Alan Palmer's Language Chat podcasts
by Alan Palmer
MY E— MAIL [email protected], Guten Tag, Buenos dias, Bom dia, goedendag,你 好, Jó napot......I love learning languages and in discovering all the opportunities that the Internet gives us to develop our language skills. I will post mostly in English, but don't be surprised if some of my podcasts are in other languages...Please leave feedback if you have time - it's great to receive it I might see you on www.livemocha.com or MSNYour chathost Alan (November 2008)
Episodes
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*******Last podcast for this website******
Hello everybody, This is the last article I will put on this website as it is full! My new site is: www.language-explorer.co.uk See you there!! Bye Alan
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How much speaker how much learner?
Hello again Today I want to make a suggestion about how we can make a decision on our language skills. People say “I am a learner of English,” “ I am learning French”, “I learn Italian” etc This means that we think of ourselves as “learners” , “students” “pupil” Then people may say: “I am a...
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Relaxing Challenges
Hello everybody Today I want to talk about an idea for learning I call "Relaxing Challenges" Remember when you were a child and you liked to play? Sometimes you dared yourself to try things: climb a tree, make a snowman, build a sandcastle, catch a ball. Each of these sort of things were a…
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Deutsch/English videocast
Hrllo everyone I am back after quite a long absence. I had problems with my home internet connection. Here is something new, a German/English videocast See what you think Bye for now Alan
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Punch and Judy Shows
I hope you like this podcast about Punch and Judy. A famous traditional puppet show in England. Bye for now Alan
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Reading and Listening Practice (Article about tea)
China, the homeland of tea It is universally acknowledged that China is the original tea-growing area, as well as the first country to grow, produce and drink tea. In the Song (960-1279) and Yuan (1271-1368) Dynasties a popular custom was tea appraising. Over the long history of drinking tea, a...
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More advice on English pronuciation
Hello everybody. Alan here. Thanks for listening to my podcast. www.alanlancs1.podomatic.com Today I want to talk about some of the difficulties with English pronunciation. There are certain letters or combination of letters that are often difficult for people learning English. I want to...
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40 minutes a day language learning
Hello everybody. The transcript for this is the next podcast. You can download it as a PDF text document. Bye for now Alan
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**ADVANCED ENGLISH" (Article: Language learning")
Hello everybody. You can download the transcript for this podcast by clicking "download" on the next podcast ***TRANSCRIPT*** PDF format Take care Alan
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More on introductory phrases for opening a conversation
Hello everybody. It’s been a while since I made a podcast. Today I wanted to give you some suggestions on how to start conversations with native speakers of English, or if you cannot find a native speaker to speak with, then try them out on anyone else you know who will speak English with you.…
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Bonfire Night
Guy Fawkes Day (5th November) This is generally known as "Bonfire Night", and marks the failure of the "Gunpowder Plot" in which Guy Fawkes (the leader of the conspirators) and his fellow conspirators planned (in 1605) to blow up (with gunpowder) the Houses of Parliament in London. Once, it was...
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Poem - "The Donkey"
The Donkey I saw a donkey One day old His head was too big For his neck to hold; His legs were shaky And long and loose, They rocked and staggered And weren’t much use He tried to gambol And frisk a bit But he wasn’t quite sure Of the trick of it His queer little coat Was soft and grey, And he...
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Intonation practice
I explain a little more about using intonation in English Hello everybody I thought that today you might be interested in listening to English intonation. English has two main "tones": a "rising" tone for questions, and a "falling" tone for statements and commands. Father: "Are you not going to...
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Weekend words October 4th
I hope you like my chatcast. It's a bit longer than usual and I'll put a text here in a couple of days. Be good be happy (BGBH) Alan
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Making a nice cup of English tea
How to make a perfect English cup of tea http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art39370.asp Guest Author - Hellie T. One of the things you need to be able to do is to sit down and enjoy a really good cup of tea. As a tea drinker myself I drink tea at breakfast, eleveneses, lunch, afternoon tea and...
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French Song "L'auvergnat"
Here is my version of "L'auvergnat" (Song for the person from the Auvergne) It was written and sung by Georges Brassens It is ano old French song - and I like it a lot I hope you like my version Bye for now Alan If you want the English words - just e-mail me at [email protected]
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Local Markets
Hello everybody, I have had some nice feedback from visitors to my site. I have realised that to help people with English, it is sometimes very useful to talk about cultural activities. Today I want to talk about small markets we have in some towns in England. Today, we went to a town called...
