I am ill

I am ill. I have flu. I have been sent to bed with a hot water bottle and my teddy bear until I am better. So I have not had time this week to make a proper podcast. I hope to have time in a few days.

But maybe this is a good opportunity to give you some information which I hope you will find useful. Some of you have sent me e-mails asking me whether there is a podcast similar to mine, but in American instead of British English. I have recently looked at the Voice of America website. Voice of America is a radio station which is largely funded by the American Government. I remember Voice of America in the old days, when it used to broadcast anti-Communist propaganda to listeners in Eastern Europe. But times have changed, and Voice of America is more balanced today. Among other things, there is a Learning English section on the VoA website, and it includes podcasts. Like the Listen to English podcasts, you can listen to the podcast and read the text at the same time. If you are interested in American English, try listening to some of these podcasts.

There is a link from the VoA website to Ted Lamphair’s blog. Ted has had a long career as a radio reporter and he writes about the many places in America, and in the rest of the world, which he has visited. At the end of each blog post, he explains some of the more difficult or unusual words which he has used. His blog posts are quite long, but they are written in good American English, and you will find them both interesting and useful reading practice.

Recently, I received an e-mail from Mike Marzio. He tells me that he runs a language school in the south of France. He has also built a large collection of short video clips of people speaking English, in the streets in America and in many other English speaking countries. The video clips are on his website. Many of the videos are linked to quizzes, so that you can test how well you understood what the people in the video were saying.

Finally, the English Cafe website has an article on how to use Google to improve your English. If you cannot remember whether you should say “I arrived to London” or “I arrived in London”, just try Googling “I arrived to London” and “I arrived in London”. Go on. Try it. Which one is correct?

That’s all for today. I must go and look after my teddy bear. He seems to have flu as well.