In English the past tenses of most verbs end with the letters ‘ed’ . However the ‘d’ doesn’t always the ‘d’ sounds .

T sound
If a verb ends with a voiceless consonant except for the soft ‘i’ , the letter ‘d’ is pronounced as the ‘t’ sound as in the words : placed , asked , liked , picked , thanked ,walked , jumped , stopped , decreased , dressed and mixed

D sound
If the verb ends with a voiced consonant except for the hard ‘d’ , the letter ‘d’ is pronounced as the ‘d’ sound as in the words lived , mailed and banned ,

ID sound
If a verb ends with either the letter ‘d’ or the letter ‘t’ , the letters ‘ed’ are pronounced as the ‘id’ sound as in the words wanted , decided , ended , accepted , affected . excited , interested and handed .

Phonics Rules

Phonics Rules

The vowels are "a, e, i, o, and u"; also sometimes "y" & "w". This also includes thediphthongs "oi, oy, ou, ow, au, aw, oo" and many others.
The consonants are all the other letters which stop or limit the flow of air from the throat in speech. They are: "b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, z, ch, sh, th, ph, wh, ng, and gh".

• Sometimes the rules don't work:
There are many exceptions in English because of the vastness of the language and the many languages from which it has borrowed. The rules do work however, in the majority of the words.

• Every syllable in every word must have a vowel:
English is a "vocal" language; every word must have a vowel.


• "C" followed by "e, i or y" usually has the soft sound of /s/. Examples: "cyst", "central", and "city".

• "G" followed by "e, i or y" usually has the soft sound of /j/. Example: "gem", "gym", and "gist".

• When 2 consonants are joined together and form one new sound, they are a consonant digraph. They count as one sound and one letter and are never separated. Examples: "ch, sh, th, ph, and wh".

• When a syllable ends in a consonant and has only one vowel, that vowel is short.Examples: "fat, bed, fish, spot, luck".

• When a syllable ends in a silent "e", the silent "e" is a signal that the vowel in front of it is long. Examples: "make, gene, kite, rope, and use".

• When a syllable has 2 vowels together, the first vowel is usually long and the second is silent. Examples: "pain, eat, boat, res/cue, say, grow".

• NOTE:
Diphthongs don't follow this rule; in a diphthong, the vowels blend together to create a single new sound. The diphthongs are: "oi, oy, ou, ow, au, aw, oo" and many others.

• When a syllable ends in any vowel and is the only vowel, that vowel is usually long.Examples: "pa/per, me, I, o/pen, u/nit, and my".

• When a vowel is followed by an "r" in the same syllable, that vowel is "r-controlled". It is neither long nor short. R-controlled "er, ir, and ur" often sound the same (like "er").Examples: "term, sir, fir, fur, far, for, su/gar, or/der".

Saturday Caption

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Brad Paisley - Welcome To The Future - American Saturday Night - Video & Lyrics - By Alexandre CWB

When I was ten years old,
I remember thinkin' how cool it would be,
when we were goin' on an eight hour drive,
if I could just watch T.V.

And I'd have given anything
to have my own PacMan game at home.
I used to have to get a ride down to the arcade;
Now I've got it on my phone.

He-e-ey...
Glory glory hallelujah.
Welcome to the future.

My grandpa was in World War II,
he fought against the Japanese.
He wrote a hundred letters to my grandma;
mailed em from his base in the Philippines.

I wish they could see this now,
where they say this change can go.
Cause I was on a video chat this morning
with a company in Tokyo.

He-e-ey...
Everyday is a revolution.
Welcome to the future.

He-e-ey...
Look around it's all so clear.
He-e-ey...
Wherever we would go and well we...
He-e-ey...
So many things I never thought I'd see...
happening right in front of me.

I had a friend in school,
running-back on a football team,
they burned a cross in his front yard
for asking out the home-coming queen.

I thought about him today,
everybody who's seen what he's seen,
from a woman on a bus
to a man with a dream.

