FREiPOD Matt Apple

This is a new version of the /a/ and /æ/ episode from last year.

You can find the minimal pairs and the sentences from this podcast by clicking on this link: http://homepage.mac.com/matthewtapple/EnglishPronunciation/Personal86.html

Thanks for listening!

I should apologize for not making any new shows...it's been almost 10 months!

This show is an overview of my plans for this year's podcasts.

**Reminder to my listeners**

This podcast is primarily aimed at my students at Doshisha University, in Kyoto, Japan. However, if you have any comments please feel free to write.

Thanks to those who already commented. Don't worry about your English! :-)

I'll try to get some minimal pairs typed into a Word .doc file in the near future. I'll upload some documents (no show scripts, sorry, everything is unscripted!) and I'll put a link here in the future.

Thanks for your patience! -- Matt

This is the third in a series of four podcast episodes about reduced forms in English.

In this podcast, we look at the pronouns "he," "him," "his," "her," and "them." When we speak English quickly, the sounds of "h" and "th" are often not pronounced.

We also listen to the various ways in which to say "you." When combined with "d" and "t," as in "Would you?" and "Shouldn't you?" the pronoun "you" sounds like "dya," "ju," or "jya," depending on the speaker.

"Rokko Oroshi" is the official "fight song" of the Hanshin Tigers baseball team.

The song was written a long time ago, but only recently in the past twenty-five years or so has it become traditional to be sung at ballgames.

During the seventh-inning stretch, fans at Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya (between Osaka and Kobe) stand up to sing this song. At the end of the song, fans release thousands of slender "condomu fusen," or condom-shaped balloons, into the air.

Fans of the Tigers are well-known throughout Japan for their undying loyalty, even when the team is terrible (as is generally the case). Fans have been known to spontaneously burst into song at the bar, at the restaurant, in the beer garden atop the department store, at home watching TV, waiting for trains at the platform...pretty much anywhere during the baseball season, actually.

Parents in the Kansai region of Japan (Kyoto, Nara, Wakayama, Osaka, Kobe) teach their children the words for Rokko Oroshi from a young age. And, in fact, you can often see families bringing small children to Koshien Stadium, dressed up from head to toe in Hanshin Tigers uniforms and other apparel.

There has never been an English version of this song recorded, but there have been two translations from Japanese into English.

Check out:

http://www2.gol.com/users/michaelo/Fight.html

for more information on one of the English translations of the lyrics.

This is the second of four podcast episodes about "reduced forms."

In the previous episode, we practiced saying verbs phrases such as "have to," "got to," and "ought to" by using the reduced vowel "the schwa."

In this episode, we add "gonna" (going to) and "ask 'em" (ask them) as we practice three full sentences.

Some keys for listening to and speaking fast English: the letters "h," "w," "t," "th," and "ve" are often not pronounced at all!

This podcast is the first of a series of four podcasts designed to help learners of English better understand spoken, fast English.

English is a "stress-timed" language. That is, the individual words in English are often not fully pronounced when the stress of the sentence does not fall on the word. Common examples are "I wanna go" or "Are ya gonna tell me?" The important parts of the sentence (typically the verb and the object) are stressed, while the grammar part (-ing, to) receive no stress. The parts with no stress usually turn into the "schwa" unaccented vowel sound.

In this podcast, we will practice reducing common verbs such as "have," "want," and "got." In the second podcast, we will practice a full sentence using these verbs. The third podcast of the series will feature common pronoun reductions.