Listening comprehension and spelling test?

English as a Second Language Listening, speaking, pronunciation and accent
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Hi Svitlana,

Thank you again for your great work with the transcript of Ray’s recording. You did an excellent job and there were only some minor things. I have corrected your transcript and you can see the corrections in bold below. Let me know if this is OK for you and I’ll correct your second transcript too.

Regards,
Torsten

And then I got into photography…

Mh, so that was in 96 and now we are in 2003 almost 2004. Eh, in the meantime we broke-up , but I stayed in Leipzig, because life was good here. No, life is good here.

When I first came to Leipzig my impression was much different, because this was only 6 years after “The Fall of the German Wall”. And many things did not exist, for example: ah, take-away coffee or there was very difficult, it was to find a decent sandwich, not all the buildings had been renovated and so it was very grey.

I was not used to the winters here, which were, in comparison to Connecticut, not as extreme, but mostly grey. And the winters in Connecticut are typically very-very cold with, eh, with snow. And here it’s not as cold, and if there is snow it lasts about 24 hours before it disappears. So, I rarley find time to go to skying here, but really you can’t go skying here, because there are no mountains. The best thing you can find is a hill somewhere and find a sled. So you have to be real fast here in Leipzig to go sledding.

Well, I came to Germany I worked as a photographer, I worked measuring apartments - anything I could do to basically survive. I mowed lawns, I helped edit texts. And then I finally started teaching English. My first teaching experience in English was very difficult, because I didn’t quite understand all the concept of English. I mean I may have studied in college, but learning how it works and trying to teach it are two different things. So I had to relearn how English worked for me to teach it. Also when I arrived I had to learn German. And so learning German and teching English.

Well, learning German helped me teach English, because then I understood how people learn languages. So, although I’ve been here for 6 years or 7 years my German is not as good as it could be. Although I can read newspapers and texts and understand them fully I still haven’t quite managed to speak like a German. Germans tend to have a way of using their words, which no… no foreigner could quite master. You have to be German to master German, I think. But it’s a fun language: it’s more precise than English, it’s got many more expressions and dialects are fun to listen to.

I have a lot contact to the local people here in Leipzig. Mainly because I do teach them. And a lot of my students invite me out to coffee. Or we have events at night which they invite my out to, or which I go out myself. There are also lots of foreigners here, I can meet up with them. There are plenty of foreign round tables for people willing to learn different languages, or for people willing to learn German or English. And so through that I can meet lots of people. And it helped me meeting lots of people.

Most of my friends are either Germans or Americans. I have two very good American friends, the rest are all German. So I spend most of my time going back and forth between English and German. Eh, and I am in fact studying German again privately, so that I can prove it. Because after 7 years, eh, there are many things which you can learn to help you speak better, pronunciation and mostly and more importantly the idioms.

I go back about twice a year to America to visit my father, who lives in Connecticut, or to my mother, who lives in South Carolina. I typically go back in the summer around June for a family gathering, which is about 30 people and we rent about 4 cottages on a lake. And we all get together and basically go from one cottage to another eating our way for two weeks. And that’s a lot of fun.

And when I visit my mother, and she lives in South Carolina in the place called Murtle Beach. Eh, there is really not much to do there: you could go mini - shogolfitting or you could go swimming at the beach. But mostly we hang out, we talk.

Back in Connecticut I still have my friends and I still meet-up with my friends. They meet at the coffee-shop in the centre of West Hartford at 2 o’clock for coffee. They been doing this since 1993. And so when I go back I still know everyone and it is fun. I get my free cup of coffee, because they never see me and the people, who work there, still know me. And they bring me up to date as to what’s been going on. It’s a lot of fun.

My language has changed since I've been here. Many people who are American will talk to me very slowly and will tell me that my English is very strange, oh, but nice. And I say, “That’s nice”. And they say, “Where're you from?”. and I say, “Well, I am from Connecticut”. And they go, “Really?!”. And I go, “Yes, really”. And they go, “Where's your accent?” And I go, “Well, you can’t go around with an accent all your life, if you live somewhere else. You have to lose it.”

And when you teach English, you can’t teach accents, you have to teach a general English which people can understand. And so I’ve tried to change my English a little bit, so that people can understand me better. Because when I talk real fast … And… Well, we’ll see it when I go back to Connecticut. After a month in Connecticut I will talk like a normal Connecticut person. Which will be hard “r’s”, "o"s don’t exist. It’s not [ko’nektiket], but [ke’nektiket]. And it’s not [prog’res], but [prag’res]. So, there is a very very distinct “New England” accent. One can hear it if once listens to my voice. But… it’s mostly, it’s mostly tugged away.

