Archive for year 2011
A light bulb moment—Culips English Podcast
12/31/2011
by Culips
in Catch Word
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
We hope that everyone has some bright ideas in 2012! This episode it about coming up with new ideas and having realizations, and the expressions we can use to talk about this. Of course, we’re always brainstorming at Culips to come up with new ideas for episodes, and now you can learn about expressions like a light bulb moment, to dawn on someone, and to have a brainwave. Maybe you’ll even find some inspiration in this episode!
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| Maura: | So first we had a light bulb moment, and now what’s the second expression? |
| Harp: | The next expression is to dawn on. |
| Maura: | Right. To dawn on. And usually, you talk about something dawning on me or you, or a person. It dawns on someone. |
| Harp: | Yes. And dawn is the time of day when the sun is about to rise and the sun starts rising for a new day. |
| Maura: | So, it’s the same idea as a light bulb moment because there’s a sense of light. When the sun is rising, there’s a lot of sunlight and light really means knowledge or some brilliant idea. So when something dawns on you, it means that you have a new understanding or a new idea about something. |
Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials:
| (From) out of nowhere | Bright/light expressions |
| To have a light bulb moment | To come up with something |
| To brainstorm | To come to you |
| To dawn on someone | To get gouged at the pump |
| To carpool | To have a brainwave |
| To take forever | Out of the way |
Podcast/ Learning Materials: Culips ESL Podcast, Photo: Satoru Kikuchi
Looking back – 2011 —Culips English Podcast
12/25/2011
by Culips
in Chatterbox
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Happy New Year! Today we’re bringing you an episode where we look back at the past year at Culips and also forward into 2012. (The year 2012 can be said as two thousand and twelve or twenty-twelve.) In this episode, Harp and Maura talk about changes in their lives this year and their plans for the future. It’s the right time of year! They also reveal some of their favourite episodes and talk about what’s in store in Culips’ future. Keep listening and learning with us in 2012. And thanks for your support in 2011!
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| Harp: | What ideas are you the most excited about for next year? |
| Maura: | Well, one episode that I was really happy with and really excited to do was the episode about blah blah blah. |
| Harp: | Ha ha, yeah. The episode about blah blah blah. |
| Maura: | Yes. And if you’ve never heard that, it might sound very funny, but it’s actually how people talk sometimes. Just last week, actually at work, I heard someone telling a story and they said blah blah blah and then they told a little bit more of the story and again they said blah blah blah in the same story. And I thought, “Great!” Because this is actually being used and we’re going to do an episode on this. |
| Harp: | Yes, definitely. So stay tuned next year to hear this episode. |
| Maura: | Yeah. This episode actually has blah blah blah, yadda yadda yadda, whatshername and whatshisname, and whatchamacallit. So it’s a really good one. |
| Harp: | Whatchamacallit. |
| Maura: | Yeah. What about you? What are you looking forward to in terms of Culips episodes? |
| Harp: | Well, there’s gonna be a super fun and interesting episode about fears and what we’re afraid of. |
| Maura: | I’m already scared for that one. |
Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials:
| To be in limbo | A big year |
| Our world | Fantabulous |
| To be someone’s rock | A pop quiz |
| To steal someone’s thunder | A back story |
| Garden-variety | Lucky you |
| ’Em | First of all, second of all |
| To go down south | To skyrocket |
| To be a chicken |
Podcast/ Learning Materials: Culips ESL Podcast, Photo: Camdiluv
Christmas – Culips English Podcast
12/17/2011
by Culips
in Chatterbox
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Happy Holidays!!
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| Maura: | First we’re gonna talk about Christmas past; then we’re gonna talk about the present, what’s happening right now; and the future, upcoming Christmases. |
| Harp: | Yes. So let’s get started, Maura. |
| Maura: | Oh, Christmas past. I like thinking about past Christmases; I feel so nostalgic. |
| Harp: | I know, me too. I love Christmas. I love the Christmas season. |
| Maura: | You know, it’s interesting, though, how things change as the years go by and things are different now from when we were young. Do you have any good Christmas stories from when you were younger, Harp? |
| Harp: | I just remember waking up on Christmas morning and my mom would never know what to get us when we were in our teenage years… |
Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials:
| To wrap up | Mom’s territory |
| Christmas carols | The more…the less |
| Santa Claus and his other names | A trip down memory lane |
| To skip the malls | Canadian standards of Christmas |
| Gadgets | Home for the holidays |
| A gift exchange | Eggnog |
| To spice something up | The Christmas spirit |
| A Christmas Carol | Les Doux Cactus |
Podcast/ Learning Materials: Culips ESL Podcast, Photo: Luz Adriana Villa
Pronouncing the words should’ve, would’ve, must’ve, and could’ve
Hello Culips listeners!
We recently received a great question from one of our listeners in the United States. Luis’s first language is Spanish, and he was wondering about how native English speakers pronounce the words should’ve, would’ve, must’ve, and could’ve, which are contractions of should have, would have, must have, and could have.
It can be difficult to describe pronunciations in writing, so we’ve put together a little recording of Maura explaining and pronouncing these words. Check it out at the end of this post!
Each of these four words (should’ve, would’ve, must’ve, and could’ve) are made up of two syllables, unlike other contractions like can’t, don’t, it’s, and he’s that are only one syllable.
The ‘ve part of the words almost sounds like the word “of” (which actually has a “v” sound, not an “f” sound—English is confusing!) So if you say “should of” you will be pretty close to pronouncing the word “should’ve” like a native English speaker.
I found a website that lets you type in a word and then plays the pronunciation for you. The speaker on the website has a slight British accent, so the pronunciations might be a little bit different than what you would hear in the US or Canada, but his accent isn’t very strong, so it should still be a good way to practice.
You can check that out here: http://www.howjsay.com/
Another good website for pronunciations is Google Translate. On this site, if you change the language you type in to “English,” you can type anything you want and then click the little speaker icon in the bottom right corner of the box and it will read it back to you. Since it’s a computer putting together the words, full sentences don’t always sound very natural the way they fit together, but the individual words are recordings of a human speaker, so each word is pronounced correctly. The speaker has a North American accent.
That website is here: http://translate.google.com/
Now check out how Maura says the words!
Pronouncing Should’ve, Would’ve, Must’ve, and Could’ve
Thanks again to Luis for the excellent question. We love answering listener questions, especially if we can use the answer in an episode or post it here on our blog to help other English learners. So keep ’em coming everyone!
You can ask us questions in a few different ways:
1. Use the question form on our website, at: http://esl.culips.com/contact-culips/ask-culips/
2. Email us at Contact@culips.com
3. Post your question on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/CULIPS-Fun-and-Practical-English-Learning/251023217147
Talk to you again soon!
Jessie
Culips English Learning Podcast
