Transcript
Welcome back to Everyday English with E2 where you learn English by listening to English! Each week we focus on English grammar, pronunciation, or like today’s episode: vocabulary!
Remember that if you need help to improve your English, then check out E2 English by going to www.e2english.com. We have online courses for grammar, pronunciation, spelling and general English from beginner to advanced.
Okay, so we’re nearing the end of the year – the end of 2021. What a crazy year it’s been. Today, we’re going to learn 5 key holiday words. I’m going to give you the word, explain its meaning and help you practice its pronunciation as well. These words are used at this time of the year, around Christmas and in the new year.
Word #1: Grinch
Do you know this word? It’s a funny word. A grinch is actually a character from a famous children’s book from 1957. The character, the Grinch, is a very grumpy person who hates Christmas and he aims to make everybody’s Christmas terrible. So if you know anyone who gets grumpy or dislikes Christmas, just for fun, you can call him or her a ‘Grinch’.
Let’s go through the pronunciation because it’s a bit tricky. So we have a consonant cluster, a G-R cluster, GRRRRRRRR then we have the sound INCH. So if we put those two sounds together we have GRINCH. GRINCH. GRINCH.
It’s a fun word you can use these holidays.
Okay, the second word we will learn today is…
Word #2: Chimney
A chimney is part of a house. It is a big pipe that carries smoke from the fireplace through the roof of the house and sticks out of the top of the house. Now, it’s important to know this word because Santa – the old podgy man who gives gifts to the good boys and girls – apparently sneaks into the houses of children via the chimney… very interesting. Of course, every boy and girl have three questions: What if the house doesn’t have a chimney? And what is the fire is going? And how is it possible for fat Santa to fit down such a skinny little pipe?
Somehow parents manage to convince their children that it’s possible, and children believe then and wake up the morning to presents delivered by Santa via the chimney. Incredible!
So let’s practise saying this word because it has two syllables and the two syllables join strangely. The first syllable sound is CHIM… CHIM… CHIM… and the second part of the word is NEY… NEY…. NEY… and together it’s CHIMNEY CHIMNEY CHIMNEY.
Alright, the next important holiday word we want to learn is…
Word #3: Bauble
A what? A bauble. So most families, at least here in Australia, have a Christmas tree. Right? And everyone decorates their Christmas trees as best they can. And one of the Christmas decorations is a bauble. It’s spelled B A U B L E. It’s kind of like a shiny bubble that hangs from the Christmas tree. Of course, there’s always a star on the top of the Christmas tree, but there might be about a dozen baubles hanging from the tree. They’re really pretty to look at!
So, how do we pronounce this word: BAU-BLE. It sounds a bit like BUBBLE, but it’s got an AU vowel sound, so it’s BAU BLE BAUBLE BAUBLE.
Got it?
Alright, our fourth holiday word is…
Word #4: Stocking
So a stocking is pretty much a big sock. And what happens on Christmas eve, the night before Christmas is that children hang their stockings above the fireplace so Santa can fill them with gifts.
Of course, in 2021, children don’t wear stockings and most houses have electric or gas heating and no fireplaces, but the tradition still continues in some homes. And so the kids will get one stocking each, which they will hang above the fireplace and sleep restlessly waiting for Santa to come down the chimney and fill it with presents.
Stocking has two syllables. It’s pretty easy to pronounce it’s STO KING STO KING STO KING. Got it?
Okay, the lucky last word is…
Word #5: Resolution
Alright, this word is used a lot around new year’s eve and new year’s day. Lots of people come up with new year resolutions. The word pretty much means a ‘decision’ to do something. A firm decision to do something. A resolute decision to do something. I will lose weight. I will stop eating sugar. I will start exercising. And… usually people forget their new year resolutions in about a week. Well, hopefully not!
So this word has four syllables: RE SO LU TION RE SO LU TION RE SO LU TION RESOLUTION RESOLUTION RESOLUTION
What’s your new year resolution for 2022? What are you going to commit to? What firm decision will you make to make your life better and the life of everyone around you better? Can you think of one? If you can’t, I have one for you. Learn English properly. That’s right. Make 2022 the year that you become fluent in listening, reading, writing and speaking and to do that you need to become fluent in grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation – and everything you need is on E2 English – just go to www.e2english.com
You never know, Santa might come down the chimney and put a subscription in your stocking.
Anyway, thanks so much for listening the Everyday English podcast with E2 in 2021. We hope it helped you to improve your English. We’ll be back again next year with another season. So you might want to share this podcast on your social media and tell everyone that in 2022 you will continue to learn English. It’s your new year resolution.
I’m Jay, and I’ll see you in 2022!