Languagelab.com Blog

Captain Salsita waiting for passengers

Have you seen this video before? It’s the flight attendant onboard a South West airlines flight who is ‘rapping’ the welcome aboard message.

Come along to conversation hour and learn how to ‘rap’ this song. I’ve posted the words below.

When? Tuesday 21st April, PST 11pm

Where? The airport at languagelab.com (Click here to teleport)

Watch the video here

Here are the words

This is flight 372 on SWA the flight attendants on board serving you today
Theresa in the middle
David in the back
My name is David and I’m here to tell you that
Shortly after take off
First things first
There’s soft drinks and coffee to quench your thirst
But if you want another kind of drink then just holler
Alcohol and beverages ‘ll be four dollars
If a monster energy drink is your plan
That’ll be three dollars and you get the whole can

We won’t take your cash
You’ve gotta pay with plastic
If you have a coupon
Then that’s fantastic

We know your ready to get to new places
Open up the bags put away your suitcases
Carry on items go under the seat
In front of you so none of you have things by your feet
If you have a seat on the row with the exit
We’re gonna talk to you so you might as well accept it
You gotta help us evacuate in case we need you
If you don’t wanna then we’re gonna reseat you

Before we leave
Our advice is
Put away your electronic devices
Fasten your seat belt
Then put your trays up
Press the button to make the seat back raise up
Sit back relax
Have a good time
It’s almost time to go so I’m done with the rhyme

Thank you for the fact that I wasn’t ignored
This is South West airlines
Welcome aboard

As we talked about before there are lots of different traditions connected to Christmas and the holiday season.  Some of these traditions are very old and some of them are newer, some countries have taken, adapted and used other traditions to create a unique Christmas culture.

The topics that will be talked about in this Christmas session are:

The origins of Christmas,
Santa Claus,
Christmas Trees,
Christmas Stockings,
Mistletoe,
The Holly and the Ivy,
Poinsettias,
Candy Cane,
Christmas Cards,
Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer,
Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.

How many of these do you know about ? Why not join Lane Jarman and talk about your Christmas experience.  Sharing traditions is on December 25th at 6:00am PDT and 2pm UK at the Manor and is followed by Christmas Carols with Lane from 7am-8am (3pm UK).

So if you would like to sing again or missed the Carols by Candlelight, come along to the Manor and sing :-)

The English language contains a number of bizarre pronunciations. Here at Languagelab, we provide real-life, native English speaking teachers to help you hear, practice and speak English the ‘natural’ way. If you aren’t already a student with us, simply enrol with us to try it out at our free trial lessons!

In the meantime, have a look at these ‘silent letter’ tips to help you say those strange words correctly.

“bt” (silent b) – debt, doubtful, subtle.

“kn” (silent k) – knife, knock, know.

For more examples, please visit these websites:

http://home.alphalink.com.au/~umbidas/ie_words.htm

http://www.kwiznet.com/p/takeQuiz.php?ChapterID=10017&CurriculumID=26.

Now try these 10 other difficult to pronounce words and send us a video of you saying them. If our specialist teachers score you 10 out of 10, you will qualify for a special prize.

1.       Knowledgeable

2.       Ought

3.       February

4.       Hierarchal

5.       Entrepreneurial

6.       Necessarily

7.       Phlegm

8.       Column

9.       Months

10.   Calvary

For free trial lessons, take the level test now.

The Monday Maestro and look-think-speak tips

When I was learning Urdu (the national language of Pakistan) I found pronunciation, in particular, to be very difficult. It was more difficult than the grammar because I had to change the very way my muscles move inside my throat. To improve my pronunciation I would run into the bathroom, lock the door and stand in front of the mirror. And … I would look at and think about what my lips were doing when I spoke. Here is my look-think-speak tip for working on your pronunciation.

How do you say these words? Match the word to the sound in the middle of the word (the vowel)

1. bat	a. ah
2. beat	b. ee
3. bet	c. eh
4. bought	d. oh
5. boot	e. oo

Answers to the pronunciation exercise: 1a, 2b, 3c, 4d, 5e

Not that difficult really. Next week a joke about pronunciation.

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