English Recordings

Hello Sophia, Mrs Jones speaking, for the twins’ birthday, I want to give a surprise party and invite all their classmates. Can you help me? I want to invite Tim, Jessica and Thomas because the twins like them. What about Blake? Does Oliver like him? And what about Lucy? Does Amelia know her? Thank you for your help. And remember it's a secret! Bye bye.

Hi, this is Mrs Jones. I can't talk to you now, please leave a message after the tone.

Gregory - Greg - Heffley is a 12 years old American boy. He lives in Plainview, in the USA.

He has 2 brothers whose names are Rodrick and Manny. Rodrick is 16 years old and Manny is 4.
His parents are Susan and Frank Heffley.

Greg is creative and kind but he is lazy. He doesn't like school and sports but he likes video games and he enjoys reading comic books.

His favorite color is blue and his favorite animal is a dog. Greg has a dog named Sweetie.

Greg's best friend is Rowley Jefferson. He is very funny!

Nigger

They called me “Nigger,”
Those little white urchins,
They laughed and shouted
As I passed along the street,
They flung it at me:
“Nigger! Nigger Nigger!”

What made me keep my fingers
from choking the words in their throats?
What made my face grow hot,
The blood boil in my veins
And tears spring to my eyes?
What made me go to my room
And sob my heart away
Because white urchins
Called me “Nigger”?

You of the white skinned Race,
You who profess such innocence,
I’ll tell you why ‘tis sin to tell
Your offspring Coloured folks are queer,
Black men are bogies and inferior far
To any creature with a skin made white.

We will not be called “Niggers”
Since this was the favourite curse
Of those who drove the Negroes
To their death in days of slavery.
“A good for nothing Nigger,”
“Only one more Nigger gone”
They would repeat as though
He were a chicken or a rat.
That word then meant contempt,
All that was low and base,
And too refined for lower animals.

In later years when singing Negroes
Caused white men to laugh,
And show some interest in their art
They talked of “Nigger Minstrels”
And patronised the Negro,
And laughing at his songs
They could in nowise see
The thorns that pierced his heart.

God keep my soul from hating such mean souls,
God keep my soul from hating
Those who preach the Christ
And say with churlish smile
“This place is not for ‘Niggers’.”
God save their soul from this great sin
Of hurting human hearts that live
And think and feel in unison
With all humanity.

by Una Marson

Canada is a country in North America. It is north of the United States. Its land reaches from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and the Arctic Ocean to the north. Canada has ten provinces and three territories. Much of the land is forests or tundra, with the Rocky Mountains towards the west. About four fifths of Canada's 36 million people live in urban areas. The national capital is Ottawa, and the largest city is Toronto.

be was, were
beat beat
become became
begin began
blow blew
break broke
bring brought
build built
burn burnt / burned
buy bought
catch caught
choose chose
come came
cost cost
cut cut
do did
draw drew
dream dreamt / dreamed
drink drank
drive drove
eat ate
fall fell
feed fed
feel felt
fight fought
find found
flee fled
fly flew
forget forgot
forgive forgave
freeze froze
get got
give gave
go went
grow grew
have had
hear heard
hide hid
hit hit
hold held
hurt hurt
keep kept
know knew
learn learnt
leave left
lend lent
lose lost
make made
meet met
pay paid
put put
read read
ride rode
ring rang
run ran
say said
see saw
sell sold
send sent
show showed
shut shut
sing sang
sit sat
sleep slept
speak spoke
spend spent
swim swam
take took
teach taught
tell told
think thought
throw threw
understand understood
wake woke
wear wore
win won
write wrote

The people who came

From an ethnic point of view the majority of the population in the English-speaking Caribbean is of black African origin, which is a direct legacy of the slave trade.

The original inhabitants of these territories were wiped out in the early days of the colonizing process and today the only descendants of these Amerindians can be found in Dominica, in St Vincent (“the Black Caribs”) and in Belize. In Trinidad there is a community in Santa Rosa (Arima) that claims to be of Carib ancestry.

Other minorities in the English-speaking Caribbean include the descendants of Portuguese, Chinese, Lebanese, Syrian and Indian settlers that came to the Caribbean after the abolition of slavery.

By far the largest of these minorities is the “East Indian” one. East Indians came to the Caribbean as “indentured labourers” between 1844 and 1917, when indentureship was ended because of protests against that scheme in India. Today East Indians account for about 50% of the population in Guyana and about 40% in Trinidad. In Jamaica, they make up 2% of the population.

The Portuguese were peasants from the island of Madeira and the Azores and, between 1834 and 1880, 41,000 of them migrated to Guyana, Trinidad, Jamaica, Grenada and St Vincent. These labourers proved unable to adapt to plantation work, and soon went into commerce.

The Chinese migrated to the Caribbean mainly in the 1850’s and the 1860’s (apart from an early immigration scheme in Trinidad in 1806) and they soon left the plantations to go into laundering, catering and general shopkeeping, and all over the Caribbean the local grocery store is simply known as the “China shop”.

The Lebanese and Palestinians (known as “Syrians” in the Caribbean) first came in the 1890’s as peddlers, and they naturally became merchants and traders, specialising in dry goods.

Apart from the Chinese, Portuguese and “Syrians”, the minority which has done best in the Caribbean is the Jewish community, particularly prominent in Jamaica. Jamaican Jews are the descendants of Sephardic Jews who came in the 17th century, fleeing persecution in Europe.

1. THE BOY:
I am always cheerful but I am sometimes grumpy. I am seldom touchy. I am often late in class but I never forget my school things. I sometimes chat in class but I usually do my best. I never get into trouble.

2. THE GIRK:
I am often cheerful and I am NEVER grumpy. I am sometimes touchy. I am ALWAYS late in class and I often foget my school things. I never chat in class and I always do my best. I never get into trouble.

Hello! I'm Fiona

Hello! I'm Adrian

Hello! I'm Lindsey