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In this podcast you’ll practice the verb “close” as in “Close your eyes.” English also has an adjective, “close”, as in “You’re standing too close to me.” This “close”means “near.”

1. Close the door, please.

2. Please close the window.

3. She closed the gate on her way out.

4. He carefully closed the car door.

5. The supermarket closes at 10 pm.

6. Many restaurants closed during 2020 because of Covid. (= went out of business.)

7. When we moved, I closed our old bank accounts.

8. The city closed the beach because of bacterial contamination.

9. Many American car factories have closed down. (= stop operating.)

10. It took the doctor ten stitches to close the wound in John’s forehead.

11. I didn’t want to watch the rest of the movie so I closed my eyes and went to sleep.

12. Always save your computer files before you close them.

13. “There is nothing more to discuss,” said the CEO. “That question is closed.”

14. I can’t tell what he is thinking. His face is a closed book.

Be careful of the verb “to close” (“Z” sound, above) and the adjective “close”, pronounced with an “S” sound. Here are a few examples using close:

15. We are close friends.

16. January 8th is close to my birthday. I was born on January 10th.

17. The final score of the basketball game was very close: 102 to 101.

18. The guards kept a close watch on the prisoner.

19. A car almost hit me this morning. It was a really close call. (A near miss.)

This podcast is now finished. You can also say that it has drawn to a close. Thanks for listening.

Intro & Outro Music: La Pompe Du Trompe by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

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Listen and practice along with the podcast as needed. Then practice the numbers listed below starting around 9 minutes 40 seconds from the beginning of the podcast.

Begin here:

256

394

27

199

583

275

1,585

7,014

2,001

9,857

19,522

26,483

88,000

157,500

209,555

329,633

1,000,000

5,245,123

15,208,300

57,113,605

156,001,412

355,888,004

999,999,999

1,000,000,000 = 1 billion

13,013,013,013

Intro & Outro Music: La Pompe Du Trompe by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

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Keep the podcasts coming! Thank you!

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This is easy:

I'll say: "She lives in France."

You'll ask: "Does she live in France?"

So take my statement and turn it into a question. Easy! The rest of the directions are in the podcast. Use it to practice grammar (questions with 'does'), the names of some countries (France, Senegal, Kenya, and others), and, of course, pronunciation, rhythm, intonation, etc. Try to sound like me.

More to come...

Intro & Outro Music: La Pompe Du Trompe by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

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1. Roger has a red rabbit.

2. My robot is right-handed.

3. I like to read about railroads.

4. I fed my bird a carrot.

5. The doctor wore a white shirt.

6. Have you ever seen a lizard on a giraffe?

7. I’ll pay you a dollar for your green rocket.

8. I live on a ranch with my mother.

9. The rich pirate had a pet turtle.

10. I ran away from the walrus.

11. I brushed my hair with a hair brush.

12. Dinosaurs never ate kangaroos.

13. My father ate all the bread.

14. It is dangerous to drink and drive.

15. It took a large crane to lift the dragon onto the truck.

16. In his dream he played a drum.

17. My friend has freckles.

18. Her grandpa greeted the prince.

19. She practiced cartwheels on the grass.

20. I bought some groceries including fruit like grapes.

21. There was some trash around the trunk of the tree.

22. In reality, I forgot to bring my raincoat.

23. I saw a raccoon roasting a rattlesnake.

24. When I realized what he was reading, I was surprised.

25. I would like to travel around America.

26. The canary ate a blueberry.

27. I don’t have the authority to open the cafeteria.

28. My new camera is great!

29. My dictionary is full of vocabulary.

30. The operation will be necessary.

R sounds can appear at the beginning of words:

“Run, read, red”

In the middle of words:

“Pirate, Florida”

At the ends of words:

“Four, doctor”

And combined with other consonants:

“World, bread, pray”

Intro & Outro Music: La Pompe Du Trompe by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

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1- You said that already. I’m afraid you’re repeating yourself.

2- I think that’s a terrible idea, but you’re the boss so suit yourself. Do what you want.

3- In ten years I see myself running a successful consulting business.

4- My children always behave themselves in public. At home, however, they are monsters!

5- John is quite old but he is still perfectly capable of looking after himself.

6- My sister used to live off our parents, but now she has a good job and can support herself.

7- I wanted to pay myself a bonus at the end of last year, but sales were terrible so I couldn’t.

8- Our president loves himself more than anyone else in the whole world.

9- Go ahead—give yourself a raise! You’ve earned it.

