text:
You've heard the expression that someone's trash is someone else's treasure. Bet you've never realized to what extent this is true. Spike TV's upcoming new unscripted series Auction Hunters will help you figure out which is which.
Source: Redfern/Redferns/Getty Images
Premiering Tuesday, November 9 at 10PM/9C with back-to-back episodes, after an all-new 1000 Ways to Die at its new 9:30P/8:30C time, co-hosts Ton and Allen shuttle from auction to auction using their brains locate the best finds and the ones that will net them the most cash. Check out these great yard sale discoveries, and maybe this weekend you'll think twice before passing up that cheap buy.
Marilyn Monroe "Smokes Pot"
Source: Baron/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Now let it be said that no one here is making the assertion that Marilyn Monroe ever smoked marijuana, but collector Keya Morgan does and he says that he has it on film. At the end of last year, Morgan purchased a reel-to-reel silent film that was taken at a private home in New Jersey. The color film purportedly shows the whisper-voiced starlet inhaling some of that wacky tobacky. The reel-to-reel, which was part of a private archive that had been shuttled from house to house, was finally uncovered by Morgan where it sat in an attic for three years with its contents not yet known. Morgan eventually threw down $275,000 for the footage. The person who originally made the short asserts that what Monroe is seen smoking is in fact a cigarette that was filled with marijuana. Monroe takes a quick puff in the short film before passing it along. Props to Marilyn for adhering the to appropriate "puff, puff, pass" ideology.
Nuns Find Rare Baseball Card
Source: Hondros/Getty Images Sport
Who's to say that nuns aren't fun? Sister Virgina Muller of Baltimore came across the rarest of the rare in early October when she and the rest of her order at the School Sisters of Notre Dame uncovered a T206 Honus Wagner baseball card that was produced between the years 1909 and 1911. The legendary shortstop's ball card has been fetching amazing sums of money over the years as they became harder and harder to find, with only sixty such cards believed to exist. The brother of one of the nuns who died in 1999 left all his possessions to the order when he died earlier this year. The lawyer for the man told the nun that the card existed in a safety-deposit box. Upon opening the box there was the card, along with a note that read, "Although damaged, the value of this baseball card should increase exponentially throughout the 21st century!" The dead guy was right, and despite a big crease in the upper right-hand corner, the card is expected to fetch upwards of $200,000. All this for a piece of cardboard with a guy's picture on it.
Honus Wagner fun fact: He retired with a .328 batting average over 21 seasons and was one of the five original inductees into baseball's Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Another fun fact: no one else in the world is named Honus.
Note: This last fact has not actually been verified.
Picasso Wastes Away at Yard Sale
Source: Dunand/AFP/Getty Images
For every positive story of someone buying something highly valuable for a low sum of cash at a yard sale, there is always going to be a tale of caution when some poor schnook doesn't know what they have on their hands and they sell it off to the first yahoo to come along. This is what happened to a Shreveport, Louisiana woman who was trying to do the "right" thing and sell off some items for the relatives of a neighbor who recently passed away. Many of the items belonging to the elderly neighbor, an avid art collector, were to be sold at an estate sale, but when the relatives didn't want to take the remaining items home with them they gave them to the woman. It was at that point she saw the name "Picasso" scribbled on a painting that was cheaply framed. She asked the relatives about the painting and they said, "don't worry, it's a fake." Well done, relatives. It was then sold at the yard sale for the stately sum of: $2.00. Though the painting's authenticity is still being verified, it is very much believed to be the genuine article and is understandably worth millions. Finders keepers, losers weepers.
Even a Beatles Poster Can Make You Rich
Source: Redfern/Redferns/Getty Images
The Beatles were a worldwide phenomenon. Don't believe us, well, check out what happened in Adelaide, Australia where a recent sale fetched approximately $14,000 for a rare concert poster for the Fab Four. Found at a local garage sale, and sold for what was described as a "pittance," the poster is being labeled as the sole surviving artwork from what was the Beatles first tour of the land down under in 1964. The 52 x 61 inch poster is a remnant of the four-city tour that was almost only three until a petition was thrown down. At the time, local radio DJ, Bob Francis used the airwaves to collect 80,000 signatures and sent them along to a Melbourne promoter who finally was convinced of Adelaide's necessity on the tour. Had this not occurred, this rare gem and evidence of the Beatles' place in Australian history would be lost. Of course, it's nice to make $14K while preserving history. Who says you can't have your Beatles cake and eat it too?
Superman Really Saves the Day
Source: Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Earlier this summer, one Southern family was dire straits. Unable to make payments on their house, the cash-strapped family began the sad process of loading up boxes and cleaning out the basement and attic in preparation of leaving the home they loved and began to raise a family. Low and behold, look who actually came to save the day: Superman, but this time in the form of the June 1938, Action Comics issue #1. As the anonymous couple began to shift boxes around in their basement they uncovered eight or nine vintage comic books. Most of the books were valued at $6-12 a piece, but there was one amongst the many that stood out, and that extremely rare origin story for the Man of Steel is said to be valued at $250,000. Given a 5-pt. rating, the value pales in comparison to other Superman issues, which have gone for well over a million dollars, but the six-figure sum was more than enough to save the house. Wonder if Aquaman can do that?
For more rare finds and exciting auction hunting adventures, tune in Tuesday, November 9 at 10PM/9C for the back-to-back series premiere of Spike TV's Auction Hunters following an all-new episode of 1000 Ways to Die at it's new time, 9:30P/8:30C.


text:
- Report: #441321
Report - Rebuttal - Arbitrate
Complaint Review: Ivory White
Ivory Whitehttp://www.ivorywhite.com Nationwide U.S.A.
Ivory White Tooth whitening ivorywhite.com Internet
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They sent two boxes that were identical, except one said,Sample and the other said "complete kit". The contents were the same in each box. Then they charged my credit card for the 2nd one FULL price.
In addition, there were no instructions on HOW to use the product!
I called my credit card , and reported it.
I had to void and change my credit card number.
Ripped off aswell
Keaau, Hawaii
This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 04/06/2009 06:15 PM and is a permanent record located here: http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/Ivory-White/nationwide/Ivory-White-Tooth-whitening-ivorywhitecom-Internet-441321. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year.
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Browsing SPS Theses by Author "PAWLAK, Patryk"
Now showing items 1-1 of 1
Title:Network politics in transatlantic homeland security cooperation: A European dimension Author(s):PAWLAK, PatrykDate:2009Citation:Florence, European University Institute, 2009Type of Publication:ThesisSeries/Report no.:EUI PhD theses; Department of Political and Social SciencesAbstract:The 'National Vision' of the Bush Administration with regard to homeland security aimed to 'prevent the entry of terrorists and the instruments of terror while facilitating the legal flow of people, goods, and services'. ...


text:
Announcement: Structr 2.0.0
Back from this year's GraphConnect in London, the Structr… read more
Structr is Open and Free Software. The sources are published on GitHub. We are the company behind Structr and offering support, training, hosting and custom development.
By leveraging the performance and flexibility of the world's leading graph database Neo4j, Structr enables power users and developers to build web & mobile applications for almost any use case.
With Structr, even non-developers can create simple apps in minutes, and for advanced users, Structr provides modules, APIs and tools to build even more complex software systems in less time.
Customize and extend your data model at runtime.
Create micro apps optimized for your business users.
Define groups, roles and access rules.
Access any data as JSON documents.
Virtual file system with web UI and many connectors, like CMIS, FTP and SCP.
Exchange data with other systems and create flexible reports.
Structr is Gold Sponsor of the upcoming GraphConnect Europe 2016 in London.


text: 836 FXUS64 KLZK 260036 AFDLZK Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Little Rock AR 736 PM CDT THU AUG 25 2016 .UPDATE... Showers and isolated thunderstorms continue across the central and south. Additional showers and thunderstorms are moving into the area from the south. Expect the precipitation to diminish before midnight. Adjusted pops, cloud cover, and rainfall amounts to reflect this continuing rainfall. && .PREV DISCUSSION...(ISSUED 646 PM CDT THU AUG 25 2016 ) AVIATION... Upper level high pressure continues over Tennessee. A short wave on the west side of this high is bringing showers and thunderstorms to Arkansas, mainly central and south. Stronger storms are near the Oklahoma border and in the southeast. Additional storms will move into the southeast corner of the state for the next 2-3 hours. Rest of the night should be dry but another short wave rotates around the high Friday for more showers and thunderstorms. VFR and MVFR conditions are expected. PREV DISCUSSION...(ISSUED 315 PM CDT THU AUG 25 2016 ) SHORT TERM...Tonight Through Saturday As expected...SCTD convection noted acrs the FA this aftn. The activity was occurring on the WRN periphery of an upr high that was centered ovr TN...with a plume of tropical moisture /PW values in excess of 2 inches/ conts to advect into the region. Do expect the bulk of this activity to diminish shortly aft sunset this evening. Opted to keep small rain chcs in the fcst later tngt as a weak impulse is fcst to lift NWD thru the area. Not much chg noted with the overall pattern heading into the weekend. High pres aloft wl rmn centered well E of AR. The resulting upr flow wl keep plenty of tropical moisture in place ovr the FA. Sctd convection wl rmn the fcst Fri and Sat...mainly diurnal in nature. Meanwhile...a fntl bndry wl attempt to apch NWRN AR Fri into Sat...but wl encounter SWLY flow aloft...which may inhibit it fm making into the FA. High temps the next few days wl range fm the mid 80s to lower 90s... thanks to contd rain chcs/cloud cover. Aftn heat index values are fcst to rmn blw critical lvls each day...so not headlines planned. LONG TERM...Saturday Night Through Thursday The extended weather pattern is contingent upon a couple of important factors. The first is the quasi-stationary front that is expected to push into northwestern Arkansas before Saturday night. By Sunday...all 12z model guidance indicates that this boundary will dissipate or wash out leaving no discernible low-level convergence or baroclinic signature to speak of. This is contingent upon thunderstorm activity along the front Friday and Saturday though. Numerous thunderstorms along and northwest of the front could reinforce the baroclinicity of the front and cause it to remain in place on Sunday. Seeing as no models support this solution at this time...only kept pops in the 20 to 30 percent range. Assuming the front has dissipated by Sunday...the forecast for Sunday through Thursday will be very similar. Weak upper level ridging will prevent any organized weather systems from impacting Arkansas. We will remain fairly warm and humid from Sunday through next week...so isolated to scattered thunderstorms can be expected during the peak heating hours of the day each day with a dry forecast likely after sunset and through the morning hours of the day each day. Highs will generally be near or slightly above normal due to weak high pressure aloft. The second important contingency to the forecast is keeping a close eye on any organized tropical system that may develop in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The consensus of the 12z model guidance indicates that any tropical system will remain well east of Arkansas...however previous model runs indicated that a decaying tropical system could move over the state next week. This forecast does not account for any decaying tropical system at all...so if that looks more likely in later forecasts...significant changes to the forecast will be necessary in the future. The primary concern in this unlikely outcome would be heavy rain and the associated potential for flooding. This is something we will certainly be keeping an eye on in future forecasts...but the probability is so low as this time it is unlikely that any decaying tropical system will impact Arkansas for the next 7 days. && .LZK Watches/Warnings/Advisories...NONE. && $$ 51


text:
Judge scolds government over immigrant documents
NEW YORK (AP) – A federal judge on Monday questioned whether the government was trying to hide or obscure something by failing to give information to a civil rights group about thousands of immigrant detainees held for long periods.
