english matters

A palindrome is a word, a phrase, a number or some other sequence of characters that read exactly the same backwards as forwards, for instance madam, civic, racecar, kayak, acca, repaper. The longest palindrome in the Oxford English Dictionary  was coined by  James Joyce  in Ulysses  for a knock on the door  -   tattarrattat.  The word has Greek origins and is derived from two words “palin” (again) and “dromos” (direction).Czytaj dalej …

The aristocracy in England used a different dialect than the commoners, not only in the courts and in war, but also to describe the more refined aspects of their lifestyles, such as their cuisine. Anglo Norman, a dialect of French originating in Normandy and used among the nobility, supplied the English language with many new words that we still use. The consequence of this hierarchical imposition on the language is that, today, in English there are often several words to describe the same thing. The words on the left of this chart come from the time…Czytaj dalej …

One of the most recent additions to the English language is the verb to butt-dial. It means to call someone by accident when your phone is in the back pocket of your trousers. e.g. You butt-dialled me yesterday in the middle of the night. Where were you then?Czytaj dalej …

• record and listen to yourself • don’t practise pronouncing individual words, as you need to practise intonation and sentence stress as well • read aloud • watch pronunciation videos, e.g. English with Lucy • read tongue twisters out loud, such as – Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. How many pecks of pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick? – Through three cheese trees three free fleas flew. While these fleas flew, freezy breeze blew. Freezy breeze made these three trees freeze. Freezy trees made these trees’ cheese freeze. That’s what…Czytaj dalej …

The phonetic transcription of the individual word can looks as follows /kæn/. However, in rapid speech, when it is not stressed, can would be pronounced with schwa /kən/. The strong form /kæn/ is used in the final position in a sentence, e.g. I suppose I can /kæn/. schwa | szwa, nazwa samogłoski w języku angielskim zapisywanej jako əCzytaj dalej …

  Dear Readers, this time we've prepared something special for you. 365 exercises,fact files, jokes, drawings and other interesting stuff that will help you improve your English every day. Below you'll find two examples from the new EM Calendar Special Edition.   1. Good & Goodness Underline the phrases with a positive meaning.   I was over the moon. I cried my eyes out when I discovered I’d failed the exam. She looked down in the mouth. Do you know what happened? I couldn’t stop grinning from ear to ear. My heart sank…Czytaj dalej …

Assimilation is a phenomenon which does not refer solely to the English language. It is a characteristic feature of natural, rapid speech. Owing to assimilation, phonemes that are not in isolation are pronounced differently than those in isolation, for instance ‘t’ transforms into ‘p’ as in meat pie /miːp paɪ/ or ‘t’ can become ‘k’ as in bright colour /braɪk kʌlər/. In other words, the neighbouring sounds become similar to each other.   Elision occurs when some sounds are omitted in casual speech. Vowels, consonants as well as whole syllables can be elided. There are a lot of examples of…Czytaj dalej …

From language of the wealthy, to pronunciation taught in private school, Received Pronunciation gets a mixed reception in the UK. Whether you love it or hate it, you’re bound to have heard it. Received Pronunciation could be considered both common and completely uncommon. It is usually the standard of pronunciation that would be included in a dictionary and is that which most speakers of English as a second language would aspire to use. Moreover, given its historical prevalence in British media, many people assume it is the most widely spoken accent in Britain – this is not the case. For a while, Received Pronunciation (RP)…Czytaj dalej …

Can non-English parents significantly contribute to their children’s knowledge of the language?* Does it require much preparation? Is it very difficult? English Matters  answers those questions and serves up some readymade solutions, as well as describes a few tricks of the trade. Although English is a foreign language, activities that you can use to practise English with your own child will not be totally different from those you use in your mother tongue. All children are taught to recite nursery rhymes or chants, and sing songs in their native language. So, why not make use of the abundant source of English rhymes and songs? Sing, read and recite with your…Czytaj dalej …

Since its early days, California, also called the Golden State, has always attracted people from all over the world in search of fame and fortune. According to the ranking of the 400 wealthiest Americans prepared by the Forbes business magazine every year, about 25% of US billionaires call California their home, and many of them reside in the Los Angeles area.  Being open to immigration, along with the huge size of the state itself, and the sheer number of innovative companies, institutions and investors in tech hubs like Silicon Valley, provides an explanation as to why so many great fortunes have been built here. A unique combination of highly-skilled workers,…Czytaj dalej …