Hello, and welcome to engVid.
My name's Benjamin.
This is a lesson for Chinese speakers of English.
One-fifth of the world's population speak Chinese.
The world will become a smaller place if we can communicate and we have something that
we can share - language.
So, I know it is a huge task if you are a Chinese speaker and you're learning English;
the same for English people learning Chinese.
They are two very different languages, and I cannot in a 7-minute video teach you everything
you need to know, but in this video there are tips, there are pointers that should be
helpful to you in your study of English.
First, a pronunciation tip.
Consonant clusters can be difficult for Chinese speakers.
What I mean here is where we have two consonants together.
Okay?
This is difficult, so I'm going to repeat these words for you.
I'm going to say them, and hopefully you can say them back at home as you are watching
this just to get used to these sounds.
Okay?
So, repeat after me: "break", "break".
The "b" goes with the "r".
"Crave", "gloat", "spurn".
It doesn't matter if you don't know the meanings of these words; I'm just getting you used
to saying them.
Okay?
"Flurry", "cradle", "grim", "grow", "crawl".
Okay, make sure you are saying these at home just to practice and get used to English sounds.
Let's go with the consonant cluster at the end: "ble", "strel", "ble", "nate", "stic".
Okay?
Got two consonant sounds together.
"Pliable", "minstrel", "incredible", "fortunate", "fantastic".
Okay.
Now we're going to look at ways of asking questions.
There are so many different ways that you can ask questions in English.
I'm going to take you through the main question words.
So, we always start with the question word at the beginning of the sentence and that
shows what type of question it is.
Okay?
For example: "Why" looks at a reason, "When" looks at a time, "How" looks at the method
in which something is done, "Where" is about a place, "Who" is about a person, "What" is
about an object, "Is"... now, we use "Is" to ask... it tends to lend itself to a yes
or no question.
"Are", so this is a version of the verb "to be", so it's finding out someone... how someone
is.
"Are they good?
Are they happy?"
etc.
Let's go through some example questions.
"Why are you learning English?
Why are you learning", so subject, verb, object.
We want to know the reason.
"When did you start?"
Subject, verb.
"When did you", so past tense.
-"When did you start?"
-"I started learning English two years ago."
"How do you learn?
How", so do you learn by reading?
Do you learn by writing?
By watching lessons on engVid?
Subject, verb.
"Where do you live?"
Question word: "Where do".
So: "Why are", "Where did", "When do", "Where do", "Who is", "What is".
Okay?
So, this is how we phrase one of these questions.
-"Where do you live?"
-"I live in China.
I live in Shanghai."
-"Who is your favourite teacher?"
-"My favourite teacher is..."
"Benjamin" is the answer, by the way.
-"What is your favourite football team?"
-"My favourite football team is..."
-"Is it hot where you are?"
-"No, it's not hot where I am; it's cold."
-"Are you okay?"
-"Yes, thank you.
I'm fine."
Joining words together in speech.
If we pronounce each word as a separate entity, then it will sound very chopped up and it
needs more of a flow when we are speaking English conversationally.
I'll demonstrate it not joined up: "Later on I'm going to meet up with my friends.
I expect I'll have some food and drinks."
But we join things when we're speaking English.
"Later", and then because we have a vowel here, this consonant goes into the next sound:
"Later on I'm going...
I'm going to meet".
Again, the consonant goes into that vowel sound: "I'm going to meet up, meet up, meet
up with my friends.
I expect"... so, two vowels, you can also join them: "I expect I'll have, I'll have
some food and drinks."
And, again, that consonant goes into the vowel: "food and drinks".
General tips.
Now, tenses can be an area of difficulty for Chinese learners.
There's lots of different videos on this site, looking at the past tense, the present tense,
the future tense, conditionals, etc. so I would suggest that you really get involved
and find... watch however many you can.
It will help.
Get familiar with intonation patterns.
How do you do that?
By listening to native English speakers.
How do our voices go up and down?
Okay?
Spelling.
I'm afraid this is something you're just going to have to remember, learn, practice.
Okay?
Practice, practice, practice.
Look at a word, try to remember how it's spelt, cover it up, write it down.
Did you get it right?
Yes or no?
If not, how's it spelt?
Okay, go again and again and again.
Get familiar with the spread-out language.
I know your writing is much more condensed; you're going to have to get used to writing
being... taking up more space than the Chinese script.
And practice reading.
Fantastic.
You don't need me to tell you that there's amazing books out there.
Pick one up that is for your ability; get reading; write down some good, new words;
and you'll enjoy it.
Okay?
Talk to your friends about it.
Why not have a go at doing today's quiz?
Stay in touch with me by pressing "Subscribe" so you watch my next lessons for you.
And I hope to see you back here again very soon.
Take care.
Goodbye.