U.S. District Judge Richard Berman's written decision came days after government attorneys insisted they needed more time to comply with his September order granting the American Civil Liberties Union's Freedom of Information Act request.
The ACLU has said it wants to expose a flawed system that keeps thousands of detainees behind bars for long periods while their eligibility to remain in the country is adjudicated.
Berman wrote that the government "continues, quite obviously, to drag its heals in providing disclosure about immigrant detentions. Hopefully, it is not also trying to hide or obscure a distressing system or set of facts."
He noted that the U.S. General Accounting Office in a 2004 report found that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement lacks information to provide assurance that its custody reviews of detainees are timely and its custody determinations consistent with the law.
He said the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General in February 2007 determined that required custody decisions were not made in more than 6 percent of cases and were not timely more than 19 percent of the time.
Berman said the government offered "very unpersuasive arguments" when it opposed the ACLU's original FOIA request nearly five years ago. The ACLU sued the government in federal court in Manhattan in 2011 to force it to turn over the documents.
In a footnote, the judge said he questioned whether the government's Dec. 25 request for a delay was a misuse of resources that "would not better and more usefully be directed to providing appropriate public disclosure of information regarding the underlying problems of immigrant detention."
He also said the letter "continues a troubling pattern of, at best," a loose interpretation of the court's September order requiring the government to turn over the documents.
In a letter to Berman in November, the government said it could provide 100 out of 22,000 immigrant detainee files within seven years. In a letter last week, the government said it could now provide 385 files within 15 months. Berman questioned if the government had "simply sought to move the goal posts."
A spokeswoman for government lawyers said Monday that they had no comment.
ACLU attorney Michael Tan said Berman's decision "confirms _ once again _ that the government needs to comply with FOIA so that the public can take a real look at how it's running the immigration lock-up system."
In 2001, the U.S. Supreme Court said detained immigrants are supposed to be deported or released within about six months.
In 2009, The Associated Press found through a computer analysis of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement database that there were 32,000 immigrants from 177 countries detained, including more than 18,000 with no criminal convictions. The analysis showed that nearly 10,000 had been in custody more than a month and that 400 of those with no criminal records had been locked up more than a year.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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text:
I don't even think Ohio State is an overwhelming favorite in the Big Ten's Leaders Division race in its last year before realignment next year and the addition of Rutgers and Maryland. Wisconsin plays at Columbus Saturday night and if the Badgers win they have command even though it would only be one weekend into the league season.
And in the Legends Division it's easier to figure out who is out than who is in. Any of five teams, even Iowa, I think can make a run to the Big Ten title game. Michigan State has a tepid schedule and with the Spartans' defense they can stay in most if not all the games. Their whole league season, I believe, will hinge on how their offense develops and next up is the Big Ten opener a week from Saturday at Iowa. I'll take State to win the opener.


text:
My Summerfest: Graham Hunt, singer-guitarist for Midnight Reruns
When to see him: 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, K-Nation / Cascio Interstate Music Stage
Fest experience: Hunt, 21, went to his first Summerfest when he was 4 or 5 and has played there five times since 2007 with different bands, including Trapper Schoepp and the Shades. »Read Full Article
UWM honors visual effects Oscar winner Jim Rygiel
Jim Rygiel's road to winning three Oscars started at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, which the Kenosha native attended from 1973 to 1977.
In ceremonies Friday, Rygiel, who won a visual effects Oscar for each film in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, was given the UWM Chancellor Recognition Award for having "demonstrated excellence." Earlier in the day, Rygiel met with UWM film students. »Read Full Article
Florentine Opera begins new season with lush 'La Traviata'
Milwaukee's Florentine Opera Company raised the curtain on its 80th season Friday evening, ushering in the season with a grand production of Verdi's "La Traviata."
"Traviata" is the tragic tale of a dying courtesan willing to give up everything for love. She is convinced by her lover's father to end the romance, but he relents at seeing his son's pain over the loss. The lovers reunite shortly before her death. »Read Full Article
Soulstice goes time-traveling with 'Picasso at the Lapin Agile'
Paris, 1904. A 25-year-old German physicist walks into a bar, where he'll eventually be joined by a 23-year-old Spanish painter. Albert Einstein, meet Pablo Picasso, courtesy of Steve Martin's "Picasso at the Lapin Agile."
A huge hit at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater 14 years ago, "Picasso" is back, in a staging by Soulstice Theatre that opened Friday. »Read Full Article


text: A man is arrested after police say he hit another man in the face with a trailer hitch. Police say 49–year–old Everett Wood got into an argument with another man then reached into his truck and grabbed the ball hitch. Wood then hit the man in the face with the hitch breaking several bones. Along with other charges he is a facing 1st degree assault charge. On Saturday Wood was still being held at the Mesa County Jail on a $100,000 bond.


text:
Police bust suspected meth lab in Houma
Published: Friday, April 8, 2011 at 8:20 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, April 8, 2011 at 8:20 a.m.
HOUMA — An Arkansas couple and a Houma relative were arrested Wednesday for allegedly creating and running a methamphetamine lab in Village East.
While south Louisiana is not deemed a major breeding ground for meth manufacturing, authorities say they've noticed the drug becoming more prevalent.
At the suspected lab, 115 Westwood Drive, troopers found 2 grams of methamphetamine and a small-scale operation for creating the drug, according to State Police.
"It wasn't elaborate. It was enough to make a large sum of money over a period of time," said Master Trooper Bryan Zeringue, a spokesman for State Police Troop C.
Lonnie Johnson, 41, and his wife, Karen Alice Johnson, 33, both of Crossett, Ark., were arrested along with the husband's 59-year-old aunt Sandra Kay Johnson, who lives at the house.
The Arkansas duo are fugitives from Ashley County, Ark., near the Louisiana border, and had been staying in Houma about a week, Zeringue said. Both face prison sentences for drug charges in Arkansas, including making and possessing meth.
For the full story, see Friday's Courier and Daily Comet and visit houmatoday.com and dailycomet.com.
Reader comments posted to this article may be published in our print edition. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged.


text: I have 3,000 records to import. As a test, I've only done 5. I have mapped the information correctly. Everything comes in fine except - when I go to the regions and I look at Texas - there should be a 2 there for the 2 entries imported, however... there is a 0. I've done it twice now and still... it will not add the cities to a region. My question now is - will it automatically set up a region if it's not there? Or do I have to add in all 50 states in the Regions Module... and then they will show up?


text:
Part One: How Kids' App Makers Use Data to Build Business Strategy
A few months ago we began strategizing with Moms With Apps, a community of Kids' App developers. Like appFigures, MWA strives to help developers succeed. MWA and App Friday co-founder, Lorraine Akemann, has played a vital role in our recent outreach efforts within the developer community.
We love connecting with our members to find out more about your needs. With that in mind, we reached out to Lorraine to get her perspective, as both a developer and a community organizer, about how developers can use appFigures, and data in general, to find the insights that matter. Her findings were so interesting, we've decided to bring them to you in this three-part series:
Today's kids are tech savvy, and app makers realize that family-friendly content is filling a growing niche. As independent developers turn their apps into businesses, they rely on data to help chart their course. What circumstances can change an app's rankings? Which country generates the most downloads? Which day of the week is most popular for sales? You name it, app developers want to track it.
I interviewed several app makers from the Moms With Apps community about how they use data. Three main themes emerged: 1) analyze past data to chart historical trends, 2) monitor current data to evaluate visibility, and 3) synthesize past and present data to adjust future business strategy. In this article I will illustrate key points from each theme with specific developer testimonials.
Historical Trends
1. Tracking sales to refine the target market
"Our initial wave of apps is targeted at occupational therapists (OTs) first, and parents second. Two years of sales data indicates that OTs buy apps primarily while they are at work, Monday-Friday. Dexteria Jr. is the first in our second wave of apps, and we are trying to transition our targeting to parents first and OTs second because the parents market is 10x the size of the OT market. Studying the recent data allowed us to confirm that the strategy is working; our traditional weekend sales dip is being mitigated by weekend purchasers of Dexteria Jr." Frank Jensen, Dexteria
2. Tracking profits over time
"Recently, data from appFigures led to a crucial change in our company priorities. We tracked the percentage of our profits that come from educational purchases, and saw a clear increase over the past two years. Because of that, we've just released the Motion Math: Play Pack, a single game bundle that teachers have requested." Jacob Klein, Motion Math
3. Tracking downloads by country
"We have been getting substantial downloads from China, but relatively little sales. We used appFigures to identify the trends from China, to compare it's monetization against other markets we sell into, then make some decisions on how much effort we should invest into China as a market." Andrew Kao, Puzzingo
Lorraine Akemann is co-founder of Moms With Apps, a collaborative network of developers who create apps for kids. After launching her own app in 2009, she recognized the need for knowledge-sharing and cross-marketing to help gain exposure in the App Store marketplace. Lorraine's advocacy and efforts are focused on supporting apps that are designed to respect children and families, and her partnership with the Association for Competitive Technology is based on bringing best practices in online privacy to the forefront of kids' app development. You can find Lorraine on Twitter @momswithapps
Have any ideas on how we can make appFigures even better? We'd love to hear them! Please contact our support team, or reach out on Twitter and Facebook
We do no sell, lease, share, or spam. Promise!


