English Recordings

a copybook
pens
the English teacher
a flag
countries
nationalities
an umbrella
the sun
flowers
a shape
the British symbols

Hi !
My name is ____ !
I'm ____ (age)
I live in_____________

I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

“Good afternoon! I need some information, please.”

“Is there a museum in the city?”

“Great! Where is it?”

“What does the museum look like?”

“Ok. Do you have a map of the city?”

“Perfect! Where am I?"

“Ok. How do I go to the museum?”

“I understand you, thank you very much for your help.”

“Goodbye!”

“Hello! How can I help you?”

“Sure! I’m here to help!”

“Absolutely! There is a museum in the city.”

“It is near the Pont Vieux.”

“It looks like an old building.”

“Yes, of course we have a map of the city. Here it is!”

“You are here, the red dot.”

“When you exit this building, you go right and keep going straight to Rue Notre Dame. Then, you turn right, you keep going straight and the museum will be on you left, near the bridge. Do you understand me?”

“You are welcome!”

“Bye, have a nice day!”

This statue by Rodin is a real work of art.
Jim has been doing hard physical work since he was in his teens.
In cold countries they used stone for house building.
The peach has a stone inside.
I won't be long, I'll just go and buy a paper to read on the train.
Paper is made of wood.
Can we have a coffee and two teas, please?
My doctor doesn't recommend me to drink coffee.
I just bought a new grammar, would you like to have a look at it?
English grammar doesn't seem to be very difficult to me.
"I can see land!" shouted one of the sailors.
England is a land of traditions.
Peter has caught a cold and is staying in bed.
I hate cold, I wish I lived in a hot country.
Cheddar is a firm yellow cheese.
Cheese should be kept in the fridge.
Salad is very good as a starter.
I think I'll have a salad to begin with.
My mother often speaks to me about the importance of education.
Most parents want to give their children a good education.
He says that beauty is his religion.
Sally was not a beauty but she had the charm of youth.
Speech is a wonderful gift of nature.
Everyone expected Mr Ford to make a speech at dinner.
Camping out was a great experience for the children.
To work well one needs experience.
Things made of glass are easily broken.
Champagne is a sparkling wine that one usually drinks from a special champagne glass.
At the age of fifteen he suddenly decided to devote his life to medicine.
The headache was so bad that she had to take a medicine for it.
Copper is a soft reddish metal that is easily shaped, and allows heat and electricity to pass through it easily.
John had only a copper in his pocket.
The wall was made of concrete, faced with stone.
The cruel hunter threw a stone at the animal.
All the houses were made of brick and mortar.
Bring me a brick, please.
Young girls shouldn't wear a lot of perfume.
"Poison" is a perfume that is used by many women all over the world.
They can employ you only if you have experience in the field.
His was a bitter experience.

Meanwhile, tea was ready. I took two travelling-tumblers out of my portmanteau, and, filling one of them, set it before the staff-captain. He sipped his tea and said, as if speaking to himself, "Yes, many a one!" This exclamation gave me great hopes. Your old Caucasian officer loves, I know, to talk and yarn a bit; he so rarely succeeds in getting a chance to do so. It may be his fate to be quartered five years or so with his company in some out-of-the-way place, and during the whole of that time he will not hear "good morning" from a soul (because the sergeant says "good health"). And, indeed, he would have good cause to wax loquacious—with a wild and interesting people all around him, danger to be faced every day, and many a marvellous incident happening. It is in circumstances like this that we involuntarily complain that so few of our countrymen take notes.
"Would you care to put some rum in your tea?" I said to my companion. "I have some white rum with me—from Tiflis; and the weather is cold now."
"No, thank you, sir; I don't drink."
"Really?"
"Just so. I have sworn off drinking. Once, you know, when I was a sub-lieutenant, some of us had a drop too much. That very night there was an alarm, and out we went to the front, half seas over! We did catch it, I can tell you, when Aleksei Petrovich came to hear about us! Heaven save us, what a rage he was in! He was within an ace of having us court-martialled. That's just how things happen! You might easily spend a whole year without seeing a soul, but just go and have a drop and you're a lost man!"
On hearing this I almost lost hope.
"Take the Circassians, now," he continued; "once let them drink their fill of buza[6] at a wedding or a funeral, and out will come their knives. On one occasion I had some difficulty in getting away with a whole skin, and yet it was at the house of a 'friendly'[7] prince, where I was a guest, that the affair happened."
"How was that?" I asked.
"Here, I'll tell you."...
He filled his pipe, drew in the smoke, and began his story.

1. So how do you choose a book for yourself? You could choose a book at a particular level of difficulty.

2. canker sore

3. Independence Day

4. Does it rain a lot where you live? Not much.

5. You can turn off the TV. I'm not watching it.

6. Do you watch TV a lot? No, I don't.

7. What do you usually have for breakfast?

8. What do you prefer?

9. Take an umbrella with you. It's raining.

10. How much does it cost to call Mexico?

11. It depends on you.

12. How often does it snow here?

"America"'s Analysis
West Side Story, An American in Paris or Lalaland are some of the most famous/renowned American musicals. Lalaland is one of the lightest hearted of them, dealing with getting success/stardom in Hollywood, love, and performing jazz music, while West Side Story – one of the longest running on Broadway - deals with more societal, economic and political issues. As for An American in Paris, it deals with more historical facts on a Gershwin score.
Back in the fifties, immigration was still a major issue in the States. In the wake/At the beginning of the Cold War with the USSR, the choice of the name was a double wink to the era. Not only does it remind us of the tense political atmosphere of these times, (the US vs Cuba – West vs East), but also of the very same district of Manhattan where Puerto Ricans first settled on their arrival in New York. In ‘America’, one of the most renowned songs of the musical, (Spanish/Latin name) which pays tribute to the continent and country – a band of boys and girls, both Puerto Ricans, sing and answer to each other on a lively and rhythmic music/score. Girls, in fancy and Spanish style dresses boast their pride to be in America, (you forget I'm in America) laugh at the boys (bye bye). They have reached their American Dream (washing machine) and their freshly acquired independence, while the boys are homesick and sardonic, realising how much it is harsh to achieve one’s dream (go to San Juan) Girls criticise/question many societal topics/issues, such as birth control or woman’s plight/fate in poor countries (population growing, natives steaming, money owing), whereas boys talk about jobs, prices, or living conditions in New York (charge twice, 12 in a room, wait tables and shine shoes, stay on your side).

The Stolen Generation Poem, by David Kieg

They took me from my mother
But I didn’t even know
I was just a few months old
And she knew not where I’d go
She was a big black woman
I don’t know about my dad
Its now I have my grandchildren
That I’m starting to feel sad
I have blue eyes and had blonde hair
But it’s now greying gradually
I couldn’t say I was an Abo
Or they’ take the brush to me
Scrub away your blackness
Said the nuns in the Church school
Religion’s here to save you
But you must obey our rules
Rule one – you just be grateful
You’re in white society
Rule two – you must be silent
And accept humility
I scrubbed and scrubbed my body
Till I couldn’t scrub no more
The scrubbing didn’t make me white
Just made my skin red raw
I was made to feel ashamed you see
Of being just what I am
And those bastards in the priest house
Were even crueller than
Those who’d broke a family
And split us up at birth
That’s why they should say sorry
For all that they are worth.