He-e-ey...
Wake up Martin Luther.
Welcome to the future.
He-e-ey...
Glory glory hallelujah.
Welcome to the future.

LISTENING ACTIVITY

Brad Paisley Welcome To The Future Lyrics:

LISTENING ACTIVITY

When I was ________,

I remember thinkin' _______ it would be,

when we were goin' on an ___________,

if I could just watch T.V.

And I'd have given anything

to have my own __________at home.

I used to have __________________ the arcade;

Now I've got it on my phone.

He-e-ey...

Glory glory hallelujah.

Welcome _______________.

__________ was in World War II,

he fought against the ________________.

He wrote ____________ to my grandma;

mailed them from his base in the ____________.

I wish they could see this now,

where they say this ________________.

Cause I was on __________ this morning

with a company in _____.

He-e-ey...

Everyday is _______________.

Welcome to the future.

He-e-ey...

_________________ it's all so clear.

He-e-ey...

Wherever we would go and well we...

He-e-ey...

So many things ________________ I'd see...

happening ____________.

I had a friend in school,

______________on a football team,

they ____________ in his front yard

for asking out the ____________________.

I thought about him today,

everybody _____________________,

from a woman on a bus

to a man with a dream.

He-e-ey...

Wake up _____________.

Welcome to the future.

He-e-ey...

Glory glory _____________.

Welcome to the future.

WOTD

kowtow

ˈkaʊˈtaʊ, -ˌtaʊ, ˈkoʊ-/ (IPA),

From Chinese (Mandarin) kòu tóu, a kowtow, kòu, to knock, + tóu, head.]

(intransitive verb: -towed, -tow·ing, -tows.)

1. To kneel and touch the forehead to the ground in expression of deep respect, worship, or submission, as formerly done in China.
2. To show servile deference.

(noun)

1. The act of kneeling and touching the forehead to the ground.
2. An obsequious act.

FCE

What is FCE?
The Cambridge First Certificate in English is the third level of Cambridge ESOL exams. It is upper intermediate level exam, set at level B2 of the Council of Europe's Common Framework for modern languages, and recognises the ability to deal confidently with a range written and spoken communications.

Who is FCE for?
FCE is designed for learners, whose command of English is adequate for many practical everyday purposes, including business and study. Successful candidates will have a wide grasp of vocabulary, and should be able to construct an argument and use appropriate communication styles for a variety of situations. They also need to show awareness of register and of the conventions of politeness and degrees of formality as they are expressed through language.

Why choose FCE?
FCE recognised by many universities and other educational institutions as proof of intermediate level English skills, and these institutions accept it as meeting part of their entrance requirements.

Because the examinations are based on realistic tasks, an FCE certificate is an important asset anyone who wants to work and study, or in international business.

What does the exam involve?
Five papers: Reading, Writing, Use of English, Listening, Speaking

Reading (1hour)
The Reading paper assesses candidates' ability to read and understand texts taken from fiction and non-fiction books, journals, newspapers and magazines. Candidates are expected to be able to show understanding of gist, detail and text structure, and deduce meaning.

Writing (1 hour 20 min.)
The Writing paper assess candidates´ ability to write non-specialised text types such as letters, articles, reports, compositions and reviews of 120-180 words covering a range of topics and target readers and also set texts.

Use of English (45 min.)
In the Use of English paper, candidates are expected to demonstrate their knowledge and control of the language system by completing various tasks at text and sentence level. These include filling gaps, transforming words and phrases, and identifying errors in texts.

Listening (40 min. aprox.)
The listening paper assesses candidates´ ability to understand the meaning of spoken English, and to extract gist and meaning from spoken text. The texts are taken from a variety of text types including interviews, discussions, lectures and conversations.

Speaking (15 min.)
The Speaking Test assesses candidate's ability to interact in conversational English in a range of contexts. It contains four parts, including an interview section, individual long turns of about one minute, a collaborative task and a discussion. Candidates are provided with a stimulus material such as photographs and drawings.