A Happy Holiday To You!

A podcast for English learners!  Improve your listening skills, practice your pronunciation, learn new vocabulary!     
 
This episode has a Christmas theme and a lesson in bravery.  While I was facilitating a conversation session, I set up my computer and microphone and invited attendees to leave a message starting with “For me, the holidays mean...”.  Did anyone leave a message?  Well, let’s see...

Pronunciation tip = How we sound the letter H = /h/... but do we say "a hotel" or "an hotel"? 

Presenter = Sam @_emaileng (Twitter, IG), @emaileng (TikTok)     

Music = "Baby Bloodheart" by Mara Carlyle   @MaraCarlyle    www.maracarlyle.bandcamp.com       

Artwork = Penny Rossano  @pennyrossanomusicart (IG)     www.pennyrossanoillustrations.com    

Transcript

EPISODE 34 = A HAPPY HOLIDAY TO YOU!

Hello! And welcome to Chat ENG, a podcast where people chat about how they learn and use English. My name is Sam, I’m a CELTA teacher and a performer, and I have a particular interest in pronunciation and expression.   

In each episode, non-native and native speakers will chat about their experiences with English, share their advice and, at the end, I’ll give some pronunciation tips for you to take away and practice.  

So – ready?  Let’s get Chat ENG!

Hello!  This episode has a Christmas theme and a lesson in bravery.  I host English conversation sessions called “Cake and Conversation”, where I bake traditional British treats and encourage non-native speakers to discuss different topics.  Our latest session involved the topic of music, with a music quiz, and I baked mince pies... now, mince pies are not made with mince but with mincemeat... and mincemeat has no meat... unlike mince… Confused?  So were most of the attendees!  In British English, we refer to ground meat as “mince” but “mincemeat” is a mixture of dried fruit, spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, all spice, ginger… maybe some alcohol like brandy is added, and - traditionally - suet, which is raw, hard animal fat.  These days, you can make mincemeat with a vegetarian alternative to suet, or - like me - you can make it with no fat at all! 

Anyway, enough about mincemeat!  While I was facilitating this session, I set up my computer and microphone and invited attendees to leave a message starting with “For me, the holidays mean...”.  I was really interested to see if anyone would have a go, and... well, let’s see!

MESSAGES

Sam:  So, I've just asked the group that are here to play music games and meet new people, if they'd like to take part in the conversation about the holidays. So I'll start – so, I’m Sam and, for me, the holidays mean probably a bit too much food, maybe a little bit too much alcohol, but lots of fun, lots of laughing and lots of cuddles. 

Hello, my name is Vadim. I'm from Russia. And I think holidays means for me a lot. It gives me some warm feeling, some feeling that sends me back to my childhood…these memories… that was nice, I guess.  I could say more but English isn’t my native language. It’s a little hard for me. So, I think that’s all. Thank you!

Hey, I'm Dana.  And for me, the holidays mean a really big party - like the best celebration of the year. And, of course, you can’t be overdressed for the Christmas party!

Hi Sam - my name is Eva. Christmas holiday means good food, family, time to slow down, reflect back, and prepare really nice food together with the family. These are the two most important things for me at Christmas time. Have a nice holiday!

Hi, I am Sahar. I'm from Iran and I'm happy to see you before Christmas, and nice to meet you Sam!

Hi, my name is Ediva and holiday means for me meeting my family, resting on my sofa, sleeping, eating a lot of food and doing whatever I want without specific time or so on! Thank you!

Hello Sam, it is Masoud from Iran. It's really great to have the chance to say something on your podcast. For me, Christmas or holiday means being with family, being together and having a great time together and enjoying together. I think, these days, holidays - I mean generally Christmas - is one of the chances that we can use to be with family, friends and ones who we love. So, that’s it - thank you!

Hi!  I'm Sylvia, and the holidays for me mean trying new things, and trying new recipes!

Hello, my name is Jochen.   For me, holidays - or particularly Christmas holidays - mainly means spending time with the family, which I very much enjoy. Very often, it also means for me an opportunity to go back to Austria and Salzburg, which is particularly beautiful around the time of the year. And it also means that I have a bit more time for myself, you know, doing, you know, focusing just on things I really like to do, which - of course - I also very much appreciate.

Transcribed by Otter.ai

(Music)

If you’re not used to speaking into a microphone, and you’re invited to go into a room on your own, with a microphone and a computer, it takes a lot of courage to sit down and speak – so I was really impressed that 8 people had a go! So thank you so much to the Brave 8 =  Vadim, Dana, Eva, Sahar, Ediva, Masoud, Sylvia and Jochen!   

So - this episode’s pronunciation tip is about the letter H /h/... because there are two things that learners need to think about: 1) Do you always sound the /h/ if you see one? And 2) if you need to identify ‘one’ or ‘one of many’ with a word beginning with H, do you use ‘a’ or ‘an’?   So, is it ‘a hotel’ or ‘an hotel’? 

Let’s start with sound - to make the /h/ sound, we don’t do it with our vocal chords, but with our diaphragm - so think deep into your body, past the vocal chords and down below your rib cage = /h/.  If you put your hands around your waist, you can feel it more when you laugh = ‘hahaha!’.  Once you know the word has a /h/ sound, think of it as a consonant - an unvoiced consonant - and so we use ‘a’.  If there is no /h/ sound, like the word ‘hour’, as in 60 minutes, we hear the vowel sound and so we use ‘an’.  An example: “my class starts in an hour”.   

So, here are 3 common words with a /h/ consonant sound + ‘a’ for you to practice:

First:  Hotel (a building where we can rent a bedroom)  

Try this sentence:  Is there a hotel in this town? 

Next: Hill (a small, raised bit of land) 

Try this sentence:  There is a hill on my way home. 

Finally: Holiday (time away from your usual life)

Try this sentence: I am ready for a holiday!

Bonus sentence:  Let’s put the sounds together!

Try this sentence:  I am having a happy holiday in a hotel on a hill!

So, to recap:  The /h/ sound is produced deep in the body with the diaphragm.  Put your hands on your waist and feel it move = /h/.  If you sound the /h/, this is an unvoiced consonant and should take ‘a’ when you are talking about ‘one’ or ‘one of many’, like ‘a hobby’ or ‘a home’.  Over to you to practice!

So there we are!  The transcript of this episode is available to read on the podcast’s webpage, so take a look!    Join me next time for more pronunciation and grammar tips, more advice and, most importantly, more chatting!   My thanks again to the Brave 8 and, for her music, my thanks as ever to the wonderful Mara Carlyle.   Merry Christmas!