Traffic and Car Vocabulary
Let’s pick our Traffic and Vehicle Nicknames!
4-wheel drive
hood
bumper
dashboard
driving licence
ticket
gear stick
handbrake
motorway
hit and run
lane
pedestrianized street
petrol gauge
pile-up
rear view mirror
roundabout
peak hour
pavement
steering wheel
tollbooth
tailgating
Have you ever had a road accident or been in a car breakdown incident? Retell that story.
Intrusive r is pretty awe-r-inspiring!
Native speakers tend to add an R sound /r/ when joining two words. This feature has become increasingly widespread recently. Just take the example in the title “awe-r-inspiring!” It is actually written awe-inspiring but /r/ sound is added by native speakers to make the slide from /ɔ:/ to /i/ smooth.
Well to avoid uming and ahing any more, there are some handy rules to help you figure out when to use intrusive /r/:
Between a word-final schwa /ə/ spelt with an < a > (e.g. China, Lisa, America) and a new word beginning with a vowel sound, /r/ will act as a connector e.g. Lisa –r– Edwards.
Words written with an < aw > /ɔ:/ at the end (e.g. paw, law, draw) will bring about r insertion when the next word begins with a vowel sound e.g. draw –r– a house.
Words containing in a long “ah” /ɑ:/ sound (e.g. “cut out the blah blah –r– and make your point).
2o First Date Questions!
Which 2 would you go for?! Why?
Which ones would you hate to be asked? Why?
1. What do you like to do in your free time?
2. Are you more of an indoors or outdoors person?
3. Who is the most fascinating person you’ve met?
4. What was the last book you really got into?
5. What are some movies you really enjoyed?
6. What amazing adventures have you been on?
7. What pets have you had?
8. What’s your favorite alcoholic and non-alcoholic drink?
9. What are you kind of obsessed with these days?
10. Where have you traveled?
11. What’s your favorite international food?
12. Are you a morning person or a night owl?
13. What’s your favorite restaurant?
14. How many siblings do you have?
15. What would be your dream job?
16. What would you do if had enough money to not need a job?
17. Who is your favorite author?
18. What was the last show you binge-watched*?
*watching multiple episodes of a television programme in rapid succession, typically by means of DVDs or digital streaming.
19. What TV series do you keep coming back to and re-watching?
20. What hobbies would you like to get into if you had the time and money?