So among other things my accent has changed as well as my vocabulary. When you talk to an American, who has been living or anybody, who has been living in Leipzig for a long time, certain words will suddenly fall into your vocabulary, for example everyone will say ‘Strassenbahn’ or ‘Shrassenbahn’ instead of street car or tram. And we will talk about going to that ‘Bahnhof’, which is the train station or to the ‘Ausländerbehördeamt’, which is the Immigrations Office. And so we will do… we will use these among other things like “Schrank” for cabinet, or “Teller” or “Tisch” for plate and table. And we will mix and we call this new language Genglish.

And everybody, everyone doesn’t matter from what country will mix. And that very difficult when I go back to The States not to mix. Because I know and I have to keep telling myself, that no-one there understands German. So I can’t go mixing like I can do in Germany in Leipzig.

I find it amazing how Germans can express themselves to such a detail. They know exactly what’s going on. I just… I am completely amazed by that. When you ask someone about how a car works and they will tell you, and they will tell you how the car slides and the reasons why the car will slide on the ice or hydroplane. Or the will give you details which an American person would not do. They would use lots of ands and ehs and things like that.

But a German would tell you to the exact detail what it is. Or they would say ‘Keine Ahnung!’ they don’t know but so But… So, It’s been quite a learning experience from a technical standpoint. So…[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, photographs: Soldiers marching[YSaerTTEW443543]

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Hi everyone,

Here is the transcript about what I understood from the recording. And he is very talkative lol and I can’t speak German and I’m not sure about the spelling of ‘Lipszyc’.

… And I was a cook for cowboys - and then I got into photography, moved back to West Hartford to do more with photography and then I decided to go down to Washington D.C. to see if I could find work there. Meanwhile I had met a German girl in West Hartford Connecticut whom I kept contact.
When I moved down to Virginia, which was near Washington, she went back to Germany.

I didn’t like Virginia as much that I thought I would, and she had mentionned to come and visit her in Germany and so I did. And that was back in 1996. So, when I came in Germany, I had no plans to stay for a long time but no plans not to stay for a long time. So my original plan was to be with her and to learn German and to see Germany.
So that was in 1996 and now we’re in 2003, almost 2004.

In the meantime we broke up but I’d stay in Lipszyc because life was great here - no- life is great here but when I first came to Lipszyc my impression was much different because this is only 6 years after ’ The fall of the Berlin wall’ and many things (didn’t) exist. For example, take-away coffee or it was very very difficult to find a decent sandwich. Not all the buildings had be renovated and so it was very grey. I was not used to the winters here which were- in comparaison to Connecticut- not as extreme but mostly grey. And the winters in the Connecticut are, typically, very very cold with snow and there it’s not as cold and if there is snow it lasts about 24 hours before it disappears. I rarely find time to go skiing here but really can’t go skiing here because there are no mountains. The best thing you can find is a hill somewhere, find a slide so you have to be really fast here, in Lipszyc, to go sliding.

When I came in Germany I worked as a photographer. I worked measuring appartments, anything I could do to basically survive. I helped edit texts and then finally I started teaching English. My first teaching experience in English was very difficult because I didn’t quite understand all the concepts of English. I mean I may have studied it in College, but, learning how it works and trying to teach it are too different things. So, I had to relearn how English worked for me, to teach it. Also when I arrived, I had to learn German and so learning German and teaching English and so learning German helped me to teach English because, then, I understood how people learn languages.

Although I 've been there for 6 years or seven years, my German is not as good as it could be. Although I can read newspapers and texts and understand them fully, I still haven’t quite managed to speak like a German. Germans ____ tend to have a way of using their words which no foreigners could quite master. You have to be German to master German, I think. But it’s a fun language, it’s more precise than English. It’s got many more expressions and dialects are fun to listen to. I have a lof of contact to the local people here in Lipszyc. Many, because I do teach them and a lot of my students invit me out to coffee or we have ______ at night ____ to invit me out too. ______
There are also a lot of foreigners here, I like mid up with them. There are plenty of foreing (rent) people for people learning different languages or for people to learn German or English.
Through that, I can meet loads of people and had met loads of people.

Most of my friends are either Germans or Americans. I have two very good American friends and the rest are all German. So I spend most of my time going back and forth between English and German. And I’m, in fact, studying German again (prively) so that I can improve it. Because after seven years, there are many things which you can learn to help you speak better, pronunciation and mostly and more importantly idioms.