text:
LISTEN to Jason Aldean's New Song "Burnin' It Down"!!
Posted July 22nd, 2014 @ 1:18pm
*****start poll*****
Poll: What do you think of Jason Aldean's new song "Burnin' it down"
*****end poll*****
Jason Aldean released his new single "Burnin' It Down" today!! Listen to it on iHeartRadio and check out the lyric video!


text:
Call for Papers: CeBIT 2011-Open Source Forum
The Open Source Forum at CeBIT 2011 is seeking speakers. Potential speakers have until January 9, 2011 to submit their topic papers for consideration.
The Open Source Forum for the CeBIT 2011 Conference, scheduled for March 1-5, 2011 in Hannover, Germany, has issued the Call for Papers. The deadline for speaker submissions is January 9, 2011.
The call for papers is open to open source individual users, organizations, and developers. Open Source Forum is especially targeting presentation topics about cloud computing, virtualization, security, mobile open source solutions, and desktop. However, presentations from individuals who can talk about their practical experience in deploying free software in companies and organizations, as well as, speakers who can demonstrate new open source or free software technologies, specialties, or new innovative products are sought after as well. Also encouraged to submit presentation proposals are speakers who can discuss new open source projects.
Speakers who are interested in participating should sent their proposals to events [at] linuxnewmedia [dot] com. Proposal submission should include subject title, speaker information/bio, and a short presentation content description. User presentations, including questions and answer portion, can be a maximum of 40 minutes. Free software project presentations can be a maximum of 20 minutes. The Open Source Forum program will be broadcast via live stream by Linux Magazine Online and archives of the program will be made available after the event.
Presentations will take place in the Open Source Software area of Hall 2 at CeBIT and will not only be part of the Open Source Forum program, but will be included in the Open Source Project Lounge as well. In the Open Source Project Lounge, free software projects have the opportunity to present their work/projects to the general CeBIT 2011 public without a booth charge.
More information on Open Source Forum at CeBIT 2011 can be found on the website.
Issue 191/2016
Buy this issue as a PDF
LinuxCon North America Convenes in Toronto, Canada
Linux Foundation's big event celebrates the 25th anniversary of Linux
Linux Turns 25
Linux has evolved from a "won't be a professional" project to one of the most professional software projects in the history of computers.
Mirantis Joins Hands with SUSE To Offer RHEL Support; Red Hat Not Happy
Competitors get in the game with RHEL without Red Hat
Linux on Windows 10 Poses a Security Risk
Security researchers have already notified Microsoft; some fixes are available
Mirantis to Refactor OpenStack Fuel for Kubernetes
The company is collaborating with Google and Intel to use Kubernetes as an engine for Fuel
Canonical Joins Document Foundation Advisory Board
The upcoming release of LibreOffice will be available as a snap package
SUSE Joins the Microsoft Test Drive Program
Customers can take a free test drive of SLES for HPC on the Azure Cloud
SiFive Launches a Line of Open Source Chips
San Francisco-based chip company announces their first fully open source chip platform.
Fedora 24 Released
The whole distro gets rebuilt on glibc 2.3
Canonical Announces Cross-Distro Support for Snaps
Ubuntu Vendor tries to solve app packaging and distribution problem across distributions.


text:
214: Yes/No Pitch Patterns/
Unmarked yes/no questions will have a rising pitch. Using a falling pitch signals something else, possibly something with a negative tone.Read More
214: Yes/No pitch patterns
213: Wh- question intonation
212: /r+ɚ/ "explore" into "explorer"
211: Compare /æ/ and /ɑ/ ('short a' and 'short o')
210: '-ue' ending (unique, avenue, and rescue)
209: The difference between /ə/ and /ʌ/: schwa and short u
208: Cone/corn, coat/court
207: Why is 'quarter' so hard to say?
See full podcast archive!
Unmarked yes/no questions will have a rising pitch. Using a falling pitch signals something else, possibly something with a negative tone.Read More
Wh- question intonation in American English: what are you really asking?Read More
Pronouncing schwa+r after an /r/ can be tricky. Here are some tips.Read More
Let's compare the 'short a' /æ/ and 'short o' /ɑ/, the sounds in the words 'hat' and 'hot.' Both of these sounds are horribly named because they are NOT quick or 'short' sounds. I continue to use their historic names so you can find more information from sources other than me on the Internet. /æ/ and /ɑ/ are just the common spoken names used for the sounds /æ/ and /ɑ/. The critical thing to remember that neither /æ/ nor /ɑ/are quick, little sounds. They're most likely to occur on stressed or secondarily stress syllables or single-syllable words. Practice with minimal pairs.Read More
Why are the endings of the words "unique," "avenue," and "rescue" pronounced differently? In the word "unique," the -ue is silent. In the word "avenue," the -ue is pronounced as /u/ (like in the word "soon"). In the word "rescue," the -ue was pronounced as /u/ (like in the word "cute"). Learn the patterns to become a more fluent English speaker.Read More
The differences between /ə/ and /ʌ/ ('schwa' and 'short u') are mostly based on syllable stress--the vocal tract is very similar for both sounds. For example, in the word 'custom,' the vowel sound of the first syllable is a 'short u' because it's stressed; the unstressed second syllable is 'schwa': /ˈkʌs təm/. Since schwa has so many different vowel spellings, understanding it based on syllable stress allows English pronunciation to become more obvious to learners of English.Read More
Practice the difference between the or sound and the long o sound.
Hi again, and welcome back to Seattle Learning Academy's American English pronunciation podcast. My name is Mandy, and this is our 208th episode.
Today I want to talk about something that is definitely more important for American English than British English, and that's the difference between the or sound (or sound) and the long o sound (long o).
I want to thank Christopher, a native Korean speaker, for bringing this topic to my attention!
If you learned British English, you probably learned to not really say the /r/ part of the or sound except in specific circumstances when other vowels are involved. To American ears, not including the /r/ makes words like corn sound like cone or court sound like coat. Can you hear the problem?
In American English, we include the r sound of all four r-controlled vowels. These are:
schwa+r (schwa+r), as in the word stir
the ar sound (ar sound), as in the word star
the air sound (air sound), as in stair
and the or sound (or sound), as in store
Let's talk about how exactly the or sound and long o sound are alike and different, except for the obvious necessity of the r sound in the or sound in American English.
The long o is what we call a two-sound vowel, or diphthong. Two-sound vowels, like their name implies, include two sounds in their pronunciation. The long o begins with a sound like (uh) and then moves into a w sound (long o). If your lips don't close into the small circle that creates the w sound at the end of the long o, you stand a good chance of being misunderstood.
Say the long o sound after me (long o, long o).
Let's say some long o words:
To say the or sound, the beginning of the sound is similar to the beginning of the long o, but we don't move into the w sound. Instead, we move into an r sound (or sound).
Say the or sound after me (or sound, or sound).
Did you get all the way to a nice, clear r sound?
If not, here are some tips for the r sound. First, I recommend creating the /r/ by using the back of the tongue. This is a little confusing at first, but let's give it a try.
The back of the tongue is raised so the sides of the tongue touch the back teeth. The center of the back of the tongue is lower and the air travels through the groove to create the sound. The tip of the tongue might point upward, or might be left low.
Let's try just the r sound (r sound, r sound).
Now, when we create the or sound, the sound begins with the mouth more open and the jaw lowered. Then, when you move into the r-part of the sound, let the mouth close a little. This will help you get the back of the tongue high enough to create a solid r sound.
Let's try the or sound again (or sound, or sound).
Repeat these words after me:
Did you do okay?
Now we're going to do some long o sound, or sound minimal pairs. A minimal pair is two words that are the same except for one sound. I'm going to say both words, then leave time for you to repeat after me. I'll say the word pronounced with the long o sound first.
scone, scorn
coat, court
tone, torn
cone, corn
row, roar
so, soar
code, cord
poke, pork
bone, born
foam, form
snow, snore
If you want more practice with these sounds, our textbook, Pronunciation Pages 2 includes practice word lists with almost one hundred high-frequency words, including audio, for you to use as listen-and-repeat practice. There is no other resource with so much sound practice all in one place. You can get a downloadable copy of Pronunciation Pages 2, with the audio in MP3 format, by going to www.pronuncian.com.
Don't forget, if you want to suggest a podcast topic, you can let us know on social media. We're on Facebook at facebook.com/pronuncian, and our Twitter handle is @pronuncian. We'd love to hear your comments and questions at any time.
Christopher, I hope this podcast helps you with these troublesome sounds!
That's all for today everyone. This has been a Seattle Learning Academy digital publication. Seattle Learning Academy is where the world comes to learn.
Thanks for listening. Bye-bye.
Rhyming with 'shorter' and 'border,' this is a quirky word.
Hi again, and welcome back to Seattle Learning Academy's American English pronunciation podcast. My name is Mandy, and this is our 207th episode.
Today's show is a special request from listener Nick. Nick wants to know how to pronounce the word quarter. Actually, I enjoyed Nick's email so much, I want to read it aloud here. Here it is:
I struggle with the word quarter, and I know many other ESL learners see this word in their nightmare dreams too. I have had the same awful dialog in the store or bank:
Me: Could you please change/split my dollar bill into QUARTERS?
Person at the counter: Sorry… What do you want?
Me: I want some Q-U-A-R-T-E-R-S for my laundry machine.
[Deep thinking]
Person at the counter: Ahh! You need QUARTERS. Here you are, sir!
Me: Thank you.
The problem is, I do not see the difference between me and Americans pronouncing this word. However, they do not understand me.
Please help me with this word.
Thanks Nick. I especially liked the "pause, deep thinking, revelation," part!
