Improving English Pronunciation Short Vowels Videos

You can improve your English pronunciation with practice. As they say practice makes perfect. These videos from BBC Learn English can help you work on areas of your pronunciation that you may have difficulty with.

Short Vowel A sound as in "cat"

Short Vowel E sound as in "met"

Short Vowel I sound as in "fit"

Short Vowel O sound as in "lot"

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Time Clauses with before, after, and when

·        A time clause explains when something happened. It begins with one of the following before, after, and when.  ·        Use a comma after the time clause.

·        We can also use these time clauses after the main clause. ·        If it comes after the main clause it doesn’t need a comma.

Before she ate, she washed her hands.

She washed her hands before she ate.

After she used the toilet, she washed her hands.

She washed her hands after she used the toilet.

When she was washing her hands, she dropped the soap.

She dropped the soap when she was washing her hands.

Here is a video on time clauses, although it focuses on the future it explains the time clauses well.

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Similarity and agreement with so, too, either, neither

When we agree with something someone says:
Positive Answers Verb To Be:		Negative Answers
I am tired		I am not going to the party.
So am I		Neither am I / Neither are we
I am, too/ She is too.		I'm not either / We are not either
Me, too (casual)		Me, neither (casual)
Difference between either and neither:
Neither Sara nor Marina is going to the party. (The girls are not going to the party)		Either Sara or Marina is going to the party. (One of them will go to the party)
Agreement with other verbs:
Positive		Negative
Carolina runs fast.		Nuria doesn’t run fast.
So do I / So does he.		Neither do I.
I do, too. / Me, too. (casual)		I don’t, either.
		Me, neither (casual)

agreeing: so, too, neither, either

More PowerPoint presentations from Beth Bogage

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Adverbs of Manner

Adverbs of manner tell how something is done

• Often come after a verb
• He talked quietly.
• Sometimes is placed before the verb to add emphasis
• He quietly walked out the door.
• Usually end in -ly
• Exemptions: 
• hard, fast, so, well
• To know when to use an adverb of manner versus an adjective ask yourself:
• Is it describing how someone is?
• She is nice.
• They were calm after the earthquake.
• Is it describing how something was done?
• She behaves nicely.
• The reacted calmly to the earthquake.

The following table has some common adverbs of manner. The ones that are together can have close meaning. The ones on the Positive/Negative column can be used either in a positive or negative form.

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