I go back about twice a year to America to visit my father who lives in Connecticut or to my mother who lives in South Carolina. I typically go back in the summer or in June for a family gathering which is about thirty people and we rent about four (cabanes) on the lake. We are together and basically go to one (college) to another, eating away for 2 weeks and that’s a lot of fun. When I visit my mother - she lives in South Carolina in a place called Myrtle beach - there’s really not much to do there. You could go _____ for golfing or you could go swimming at the beach. But mostly, we hang out and we talk.

Back in Connecticut, I still have my friends and they still ____ my friends. They meet at the coffee shop in the center of West Hartford at 2 o’clock for coffee. They’ve been doing this since 1993. And so, when I go back, I still know everyboy, everyone, and it’s just fun. I get my free cup of coffee because they never see me, and the people who work there still know me. And they bring me up the date what’s going on. It’s a lof of fun.

My language has changed since I’ve been here. Many people, who are American, would talk to me very slowly, would tell me that my English is very strange but nice. And I say:‘That’s nice’! And they’d say:‘Where are you from?’ And I’d say: ‘Well, I’m from Connecticut’. And they go:‘Really?’ And I go:‘Yes! Really!’ And they go:‘Where’s your accent?’ And I go: ‘Well, you can’t walk around with an accent all your life. If you live somewhere else you have to lose it.’

And when you teach English you can’t teach accent. You have to teach general English which people could understand. And so I’ve tried to change my English a little bit so that people could understand me better. Because, when I talk too fast _________. When I go back to Connecticut- after a month in Connecticut- I will talk like a normal Connecticut person which should be hard 'r’s, 'o’s don’t exist, it’s not ‘Kennecticut’ but ‘Kenneccut’, it’s not ‘progress’ but ‘pragress’. So there is very very distinct New England accent which one can hear if one listen to my voice but it’s mostly (talk away).

So among other things, my accent has changed as well as my vocabulary. When you talk to an American, who has been living - or anybody who has been leaving in Lipszyc for a long time- certain words would certainly fall into your vocabulary. For example ‘’ '’ or tram and we would talk about going to the ______ which is the train station or the '_________’ which is the immigration’s office. So we would use the words among other things like ‘__’ for cabinet or '’ for plate and table and we would mix and we would call this new language ‘Genglish’. And everybody, everyone - doesn’t matter from what country - we’d mix and it’s very difficult when I go back to the States not to mix, because I know - and I have to keep telling myself that noone there understand German - so, I can’t go mixing like I can do in Germany, in Lipszyc.

I find it amazing how Germans can express themselves. With such details then you know exactly what’s going on. I ___ just ____ I’m completely amazed bu that. You ask someone about how a car works and they will tell you how a car slides and the reasons why a car would slide on the ice or a (powdered place). They will give you details which an American person would not do…

I’ve stopped there because I felt tired lol

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Oh my!! The Cockney accent is way more difficult to understand than the previous one which was American.

I’ve been here mostly two and a half years and I feel like I’ve just started to discover the best parts. For fashion as sometimes I’ve worked as an English teacher or in the summer I’ve done some other things. I breed dogs, I have two dogs, one of which is commonly England. I have a young _______ has been living in summer and training every day. Although _______________ former history countries, Germany ______________________________tend to London very popular in the City at the moment. And ________________________again before the end of this year.

There’re lots of differences between London and Leipzig but also many similarities. I do think that people here are very friendly. Part cause it’s the capital city the people don’t have so much time in London.
Here in Leipzig, they’re very friendly and _____ a lot of time for you. People are_very opened-mind, I found_______ more so ______________ being in London.

The architect also is very different, very _____________________________________. The ______ also are very fun _______ four different seasons, obviously, and a very hot Summer eh? _________hard
Winter also very distinct, also Spring too.

In England we do tend to have very long Autumns and Springs and a very short Summer and Winter.

More difficult for me !

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Germans set tend to have a way of using their words which no foreigner could quite master.
When I came to Germany I worked as a photographer, I worked measuring apartments, anything I could to basically survive, I mood lounds helped edit texts and then finally I started teaching English
You ask someone about how a car works and they’ll tell you how a car slides and the reasons why a car slides on the ice or PLANNING they’ll give you details which an American person would not do.

I’m not ends with the works still.

I had heard the track at least trhee times to makes up finally.