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Guitar tune: "Bubble and Squeak"
Here's a guitar tune I recorded today. I hope you like it It is called "Bubble and Squeak" This is actually a food we eat in England: Bubble and squeak From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubble_and_squeak Bubble and squeak (sometimes just called bubble) is a...
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Weekend words 24th August - Reading technique
Hello everybody Alan here and welcome to www.alanlancs1.podomatic.com. And today I’m just speaking without a text. Usually, as you know, I prepare a text. To make it easier for me and also easier for you to read as I say the same things as I’ve written. But today I’m just doing a “chatcast” and...
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Listening strategies #1
Hello everybody, I’m back from my holidays in France. Today I want to talk about when people speak fast and what you can do to help understand what is spoken. I think listening is the most difficult skill of the four skills in language learning For example: With writing, we have the chance to...
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Culture: Leeds and Liverpool canal
Hello everybody This podcast is about the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is the longest canal in Northern England at 127 miles (204km) long. It passes through 91 locks with a summit level of 487 feet (148 metres) http://www.penninewaterways.co.uk/ll/ll48.htm The canals…
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Weekend Words August 2nd "More on Accent"
Hello everybody. Many people I speak with who learn English would like to know how to “improve” their English accent. It’s always difficult for me to advise on this subject. Every nationality has a certain accent when they speak English, including the English themselves. For those of you who are...
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More on fluency and conversations
Fluency - setting up a conversation Hello everybody. Today I want to talk about how to make your spoken English flow better and to help you with making it a little easier to talk to people, particularly native speakers. To have a good conversation you need to start well, enjoy the conversation…
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Song Title: "I'll Be Back" by Alan Palmer (Original Artists: The Beatles from Hard Day's Night)
Hello, Today I am playing a Beatles song for you - which I like very much. Here are the songwords: You know, if you break my heart I'll go But I'll be back again 'cause I told you once before goodbye But I came back again I love you so, oh I'm the one who wants you Yes I'm the one who wants you…
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Speaking with native (or near native) speakers of English
More on conversations with native speakers Today I’d like to tell you more on starting conversations with native speakers when you are travelling to England, or another English speaking country. Also how to make the conversation more friendly. Places you can safely start conversations in the...
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Weekend Words July 13th "Stress on words" #2
Hello everybody, Some languages use tones or stress sounds (like Chinese) which shows meaning. Today’s Weekend words is more about how in English we use tones on different words when we speak. This is used for emphasis on meaning and also it makes language more interesting. I have found a nice…
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English Castles
History of the English Castle Many English castles were built of stone during the Medieval era. But the history of the English castle goes back much further! Exploring the History of the English Castle takes us as far back to the Neolithic Period - to Stone Age History! Understanding the History…
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Mind your words! with "Mind word essays" (normal speed speech recording)
Hello everybody Today I want to talk about a new idea I have had to do some language practice on our own with no more than a piece of paper and a pen. I call this idea “mind word essays”. With this idea, you can practice: Thinking in a language Writing Reading and grammar Speaking/Listening You…
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Weekend words May 4th
Hello everyone, good evening. Alan here from England, and this time I’m speaking without a text again. It’s always interesting for me to just speak without a text, because this is how we speak normally when we speak with friends or with, mm, people we know or work with, and sometimes with my...
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Guitar Improvisation "Funny Bone"
I hope you like my guitar piece which I played this evening and a nice sunny evening in England
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Conversations with native speakers
Hello everyone, Today I would like to talk about how better to get conversations started. When we learn languages, we always want so much to speak with native speakers – but at the same time, we also worry about it. Will they understand us? Will they find what we say interesting? Will they get...
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Idea of checking your own progress with English
Hello everybody It’s nice to be here again to talk to you. I’ve been having some nice feedback about my podcasts recently and it’s always nice to receive it. Thanks to those of you who sent me messages of encouragement either here or on Livemocha.com. I’m always glad to know that you find my...
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Weekend words April 6th
hello everybody For my weekend words today, I want to talk about why sometimes it is difficult to understand native speakers, even when you may have been learning English a long time. I discovered a long time ago that the language you hear in class with a teacher, or normally on sound recordings...
