Read the quote and learn more about June Jordan.
Listen to her beautiful very intelligent thought!
Quotes. June Jordan
Special Episodes. March 8 – Thanks so much, dear feminists!
Read the transcript.
Happy March 8, International Women’s Day!
Audio Player Download “Special Episodes. March 8 – Thanks so much, dear feminists!” special_march8_2008.mp3 – Downloaded 985 times –Elementary. Past. Talking about your winter holidays
This audio includes some language tips, too: on the uses of “will” and the good context for practicing comparatives here, the use of the present perfect + “ever” in the UK and of the past simple + “ever” in the USA, plus a language note, on the use of How …? &What … like?
Read the transcript
Stories. A Telephone Call, by Dorothy Parker
Read the story and learn about how to exploit literature to keep learning the language!
Audio Player Download “Stories. A Telephone Call, by Dorothy Parker” dorothyparker_atelephonecall.mp3 – Downloaded 2129 times –Useful Language. Saying You’re Sorry
This audio includes “sorry” sentences you can use in conversations and in notes and letters/emails. It also includes some language comments, like the comment about the three different “that” words you can find!
Read the sentences in this episode. More: Apologies Accepted at TP and some sorry letters at the TP Writing section.
Audio Player Download “Useful Language. Saying You’re Sorry” usefullang_apologies01.mp3 – Downloaded 1312 times –Poems. Her Kind, by Anne Sexton
Check out the Talking People webpage for Anne Sexton, and you’ll be able to listen to her!!!
Audio Player Download “Poems. Her Kind, by Anne Sexton” annesexton_herkind.mp3 – Downloaded 1959 times –Elementary. Present. Questions-n-Answers 1
Read the transcript
Listen and repeat! Imitate the pronunciation!
Elementary. Present. Nationalities, countries and languages 1
Read the sentences.
Listen to the sentences!
Elementary. Present. Days-n-dates 1
Read the transcript
Listen and repeat by clicking the arrow below. You can also download this episode!
Everyday Language 001
We are starting a new segment, based on the language we fin on TV — a more everyday kind of language than that in textbooks.
Post the language you learn on the TP Forums here! Thanks!
Read the sentences in this audio.
Poems. This Is Just to Say, by William Carlos Williams
I love this poem. It’s so mysterious, and so honest. I don’t know what it means. I just know it means something mysterious and daily and beautiful, plus totally human. Picture it as a post-it note on a fridge. Hope you enjoy it!
Read the poem
Audio Player Download “Poems. This Is Just to Say, by William Carlos Williams” williamcarloswilliams_thisisjusttosay.mp3 – Downloaded 2182 times –Special Episodes. Spelling Your Name Out Loud
Read the transcript on TP and find some useful links and exercises there.
Audio Player Download “Special Episodes. Spelling Your Name Out Loud” special_spellingnames.mp3 – Downloaded 1580 times –Stories. The Debutante, by Leonora Carrington
Half of this audio is me talking about the writer Leonora Carrington first, a Surrealist artist (painter and writer, trilingual! She does/did that in English, French and Spanish!) and then comes her story “The Debutante,” so you can listen to it in two 5-minute sessions!
More on Leonora Carrington at Talking People (Literature).
Elementary. Useful Classroom Language 2
An episode dedicated to my Elementary students (Básico 1, 2008-2009). It’s a revision of what we learned to use in class in our first lessons!
Read/Print the sentences in this episode. Enjoy!
Poems. Brief Bus Stop, by Ani Difranco
Read the lyrics here (from her album “not so soft”, 1991)
Language notes: “to wane” is something the moon does, because the moon waxes and wanes! “To toe the line” is ‘to conform to a rule or standard’.
More on Ani Difranco at the Talking People Website (Music)