#Recipe For Success!

A podcast for English learners!  Improve your listening skills, practice your pronunciation, learn new vocabulary!     

This episode, it's just me again!  A short and sweet episode before I take a short break...     

Whether you're a good cook or a bad cook, why not follow a recipe in English?   My recommendation is Chocolate Brownies by the British chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (link attached)!      

Pronunciation tip = making the difference between the / w / and / v / sounds.     


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      

Chocolate Brownies: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/jun/04/brownie-recipes-hugh-fearnley-whittingstall      

Transcript

EPISODE 23 = #RECIPE FOR SUCCESS!

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!

This episode is just me again, so I’ll keep it short and sweet!  I thought I’d record one more episode before taking a short break – Chat ENG has been so much fun to make but we should all take a holiday if we can, as it’s important to rest, and so this is a good time to take stock!

Each of my guests has had brilliant advice to pass on to learners of English – use easy vocabulary and always use the language you need (don’t rely on gestures like pointing!), keep to simple sentence structures, set yourself learning goals, sing along to English songs…and so much more!  I urge you to listen to all the available episodes – you’ll definitely hear helpful advice!

In my previous solo episode – episode number 9 – I chatted about finding ways to incorporate English into everyday life, so we don’t feel like learning English is extra work.  That time, I set the #4 Minute Challenge – listening to English while cleaning your teeth twice a day!   I hope some of you tried it - maybe now you have cleaner teeth and better English! 

This time, my learning tip involves cooking and baking!  Whether you’re a good cook or a bad cook, most of us follow a recipe at some point – so why not follow a recipe in English?  You learn lots of different cooking verbs in the instructions – Cook, Bake, Wash, Fry, Mix, Melt, Peel, Chop, Slice…  and you make something great to eat!  So, my recommendation of a recipe in English is for Chocolate Brownies (I love chocolate brownies!) and, in my opinion, the best chocolate brownie recipe is by the British chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.  The recipe has different brownie versions – made with dark chocolate, milk chocolate or white chocolate, but I always make the cocoa brownies version – the recipe is easy to follow and the result is always delicious!  I’ve put a link to the recipe on the podcast’s webpage – if you make them, maybe post a photo on Twitter and tag me in @_emaileng!  Happy Baking!

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/jun/04/brownie-recipes-hugh-fearnley-whittingstall

(Music)

So, this episode’s pronunciation tip is making the difference between the letter W and the letter V.  These letters can cause trouble for learners, as - for some - the letter W is pronounced like a soft /v/ and the letter V is pronounced like a soft /w/…. In English, the letter W is always a strong /w/ sound, where the lips go forward like a kiss shape (a little like for the /sh/ sound we chatted about in episode 11), and the letter V is always a /v/ sound, where the top teeth touch the bottom lip and vibrate.   To practice the difference, I have 3 sentences with both the /w/ and /v/ sounds for you:

First:  The words ‘very’ and ‘well’. 

Try this sentence: “I’m very well, thank you!”

Next:  The words ‘vest’ (a piece of clothing) and ‘West’ (the direction).

Try this sentence: “My vest is from the West!”

Finally: The words ‘vine’ (the plant that grapes grow on) and ‘wine’ (the alcoholic drink made from grapes!)

Try this sentence:  “This vine makes special wine!”

Bonus sentence:  The words ‘vow’ (a solemn promise) and ‘wow’ (a sound of surprise and amazement!)

Try this sentence: “Their wedding vow was a WOW!”

Speaking English takes a little effort – but the effort is definitely worth it!

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!

Thanks so much again for listening and, for her music, a special thanks to the wonderful Mara Carlyle.  Bye for now!