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I moved to Wyoming where I was working as cooker for cowboys .Well After I moved to as work photographer then i moved back to washington , but the work them was bad. Then my german girl was in Connecticut and we keep contact the I go down to Virginia ,but I did not like to Virginia whe she had to shut to the germany and , I did it was in 1996 and I did I 'have no plans to stay here for a long time , but not plans for not stay here for a long time .And I do see Germany (?)and now are 1996 and till 2000 and 2004,in the meantime We go up to the Leipzig and it was like a good idea. Well the first kind from the Leipzig is much different, because since six years after here,they follow the grew well and many things about it exist for example, table with coffee or it’s very difficult to find sandwich there are not gold but is very great and this the winter here wish you are in Connecticut but did most the grave , very very cold without it’s snow, but here is cold the here lasts twenty-four hours it disappears I really find time to my skin because the health is findWe go fast . Well I here in germany my girl as a photographer andbut majoring appartmentsanything I can do to surviveI love months I helped and them finally. My first time experience as teaching english was vey dificult because I work I didn’t understood my english i have has study at school and learning how workers I are different things when we learn the english is very diffrent to teach it also I had learning Germany and , so teaching english it’s helped me to teach englishbecause them I don’t understoodso learn languages as years .My germany as good as cookieI do read the newspapers to studyI still have like Germany . The germany settled no way theywhich no, no full quickly master German to master German . But it’s a fun language it’s here I stay in are expressions and dialets to listen too.I have a long contact with the logo with the people here in Leipzig because i do teach them and a lot of my studies I took in a coffeeor We have advanced or throughout myself many forum wine tables when the people ones tell many languages ,so if you about . Most of myines friends are Germans or Americans are two very good americans friends and the rest all Germans.So, I’m expend the most of my time before learn English and Germany, and I in many of facts again cleaverly I can proved it. Beacause in seven years are many things could help You speak better could I see actions to help You with idioms I go back about twice years to América, to visit my father but to too living in Connecticit , and my mother but too living in South Carolina I typical go back in the summer amd the family was gathering she is abot thirth people comes any way togheter and basicly to eaten for two weeks It was a lot of fun and i had revisited my mother in two leaves in South Carolina at the beach it’s too much do be thereto cook to the people in the balny and to cook to people in the beach . We most of the hang out and talk,back to Connecticut i stood have with my friends and I still here with my friends.
Note: A bit confuse stlll I hoe to be better in the next . Please send me more eercises lke this .They are increasing my comprehension a lot .Thanks in advance.Excuse me for mistakes.
Carlos Henrique Porto Alegre

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Hello my Dear Torsten!

How are you?
I would like to thank you for the lessons you have already sent to me!
I am a litlle late with my studies, but I am with you yet.
Please,go on sending the lessons to me!

Thank you very much!

Obs. As soon as possible I am going to put my photograph in the forum ok?

My best regards

Sandra- Brasil

29

Hello Dear Torsten!

Thank you very much for the lessons!
I heard Raymond’s recording twice and Edward’s recording three times. I could understand Raymond but I coudn’t Edward.
I am late with the lessons and in an more appropriate time I am going to try to transcript Raymond’s recording ok?
I did the test and I learnt some things more.

My best regards

Sandra - Brasil

30

Hi there,

let me introduce myself. My name is Shakhrukh Sadullaew. I’m from Uzbekistan. First of all, many thanks to Mr. Torsten for his assistance.

Well, my question is a simple. I want to know about Listening materials to Upper-Intermediate students level. Do you have any like these materials? If yes - please let me to know about.

Yours faithfully,

Shakhrukh Sadullaew

31

Hi Shakhrukh Sadullaew,

Yes we do have such materials here: english-test.net/toeic/listening/

Best regards,
Torsten[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, talks: Advertising an inflatable plane seat[YSaerTTEW443543]

32

Hello Mr.Torsten!
Thank you very much for the last lesson - 23 rd.
There are many words which I couldn’t understand, but I understood what talker Raymond Romanos speaks. After several listening I printed the whole text and followed by listening and reading this text.Words which I couldn’t understand I underlined and wrote in separate notebook.At this way my English is improveing day by day.
Best regards
alora

33

Hi Torsten,
I had listened Sue’s lesson and Raymond’s story. I tried to listen several time for Raymond’s story but it still too difficult for me. But on the next time I will try again and I will send my write down for you in this forum. thank you

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Hi ,Torsten ,
I just heard the statistic two times and I have got the messege roughly.But it’s still a litttle difficult for me to write the transcription.Despite that ,I still very like it ,and I will stick with these which must be very helpful for my english.For me ,I am a student majoring in computer science and technology,and I want to go abroad for further study,but my spoken english and oral english are so weak.So ,I think there will be many many questions which I will encounter ,and may be need your help ,and I hope you will be patient with me.Thank you again.

