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English Audio Request

frenchfrog
English / Travelling 4
by frenchfrog on Feb. 20, 2016
193 Words / 3 Recordings / 5 Comments
Listen Record
Note to recorder:

Female voice, natural speed. Thank you!

I would like to go to Australia, because it is one of the biggest islands in the world. And I think Australia has the most amazing landscapes, as well as the strangest animals on Earth!
I would also like to go to Italy because I think this country has the most beautiful monuments in the world. Italian food is also one of the best foods in the world.

Rebecca would like to go to Canada, because she thinks that Canadians are the nicest and friendliest people. She would also like to experience some of Canada's coldest winters.
Rebecca would also like to go to France, because this country has the most delicious pastries in the world! And, she thinks the French are the funniest people, especially when they speak in English with a French accent!

John would like to go to China because he thinks it is one of the most mysterious countries in the world. It is also one of the oldest civilizations.
He would also like to go to Brazil and see Rio’s Carnival, one of the most famous carnivals in the world. He thinks Brazilians are the most talented dancers.

Recordings

  • Travelling 4 ( recorded by nomadicvegan ), American

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  • Travelling 4 ( recorded by daffodil18 ), Central/Western Canadian

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    Corrected Text
    more↓

    I would like to go to Australia, because it is one of the biggest islands in the world. And I think Australia has the most amazing landscapes, as well as the strangest animals on Earth!
    I would also like to go to Italy because I think this country has the most beautiful monuments in the world. Italian food is also one of the best kinds of food (note: there is no plural of food in English) in the world.

    Rebecca would like to go to Canada, because she thinks that Canadians are the nicest and friendliest people. She would also like to experience some of Canada's coldest winters.
    Rebecca would also like to go to France, because this country has the most delicious pastries in the world! And, she thinks the French are the funniest people, especially when they speak in English with a French accent!

    John would like to go to China because he thinks it is one of the most mysterious countries in the world. It is also one of the oldest civilizations.
    He would also like to go to Brazil and see Rio’s Carnival, one of the most famous carnivals in the world. He thinks Brazilians are the most talented dancers.

  • Travelling 4 ( recorded by Ariellover18 ), American

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travelling

Comments

frenchfrog
frenchfrog
Feb. 20, 2016

Thank you for the recording!
I know it is not common but 'foods' exists! (ex: http://www.whfoods.com/ > the world's healthiest foods + 'frozen foods' from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary). But maybe it was weird in my script. Thank you for finding another way to say what I meant!

daffodil18
daffodil18
Feb. 20, 2016

Ah, yes frozen foods is a good point! But I don't often hear that used in spoken English, I have mostly just seen it as the title of a section at the grocery store. (So I wouldn't say "I bought some frozen foods," just "I bought some frozen food," but I might say "I found those hamburgers in the frozen foods aisle")
However, that I think about it, you can also ask "What are some of your favourite foods?" and use it as a plural that way... but since food already kind of implies a plural we don't use "foods" that often. I'm not too sure what the actual rule defining when to use "foods" vs "food" is but I suspect it has something to do with whether you mean it in the definite vs indefinite sense - like water, coffee and people? (For instance, you can have lots of coffee (no "s") but you can also buy several coffees (with an s) from the coffee shop). Hmmm... now you have given me something to think about!
Hopefully that's somewhat helpful and sorry for the confusion!

frenchfrog
frenchfrog
Feb. 21, 2016

Very interesting! Another word that is tricky for me is 'persons'. The plural is usually 'people' but I know that, in some circumstances, you can say 'persons' (like 'displaced persons', although 'displaced people' can be used too). There is also 'fruit' and 'fruits'.

daffodil18
daffodil18
Feb. 21, 2016

Yes, there are a lot of words like that! Persons is an excellent example of a word that exists but is rarely used. In my experience is is most often associated with a formal usage and I think the British use it more than we do. Another example would be missing persons (as in the police would have a department to search for missing persons). I think it is best to think of it as a title. A newspaper might have a headline about the number of displaced persons in Jordan or the United Nations might say that the number of displaced persons in the world is higher than ever before in a report but in colloquial usage "people" would be more common. This grammar website explains it better than I can, I think! http://www.dailywritingtips.com/people-versus-persons/. Fruits I think follows the same kind of logic as foods - http://www.englishteachermelanie.com/grammar-when-is-it-ok-to-use-fruits-and-food-in-the-plural-form/. Hopefully that helps a bit!

daffodil18
daffodil18
Feb. 21, 2016

Here is another site that explains it well. It's from the BBC but still would be appropriate for American/Canadian English: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/askaboutenglish/2010/02/100302_aae_people_page.shtml

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