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7. leave, leaf

Sometimes students use the voiceless sound at the ends of words when they should really use the voiced sound. This can change the meaning of the word quite drastically! Some examples include:

leave /li:v/, leaf /li:f/
hard /hɑ:d/, heart /hɑ:t/
dug /dʌg/, duck /dʌk/
rise /raɪz/, rice /raɪs/

8. bow, bow, row, row, sow, sow

Although there is only one spelling pattern being used here, there are two different pronunciations and multiple meanings! The two pronunciations are /əʊ/ to rhyme with ‘oh’ and /aʊ/ to rhyme with ‘ow’.

bow /bəʊ/ – noun – ‘shoelaces tied in a bow’, ‘bow and arrow’
bow /baʊ/ – noun – the front of a ship
bow /baʊ/ – verb – ‘actors bow at the end of a play’
row /rəʊ/ – noun – ‘row of seats’, ‘columns and rows’
row /rəʊ/ – verb – ‘row a boat’
row /raʊ/ – noun – argument
row /raʊ/ – verb – to argue
sow /səʊ/ – verb – to plant seeds
sow /saʊ/ – noun – a female pig

9. bear, beer

These words all use diphthongs:

bear, bare /beə/ – this rhymes with ‘air’
beer /bɪə/ – this rhymes with ‘ear’

10. tough, though, through, thorough, thought

tough /tʌf/
though /ðəʊ/
through /θru:/
thorough /ˈθʌrə/
The above words all end in ‘ough’ but below is a very similar one ending in ‘ought’:
thought /θɔ:t/

Having an idol can inspire us to achieve great things. Idols can be famous actors, musicians or sports stars, successful business people, inventors and scientists, even fictional characters can be idols. They can be people in our community or people we only know through history books and stories. Idols can help us to become improve ourselves in many different areas of our lives.

Idols can have a significant influence over us, from the way we dress to the way we behave. In turn these can have a great influence over the way we live our lives and interact with people. As with everything in life a balance must be struck, we may take cues from our idols on how to behave in certain situations, but we must learn to adapt those techniques to identify with our own identity and situation. Whether it’s a productivity technique, guide to happiness or new diet, we should always consider that we are all unique and somethings work for some people and not for others.

Who is your idol?

4. wonder, wander

wonder /ˈwʌndə/ – ‘won’ looks like it should rhyme with ‘on’ but in fact it rhymes 
with ‘sun’
wander /ˈwɒndə/ – ‘wan’ looks like it should rhyme with ‘ban’ but in fact it rhymes 
with ‘on’

5. of, off

of /ɒv/ (strong form) and /əv/ (weak form)
off /ɒf/

6. loose, lose, choose, chose

loose – adjective – /lu:s/
lose – infinitive verb – /lu:z/
choose – infinitive verb – /tʃu:z/
chose – past simple of choose! – /tʃəʊz/

A lot of people don’t know my first name because I go by my nickname and introduce myself as Roni. My name is often wrongly pronounced and easily forgotten because it’s unusual, so it makes it easier by having a nickname. Growing up my parents and siblings called me “Ro” as in “row” a boat, or “Roey” which sounds like “joey”. At one point I had co-workers call me Rose. It’s been years since I heard someone call me by my first name which is in fact Ronoel. I wonder if you can pronounce it correctly…
What’s your nickname? Did you have a nickname growing up?

The hard thing about summer now is the humidity. Muggy weather makes us feel hotter than it actually is and makes us sweatier, too. During the day I use ventilation and circulation to cool our home by opening our windows and using the electric fan. At night however, to avoid tossing and turning I’ve started using my air conditioner. So, at what temperature should I be setting it  now that we are in the heat of summer? In the past I’ve been told to set it at about 25 degrees. I set it on timer for a few hours at night. It is quite cool and I find myself sleeping with a warm blanket. So last night I took my student’s word of advice and set it at 28 degrees (Cool Biz Campaign). I used a lighter blanket and it was just as comfortable!

