English Recordings

The 43 universities will be subject to restrictions in government assistance and of them, 17 schools will face restrictions in student loans on the basis of an inquiry that used criteria such as the employment rate of graduates, the yearly enrollment rate and the number of full-time instructors.

You invited your family to have a special celebrate dinner in a well-known restaurant, but you are unsatisfied with the meal. You are writing to make a complaint. In your letter, you have to say: What the situation is; What the problem is; What you want them to do.

Dear Sir,
On October 20th, I took my family members to your restaurant to celebrate my mother’s birthday. My friend recommended your restaurant as he is your regular customer. However, my experience has not been so good.

My first complaint is that your servings are too small and not at all value-for-money. We ordered your giant burgers thinking that one would be enough for each of us. But your giant burger turned out to be just the regular size that we get elsewhere. Then, when we asked for extra sauces, your waiters told us that we would have to pay extra. They were quite discourteous also.

I think that it would be a good idea to either change the amount of food you serve or reduce the cost of the meals because at the moment I think your prices are too high for the amount of food you serve. The extra sauces also should be free with the food ordered. It would also be a good idea to teach some basic manners to your waiters.

I would like to be your regular customer for the quality of food you offer. So, if you look into the other things it would be very nice of you.

Yours faithfully,
Kiran Makkar
_________________________________________
http://kiransielts.blogspot.com/2011/06/ielts-letter-you-invited-your-family-to.html#more

1 Survival language (Ref.: A1)

1.1. Basic interaction

a) Hi

b) Hello

c) Goodbye

d) Good morning

e) Good afternoon

f) Good evening

g) Good night

h) Yes

i) No

j) OK

k) Please

l) Thank you

m) You’re welcome

n) Excuse me

o) Sorry

1.2 Greetings

a) Hi

b) Hello (phone)

c) How are you?

d) Nice to meet you

e) Pleasure to meet you

1.3. Good-byes

a) Goodbye (formal)

b) Bye (informal)

c) See you later

d) See you tomorrow

e) Till next time

f) Have a nice weekend

g) Thanks for a good time

h) All the best

i) Thanks for inviting me

1.4. Comprehension phrases and questions

a) I don’t understand

b) I don’t know

c) I don’t speak Portuguese

d) Do you speak English?

e) What did you say?

f) Please speak slowly

g) Just a little bit

h) Sorry, I don’t understand

i) Can you write that down for me please?

j) Can you repeat that, please?

k) I think so

l) I don’t believe so

m) A moment, please

n) No problem

o) Absolutely

p) I’m learning Portuguese

q) What’s the Portuguese for this?

r) What do you call this in Portuguese?

s) What does it mean?

1.5. Small talk and plesantries

a) How are you?

b) Fine

c) Where are you from?

d) I’m from Germany

e) I’m Canadian

f) My name’s John

g) What’s your name?

h) Nice to meet you

i) Where do you live?

j) Where are you from?

k) Where do you work?

l) What do you do?

m) How old are you?

n) Are you Brazilian?

o) Do you have children?

1.6 Special occasions

a) Have a nice trip

b) Bon appetite

c) Happy birthday!

d) Happy Easter!

e) Happy new year!

f) Merry Christmas!

g) Congratulations!

1.7 Cardinal numbers

1 one
2 two
3 three
4 four
5 five
6 six
7 seven
8 eight
9 nine
10 ten
11 eleven
12 twelve
13 thirteen
14 fourteen
15 fifteen
16 sixteen
17 seventeen
18 eighteen
19 nineteen
20 twenty
21 twenty-one
22 twenty-two
23 twenty-three
24 twenty-four
(...)
29 twenty-nine
30 thirty
40 forty
50 fifty
60 sixty
70 seventy
80 eighty
90 ninety
100 one hundred, a hundred
101 one hundred and one
102 one hundred and two
(…)
125 one hundred and twenty-five
(…)
200 two hundred
300 three hundred
400 four hundred
500 five hundred
600 six hundred
700 seven hundred
800 eight hundred
900 nine hundred
1,000 one thousand, a thousand
(…)
1,020 a thousand and twenty
(...)
1,345 – a thousand, three hundred and forty-five
(...)
2,000 two thousand
3,000 three thousand
1,000,000 a million
2,000,000 two million
4,456,739 four million, four hundred and fifty-six thousand, seven hundred and thirty-nine
1,000,000,000 – one billion

