, so forgive me if I am a little slow at times….” “What a pleasure it is to be able to speak some English…… I like learning it and I'm hoping to improve it” Then you can follow my advice about keeping the conversation going by letting the other person speak more, asking questions, saying phrases like: “ah really?” “that's interesting” “I see” “hmmm, well you make a good point there” “I agree with you…” (if you do agree) “That's right!” If you are uncertain, or you don't understand so well “Oh, I'm not sure what you mean there…” “Could you repeat that please?” “That's interesting, but I'm not sure what you meant by……” “Really? Well, it's certainly something to think about” Many of these sorts of sentences can be used to keep conversations going and also give you time to relax and enjoy the conversation because most of the work will be on the other person. The more time you can give yourself in a conversation, the more time you have to think of the right words you want to say . If they ask you what you think about something and you are not sure what to say, then you can use these sorts of phrases: “Oh, I'm not sure about that, tell me what you think again please?” “Well, I would think it is something to consider yes,” “I think it's not easy to answer that, what's your opinion?” All the time, these sentences and pauses give you more time without the other person realising that you are doing this because they are also answering your questions. Enjoy your conversations…. Bye for now

Hello, Today I am playing a Beatles song for you - which I like very much. Here are the songwords: You know, if you break my heart I'll go But I'll be back again 'cause I told you once before goodbye But I came back again I love you so, oh I'm the one who wants you Yes I'm the one who wants you oh, ho, oh, ho, oh You could find better things to do Than to break my heart again This time I will try to show that I'm Not trying to pretend I thought that you would realize That if I run away from you that you would want me to But I got a big surprise Oh, ho, oh, ho, oh You could find better things to do Than to break my heart again This time I will try to show that I'm Not trying to pretend I want to go But I hate to leave you You know I hate to leave you Oh, ho, Oh, ho You, if you break my heart I'll go But I'll be back again Bye for now Alan