So, what's going on with this word? Kind of a lot, actually. We have to deal with the letters q-u, then we have two different r-controlled-vowels, and we have a t sound allophone. It's no wonder that Nick is having problems!
To begin with, let's talk about the q-u sounding like k plus w (k sound+w sound). Some people really miss the w part of this sound. If Nick was missing the w sound, he'd be saying quarter as quarter (no w sound). If I heard quarter (no w sound) I might have a really hard time understanding, even with context.
The next issue is the or sound (or sound) part of the word. If I put the k sound plus w sound plus or sound together, I get (quar-). This is the same as in the words quart, quartz, quarrel, and quarantine.
Now we need to deal with that letter t. If you've listened to very many of these podcasts already, you know the trouble the letter t can be. The letter t has a lot of pronunciations in American English and the one you might be the most familiar with is when it sounds like a d sound. It's easier to hear in words like water or meeting, but it also happens in the word quarter. If I slow the word down, you can probably hear it more easily: quar-ter.
The reason the t sound turns into that quick d sound, also called an alveolar stop, in the word quarter is that the t is between two r-controlled vowels: it has an or sound before it, and schwa+r after it. I'll link to the pronuncian.com lesson from this page's transcript so you can see the t sound allophone charts. For now, know that the letter t in the word quarter sounds like a quick d sound.
That same t-as-d pattern also works in the words that rhyme with quarter. Those are words like shorter, reporter, and supporter. Oddly, though, the word quarter is nearly a rhyme with the word order o-r-d-e-r, because of that d-like transformation. I'll say those two words side by side so you can hear it: quarter, order. We could also nearly rhyme it with border, recorder, and disorder.
I like to tell you these rhymes because sometimes seeing different spellings for the same sound can help your brain get unstuck when it was a weird spelling pattern that was causing a mispronunciation.
Now, one last thing to talk about in the word quarter, and that's the final sound, schwa+r. The key thing to remember about schwa+r is that it's pronounced as just an r sound. Don't add any vowel sound to it. Really. Just say the r sound, no matter how much it is not intuitive to do that!
This means that in the word quarter, you need to transition directly from the d-like sound into the r sound (d sound+r sound). If you try to add a vowel between the d sound and r sound, you might be misunderstood. This is true with all the words we've talked about as rhyming words and near rhyming words to the word quarter. Listen closely:
Notice, too, that quarter is the only word in that list that is not spelled with o-r. If it helps you to think of it as spelled o-r in order to say it correctly, go ahead and do that. It's always okay to trick your brain a little when working with pronunciation.
I'm going to say that list of words again, this time leaving time for you to repeat the words after me. Ready? Here we go:
If you want to see the transcripts for this episode, go to www.pronuncian.com and click 'podcasts' and then click episode 207. I'll also include links for the or sound, schwa+r, and t sound allophone lessons. That way you can learn and practice even more! Those lessons are also available in our textbook, Pronunciation Pages 2. Pronunciation Pages 2 also comes with MP3 audio files so you can get lots and lots of that valuable listen-and-repeat practice.
Don't forget, if you have a pronunciation question and would like us to do a podcast about it, you can tell us on social media by finding us on Facebook, www.facebook.com/pronuncian, or on Twitter, where our handle is @pronuncian.
That's all for today everyone. This has been a Seattle Learning Academy digital publication. Seattle Learning Academy is where the world come to learn.
Thanks for listening. Bye-bye.
Rhythm and linking from /d/.
Hi again, and welcome back to Seattle Learning Academy's American English pronunciation podcast. My name is Mandy, and this is our 206th episode.
Today I want to talk about the contraction I'd, (I-apostrophe-e) which can be used to contract either I would or I had. I notice that some contractions are embraced by non-native speakers much more than others. For instance, many of my students willingly use don't for do not, or won't for will not. However, as I've mentioned in previous podcasts, many non-native English speakers don't like the contraction can't. I'd is another contraction people shy away from. Just like can't, though, I'd is an important contraction.
One of the biggest benefits of using contractions is that they help the rhythm of your spoken English sound more fluent. Contractions often allow us to remove an entire syllable of function words. This is true in both the contractions, I would (two syllables) becoming I'd (one syllable) and I had (two syllables) becoming I'd (one syllable).
Let me be absolutely clear that the contractions for both of these words is I'd, pronounced exactly the same. We rely on context and the grammar of the rest of the sentence to tell which contraction we're using.
I'd can be especially tricky to pronounce because we have special linking rules when we link from the d sound into either an l sound or an n sound. Remember in the past when I talked about lateral aspirations and nasal aspirations?
I'm going to focus on I'd representing I would today, and I'm going to link it into the word like because it makes a nice example of of how tiny, and how grammatically important, that little d sound of the contraction is.
Listen to the two following sentences and see if you can hear the difference:
I like bacon.
I'd like bacon.
Could you hear it? The first sentence, I like bacon, states a preference, while the second sentence, I'd like bacon, is more of a request. That d sound is so hard to hear because it isn't fully released before the l sound of the word like. Instead, the two sounds blend a little bit. The blending of the d sound into the l sound is called a lateral aspiration. Let me explain.
Think of the position of the tongue for the stop portion of the d sound. The front of the tongue is blocking the air from leaving the mouth by pressing against the tooth ridge (that bony bump inside our mouth) just behind the top front teeth. When the tongue releases from this position, a small puff of air leaves the mouth.
Say the d sound after me and notice both the stop part of the sound and the release part of the sound: (d sound).
Now say the word I'd: I'd.
Now think about the pronunciation of the l sound. At the beginning of words, the l sound is created when just the very tip of the tongue presses into the tooth ridge and air is released out the mouth alongside the tip of the tongue.
Say the l sound after me: (l sound).
Now say the word like and pay special attention to the tip of your tongue: like.
If we put the words I'd like together, a special thing happens. The tongue touches the the tooth ridge for the d sound, but it doesn't release like a typical d sound. Instead, it releases like an l sound. This is a really subtle movement, but it's like magic for sounding fluent.
I'll demonstrate this both ways. First I'll say I like, with the words linked, then I'll say I'd like with the words linked. Listen carefully.
I like
I'd like
Can you hear the difference in sound?
Now I'll compare the less-fluently linked I'd like to the more fluently linked I'd like. Listen carefully.
I'd like (no lateral aspiration)
I'd like (linked fluently)
I'm going to repeat those:
I'd like (no lateral aspiration)
I'd like (linked fluently)
Now let me compare the contraction I'd like to the uncontracted form I would like. Listen carefully.
I'd like
I would like
Can you hear the difference in rhythm?
As I said before, these small changes are magic for sounding more fluent. You don't even need to learn any new vocabulary or grammar! All you need to do is to learn a tiny piece of muscle control for your tongue. I think it's pretty cool.
We're going to do some practice, but I also want to mention that the new Linking ebook also has a lesson and exercise specific to lateral aspiration, so you can get even more practice. The ebook also comes with audio for all 425 practice sentences--yes 425 sentences to practice linking. I really wanted to make sure you had enough practice to master these skills.
You can find more information on the products page of pronuncian.com.
Now, let's practice I'd like in some sentence and see how you do. I'll say the sentence, then leave time for you to repeat after me. Ready?
I'd like a puppy.
I'd like a new boat.
I'd like a new car.
I'd like a vacation.
I'd like some bacon.
I'd like you to practice this skill!
There you go.
You can find transcripts for this episode by going to www.pronuncian.com and clicking "transcripts," then finding episode 206. Also, we've changed our Facebook page to match our webpage. So you can now find us on Facebook by searching for Pronuncian. Our Twitter handle is also Pronuncian. It's spelled p-r-o-n-u-n-c-i-a-n in all of those places.
That's all for today everyone. This has been a Seattle Learning Academy digital publication. Seattle Learning Academy is where the world comes to learn.
Thanks for listening. Bye-bye.
No English spelling could be more confusing.
Hi again, and welcome back to Seattle Learning Academy's American English Pronunciation Podcast. My name is Mandy, and this is our 205th episode.
How many of you are frustrated by trying to understand the pronunciation of the 'o-u-g-h' spelling? I'm sure many of you are.
Here's the trouble with the 'o-u-g-h' spelling; its pronunciation almost completely unpredictable. In just the words 'through,' 'though,' and 'thought,' we hear three different pronunciations: the oo sound /u/, the long o /oʊ/, and the aw sound /ɔ/. Then there are words like 'cough,' which has the same vowel sound as 'thought,' but with an added f sound /f/. The word 'enough' also has an f sound /f/, but with a different vowel sound than 'cough.' Of all the words I've used as examples so far, only one, the word 'thought' follows a predictable pattern.
If there are so few patterns to follow, how on earth can you learn these pronunciations? Don't worry, I'm here to help you. In place of patterns, we'll use categories. Grouping words together is a good way to learn.
Since I know many of you out there are pronouncing these words incorrectly, I'd recommend reading the transcript while listening to this episode so you can see the word I'm saying. I'll also provide symbols from the International Phonetic Alphabet, so those of you who can read sounds that way can see what I'm talking about. You can find this transcript by going to Pronuncian.com--spelled p-r-o-n-u-n-c-i-a-n--and clicking 'Podcasts.' Then click on 'Episode 205.'
Let's start with the known pattern and the word 'thought,' which we pronounce with the aw sound (aw sound) In the International Phonetic Alphabet, the symbol for this looks like a backward letter 'c' /ɔ/. Besides the aw sound, what do the following words have in common?
thought /θɔt/
bought /bɔt/
brought /brɔt/
fought /fɔt/
ought /ɔt/
wrought /rɔt/
Have you figured it out? All of those words have a letter t following the 'o-u-g-h.' So, if you see 'o-u-g-h-t,' you can assume an /ɔt/ pronunciation. There is, of course, a word that doesn't fit the pattern, and that is the word 'drought,' which uses the ow sound /aʊ/ instead.