1.8 Ordinal numbers

1st first
2nd second
3rd third
4th fourth
5th fifth
6th sixth
7th seventh
8th eighth
9th ninth
10th tenth
11th eleventh
12th twelfth
13th thirteenth
14th fourteenth
15th fifteenth
16th sixteenth
17th seventh
18th eighteenth
19th nineteenth
20th twentieth
21st twenty-first
22nd twenty-second
30th thirtieth
40th fortieth
50th fiftieth
100th hundredth
101st one hundred and first
1000th thousandth

1.9 Measurements

a) centimeter

b) feet

c) inch

d) kilometer

e) meter

f) mile

g) millimeter

h) yard

1.10 Dimensions

a) height

b) depth

c) length

d) width

1.11 Percents

a) 10% ten percent

b) 20% twenty percent

c) 100% one hundred per cent

1.12 Fractions

a) ½ one half

b) ¼ one fourth

c) ¾ three fourths

d) whole

e) 0.5 zero point Five

f) 3.4 three point four

1.13 Days of the week

a) Monday

b) Tuesday

c) Wednesday

d) Thursday

e) Friday

f) Saturday

g) Sunday

1.14 Months of the year

a) January

b) February

c) March

d) April

e) May

f) June

g) July

h) August

i) September

j) October

k) November

l) December

1.15 The time

a) Do you have the time, please?

b) What time is it please?

c) It’s two o’clock

d) It’s (a) quarter past seven

e) It’s half past three

f) It’s ten to eight

1.16 Colors

a) beige

b) black

c) blue

d) brown

e) dark green

f) gray (grey)

g) green

h) light blue

i) orange

j) pink

k) purple

l) red

m) white

n) yellow

1.17 Questions words

a) Where?

b) When?

c) At what time?

d) To where?

e) With whom?

f) From where?

g) What?

h) Who?

i) How?

j) Whose?

k) Why?

l) Why not?

m) To whom?

n) Which one?

o) What kind?

p) How much?

q) How much is it?

r) How many?

s) About whom?

1.18 Useful words and phrases

a) A little

b) A lot

c) And

d) Another

e) Bad

f) Big

g) But

h) Closed

i) Come in!

j) Congratulations!

k) Entrance

l) Everything

m) Exit

n) For

o) Get out!

p) Good

q) Good luck!

r) Here

t) I feel ill

u) I want to see a doctor

v) I’ll phone you

x) I’m hungry

w) I’m thirsty

y) I’m tired

z) It’s boring

aa) It’s cold

cc) It’s great!

dd) It’s hot

ee) It’s near here

ff) It’s too far away

gg) Later

hh) Left

ii )Less

jj) More

kk) Nothing

ll) Now

mm) Open

nn) Pull

oo) Push

pp) Quickly

qq) Right

rr) Sit down!

ss) Slow down!

tt) Slowly

uu) Small

vv) Something

xx) Sometimes

ww) Stop!

yy) Straight on

zz) That

aaa)This

bbb) Today

ccc) Tomorrow

ddd) What’s the matter?

eee) With

fff) Without

ggg) Yesterday

1.19 Time expressions

a) A bit later

b) A couple of days ago

c) A long time ago

d) After

e) Always

f) At night

g) Before

h) Early

i) Early in the morning

j) Every now and then

k) Every other Day

l) In a couple of weeks

m) In Autumn (or in Fall)

n) In Spring

o) In Summer

p) In the afternoon

q) In the evening

r) In the morning

s) In Winter

t) Last month

u) Last night

v) Last Saturday

w) Last week

x) Last year

y) Late

z) Later

aa) Never

bb) Next Sunday

cc) Next time

dd) Next week

ee) Now

ff) Nowadays

gg) On Christmas Eve

hh) Yesterday

ii) Some days before

jj) Some years ago

kk) Sometimes

ll) The day after tomorrow

mm) The day before yesterday

nn) This morning

oo) Three years ago

pp) Today

qq) Tomorrow

rr) Tomorrow morning

ss) Tonight

tt) Too late

uu) Two weeks ago

vv) Very late

1.20 Typical oral expressions

After you!