10- He introduced himself to the audience and then began his speech about black holes.

11- His chauffeur had the flu, so Mr. Richman drove himself to his penthouse office.

12- She baked the cake herself with no help from her mother.

13- We prepared dinner ourselves using stuff we found in the refrigerator.

14- He stared at himself in the mirror and was surprised to see white hair and wrinkles.

15- The children decorated the Christmas tree themselves with ornaments they found in a box.

16- She taught herself English by reading books and watching videos.

17- All the children use ChatGPT to do their homework nowadays. They don’t do the work themselves, so they aren’t learning anything.

18- He slipped while rock climbing and injured himself badly.

19- I don’t recommend doing brain surgery on yourself.

20- The cat gave itself a thorough bath using its tongue.

Intro & Outro Music: La Pompe Du Trompe by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

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This is a companion podcast to the previous one which gives sentences with "when." The word "while" is used to link actions which are happening at the same time. For example: During dinner, I listened to a podcast. You can express this with while: "While I ate dinner, I listened to a podcast."

I prepared dinner while my wife took a nap.

My children studied while I worked remotely.

While the dog chased the cat around the house, I watched a basketball game.

I studied the menu while the waitress poured us coffee.

The teacher corrected my exam while the other students continued working.

I thought it was going to rain while we waited for the train to arrive, but it didn’t.

I worked in a factory while my wife finished medical school.

My daughter colored her place mat while we waited for dinner to arrive.

The teachers talked while the children played outside.

My parents finished eating breakfast while we washed their car.

Isabel drew pictures on a piece of paper while her parents described their vacation.

It took a while to finish painting the dining room.

He was in the hospital for a while after his accident.

She took some great photos while she was visiting Atlanta.

I read her a story while she brushed her hair.

George was very quiet while I explained the situation to him.

While I set the table for dinner, Mary finished the sauce and started bringing the food into the dining room.

He watched the puppies playing while their mother rested.

Her grandfather died while fighting in World War II.

We remained silent while she performed a violin duet with her sister.

I’ll go put gas in the car while you guys finish packing our suitcases.

Every once in a while, I listen to podcasts in French.

I need to be alone for a while.

While I can’t answer all your questions, I’m happy to answer the ones I can.

It may take a while for her to learn Spanish, but I’m sure she’ll get it eventually.

After a while, we all fell asleep and dreamed of flying elephants.

Intro & Outro Music: La Pompe Du Trompe by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

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A student asked me today to explain the difference between "when" and "while" in English. I think examples are the best way to learn so here are questions and statements containing "when" and I'll do "while" very soon--I promise!

When I arrived, it was raining.

When is your next meeting?

When I saw him, he was getting ready for a trip.

When did she get married?

When do you finish work?

I met them when they still lived in Los Angeles.

I’ll include that information when I write my report.

When the speech was over, my boss thanked us for coming and then left.

She remembered when she visited her grandparents every day.

When he lived in Rome, he spoke fluent Italian.

When we had finished breakfast, our mother told us to go outside and play.

When she started to do some research, she soon found some surprising information.

When did these kittens show up?

It was very late when we finally left the party.

When do I start work?

When are these library books due?

When she saw his expression, she was immediately worried.

I didn’t recognize you when you walked by dressed in a tiger costume.

When you know me better, you’ll realize that I always tell the truth.

When the professor started his lecture, the students were totally silent.

When I tried to walk through the forest in the dark, I soon crashed into a tree.

I was almost asleep when my phone rang.

He was studying when his cat jumped up on the computer keyboard.

My mother looked serious when she started describing the ghost in her house.

When you visit, you can sleep in your old bedroom.

Intro & Outro Music: La Pompe Du Trompe by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Support the show

Email me: swift.water3883@fastmail.com

You can now support my podcasts and classes:
Keep the podcasts coming! Thank you!

Send me a text message. Suggestions? Subjects for future podcasts? Let me know--thanks!

This podcast is the sound portion of one of my YouTube videos. It describes all my language learning experiences spread over many decades. Personally I think this is just as useful (or useless) as a podcast as it is in video form. In both formats it's just me telling a story. I hope you enjoy it: it includes successes as well as failures. If you'd like to watch me talk for more than an hour, here's the link.

I have not attached a transcript. If you desperately want one, let me know and I'll produce one for you. Hope you enjoy the story.

Intro & Outro Music: La Pompe Du Trompe by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Support the show

Email me: swift.water3883@fastmail.com

You can now support my podcasts and classes:
Keep the podcasts coming! Thank you!