BRITISH DIALECTS

Have you ever tried to put on a British accent? The chances are the accent you’re trying to copy is ‘Received Pronunciation’, or standard English – also known as the Queen’s English. Received Pronunciation, or RP, is what most non-Brits are used to hearing as a British accent, often when you switch on the BBC or World Service.

But it’s called the Queen’s English for a reason – hardly anyone in the UK apart from the Queen speaks this way. Here’s a little taster from Her Majesty.

The truth is, although it may be called Standard English, it is anything but standard. The British Isles is made up many, many different accents and dialects – more than 37 dialects at the last count. A dialect is a variety of a language that differs from the standard language, in this case RP. Dialects can vary regionally – depending on where in the country a person is from, as well as socially.

Here’s a guide to just a few of these British dialects, which you’re sure to encounter on any trip to the UK. London especially, drawing people from all over the UK to live and work, is a melting pot of all of these different dialects.

The British Library has a fantastic online resource for anyone interest in Britain’s uniquely diverse range of accents and dialects. You can search by county, or by map, to find out how people speak all over the country.

Don’t be afraid to try out different dialects yourself. By copying them yourself you’ll get better at understanding them when you hear them – and with a little practice you’ll be able to guess where a person is from in the UK just from their accent. It’s actually a lot of fun, as these dialects vary so much. Good luck!

Cockney

This is one of the UK’s most famous dialects, and it goes hand in hand with London. It came about as the dialect of the London working classes, especially in the poorer East End of the city. The Cockney dialect also gave us Rhyming Slang, and you can still hear plenty of market traders round the East End shouting out in Cockney from their stalls. With the Cockney accent there are lots of ‘glottal stops’, and the ‘th’ sound frequently changes to an ‘f’ sound. There have also been some famously terrible attempts at the Cockney dialect – here’s Dick Van Dyke to show you how not to do it!

Estuary English

Here’s another dialect that is London-based. The ‘Estuary’ in question is the Thames

Estuary, and this dialect is spoken by people who live along its stretch. It’s now becoming one of the most widely spoken accents down south. It’s not as posh as RP, but it’s not as ‘common’ as Cockney. Here’s a little video guide to teach you more!

ENGLISH PHRASES IN OUR DAILY ROUTINES

English has a lot of phrases that is used in communication. This is a simple explanation about many English phrases that is used in our daily life if we are living in England. Helen Austen, a teacher from England gives some phrases in examples of sentences that describe her routines activities. 

"I wake up at 6 o’clock. I get up at 6.50. I make a cup of tea and iron my clothes. I have a shower and get dressed. I usually wear jeans, a blouse, a jumper or cardigan and boots in the winter, or a skirt and blouse in the summer. I brush my hair, put on my make-up. I pack my bag with all my teaching materials. I then put on my coat and leave the house. I walk to the bus stop. I catch the bus at 8.15, and then I pay my fare and sit down. It takes about 45 minutes to get to my destination three miles away. I get off the bus and walk to the school where I teach English. I have to sign in and get the key. Class starts at 9.25 and ends at 11.25.

I have lunch at 12. I eat a baguette or sandwich at the local café. I sometimes do some shopping before I walk back to school. I do some photocopying and go back to my classroom. I teach in the afternoon from 1 to 3pm. I then catch the bus back home and spend a couple of hours relaxing before I cook dinner.

My son goes to work shortly after I come home. Sometimes he cooks dinner before I get home, and sometimes I cook. I like to eat rice or pasta with a sauce. I chop the onions, fry them and then mix them with garlic, tomatoes, carrots, spinach and chilies. I boil the rice and then add the sauce. After dinner I wash up, sweep the floor, and tidy up a bit.

Then I make phone calls, mark my students’ work, do the laundry. Then I go on Facebook, or watch TV until about 10.30 when my son comes home. We catch up on our day, and at about 11 o’clock I go to bed.

Other days I get up early, go downstairs, put on my computer and teach on EF Englishtown for three hours. Then I have a break, eat dinner with my son, have a walk or go shopping before returning to work and teaching again for another three hours. Working at home can be very convenient and I love being able to talk to people around the world. It is also nice working in a school and seeing people on a regular basis and working in a team. So I feel I have the best of both worlds".

So there you have a typical day. There are lots of different types of English constructions used in describing a day, including many phrasal verbs like: ‘tidy up’, ‘wash up’, and ‘get up’. There are also lots of sentences with supporting verbs such as: “I have lunch”, or “I get dressed”, rather than “I lunch”. Notice the range of ways of saying the time too. See if you can describe your day using the same language forms.

- See more at: http://www.englishtown.com/blog/useful-english-phrases-describe-daily-routine/

Narrative Text for Story Telling

Narrative text is a text whose social function is to amuse the readers. It can also be used to story telling. Indonesia has many interesting legend to support your story telling, one of them is Calon Arang. To get it, download here. Have a nice story telling!

Extensive Speaking ==> Drama

Hello guys, in the fifth semester of studying in English Department, we have to present a drama based on novel, and for that, I suggest you to use novel Narnia. for the drama script,  go to download here Happy drama :')