All set?

All the best!

Alone at last!

And how!

And that’s all!

Anybody home?

Are you OK?

As you say

Big deal!

Bless you! (sneezing)

Calm down!

Cheer up!

Coming!

Count me in

Count me out

Cross my heart!

Cut it out!

Damn (it)!

Dinner is served

Don’t I know it?

Don’t mention it

Don’t you dare!

Enjoy yourself

For heaven’s sake!

Forget it!

Get lost!

Get well soon

Go for it!

God only knows!

Guess what?

Hands off!

Have a good time!

Have a nice day!

Have a safe trip!

Have fun!

Have you heard the latest?

Heads or tails?

Heaven forbid!

Help yourself!

Help!

Here you are!

Hold your horses!

How dare you?

How have you been?

Hurry up!

I beg your pardon?

I couldn’t care less!

I didn’t mean to hurt you

I hope I’m not disturbing you

I love you

I mean it!

I miss you

I see!

I’d love to...

I’ll be right back

I’ll get it

I’m sorry to hear that

It never rains, but it pours

It’s not what you think!

It’s on me!

It’s up to you

Keep the change

Knock on wood!

Ladies first!

Listen to this!

Look who’s here!

Make yourself at home

May I come in?

May I have your attention, please?

Mind your own business!

Mum’s the word!

My pleasure!

My sympathy

Nice talking to you

No comment!

No kidding!

No way!

Nothing doing!

Now what?

Says who?

Scram!

Serves you right!

Shame on you!

Shut up!

Sleep tight

So what?

Sweet dreams!

Take your time

That’s all!

That’s very nice of you

The same to you

This way, please

Time’s up

Wait a minute!

Wait and see!

Wanna bet?

Watch out!

Watch your step

What a pity!

What a shame!

What are you doing here?

Who do you think you’re talking to?

Will you marry me?

You bet!

You can’t miss it!

You don’t say!

You said it!

You tell ’em!

You’re my guest

Your tough luck!

Hi, How is everyone all? I am rewriting my entry from last year, but I`m not sure if I have any other mistkes. Please check out and correct them, please. THANK YOU!

(Sep 04th 2010 2:48 )<a blunder > Today I went to one of elementary school.Last week the school vice-principal called me to help to teach/take care one of 3 grade class.(one day temporary home room teacher) So yesterday night when I went to sleep, I was anxious (about) getting up late, because recently I am used to waking up late.
In addition my husband went to Beijing, so no one could give me morning call. But thanks my alarm clock, I could wake up on time. So I hurriedly took Betty and Zzang-A out for a short walk and to use the bathroom. (*English, we are often reserved about talking about bowel movements, and we prefer passive words like “bathroom” or “restroom”–quite silly, yes, but that is the culture.) Thenhurriedly ate a bowl of cereal, and then ran out/rushed out as fast as I could. Ehmm, when I started the car, glanced down at my watch, ‘Ok, time~ enough!‘ I felt safe/ relieved, I was satisfied. So … I had driven the car about 20 minutes? Suddenly I felt something strange. Is there something wrong?~ ‘Yeah~~~? I felt something was strange, something was wrong! What`s wrong? Okkkkk~~ ! Oh, What can I do? I realized I was driving toward the other school. Stupid! What a silly mistake! What a blunder! Fool! Stupid!
• In Korean the word ‘’바보Babo’ is in the dictionary , ‘a fool; a dunce; an ass; a silly; a dumb bunny; an idiot; a blockhead; a a turkey; a jerk; a fathead’ . too much. But I don`t know in this case which is the best word for me? at the first I sent cell-phone message to vice-principal, then after turned head. So ? How did I ? at the first I sent a cell-phone message to vice-principal, after I turned around. Fortunately I wasn’t late. Whew~~~` it`s OK! Good! Whew! What a day, huh? By the way, Today Saturday morning, I had a good and fun time with the 3 grade kids.
So …..Sigh, When I think back, most of my days are filled with excitement a thrill is a one-time thing. Suddenly I remembered the novel ‘Breathing Lesson’ that I read long long times ago. The heroine of the novel, a middle-aged she is a mass….. Oh, next week I have to go to that school one more day.“Mind out, Wake up PLEASE!”Good night!tomorrow is Sunday, you can wake up and be more realxed~~/(Don`t need wake up very early!)