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Dear Torsten,

this is a good way to prcatice our comperhension and wrtign as well. I can say that I undrestood 60% of the recording after listening if for 2 times, I will litening it two tiems more to undrestand better.
Thanks,
Ab Rahim

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Listening comprehension and spelling test?

Do you want to be a top learner? (English lesson 23)

Dear Mr. Torsten Daerr,

The following is my completed assignment, Listen to Raymond Romanos from the US.
Unfortunately, I could not make out what Raymond Romanos was saying in some places ***** although I had spent many hours on the text. In addition, please point out my mistakes and advise me how to improve the text. Thank you.

And I worked as a cook for cowboys. And then I got a Photography-- moved back to Harvard and do more on Photography. And then I decided to go to Washington D. C. and to see whether I could find work there.

Meanwhile I had met a German girl in West Hartford, Connecticut and we kept in contact. When I moved down to Virginia which is near Washington, she would be back in Germany. And I didn’t like Virginia as much as I thought I would. And she had mentioned that I should come and visit her in Germany, and so I did. And this was back in 1996. So I came to Germany I had no plans to stay for a long time but no plans not to stay for a long time so my no plan to be with her and to learn German and to see Germany. So that was in 1996 and now we’re in 2003 and almost 2004.

In the meantime we broke up but I stayed in Leipzig because life was good here–my life is good here. When I first came to Leipzig, my impression was much different because it is only sixth year after the fall of the Berlin war, and many things did not exist, for example, take away coffee or there was very very difficult to find a decent sandwich. Not all the buildings had been renovated and so it was very great.

I was not used to the winters here which were in comparison to Connecticut–not as extreme but mostly great. And the winter in Connecticut are typically very very cold with snow and here is not as cold, and if there is snow it lasts about 24 hours before it disappears. So I rarely find time to go skiing here for I really can’t go skiing here because aren’t any mountains. The best thing is if you can find a hill somewhere, find a sleigh. So you have to work fast here in Leipzig to go sliding.

Well, I came to Germany I worked as a photographer. I worked measuring apartments. Anything I could do to basically survive and ***** I helped edit texts and then finally I started teaching English. My first teaching experience in English was very difficult because I didn’t quite understand all the ***** in English. I may have studied in college but learning how it works and trying to teach it are two different things. So I had to relearn how English works for me to teach it. Also when I arrived I had to learn German and so learning German and teaching English or learning German how to teach English. And then I understood how people learn languages. So although I think here six years or seven years my German is not as good as it could be. Although I can read newspapers and texts and understand them fully, I still haven’t quite managed to speak like a German. Germans tend to have a way of using their words which no no point I could quite master. You have to be German to master German, I think. But it is a fun language, it’s more precise than English. It’s has got many more expressions and dialects *** are fun to listen to.

I have a lot of contact to the local people here in Leipzig mainly because I do teach them. And a lot of my students invite me out to coffee or we have events at night which they invite me to go out to or which I go out myself. There are also a lot of foreigners here I can meet up with them. There are many foreign round tables for people who are running different languages or for people who are willing to learn German or English. So to do that I could meet lots of people and had met lots of people. Em, most of my friends are either Germans or Americans. I have two very good American friends and the rest are all Germans. So I spent most of my time going back and forth between English and German.

Em, I ***** studying German again privately so that I can improve it because after seven years there are many things which you can learn to help you speak better–pronunciation, mostly, most importantly idioms.

I go back about twice a year to America to visit my father who lives in Connecticut or to my mother who lives in South Carolina. I typically go back in the summer around June for a family gathering which is about 30 people and we went about ***** and we gathered together and basically go from one court each to another eating early for two weeks. And there is lots of fun. And when I visit my mother and she lives in South Carolina in a place called Middle Beach, usually not much to do there. You could go minigolfing or you could go swimming in at the beach, but mostly we hanged out and we talked.

Back in Connecticut I still have my friends and I still meet my friends. They meet at a coffee shop in the centre of a West Hartford at two o’clock for coffee. They have been doing this since 1993. So when I go back, I still know everyone, and it’s fun I get my free cup of coffee because they never see me and people who worked there still know me and they bring me up to date as to what’s been going on. That’s a lot of fun.