I survived four years in Thailand without an air conditioner so with some adjusting it really shouldn’t be that hard to beat the heat. An air conditioner is a simple pleasure, but at the same time I’m trying to be more friendly to the environment as well as my wallet.

先日７月４日に開かれた「2017ミス・ユニバース・ジャパン」で、

準グランプリに選ばれた愛媛出身の福岡佳奈子さん  :-D　

おめでとうございます！素晴らしいご活躍でした☆

ご存じのように、今年１月よりアミックに通って頂き、英会話レッスンでサポートさせていただきました 😉 

ネイティブ講師とのレッスンを通して、一般的な英会話はもちろん、世界大会出場時の質疑応答にも英語で答えられるよう特別に練習して頂いていただけに、もう少しで世界大会への切符を逃してしまったことはとても残念ですが、それでも彼女の人間的な魅力を英会話の練習を通して一層輝かせることができたことは間違いありません！

半年間お疲れ様でした 🙂 

アミックスタッフ一同、福岡佳奈子さんの活躍に期待し、これからも温かく見守っていきます！

↓　↓　福岡さんの練習の様子です♪

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There’s a new trend occurring in big businesses across the world. Employee well-being is an extremely important factor to be considered. Many managers have come to realise that by allowing pets at work, employees stress levels are significantly reduced. Considering the health risks related to stress, this certainly seems to be a major advantage. In addition, results in several studies have shown that productivity, teamwork and creativity have improved in working environments where pets are allowed.

On the other hand, there are arguments that show pets at work can cause distraction and discomfort for some employees. Some people are allergic to some animals, some people are afraid of some animals. Is simply having a “pet free zone” sufficient for these employees? What do you think? Would you like to take your pet to work? Would you like your colleagues to bring their pets to work?

1. walk, work 

   walk /wɔ:k/ – this uses the long vowel in ‘for’ and the ‘l’ is silent
   work /wɜ:k/ – looks like it should rhyme with ‘for’, but the ‘w’ changes the vowel sound to /ɜ:/

2. bought, boat

bought /bɔ:t/ – this uses the long vowel in ‘for’
boat /bəʊt/ – this uses the diphthong in ‘no’

3. match, much

match /mætʃ/ – this uses the short vowel in ‘cat’ – make sure you spread the lips and keep the tongue at the front of the mouth.
much /mʌtʃ/ – this uses the short vowel in ‘cut’ – make sure you relax the lips and tongue for this sound.

Wimbledon, the oldest tennis tournament in the world has started and I can’t wait to watch some exciting matches. Hot favourites for this year’s men’s singles according to seed rankings are Murray, Djokovic, and Federer. But, anything can happen. There’s nothing more exciting than watching an underdog take the trophy. I watched a bit of Nishikori’s first round match and it looks like he’s in good form. Could it be his year?

As for me, I’ll be rooting for Federer. He is an all rounder player who makes his shots look effortless. I love his great sportsmanship and how calm and collected he is on court. He is at the top of my list of all-time favourite tennis players followed by Edberg, Sampras, Rafter, and Becker. So, who are you cheering for this year?

3 July 2017

How do you say “GIF”? 

One of the areas of concern when learning a foreign language is if we are pronouncing the words correctly, indeed incorrect pronunciation can lead to an embarrassing situation and we all want to avoid those. Of course, we are aware that there may be subtle differences in pronunciation can depend on accent and location. There has been some debate on the pronunciation of the term “GIF”, the term itself is an acronym and more common than it’s full name: Graphics Interchange Format. These images are very popular on the internet and many companies use them for logos, marketing, games and small animations. But how is the term actually pronounced?

Many dictionaries indicate that there are two pronunciations that are acceptable:

1. The soft “g” (think of gym or giraffe)
2. The hard “g” (think of gift or game)

Although the creators of the technology use the soft “g”, recent surveys have indicated that the majority of people pronounce the term with the hard “g” sound. So don’t worry if you meet someone that pronounces it differently, you are both correct!