少人数制で楽しく身につく英会話教室・英会話スクールなら「アミックインターナショナル」

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.