Now let's look at the words that we can group with the word 'though,' pronounced with a long o /aʊ/ sound. Some of these words are not very common, so if you're not familiar with them yet, don't worry. Words with the same pronunciation pattern as 'though' are:
thorough /θɚoʊ/
dough /doʊ/
although /ɔlðoʊ/
borough /bɚoʊ/
furlough /fɚloʊ/
Let's move on to words that include an f sound in their pronunciation. The vowel sound in the second syllable of the word 'enough' /ənʌf/ is a short u sound (short u). We have two matching words in English:
tough /tʌf/
rough /rʌf/
The vowel sound in the word 'cough' is the aw sound /ɔ/. The only other word that has the aw sound plus f sound pronunciation is the word 'trough' /trɔf/. 'Trough,' however, is really not a very common word.
Finally, we have the oddball (oo sound) pronunciation of the word 'through,' there is only one word that matches, and that's the word 'slough' /slu/ which means 'swamp.' The word 'slough' might be even less common than the word 'trough,' so in some ways, the word 'through' is all my itself.
And that's it. Now that wasn't so hard, was it? Now that you know all the pattern and categories for 'o-u-g-h,' let's recap. I'll leave time for you to repeat each word after I say it.
Category 1 is the 'o-u-g-h-t' words, including:
thought /θɔt/
bought /bɔt/
brought /brɔt/
fought /fɔt/
ought /ɔt/
wrought /rɔt/
The word 'draught' /dræft/ of course, does not fit that pattern.
Category 2 is the long o words, including:
though /θroʊ/
thorough /θɚoʊ/
dough /doʊ/
although /ɔlðoʊ/
borough /bɚoʊ/
furlough /fɚloʊ/
Category 3 is the words that include an f sound. We can break this into short u plus f, which includes the words:
enough /ənʌf/
tough /tʌf/
rough /rʌf/
and the aw sound plus the f sound, including:
cough /cɔf/
trough /trɔf/
Then we we're left with just those last two words which are pronounced with the oo sound:
through /θru/
slough /slu/
And there you have it. You have three major categories, plus a few words left over. Memorize these words and their spellings, and you probably won't come across many other 'o-u-g-h' words in English. If you do, your best bet is to consult a dictionary and let it tell you the pronunciation.
Don't forget, you can leave comments or suggestions for us on social media. You can find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pronuncian, or on Twitter by also searching for 'Pronuncian' p-r-o-n-u-n-c-i-a-n.
That's all for today, everyone. This has been a Seattle Learning Academy digital publication. SLA is where the world comes to learn.
Thanks for listening. Bye-bye.
Informal contractions for fluency!
Happy new year again, and welcome back to Seattle Learning Academy's American English Pronunciation Podcast. My name is Mandy, and this is our 204th episode.
Yes, here I am, with another podcast episode right on schedule! Yay!
In other good news, our January coupon code of "Happy2015" is still good for 15% off any book, ebook, or class purchase from Pronuncian.com or www.seattlelearning.com. That was h-a-p-p-y-2-0-1-5 for 15% off your purchase. This special ends on January 31st, 2015, so don't put it off!
I recently received an email from Nick asking about pronouncing the word "have" h-a-v-e, as "haf." Specifically, he wrote:
"I found it really confusing that sometimes people say the word "have" as "hafe". Especially when they are doing the phrase "have to".
Why so people do that? And when to use that? I'm really puzzled."
Nick realized two important things there. First, he's right; we do often say the word "have" as "haf." Second, this is more likely to occur when the word "to" follows it. Nice job, Nick!
What Nick is asking about is the informal contraction "hafta," usually spelled h-a-f-t-a. After I received this question from Nick, I searched Pronuncian.com for the word "hafta," expecting to see that I had talked about this particular informal contraction in the past. I was surprised to see that, in the past 203 episodes, I never actually talked about "hafta"! So, thanks Nick, for bringing this to my attention so I can do a podcast about it today!
The word "hafta" is an informal contraction that joins the word "have" to the word "to." We use it in sentences like:
I hafta call my mom.
Do we really hafta go?
You hafta see that movie.
Now, I said "hafta" is an informal contraction, but what are informal contractions?
Contractions in general are words that are created by combining words in order to shorten them from their original form. Common contractions are words like she's and don't and can be both written (informally) and spoken. Common contractions are usually written with an apostrophe.
Informal contractions often combine common words with the words: to, you, of, or would have. They're spoken but aren't usually written in anything but informal writing among people who know each other quite well. When informal contractions are written, there usually is not an apostrophe.
Another tricky thing is the number of potential informal contractions. We list 30 of them--yes 30--on our Pronuncian.com lesson on the topic.
Then there is the insistence by some native English speakers that using informal contractions is lazy and inarticulate, even though those same people then use an informal contraction within the next minute or two. Spoken informal contractions really are everywhere, even if they go unnoticed. Non-native speakers who use them will sound more conversational and actually more fluent, since contractions in general help to create the rhythm of spoken English.
So why would saying "hafta" sound more fluent than saying "have to"? There are a few things going on here. First, as Nick pointed out, the v sound is changed to an f sound. The next most obvious change is that the vowel in the word "to" is reduced to schwa. This allows "to" to sound like "tuh." Thirdly, the short a sound in the word "have" is said more quickly when it is followed by an f sound than when it's followed by a v sound. This is because we say vowels faster before an unvoiced consonant sound than a voiced consonant sound.
When we put all of these things together, the words "have to" become "hafta."
I'm going to say the sentences that I used as examples at the beginning of this show again, first using the full "have to" pronunciation, then using the informal contraction "hafta." I'm going to give you time to repeat all the sentences after me, one by one, both ways. I want you to notice which way you've been saying it in the past and see which way sounds more fluent to you. Ready?
I have to call my mom. / I hafta call my mom.
Do we really have to go? / Do we really hafta go?
You have to see that movie. / You hafta see that movie.
If you want to read those sentences as you say them, you can find the transcripts for this episode by going to www.pronuncian.com and clicking on "Podcasts." Then click episode 204.
Also, don't forget about our Pronuncian Facebook page: www.facebook.com/pronuncian. If you have ideas for future podcasts, you can post them there, or on our Twitter page, www.twitter.com/pronuncian, or you can email us at firstname.lastname@example.com. Pronuncian is spelled p-r-o-n-u-n-c-i-a-n.
That's all for today, everyone. This has been a Seattle Learning Academy digital publication. Seattle Learning Academy is where the world comes to learn.
Thanks for listening. Bye-bye.
Many English language learners are already aware of the quick 'd sound' /t̬/ Americans often use in place of the /t/ in words like 'little,' and 'water,' and 'meeting.' However, many of those same people don't realize that the same change occurs when linking from one word into another in English. An example of this is linking the words "out‿of". Linking "out‿of" sounds like /'aʊ t̬əv/.Read More
Even small differences in vocal tract profiles can make a big difference.
Hi again, and welcome back to Seattle Learning Academy's American English Pronunciation Podcast. My name is Mandy, and this is our 202nd podcast.
One of my students recently asked me how different the tongue positions are for the n sound and l sound. She said they look quite similar in the illustrations online and in the book, and she's right. They do look a lot alike, especially in side profile drawings. But a very small vocal tract difference between these sounds makes them sound hugely different to the ears of native English speakers.
One big difference between these sounds is that the n sound is a nasal sound and the l sound is not. Wait--what's a nasal sound? Well, it's pretty simple. A nasal sound is a sound that comes out our nose. As odd at that sounds, it's easy to demonstrate nasal sounds with the m sound. Put your lips together and say the m sound (m sound). Now hold your nose shut while you try to say the m sound… You can't do it because the air has no way of leaving your vocal tract when both your nose is blocked and your lips are closed. The n sound is the same concept, only it's not quite as easy to demonstrate. With the n sound, the tongue blocks the air from leaving the mouth instead of the lips. Make an n sound (n sound) and feel the tip of your tongue press against your tooth ridge--that's the bump right behind your top front teeth--while the front sides of your tongue also press into your front side teeth. Pressing your tongue into your teeth and tooth ridge like this blocks the air from leaving your mouth.
Then, if we think about the most basic form of the l sound, the tip of the tongue is in a similar place in the mouth as it is for the n sound, but the area right behind the tip of the tongue is not touching our side teeth. Instead, there's a gap for air to go through. This allows the air to leave out our mouth instead of our nose.
Listen to the difference:
n sound (n sound)
l sound (l sound)
If you're from the south of China, the sounds (n sound) and (l sound) might be interchangeable. However, to native English-speaking listeners, these are very different sounds. If you're from anywhere that uses the n sound and l sound interchangeably, words that include both of these sounds can be especially difficult. So for those of you who have trouble with the n sound or with the l sound or especially with words that have both sounds, this practice is for you.
I'll say a word, then leave time for you to repeat after me. Ready?
Let's repeat that last one again because it's so hard: nostalgia
If these words were difficult for you, we have resources to help. If you want to support Pronuncian.com and this podcast, you can buy yourself a copy of Pronunciation Pages 2 which includes lessons, exercises and sound drills for both of these sounds, (and all the other sounds of English, of course) or you can buy the Sound Drills which include just the practice lists for all of the sounds of English.
For free practice, go to Pronuncian.com and click the "Sounds" link. Then click the "Consonants" tab and you'll find free word drills, with audio, for all of the consonant sounds of English.
That's all for today, everyone. Thanks for listening. This Seattle Learning Academy digital publication.
Learn the many variations of the letter 'o' pronunciation.
Hi again, and welcome back to Seattle Learning Academy's American English Pronunciation Podcast. My name is Mandy, and this is our 201st podcast.
I recently received a quick little email from a person named Sara who said:
Hey, I have a question about a word. The pronunciation book says that "consonant-o-consonant" should always sound the short "o" sound, but the word 'symptom' (----tom) sounds different. I hope you can answer my question. Thank you.
Sara's question talks about the pronunciation book, but I want all you listeners to know that the same information she's referring to is available on the website: www.pronuncian.com. I'll link to the lessons I talk about here on this episode's transcript page.
Sara's question actually brings up a lot of things. First, be careful with thinking that anything should always be pronounced a certain way in English. English just has very few instances of something always be pronounced only one way. Because of this, there a few areas of the book and website to help with this problem. Both the book and the website cover all of the sounds of English, and, along with listing common spellings for each sound, it also lists pronunciations that are also possible for that spelling.