My language has changed since I have been here. Many people who are Americans would talk to me very slowly and would tell me that my English is very strange but nice. And I said, “That’s nice.” And they said, “Where are you from?” And I said, “I’m from Connecticut.” And they go, “Really!” And I go, “Yes, really.” “Where is your accent?” You can’t walk around with your accent all your life if you live somewhere else. You have to lose it. And when you teach English, you can’t teach accent, you have to teach general English which people can understand. So I tried to change my English a little bit so that people can understand me better. Because if I talk a ***** fast and well, one will see when I go back to Connecticut, after a month in Connecticut I will talk like a normal Connecticut person which will be ***** exist which is not “Konecticut” but Connecticut. And that’s not “pogress” but progress. So this is a very very distinct new accent which one can hear when one listens to my voice but is mostly, em, stuck away.

So among other things, my accent has changed as well as my vocabulary. When you talk to an American who has been living or anybody has been living in Leipzig for a long time, certain words will certainly fall into your vocabulary, for example, everyone will say ***** or ***** instead of street car or tram, and we will talk about going to the ***** which is the train station or to the ***** which is the immigration office. So we’ll use these words among other things like “Trung” for cabinet or “telei” or teach for plate and table, and we’ll mix and we call this new language “ginguish”. And everyone doesn’t matter from what country we mix, and it’s very difficult when I go back to the States not to mix because I know. And I have to keep telling myself that no one there understands German, so I can’t go mixing like I can do in Germany in Leipzig.

I find it amazing how Germans can express themselves to such detail. They know exactly what’s going on. I ‘m just completely amazed by that ***** someone about how a car works and they will tell you. They will tell you how car slides and the reasons how a car will slide on the ice or on hydroplane. They will give you details which an American person will not do. They will use a lot of and’s and er’s and things like that, but ***** the exact detail where it is or they will say “Ker don kno”, “They don’t know”. But so it’s been quite a learning experience from a technical “standford”.

Best wishes,
Bhikkhu1991a.

37

Hi Torsten.

Thank you for the lessons that you send me,I just finished lesson 23.Although is a long exercise and it took me a long time to do it, but I liked it.
Some words I didn’t quite understand please tell me where I did wrong.

And I was a cook for cowboys and then I got into photography. Moved back to west Hartford to do more of photography. And then I decided to
go down to Washington D.C. and see if I can find work there, meanwhile I had met a German girl in west Hartford Conneticut,and we kept in contact.Ah but I moved down to Virginia,which is in Washington. She moved back to Germany and I didn’t like Virginia as much as I thought I would. And she had mentioned that I should come and visited her in Gremany and so I did.
And this was back in 1996, so when I came in Germany I had no plans to stay for long time,but no plans not to stay for long time,so my original plan was to be with her and to learn German and to see Gremany.
So that was in 96, and now we are in 2003 almost 2004.And in the meantime we broke up but I stayed in Leipzing, because life was good here, no life is good here. When I first came to Leipzing my impression was much different, because this is only 6 years after the fall of the wall
and many thing that existed for exemple ah take away coffe or was very difficult to find a decent sandwich not all things had been _________ .
But it was very great
I was not used to the winters here which it were incomparable to Connecticute. Not as extreme but mostly great and the winters in Connecticute
are typical very very cold with the snow. And here is not as cold and if there is snow it last it about 24 hours before disappears.
So I really can’t go skiing here,because there are no mountains. The best thing you can find is a hill, somewhere find a slade. So you have to be very fast here in Leipzing to go slading.
Well I came to Germany, I worked as a photographer, I worked measuring apartments anything I can do to,basically survive I mower lawns, I helped edit, and then finally I started teaching English.
My first teaching experience in English was very difficult,because I didn’t quite understand all the concepts of English.
I may have studied in college but very hard work in try teaching two different things, so I had to relearn how English works for me to teach it.
Also when I arrived I had to learn German, and so learning German and teaching English or learning German helped me teaching English, then I understood how people learn languages.
So although I have been here for 6 years or 7 years, my German is not as good as could be, although I can read newspapers and and
understand it fully. I still have not quite manage to speak like a German.Germans tend to have a way of using the words which no _____
quite master . You have to be German to master German I think, but it is a fun language, besides_______in English got many expressions and
dialogous are fun to listen to. I have a lot of contacts, the local people here in Leipzing.
Many because I do teach them and a lot of my students invite me out to coffe , or we have events at night they invite me out too, or I can go out
myself.There are also a lot of foreigners here, I can meet up with them there are plenty of_________people want to learn different languages
often people want to learn German or English and so for that I can meet a lots of people, and I have met a lots of people.
Most of my friends are either Germans or Americans.I have two very good American friends and the rest are German. So I spend most of my time going back and forth to English and German ah and I’m in fact, I’m studing German again privately, so that I can improve it.
Because after 7 years ah there are many things which you can learn to help you, ah to speak better, and pronunciation and most important.
I go back about twice a year to America to visit my father ,who lives in Connecticute or my mother, who lives in South Caroline.
I typically go back in the summer or arond June, for a family gathering,which is about 30 people and we rent about four cottages in a lake and we
all get together and basically go from one cottage to other eating for two weeks, and is a lot of fun.
And when I visit my mother, and she lives in South Caroline a place called beach.
there is not much to do there, you could go fishing or golfing or you can go swimming in the beach, but mostly we hang out , we talk .
Back in Connecticut I still have my friends,they meet in a coffe shop in the center of west hartford at two o’clock for coffe.
They have been doing this since 1993. And so when I go back I still know every one and it is fun , I get my free cup of coffe, because they
never see me and the people who work there still know me and they bring me up to date as to what has been going on, it is a lot of fun.
My language has changed since I have been here, many people who are American will talk to me very slowly and they tell me that my English is very strange oh but nice and I say that’s nice and they say where are you from? and I say, well I’m from Connecticut and they go really?
and I go yes really and they go where is your accent? and I go well you can’t walk around with an accent in your life if you live somewhere else
you have to loose it, and when you teach English you can’t teach accents, you have to teach general Engish which people can understand.
So I try to change my English a little bit, so that people can understand me better, because when I talk real fast, and well we’ll see when I go
back to Connecticut after a month in Connecticut I’ll talk like a normal Connecticut person, which would be hard as don’t exist,is not
Connecticut but Connecticut is not progress but progress.
So there is very very distinct new England accent which one from here can listen to my voice but is mostly is mostly ah talk way
so among other things, my accent has changed as well as my vocabulary.Ah when you talk to an American who has been living_
or enybody who has been living in Mexico long time certains words would suddently fall into your vocabulary for exemple________-______
-instead of street car or train_______
and talk about going to the_______which is train station or to the ________________ which is immigration office and so we use these
words among others like --—–_____________________
and we’ll mix and we called this language _________
and everyone doesn’t matter ah from what country will mix.And is very difficult when I go back to the states not to mix, because I know I have to keep telling myself that no one in there understand German.So I can’t go mixing like I can do in German in Leipzing.
I thought how amazing how Germans can express themselves the exact details. They know exactly what’s going on
I just I’m incompletely by__________if you ask someone about how a car works and they will tell you how a car -
the reason why a car slide on the ice - they will give you a details which an American person won’t do it
Germans tell you the exact details where it is or will say- they don’t know_____________
It’s been quite a learning experience from a tecnical_________.