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Chatcast April 1st (Alan's tea-time chat)
Hello everybody, Today I have just decided to talk - no text prepared. So I will listen back to it later and write down for you what I said - so you can read along with me speaking. In the meantime, for those of you who are learning English - see how you find it listening without text for the…
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New Guitar Tune
I hope you like my latest guitar tune
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Guitar tune - Cookies for Tea
I hope you like this guitar tune I recorded today on my 12-string acoustic guitar...
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Weekend words March 15th Keeping motivated to learn languages
Hello everybody For my weekend words today I'd like to discuss ways to make language learning more interesting. Often, people ask us why we learn one or more languages. We sometimes ask ourselves why. This question seems particularly interesting sometimes as we don't always have easy answers....
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Weekend Words 1st March
Hello everybody, I hope you are all well. It has been a little while since I made a podcast. Thank you for all you nice messages. Today I would like to talk about being positive and relaxed about learning languages and also being willing to take risks with language too. Learning a language is a...
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Weekend Words February 15th (speed of speaking in friendly conversations)
Hello everybody. For my weekend words this week I want to talk about conversation practice and speed of speaking. Over the years, I've met a lot of people who are learning English as a foreign language. I'm always surprised how hard they try to learn English and their level of language, their…
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Weekend Words February 10th (Increasing cultural understanding)
Hello everybody. For my weekend words today I wanted to talk about using short newspaper, magazine or Internet articles to help develop language and also how, at the same time to understand more about a country's culture as well as language. Also how to "think in pictures" to help make the text...
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New way to learn vocabulary?
Hello everybody, Today I wanted to talk about my ideas on increasing fluency (which in my opinion is about how easy you can use a language at a high level) I wanted to tell you about a new idea I have had about building up vocabulary and fluency at the same time. I have a lot of trouble…
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Using simple sentences to gain fluency
Hello everybody, Today I wanted to talk about practicing phrases to make it easier to remember how to say things and the right words to use I want to go shopping because my sister is coming and we enjoy going to the shops together. It is surprising just what language you can practice with only…
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Placing emphasis on words when speaking
Hello everybody. This is a continuation of my podcast about difficult sounds in English. English often uses stress or emphasis on syllables within a word. Stress is sometimes used in spoken English as a language technique to change the meaning of what is being said and emphasise a certain thing…
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Alan's Weekend Words January 19th
Well, I decided that for all my podcasts, I'll write a little introduction and then put the transcript for the voice recording for you. So, welcome to "Alan's Weekend Words January 19th". Today some advice on pronuciation for all you English learners! Hello, for my weekend words this week I want…
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Chatcast - more about fluency in languages
Buenos dias, bom dia,hallo, bonjour, jo napot,ni hao, Guten Tag! So many languages. But of course, as usual, I am speaking in uhm, English my mother tongue and today, I wanted to speak a little about fluency, but today I'm trying to do this as a "chatcast" - and my way of doing chatcasts now is…
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Guitar Tune - called "Prairie Sunset"
I hope you like my latest guitar tune recorded today...
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Hola! Chatcast about Spanish learning
hello everybody. Alan here. Buenos dias, ¿Cómo estás? hablo poco espagnol a hora! Today I wanted to talk a little about learning Spanish. I'm starting to learn some Spanish. I wanted to start seriously to learn a few months ago, but for some reason or another I couldn't get started properly. It's...
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Weekend words Jan 6th (2)
Punctuation has been defined in many ways. Some grammarians use the analogy of stitching: punctuation as the basting that holds the fabric of the language in shape. Another writer tells us that punctuation marks are the traffic signals of language:they tell us to slow down, notice this, take a...
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New Year's resolutions
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7162692.stm. New Year's resolution success tip have chance to Only 25% of people succeeded in quitting smoking Most of us will make a New Year's resolution - maybe to quit smoking or lose weight - but only one in 10 of us will succeed, say researchers. But before...
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Just a New Year chat cast
Hello, Text is below this time (for those who can't view my blog) Well hello everyone and welcome to my podcasts and also to 2008! This time, uhm, for this time I thought I would just chat. Usually I try to prepare a script of sorts, a text… and then I use the text to make the podcast. But this...
About this show
MY E— MAIL [email protected], Guten Tag, Buenos dias, Bom dia, goedendag,你 好, Jó napot......I love learning languages and in discovering all the opportunities that the Internet gives us to develop our language skills. I will post mostly in English, but don't be surprised if some of my podcasts are in other languages...Please leave feedback if you have time - it's great to receive it I might see you on www.livemocha.com or MSNYour chathost Alan (November 2008)
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Alan Palmer