So, if I look at the short o lesson I see one common spelling, the consonant-o-consonant spelling. This means that if a single letter 'o' is between two consonants, or even is the first letter of the word, it might be pronounced as a short o. The examples in the lesson are the words 'odd,' 'box,' and 'shock.'
Then the next column of the spelling table lists other pronunciations for each spelling. For the consonant-o-consonant spelling, it lists both the long o sound and the aw sound. An example of the 'o' spelling being pronounced as a long o is the word 'most,' and an example of it being pronounced as the aw sound is the word 'dog.'
Now that I've told you all that confusing stuff about the consonant-o-consonant spelling, let me tell you that the letter 'o' in the word 'symptom' is none of those pronunciations. Yay!
Before you get too frustrated with this, though, know that there is still a reason that the 'o' in the word 'symptom' is not pronounced with the long o, short o, or aw sound. The reason is syllable stress and schwa. The word 'symptom' is a two-syllable noun. The two-syllable noun stress pattern tells us that two-syllable nouns tend to be stressed on the first syllable, and the word 'symptom' does follow this pattern. Yay again!
This leads us to schwa, that nasty little sound that also happens to be the most common vowel sound in English. Schwa sounds like (uh) and it usually occurs on syllables adjacent to a stressed syllable in a word. Schwa is also nearly easiest to hear when it is spelled 'o' because it is so different from the other typical pronunciations for the letter 'o' when it's on a stressed syllable.
Listed for the (uh) in 'symptom.' Symptom.
Other examples of the letter o pronounced as schwa are following words:
Now that you know the three common pronunciations for the letter 'o' on a stressed syllable, and the fact that it is usually pronounced as schwa, or (uh) on if it falls on an unstressed syllable next to a stressed syllable, there is still one last thing to know about, and those are non-phonetic words. Non-phonetic words just don't follow a pattern. You can think of them as exceptions to the patterns.
The book and the website address non-phonetic words for each sound and in the non-phonetic words sections you'll find that sometimes there is still a letter 'o' between two consonants that still doesn't follow the patterns I told you about just a bit ago. For instance, the words 'from' and 'mother' and 'brother' are all pronounced with a short u sound.
My point of getting into so much detail with the word 'symptom' is so you really can see how you have to take all the phonetic patterns and the whole word into account when using spelling to help you with pronunciation.
Thanks for the question, Sara, and thanks to all of you for listening to this Seattle Learning Academy digital publication. SLA is where the world comes to learn. Thanks for listening.
We have a special podcast today. I have written a poem to help you learn all the complicated spelling patterns of the long vowel sounds. I certainly won't claim that it's a masterpiece of poetic art, but I do sincerely hope it'll help you learn the common spelling patterns that go along with long vowel pronunciation.Read More
Practice intonation patterns of choice questions.
Hi everyone, and welcome back to Seattle Learning Academy's American English pronunciation podcast. My name is Mandy, and this is our 199th episode.
Most of you know that intonation, or the up and down, or rise and fall of pitch can signal that a speaker has just asked a question. But question intonation patterns are not as straightforward as you might think. First, there are all those different kinds of questions, such as:
Today I'm going to talk about choice questions. This is from a lesson in our Rhythm and Intonation book, which covers the intonation patterns of all of the question types I just listed. Choice questions are questions that include a list of options. It can be as few as two options, such as:
Could I get you a cup of coffee (up) or tea (down)?
Or many options:
Could I get you some juice, water, coffee, tea (all up), or maybe some hot chocolate (down)?
For now, let's keep it simple and look at how we use intonation in choice questions when only two options are listed; this was the "Could I get you a cup of coffee or tea," question. I'm going to repeat that question using two different intonation patterns. See if you can hear the difference between them. Listen specifically to the words "coffee" and "tea."
Could I get you a cup of coffee (up) or tea (down)?
Could I get you a cup of coffee (neutral) or tea (up)?
In the first example, I raised my pitch on the word "coffee" and dropped it on "tea." I'll say it again:
Could I get you a cup of coffee (up) or tea (down)?
In the second example, I didn't change the pitch on the word coffee, and then I used a rising pitch on the word "tea." Here it is to listen to again:
Could I get you a cup of coffee (neutral) or tea (up)?
Why would I do that? More specifically, what am I telling you, my listener, when I do that?
The difference is that in the first example, I'm offering only the choices of coffee or tea. I note that by raising my pitch on the first option (coffee), and letting it fall after the final option (tea). That's called a closed-choice question. You choices are only A) coffee, or, B) tea.
In the second example, "Could I get you a cup of coffee (neutral) or tea (up)?" I'm offering a drink, and coffee and tea are examples of what you could have. They're examples, but not the entire set of options. That's an open-choice question because I'm not limiting your choices to coffee or tea. I tell you that by not changing my pitch on the first option (the coffee), and then by rising it after the final option (the tea). Again, it was: "Could I get you a cup of coffee (neutral) or tea (up)?"
Now let's look at the longer example sentence. I'll say it two ways as well:
Could I get you some juice, water, coffee, tea (all up), or maybe some hot chocolate (down)?
Could I get you some juice, water, coffee, tea (all neutral), or maybe some hot chocolate (up)?
Which of those was the open-choice question? Or to think of it another way, which was giving examples of things to drink, but not limiting the choices to just only examples? I'll say them both again:
Could I get you some juice, water, coffee, tea (all up), or maybe some hot chocolate (down)?
Could I get you some juice, water, coffee, tea (all neutral), or maybe some hot chocolate (up)?
I hope you said that the second example was the open-choice question. That rising pitch at the end helps give it away. The first example, the example where my pitch fell on "hot chocolate" was more like a server at a restaurant telling you what's available. The second example is more like you're at someone's house and they're giving suggestions, and your host might have something else to offer as well, but they might not be able to think of what it is. If you suggest it, though, maybe they do have it. Maybe what you really want is a glass of wine.
Like I said at the beginning, this topic is included in our Rhythm and Intonation book, which you can order on Pronuncian.com as a physical book, which we'll ship to you, or as a PDF ebook, which you can download immediately. Both options come with MP3 audio. For the physical book, we'll send you an MP3 CD, and for the ebook the audio downloads right alongside the book. Our best--and most popular option--is to purchase the bundle of the Rhythm and Intonation and Pronunciation Pages ebooks together. Then you get all the content on rhythm, plus all the sounds lessons and exercises as well as the sound drills. The sound drills are those long lists of words for you to listen to and repeat for specific sound practice. So if you're having lots of trouble with the short i sound, voiced th, and unvoiced th sounds, you'd get all that practice included.
That's all for today, everyone. This has been a Seattle Learning Academy digital publication. SLA is where the world comes to learn. Thanks for listening. Bye-bye.
Make these difficult words easier to say!
Hi everyone, and welcome back to Seattle Learning Academy's American English pronunciation podcast. My name is Mandy, and this is our 198th episode.
Before I get into today's topic, I want to tell you about my recent guest appearance on the All Ears English Podcast. We were featured in their episode #128. I'll add their iTunes podcast link in this episode's transcript page. Or, just go into iTunes and search "All Ears English." Their podcasts cover a wide range of topics for English learners and you should definitely check them out! Thanks again to Lindsay and Gabby for giving me the opportunity to chat with your audience about English pronunciation!
Today I want to talk about the word "clothes." No, I'm not talking about the verb close, c-l-o-s-e, but the noun clothes, c-l-o-t-h-e-s, as in She wants new clothes. You heard that right, though, I pronounced both of those words the same. "Clothes" c-l-o-t-h-e-s is a rather frequent word in American English; it's number 1,458 in the frequency dictionary, meaning there are only 1,457 words that are used more often in American English. Just like many of our highest-frequency words, native English speakers don't really think about its pronunciation.
So you can compare pronunciations, I'll say the word c-l-o-t-h-e-s without and with the th sound. I'll use the more commonly-used version, that is the version without the th sound first, then the version with the th sound:
clothes (no th) clothes (including th)
I'll say those again:
clothes (no th) clothes (including th)
It's not just me who says that c-l-o-t-h-e-s and the verb c-l-o-s-e are homophones; Longman Pronunciation Dictionary agrees. Actually, when I checked Longman Pronunciation Dictionary on this, I was surprised at one small detail. One of the things I love the about the Longman Pronunciation Dictionary is that it lists both main pronunciations and alternative acceptable pronunciations for both British English and American English. I expected the LPD to list the version of the word clothes with a voiced th sound as the main pronunciation, and the version without the th sound as an alternative. But for American English, the non-th sound version was listed first, meaning it's more common here! The British, however, seem to have opposite preferences.
The word clothes is a plural noun, and it's an odd word in that is has no singular form. Sure, we have the word cloth but that's a different thing. Cloth is fabric, it's what clothes are made from. The word clothes is not the plural of cloth, yet clothes is a plural noun. I hope you followed all of that. My point here is to think about that s at the end of the word clothes. For those people who are extremely articulate and do say the th sound in clothes, a voiced th sound (voiced th) is the th sound to use. Since the th is voiced, the letter 's' after it would also be voiced and would be pronounced as a z sound. This is the standard -s ending pattern.
This small detail is why c-l-o-t-h-e-s is a homophone of the verb close and not the adjective which shares the same spelling, close. If you didn't know that c-l-o-s-e is a heteronym, you do now!
What? You need a review of what a heteronym is? Sure.
A heteronym is two words that are spelled the same, but have different pronunciations. Episode #33, about the -ate suffix, and episode #188, about the word l-e-a-d being pronounced as lead and lead cover this topic in more detail. I'll put links to that podcast from this episode's transcript page. For now, your bonus lesson in this podcast is that you should be pronouncing the verb c-l-o-s-e with a z sound, close: Please close the door. You should be pronouncing the adjective c-l-o-s-e with an s sound, close: Keep close to your mother.
Let's practice these words a bit. I'm going to say the word and leave time for you to repeat it, then say the word in a sentence and again leave time for you to repeat it.
First, the noun, c-l-o-t-h-e-s: clothes. She wants new clothes.
The verb, c-l-o-s-e: close. Please close the door.
The adjective, c-l-o-s-e: close. Keep close to your mother.
Very good.