38

Hi Torsten,
This exercise is long but very good!
Regards,

"…and I use a cook for cowboys and then I got into photography, moved back to West Hartford to do more with photography and then I decided to go down to Washington D.C. and see if I could find work there.

Meanwhile I had met a German girl in West Hartford Conneticut who we kept in contact. When I moved down to Virginia, which is near Washington, she had moved back to Germany and I didn’t like Virginia as much as I thought I would. And she had mentioned that I should come and visit her in Germany and so I did. And this was back in 1996, so when I came to Germany I had no plans to stay for a long time but no plans not to stay for a long time, so my original plan was to be with her and to learn German and to see Germany, and so that was in 1996 and now we are in 2003, almost 2004.

In the meantime, we broke up but I stayed in Leipzig because life was good here, my life is good here. When I first came to Leipzig my impression was much different because this was only 6 years after “The fall of the German Wall” and many things did not exist, for example, take-away coffee or it was very-very difficult to find a decent sandwich, not all the buildings had been renovated and so it was very grey. I was not used to the winters here which were, in comparision to Conneticut, not as extreme, but mostly grey. And the winters in Conneticut are tipically very-very cold, with snow and here it’s not as cold and if there’s snow it lasts about 24 hours before it disappears, so I rarely find time to go skiing here, but I really can’t go skiing here because there’re no mountains, the best you could find is a hill somewhere and find a sled. So you have to be real fast here in Leipzig to go sledding.

Well, I came to Germany I worked as a photographer, I worked measuring apartments, anything I could to basically survive, I mowed laws, I helped edit texts and then finally I started teaching English. My first teaching experience in English was very difficult because I didn’t quite understand all the concept of English, I mean, I may have studied in College but learning how works and trying teaching are two different things, so I had to relearn how English worked for me to teach it. Also when I arrived I had to learn German and so learning German and teaching English or learning German helped me teach English, because then I understood how people learn languages.

