This is for my final thesis in English, in which I analyze the pronunciation of certain sounds by German learners of English. I thus need some native speaker recordings to compare the data.
If you participate, it would be great if you could send me an e-mail to sarah.juengst@googlemail.com . I would then send you a really brief questionnaire to fill in - just some information on where you are from.
Thanks in advance!
Not my day
I was exhausted and frustrated. The job interview had been tiring and I thought my performance had been poor. The beige blouse had not been a good choice either. I should have worn something more colourful and should have put on more rouge. I looked at my pale face in the mirror. What I needed now was a strong cup of coffee.
I kicked off my shoes, threw my velvet jacket over the back of a chair, pulled on my slippers and went into the kitchen. I opened the fridge and discovered that the milk was off. So it would have to be tea. I rummaged around in the cupboard for teabags, but soon realised that I had run out of them as well.
So there was nothing for it but a trip down to the shops. I had better make a shopping list. What else did I need apart from milk and tea? I put down toast, butter and jam as emergency supplies, a bottle of wine for tonight and a ready-made meal that could be heated up in the microwave. I added an apple and an orange for good measure – not exactly five a day, I know, but at least some vitamins. I had never been much of a cook, but since I had bought the microwave, I had given up cooking altogether.
That’ll do, I decided, grabbed my coat, a shopping bag and the list, and closed the door behind me. I was half-way down the stairs when it dawned on me. I had effectively locked myself out. My keys were still in the jacket that I was wearing when I came in. I looked down at my feet and discovered that I hadn’t even changed back into my shoes. I decided to deal with the problem of the keys later and continued down the stairs. I heard a funny kind of noise and wondered what it was. Could it be the boys from downstairs? When I opened the front door, I knew. Hail stones as large as pebbles were bouncing off the pavement. But that wasn’t all. In the five minutes I had been inside, vandals had smashed the side window of my car.
It just wasn’t my day.
The long journey home
I wondered whether it had been worth it. The forecast had warned of blizzards and hazardous road conditions, and for once it had been right. The snow drifts were getting bigger and bigger. Roads and schools were closed, and flights from Heathrow had been cancelled – and here was I out in the wind and snow. I knew I had taken a wrong turning somewhere. The snow was pure and white and looked very smooth, but I could not appreciate its beauty. My heart was racing, and it took a major effort to breathe slowly. But I managed to overcome my fear and gradually calmed down. The journey seemed to have taken ages, when I finally reached my destination.