Now, if you're a purist and want dictionary-like pronunciation, you can stick with trying to include the th sound in the word clothes.. There's nothing wrong with that. My point is that it'll probably be easier, and you'll sound more like an American native English speaker if you drop it. The choice is always yours.
I mentioned a bit ago that I'll like to those other heteronym podcast pages from this episode's transcript page. You can find that by going to www.pronuncian.com/podcast and clicking the link for this episode, which is episode 198. Or, you can go into the archives and go straight to numbers 33 or 188. We keep all of the audio from our old episodes up on iTunes, as well, so you can always go back and download older episodes whenever you want. Also, don't forget to check out Lindsay and Gabby's All Ears English Podcast.
That's all for today everyone. This has been a Seattle Learning Academy digital publication. SLA is where the world comes to learn.
Thanks for listening. Bye-bye.
Some before and after student audio to illustrate linking.
Hi again, and welcome back to Seattle Learning Academy's American English pronunciation podcast. My name is Mandy, and today is our 197th episode.
We recently released our new ebook about linking words, and to celebrate, I asked a few students of mine to participate in a little before-and-after audio.
Linking is one of the key skills to sounding fluent in English. It allows you to speak in complete thoughts without sounding "choppy" or "broken." Some English teachers also call this "blending," or even "using liaisons" when speaking. I'm not a big fan of using the term "blending" because some of linking--for examply, linking vowels--isn't created by blending sounds.
Today we'll listen to Kumiko linking vowels into other vowels. Kumiko is a native Japanese speaker and she was doing what many non-native English speakers do: she was often using a glottal stop between vowel sounds. A glottal stop is that break in sound you hear when you say "uh-oh."
Now, English does use glottal stops, even when linking sounds, and even when linking vowels from time to time. The difference is when and how they're used. For instance, it's very common to use a glottal stop for the /t/ in the word "can't," as in:
I can't go.
I can't think about it.
With vowels, breaking words apart by using a glottal stop is a way to add emphasis to a word. If I want to link "you" into "only" nice and smoothly, I'll say "you only." That was, "you only."
But if I want to add stress to the word "only," I can break it from "you" with a glottal stop:
You only live once.
You only live once.
Let's get back into linking without using the glottal stop, though. You see, there's a trick to that nice fluent link in "you only." What is that trick? I added a tiny w sound between the words "you" and "only": you-(w)-only. Try it: "you only."
Adding a w sound doesn't work for all vowel links, though. Some links need a y sound added instead. An example of this is the phrase "very old." I'll say that again, more slowly: very old.
How do you know if you should add a w sound or a y sound between words? Well, you really can't add the wrong one. Seriously. If you're thinking about the wrong sound, it will sound so terrible that you won't even be tempted to try it.
For example, here I am, correctly linking "very old" with a y sound, and "so old" with a w sound: very old, so old. If I tried it opposite, I'd get "very-(w)old" and "so-(y)old." It just doesn't work!
Now, let's listen to that before-and-after audio from Kumiko. First I'm going to tell you the part to listen for, then I'm going to play her audio using the glottal stop, then play her again with using the more fluent-sounding linking. We'll start with examples where she needed to add a w sound.
Again, I'll tell you where to listen, then play the non-linked audio example, then the more fluent, linked example:
My car is so old.
I don't know‿if she's coming.
Assisted living homes allow‿individuals to live independently for longer.
Now let's listen to some examples where Kumiko first used a glottal stop, then correctly linked more fluently using a y sound:
Nutrition may‿affect development in ways scientists haven't discovered, yet.
We‿expect Mark to show up around dinner time.
They're going to fly‿over the disaster sight in the morning.
Those rules only‿apply‿after 6:00 pm.
I hope you can hear the difference between those.
I want to send a big thank you out to Kumiko for allowing me to use her audio as examples today. I think they illustrate the power of linking very nicely!
We're going to do some practice with you repeating after me, but before we do, I want to mention that these sentences are also in our new Linking ebook, which you can find by clicking the "products" link on Pronuncian.com. The ebook comes with MP3 audio, so you can have as much listen-and-repeat practice as you want. Also, some of these sentences are in the free linking vowels lesson that I'll link to from this episode's transcript page, and some of these examples are from the subscribers' exercises, which you can find at the bottom of the lessons. So, there are two ways to access all of this practice: download the ebook, or subscribe to Pronuncian.com.
And one last thing--we're running a promotion during the month of April 2014 for our one-on-one Skype and in-person classes with our teachers right now! Use the coupon code TeachMe (that's all one word: t-e-a-c-h-m-e) for 10% off our 10-hour or 18-hour one-on-one classes. See class details at www.seattlelearning.com or email firstname.lastname@example.com for more information!
Now, here are some practice sentences for you to try right now. We'll first practice linking using the y sound.
day‿off: John's taking the day‿off:
worry‿about: Don't worry‿about it.
shy‿at: She's shy‿at first.
he‿asked: At least he‿asked for permission.
day‿after: Rachel's interview is the day‿after tomorrow.
Now let's practice using the w sound:
grow‿up: Kids grow‿up so quickly.
few‿ideas: Jared had quite a few‿ideas about it.
go‿over, tomorrow‿afternoon: Let's go‿over the documents tomorrow‿afternoon.
argue‿about: Those two will argue‿about anything.
know‿if: I don't know‿if she's coming.
If you'd like to see the transcripts for this episode and the link to the free related lesson on Pronuncian, go to www.pronuncian.com/podcast and click episode 197.
That's all for today, everyone. This has been a Seattle Learning Academy digital publication. SLA is where the world comes to learn. Thanks for listening, bye-bye.
Common problems with words that end in '-le.'
Hi again, and welcome back to Seattle Learning Academy's American English pronunciation podcast. My name is Mandy, and this is our 196th episode.
I received an email from someone named Chao a few weeks ago. Chao is a native Chinese speaker who is having trouble with words that end in -le and asked me to do a podcast about it. Like many other Chinese speakers, Chao is substituting a long o sound for the l sound at the end of words. After nearly 200 episodes, I was sure I'd covered this topic before. But after some digging, I realized I hadn't exactly covered it. The closest I've come is talking about the syllabic l in episode 142. While the syllabic l is related to this problem, this is a little more specific.
When I got the email from Chao, it really struck a chord because Queenie, an in-person Chinese student of mine, is having the exact same problem. Chao mentioned the following specific words, which I'll say first, then you'll hear Queenie say in her natural Chinese accent.
people (peopo)
table (tabo)
bottle (botto)
cuddle (cuddo)
struggle (struggo)
Even if your native language is not Chinese, it's really easy to accidentally do the same thing that Chao and Queenie are doing. While we think of the /l/ being created by careful tongue placement, this specific issue is caused much more by what the lips are doing. You see, even if your tongue is in the right place, if your lips are brought into circle, your listeners will hear the long o instead.
When I was working with Queenie, I could see that when a word ended in the l sound, the corners of her lips came inward, making her lips rounded. This tiny movement was all that was needed to make more of a long o than l sound. When Queenie was trying to say the l sound, she did have the tip of her tongue in the correct l sound place. It was just that the roundness of her lips were covering up the sound. Once her lips remained relaxed, the l sound came through. If you're working through this problem, you don't need to overly stretch the corners of the lips; you just need to relax them.
Lucky for all of us, Queenie is here with me to help you hear the difference between these words. She's going to give us a little before-and-after audio to demonstrate how much difference this change makes. She'll say her naturally accented way first, then the new way she's been practicing:
Isn't that incredible? Thanks Queenie. How did you get so good at words like this?
Queenie: I improved them by listening to the MP3 and keep repeating them.
That's great. Now to give you all a chance to practice repeating words like this, let's have a little practice session right now. I'll say a list of words, then I'll leave you time to repeat after me.
If you're wondering what the MP3 files were that Queenie was talking about using for her practice, those are the audio files that go with the book, "Pronunciation Pages 2." That book includes focused practice for every sound of English in the beginning, middle, and end of a word. It's great, for instance, you have trouble with the l sound, but just at the end of a word. If you buy the downloadable ebook version, the audio downloads along with the PDF. If you buy the physical book, the MP3 audio files come on a CD. You can find details by clicking the "products" link on Pronuncian.com.
Chao, if you're listening, Queenie was very impressed by your email and that you were able to pick this issue out for yourself! Well, I'll let her say it in her own words:
Queenie: I think Chao is very brilliant to notice this!
If you have a podcast topic you'd like to hear, watch for our upcoming contest on Facebook and Twitter regarding our 200th episode. We want to know what you'd like that episode to be about. If we choose your topic you'll win a free ebook! Our Facebook page is www.facebook.com/englishassembly, and our Twitter page is @pronuncian.
That's all for today, everyone. Thanks for listening to this SLA digital publication. SLA is where the world comes to learn.
Bye-bye, (Queenie: and good luck)!
YES, you can pronounce it as 'ast'!
Marshall: I need you to do this no questions asked, as as we both know, you owe me a no questions asked.
Ted: Hey, listen, I need you to do something for me no questions asked, okay?
Ted: No questions asked.
Marshal: You owe me a no-questions-asked.
Barney: Marshall asked me to do something for him, no questions asked.
Marshall: And I need you to do it no questions asked, and as you recall, you owe me a no-questions-asked.
Barney: No questions asked.
Barney: I said no questions asked.
Marshall: You owe me a no questions asked.
Ted: No questions asked. You owe me a no questions asked.
Ted: No questions asked.
Ted: I called in a no-questions-asked with Lilly.
Hi everyone, and welcome back to Seattle Learning Academy's American English pronunciation podcast. My name is Mandy, and this is our 195th episode.
I think this episode is kind of special. It's a fun one that shows that unexpected things about pronunciation are always happening, and there will always be more to learn.
Way back last July, a question popped up on the English Assembly forums that led to a really interesting discussion. A user named Tony asked how to pronounce the words "asked" and "asks." He also mentioned that he was having more trouble with "asked" than "asks." Fellow user, Ngoc, said that he noticed that sometimes it seems like some people don't say the k sound in asked, pronouncing it as "ast" instead. I had honestly never noticed it before Ngoc mentioned it, but once it was brought to my attention, I did notice it happening from time to time.