So although I’ve been here for 6 years or 7 years, my German is not as good as it could be, although I can read newspapers and texts and understand them fully, I still haven’t quite managed to speak like a German. Germans tend to have a way of using their words which no foreigner could quite master. You have to be German to master German, I think. But it’s a fun language, it’s more precise than English. It’s got many more expressions, and dialects are fun to listen to. I have a lot of contact to the local people here in Leipzig, mainly because I do teach them and a lot of my students invite me out to coffee or we have events at night which they invite me out too or wich I go out myself. There are also lots of foreigners here. I can meet up with them. There are plenty of foreign round tables for people willing learn different languages or for people willing learn German or English so through that I can meet lots of people and helped me meeting lots of people.

Most of my friends are either Germans or Americans. I have 2 very good American friends and the rest are all German, so I spend most of my time going back and forth between English and German and I’m in fact studying German again privately so I can improve it because after 7 years there are many things which you can learn to help you speak better, pronunciation and mostly and more importantly the idioms.

I go back about twice a year to America to visit my father who lives in Conneticut or to my mother who lives in South Carolina. I tipically go back in the summer, around June for a family gathering which is about 30 people and we rent about 4 cottages on a lake and we all get together and basically go from one cottage to another eating our way for two weeks and that’s a lot of fun. And when I visit my mother, and she lives in South Carolina in a place called Martle Beach does really not much to do there, you could go mini shogolf fitting or you could go swimming at the beach but mostly we hang out and we talk.

Back in Conneticut I still have my friends and still meet my friends. They meet at a coffee shop in the center of West Hartford at 2 o´clock for coffee. They’ve been doing this since 1993 and so when I go back I still know everyone and it’s fun. I got my free cup of coffee because they never see me and the people who work there still know me and they bring me up to date as to what’s been going on. It’s a lot of fun.

My language have changed since I’ve been here. Many people who are American will talk to me very slowly and would tell me that my English is very strange but nice, and I say: ¨That’s nice¨ and they say ¨Where are you from?¨and I say ¨Well I’m from Conneticut¨and they go ¨really?¨ and I go ¨Yes, really¨and they go ¨where’s your accent?¨I go ¨Well, you can’t go around with an accent all your life. If you live somewhere else you have to lose it and when you teach English you can’t teach accents, you have to teach a general English which people can understand and so I’ve tried to change my English a little bit so that people can understand me better because when I talk real fast and well, when we´ll see it I go back to Conneticut.

After a month in Conneticut I’ll talk like a normal Conneticut person which will be, hard r’s, o’s don’t exist. It’s no Conneticut but Conneticut and it’s not ¨progress¨but ¨progress¨. So there’s a very distinct New England accent which one can hear if one listens to my voice but it’s mostly, it’s mostly tugged away so among other things, my accent has changed as well as my vocabulary.

When you talk to an American who has been living here or anybody who has been living here in Leipzig for a long time, certain words will suddenly fall into our vocabulary, for example everyone will say (German word) or (German word) instead of street car or tram or we will talk about going to (German word) which is that train station or to (German word) which is the Immigration’s Office and so you’ll use these words among other things like (German word) for cabinet or (German words) for plate and table and we’ll mix and we’ll call this new language ¨Genglish¨and everyone, doesn’t matter what country, will mix.

And that’s very difficult when I go back to the States not to mix because I know and I’ve to keep telling myself that no one there understands German so I can’t go mixing like I can do in Germany, in Leipzig.
I find it amazing how Germans can express themselves to such detail. They know exactly what’s going on. I’m just completly amazed by that. You ask someone about how a car works and they’ll tell you how a car slides and the reasons why a car slides on the ice or hydroplane they’ll give you details which an American person would not do. They would use lots of “ands” and “huhs” and things like but Germans will tell you to the exact detail what it is or they’ll say (German word) they don’t know but so it’s been quite a learning experience from a technical standpoint. So…"

39

Hi Torsten!
I’ve listened the story of Rymond and I think that the Am.E is better. The Br.E is not so clean.
Thanks for listening exersises and for everything that you give us on that forum!
What do you think about my voice?

40

Hello.
this exercise is too excellent for me. I do not understand all sentences of it. but understand the idea, the Raymond’s story. i will copy few swentences that i got it. Probably I will have only mistakes. I wait for corrections. I will continue doing this exercise till i understand the sentences one by one.
… and I wa a cook for cowboys and i got into photography. I moved to start the photography and then I decided to go to washington D.C. to work there. minwhile I had met a German girl studying in Connecticut and we kept in contact. when i moved down to Virginia near washington. i didn’t like virginia and she had mentioned that i should visit in Germany and so I did. It was back in 1996. When I was in Germany I had no plans to stay for a long time…