SO CALLED FRIEND /s/ /z/

This time the song So called friend, composed by the Scottish band Texas, is going to help us identify the phonemes /s/ and /z/ through a gap-fill activity you can do as you listen to the song.

• Read the instructions in the gap-fill activity below, then listen to the song and write your answers in the gaps provided. Use the bar on the right of the box to move the text up or down.

• Send a comment if you haven't been able to get all the words.
• The song is about a friend, is the friend a good one? Think about the 5 most important qualities a friend should have in your opinion, use the following structure:

           ie, a friend is someone who listens to you

• Some more on /s/ and /z/ click here

TOMATO /təˈmeɪtəʊ/ OR /təˈmɑtəʊ/ ?

He elegido estos dos videos con la misma canción interpretada por diferentes artistas para mostrar la flexibilidad del Inglés en cuanto a pronunciación. El segundo video muestra la transcripción fonética de las palabras que se prestan a esa dualidad fonética.

• 1. Listen to the song let's call the whole thing off interpreted by Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire from the film SHALL WE DANCE? and notice the two different ways the following words are pronounced: either, neither, potatoe, tomatoe, pyjamas, laughter, after, vanilla, bananas and oysters

• 2. Listen to this other version of the same song interpreted by Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald and check the phonetic transcriptions of the words from activity 1

THE SOUND OF FRUIT

Match the phonetic transcriptions to the fruit. Send your answers in your comment and say which fruit tastes and sounds best in your opinion.

A /ˈɒrɪndʒ/
B /ˈæpəl/
C /ˈwɔ:ʈəˌmelən/