Many months passed. Then, a few weeks ago I was watching an episode of the TV sitcom How I Met Your Mother. This particular episode had the theme of a group of friends calling each other when they needed help with something, but they didn't want the friend to ask why it needed to be done. We have a phrase for this in English, and that phrase is "no questions asked." The idea behind "no questions asked" is, "I need you to do this, but you can't ask why." Among this group of friends, this came up so often that they began using the phrase as a noun that means something similar to a favor. So instead of saying, "You owe me a favor," they would say, "You owe me a no-questions-asked." During this episode, the phrase was repeated again and again and again! That amount of repetition was a sort of dream come true for me for studying the pronunciation of the word "asked" by a bunch of different people. Certainly, the majority of the time, they did as Ngoc said, and dropped the k sound. Only a few times was the /k/ left in. Even more surprising to me was that the /k/ was dropped even if the word "asked" was being stressed in a sentence.
Since I know you'll all want to hear this, I went through and dug out all of the times they said the phrase "no questions asked." I've included the transcripts for the TV show clip as well, so you can read along with it if they're speaking too quickly or background sound of the show makes it hard to hear.
First is Marshall, dropping the /k/ twice: I need you to do this no questions asked, as as we both know, you owe me a no questions asked.
Then Ted, keeping the /k/: Hey, listen, I need you to do something for me no questions asked, okay?
And Ted again, in a loud whisper, dropping the /k/: No question asked.
Marshal again, dropping the /k/: You owe me a no-questions-asked.
Barney, dropping the /k/: Marshall asked me to do something for him, no questions asked.
I'm going to play that one again, because we have the word asked at the beginning of the sentence, too, when Barney says, "Marshall asked me to do something for him." Only in this case, even the -ed ending is dropped when it's linked into the word "me" and the phrase turned into "assme." Listen closely, I'll play it again twice in a row.
Marshall asked me to do something for him, no questions asked. Marshall asked me to do something for him, no questions asked.
Now Marshall, in an almost exact repeat of the first time we hear him, dropping the /k/ twice: And I need you to do it no questions asked, and as you recall, you owe me a no-questions-asked.
Barney, again dropping the /k/: No questions asked.
Barney again, stressing the word "asked," but still dropping the /k/: I said no questions asked.
Marshall, again with no /k/: You owe me a no questions asked.
Back to Ted, who once again does say the /k/ in both of these instances, though the second time is very small: No questions asked. You owe me a no questions asked.
Ted again: stressing the phrase, and with a very tiny /k/: No questions asked.
And one last clip from Ted which I listened to over and over because it's a tough one. Ted tends to say the /k/, but very as a very small sound. In this phrase, he's also linking the the word "asked" into the word "Lilly," so the /t/ is also very tiny. He'll say "I called in a no-questions-asked with Lilly." Since it's so hard to hear, I'll play the clip twice: I called in a no-questions-asked with Lilly. I called in a no-questions-asked with Lilly.
So, the questions this makes me ask are: What does this mean and what is the patten behind it? Well, first, it means that if it's difficult for you to say all of the sounds of the word "asked," you should feel very comfortable dropping the /k/ and saying "ast" instead. As far as a pattern behind it, I don't know one. I couldn't find anything about it in John Wells's Phonetic Blog or anywhere else. It really just seems to be a personal choice. In How I Met Your Mother, the actor who plays Ted clearly prefers to keep the /k/, while everyone else drops it regularly. If you come across any more instances of this on TV or anywhere else, please add a note of where it was to the English Assembly forum string. I'll add a link to that post from this episode's transcript page. I'll also add a separate audio file on that page so you can listen to just the audio clips without listening to the whole podcast again.
You can find the transcripts by going to www.pronuncian.com and clicking episode 195. If, by the time you listen to this, it's an older show, just click the "Archive" link and you'll find all of the older episodes.
Now, just for fun, here are all of the clips again.
Marshall: I need you to do this no questions asked, as as we both know, you owe me a no questions asked.
Ted: Hey, listen, I need you to do something for me no questions asked, okay?
Ted: No questions asked.
Marshal: You owe me a no-questions-asked.
Barney: Marshall asked me to do something for him, no questions asked.
Marshall: And I need you to do it no questions asked, and as you recall, you owe me a no-questions-asked.
Barney: No questions asked.
Barney: I said no questions asked.
Marshall: You owe me a no questions asked.
Ted: No questions asked. You owe me a no questions asked.
Ted: No questions asked.
Ted: I called in a no-questions-asked with Lilly.
Thanks Tony and Ngoc for bringing this to my attention. I don't think I would have noticed it if you hadn't been talking about it on the forums. Since working on this podcast I've noticed myself saying it both ways. I think I tend to add the /k/ when it's the stressed word and drop it when it's not, but that's far from a scientific study. I encourage you to pronounce it however is the most comfortable for you.
That's all for today, everyone. This has been a Seattle Learning Academy digital publication. SLA is where the world comes to learn.
Thanks for listening. Bye-bye.
Learn and practice American English pronunciation with free online lessons and videos. Minimal pairs and listen-and repeat practice helps English Language Learners speak English more fluently and achieve accent reduction.


text:
Food safety sets tone at 2016 U.S. Apple meeting
New tools to determine fruit quality parameters
Several devices and methods to measure fruit quality have been introduced to the market — here's a look at what they do.
Bouncing back bigger and better
Trellis guide for high-density plantings in the works
Trellis fails: Researchers aim to produce guide for growers
Promising progress for solid-set delivery
MSU research team improves system to reduce chemical waste.
Woods: Getting ready for FSMA
Troublesome pest makes a comeback
Thought to be eradicated years ago, grape rootworm has returned to New York and Pennsylvania vineyards.
Hansen: Certified plants are only the first step
Growers need to monitor for virus in early years of a "clean" vineyard.
Know your risks with Early Robin
Early blush variety comes with growing challenges.
Bearing down on black stem borers – VIDEO
New York researchers working to stop one of the newest apple pests.
IFTA in New York: much ado about mechanization
Oregon Cherry Growers launch Stabilized Wild Blueberries
Tracking pathogens
Whole genome sequencing tracks pathogens, perhaps to your door.
What is whole genome sequencing?
Dininny: How FSMA impacts you
Managing mummy berry
Researchers aim to improve control for blueberry disease.
New peach and nectarine varieties help Eastern growers compete
Marketing challenges in the Mid-Atlantic
SweeTango dancing in bigger numbers
Simple steps for water sampling
Researchers are educating packing house operators and growers about proper water sampling methods in orchards and vineyards.
Water sampling 101
The math of food safety
Assessment analyzes risk for spread of apple maggot
Senate passes GMO labelling bill; next it goes to the House
Reinventing the string thinner (Video)
California cling peach grower modifies Darwin for nonplanar orchards.
Wine grape revelations
Survey finds research program matches growers' needs, but more education efforts may be necessary.
Five other grapes grown to resist the cold
These varieties were developed to withstand Minnesota's winters.
Minnesota's dry, cold-hardy white
New white wine grape variety shows resistance to downy, powdery mildew, phylloxera.
A new way to apply chemicals
Results look promising for solid-set canopy system delivery.
How to grow the WA 2
Corr: Foxtrot dances its way onto the apple scene
Grower Rob Wyles thinks he has a winner.
Setting sights on the Cosmic Crisp consumer
Fruit marketers band together to develop quality standards for Cosmic Crisp.
New policy provides guidance for Cosmic Crisp propagation
What about propagating?
Growing Cosmic Crisp
Researchers offer more tips for growing WA 38, including girdling.
Breeding for apple consumer preferences
Test orchard plays key role as researchers seek the next great apple variety.
Trials to improve cider tannins and harvesting
Cider apple variety shortage
The next GMO apple
Arctic Golden Delicious set to be the first commercial crop of genetically modified apples, plans are underway for an Arctic Fuji.
Breeders continue effort to develop early cherry varieties
California breeders continue efforts to develop early cherry varieties.
Pear growers again hold the line on marketing assessment
Breeding better rootstocks
Michigan State pursues patents for improved cherry rootstocks using plantings in the Pacific Northwest.
Spraying for powdery mildew
Study aims to find best time to apply fungicide.
The problem of powdery mildew
WSU researcher to study cherries' sudden transition from resistant to susceptible during the growing season.
Suzanne Niemann, a young grower from Yakima, Washington
Two growers weigh in on cider apple varieties
Hoppers at heart of red blotch
Hansen: Research leads to better control for grape disease
Saved fungicide sprays for powdery mildew keep $2 million-plus in grape growers' pockets.


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Why Choose Al Piemonte Chevy Dundee IL
Al Piemonte Chevrolet is your Elgin area new and used Chevrolet dealership featuring competitive prices and excellent customer service. We are proud to offer a large inventory featuring all of the newest 2016 Chevy vehicles from the safe and reliable 2016 Chevrolet Equinox SUV to the rugged and hard-working 2016 Chevy Silverado 1500 truck. If a brand new vehicle isn't quite what you're looking for then you'll love all of our used car, truck, and SUV choices featuring many popular makes and models in addition to the Chevrolet brand.
In addition to our vehicle inventory, we have a top-notch Chevrolet finance team who can help you find a loan or lease that's right for you. Whatever kind of credit you have, our financial staff will work hard to find a plan that works for you and your budget. Get started and estimate your monthly Chevy car payments with our calculator. We make it easy for you by offering a free online credit application to get pre-approved before you even see us at the dealership.
We don't just sell great Chevrolet vehicles; we also offer a variety of services for you as well. If you need new parts such as new wiper blades, floor mats, or anything else, then you'll want to check out what our Algonuin, IL area car parts department has to offer. If your new or used Chevy car needs service such as an oil change, tire rotation, or repairs, then we have you covered with our full-service Chevrolet service center. Whether it is parts or service, our professional team will be able help you get back on the road safely.
At Al Piemonte Chevrolet, you can be sure that you will be treated not as a customer, but as a part of our family. Go ahead and schedule a test drive online or give us a call with any questions of comments you have at (866) 330-6405. We look forward to helping you get behind the wheel of your favorite used or new 2016 Chevrolet car. Come see us at our dealership at 770 Dundee Ave in Dundee, IL, and experience the Al Piemonte Way!