DELILAH- SIMPLE PAST

FRICATIVE LOVE. SHE /f/ /v/ /θ/ /ð/ /s/ /z/ /ʃ/ /ʒ/ /h/ /r/

Fricative consonants are produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together which produces friction, this air flow is called frication. Click on each of these fricative consonants /f/ /v/ /θ/ /ð/ /s/ /z/ /ʃ/ /ʒ/ /h/ /r/ in the chart on the right and repeat these sounds as many times as you need to.The fricative song She, well-known thanks to the film Notting Hill, starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant, sung by Elvis Costello, was, however, composed by the Armenian Charles Aznavour, who made it number one in England in 1974.

1. Listen to the song on this video and do the gap-fill activity just underneath by typing the missing words as you listen.

1. Once finished you can do the following crossword activity with words taken from the lyrics.

1. Compare Elvis Costello's She from the film Notting Hill to Charles Aznavour's original version. Which version do you prefer?
2. Try to imagine the story of the two people featured in the video posted on this page.

THAT DAY. /S/ INITIAL POSITION

Some latin based languages tend to add an intrusive 'e' sound before the /s/ sound when it is followed by a consonant in initial position.

eg: 'e'Steve 'e'speaks 'e'Spanish.

The song That Day by Natalie Imbruglia will help in the practice of the sound /s/ in initial position as well as the practice of this sound in connected speech. Try to hear the language as chunks of speech rather than individual words. In this way you will soon be able to hear (and then hopefully produce) language as it is really spoken rather than as you think it is spoken.

• Listen to the song and fill in the gaps with the missing words, most of them are adjectives connected by commas. As you fill in the gaps remember to write the commas when needed or your answer will be seen as incorrect. If you need help click on the ? button and you will get the words transcribed phonetically.

• Further practice in phonetic transcription for advanced students. Try the following matching exercise:

These two activities have been made with the help of PhoTransEdit, a programme for transcribing ordinary English into phonetics

LOVE PROFUSION /ʃ/ /ʒ/

The sounds /ʃ/ /ʒ/ can create confusion when associating them to their graphemes (letters) as they are very similar. Madonna's Love profusion is a song very prolific in both these two sounds.

1. First, use the phonetic chart on the right and click on the sounds /ʃ/ and /ʒ/ to hear and repeat the sound in isolation as many times as you need to.
2. Listen to the song and do the gap-fill exercise by writing in the space provided. Use the bar on the right to help you move up or down. Don't worry if you don't get all your answers right, the next activity, the quiz, will help you identify the sounds /ʃ/ and /ʒ/, and complete your gap-fill exercise.
   
   

1. Try this quiz activity. If you haven't scored all your answers right in the previous activity, this can help you identify the sounds /ʃ/ and /ʒ/. Once finished, try to complete the gap-fill exercise again. If you can't, send a comment at the end of this article.

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