A course you would like to do in future

·I course I would like to take up is dancing
·It is something I really wish to learn
.Whenever there is any get-together or party, I really feel envious of those who can dance well
·They seem to add life to the party.
·The others feel left out
·India is a diverse country
·So many genres of dance are there like Kathak, Bharat-Natyam, Kuchipudi, Bhangra, Giddha and the Modern dance which is a blend of the above with the western dance.
·I would like to learn the steps of Punjabi folk dances Bhangra and Giddha first
·These steps blend well with the modern film songs played at marriages and parties
·Folk dances keep us connected with our culture and tradition
·They also bring people together
·Dancing brings grace and co-ordination to the body
·Dancing keeps us physically and mentally fit
·Now-a-days we lead sedentary lives because machines do most of our work
·So dancing is a good way to work-out
·Dancing brings out our creativity and by learning dances of other cultures we can learn about them
·If I learn dance nicely then maybe I get a chance to be in one of the talent shows and become famous overnight
·So definitely dance is a skill I would like to learn
·Moreover, now-a-days choreographers are earning handsome money
·Maybe I could turn it into a profession one day
_________________________________________
http://kiransielts.blogspot.com/2009/11/course-you-would-like-to-do-in-future.html

(Sep 04th 2011 21:15 )I was busy last week, so I couldn’t record my Korean entries for a while.Just a moment ago, I recorded and uploaded them onto my audio blog here:Many kind friends have corrected my entries, so I really appreciate it.I hope it will help you practice listening to Korean.

What do you usually orden in the restaurants or cafes? You start with a green salad, then have a plate of spaghetti or a bowl of onion soup and at the end you enjoy a cup of fruit tea and a sweet cake. Yum… But that’s too ordinary.
Today we offer you an exotic menu from all over the world.
Fried tarantula
Fried tarantula is a national “leggy” snack in Cambodia. You should fry a spider in a mixture of oil, sugar, salt and garlic.
Mopane worm
Dried mopane worm (or caterpillar) is a crisp delicacy in Southern Africa and an important source of protein for millions of Southern Africans. Don’t forget to add tomato or chili sauce to it.
Tuna eyeball
Tuna eyeball is a popular and relatively cheap delicacy in Japan. You can boil an eyeball or fry it with garlic. At the end you should serve it with a soy sauce. By the way, tuna eyeball is very healthy as it contains a lot of Vitamin D and proteins.
Bird’s nest soup
Bird’s nest soup is a very old and expensive delicacy in China. A cook usually boils a nest in chicken broth. It is often called the meal for emperors. For example, a bowl of soup costs about 40 $.
Another king of food comes from southest Asia. It’s actually not a meat or fish, but a fruit. It’s called Durian. This fruit has a large size, nice taste and unique smell. Many people who have ever tried it say that Durian “tastes like Heaven and smells like Hell”. By the way, it’s not so cheap.
But not only Asian or African countries are famous for their specific dishes.
Hakarl
Hakarl is a special meal in Iceland. The process of cooking is not too difficult. The main condition of well-cooked hakarl is … a waiting. Icelanders cut the shark and put it in special containers to keep it there for 6 or 8 weeks. Then a cook hangs it in the fresh air. In 2 months Hakarl is ready to eat. You can buy this “rotten delicacy” in practically any Icelandic store all year round.
Haggis
Haggis is a national Scottish dish which has an unusual cooking process. A cook usually mixes sheep’s insides, onion, oatmeal, spices and salt, then puts this mixture in the animal’s stomach and boils it for three hours. You can find Haggis in most supermarkets in Scotland and other parts of the world.
Those were all the specials on our today’s menu. Have a nice meal!

No other art form has had quite the impact on our lives that the motion pictures have. Indeed, the movies are truly an art of our time — they were born and have come of age in the twentieth century, and they now demand the serious consideration given to the other arts.Everybody loves a story. Children mesmerized for hours before a television set watching cartoons they are seeing for the fifth or sixth time, or long lines of shivering movie-goers outside a theater’ on a winter night, convincingly demonstrate that truth. And today the love of story, as these examples suggest, is requited much more often than not with a narrative told in visual images.
There can be no question about the supremacy of the visual image in the realm of story. The fact that images and movies have many uses besides story-telling simply adds gratuitous evidence in support of the observation that the life of the mind today receives its irourisrirrientprimarily from visual, rather than verbal sources.
Clearly, in terms of sheer guantity, visual narrative is the greatest aesthetic and educational force in the world today, and the movies, the visual narrative media — qualify unchallenged as the art of our time.
No one has ever seriously doubted that the movies are a powerful force in contemporary life. Quite the contrary. Their potential for propaganda purposes was immediately recognized and in some cases exploited. What has been questioned is the capacity of the movies for doing good. Youthful and perhaps too much a work horse in the cultural market-place, they have been vulnerable to the charge that they are unable to awaken and refresh the mind, that they cannot tap the deepest reaches of man’s spiritual life and so, incapable of articulating anything of consequence, are at best a rudimentary art.Yet the movies are not now as disturbing for intellectuals as they orice were. One reason, no doubt, is that they are no longer, at least in the United States, the popular art; television has stolen the limelight.
At present suspended somewhere between the hell of mass culture and the heaven of high art, the movies are undergoing aesthetic purification.Much remains to be accomplished, however. Since we have to live with the movies, we would prefer not to be embarrassed by them; we want the chance to exercise our humanity in and through the movies, and so we persist in demanding that the movies make more room for man within their aesthetic boundaries.
We would not, by any means take the fun off movies in order to fit them into the traditional earnestness associated with education … but the aim is, and should be a higher hedonism which more profoundly entertains the heart and mind. With the existing film classics and the fifteen to twenty a year from around the world capable of captivating attention — there are enough good and great movies for us to grow by. The movies arouse the mind and soul when given undivided attention.

The provinces and territories of Canada combine to make up the world's second-largest country by area. There are ten provinces and three territories.

Provinces:
Ontario - Toronto
Quebec - Quebec City
Nova Scotia - Halifax
New Brunswick - Fredericton
Manitoba - Winnipeg
British Columbia - Victoria
Prince Edward Island - Charlottetown
Saskatchewan - Regina
Alberta - Edmonton
Newfoundland and Labrador - St. John's

Territories:
Northwest Territories - Yellowknife
Nunavut - Iqaluit
Yukon - Whitehorse

Sep 02nd 2010 ) Wow~~everybody, how was your night?( How were you last night? / How was last night?)Wow! In Seoul, it was a tremendous night.
All night/ During the whole night/ Throught the whole night, there was terrible wind and rain.The wild rain was beating down against the windows, and the wind blew around the whole apartment building with a horrible shriek, nonstop, all night long!I had to endure listening to all of those terrible sounds of that window`s crying and the building`s suffering from the severe beating from my bed.Wow….. after the morning came, the wind had passed and there was just a calm rain.Huuu …… maybe, that horrible wind is now quickly going north somewhere? It was the named the ‘compass typhoon`s force’.