001 Stars on Ice!

Listening Lesson (podcast)

by Melanie on May 3, 2010 Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Story:
On Friday night I went downtown Toronto to see a figure skating show called, Stars on Ice.

Pronunciation lesson:
How to pronounce the word figure by itself and in a compound noun.

This weekly podcast is for intermediate to advanced English learners. I use core vocabulary to tell you a story about something that happened in my daily life in Canada. Youll hear the story twice. The first time, I speak a little slower than normal, but the second time I speak at a normal speed. I speak naturally and with a standard American accent. Each podcast also includes a pronunciation lesson that explains something I said in the story.

Transcript
[I speak with a standard American accent, but sometimes my spelling is British. That's the way we do things in Canada!] On Friday night I went to see a figure skating show called, Stars on Ice. Its an ice skating tour thats currently travelling across Canada. All the performers are Canadian, and theyre some of the best figure skaters that Canada has ever produced. They include past and present Canadian Champions, World Champions and Olympic Medalists. Each skater performed a solo routine (or duet if they were a couple!) and also participated in group routines. It was an amazing show! Figure skating is really popular right now because of the success of some of our skaters at the Vancouver Winter Olympics. One of the performers was Joannie Rochette [shes French-Canadian*]. She performed a beautiful routine dedicated to her mother. Two days before Joannie started competing at the 2010 Winter Olympics, her mother died of a sudden heart attack. Joannie decided to compete anyway in honour of her mother, and she went on to win a bronze medal. Her determination and courage at such a painful time in her life inspired the entire country. Another performer was four-time World Champion Kurt Browning. He did his routine in hockey skates, which is very difficult to do because hockey skates are not made for jumps and spins and

other skating tricks. Hes arguably the best figure skater this country has ever produced! He is so popular in Canada and so loved, not only because he has achieved so much in his sport, but because hes also a good person who does a lot for charity. I was really disappointed with the audience at Stars on Ice. The audience was really boring. I thought there would be loud cheers and lots of standing ovations. I was surprised the cheering was so short and dull. Other than that, I had a great time. I thought all the skaters were outstanding. Canada is a small country in population. There are only 30 million of us, so its impressive that Canada has been able to produce so many world-class figure skaters!

NOTES: One of the performers was Joannie Rochette [shes French-Canadian*]. This is not the English pronunciation of the female name Joanne [other spellings: Jo-Ann, JoAnne,]. Joannie Rochette is from Quebec, the French-speaking province in Canada, so her name is pronounced the French way.

Pronunciation:
The word figure is two syllables. The stress is on the first syllable /fg/. This is the syllable that is said louder & longer than the other syllable. Be careful not to say /i/. The letter I is pronounced as the short vowel //. /fg/ The second syllable begins with the consonant y sound /j/. The ure at the end of the word is pronounced as the vowel r sound //. The e at the end of the word is not pronounced. /j/ Now put those two syllables together: fg + j /fgj/ In the story, figure was also part of two compound nouns: figure skating figure skater In compound nouns, the first word is always stressed. The first word is said louder & longer than the second word. Listen carefully: FIGURE skating [NOT figure SKATING] FIGURE skater [NOT figure SKATER]

Make sure you say the two words together, with no pause in between them. FIGURE skating FIGURE skater

Related:
How to Practice Listening Verbs Used to Talk about Sports (Play, Do, Go) Gerunds Used for Sports Compound Nouns: When Nouns Act Like Adjectives Vocabulary Spotlight on: The 2010 Winter Olympics

Reference Vocabulary: figure skating On Friday night I went to see a figure skating show called, Stars on Ice. = a sport in which a person wearing skates on her feet moves around ice doing jumps, spins, and other movements What is the difference between ice skating & figure skating? Ice skating is a hobby. Its something people do for fun in the winter. A person puts ice skates on his feet and moves around the ice. Figure skating is a sport. It requires a lot of time and training. Canadian Champion They [the performers] include past and present Canadian Champions, World Champions and Olympic Medalists. = Every year there is a competition called the Canadian Figure Skating Championship to determine the best figure skater in Canada. The person (or couple) who wins is the champion for that year. World Champion They [the performers] include past and present Canadian Champions, World Champions and Olympic Medalists. = Every year there is a competition called the World Figure Skating Championship to determine the best figure skater in the world. The person (or couple) who wins is the champion for that year. Olympic Medalists They [the performers] include past and present Canadian Champions, World Champions and Olympic Medalists. = someone who has won a medal [gold, silver, bronze] at the Summer or Winter Olympics

duet Each skater performed a solo routine (or duet if they were a couple!) = two people performing together at the same time hockey skates He did his routine in hockey skates, = hockey is a very popular sport in Canada & other northern countries; the skates worn to play hockey are very different from regular ice skates. a standing ovation I thought there would be loud cheers and lots of standing ovations. = when a crowd or audience stands (on their feet) to applaud at the end of a performance

Phrasal Verbs: to go on (to do something) Joannie decided to compete anyway in honour of her mother, and she went on to win a bronze medal. = to do (or say) something after doing (or saying) something else [Joannie's mother died; Joannie decided to compete anyway, then after that she won a bronze medal]

Core Vocabulary (What is core vocabulary?) 3*** words: show tour perform champion couple participate in popular compete sudden decide entire difficult produce loved charity

audience surprised population pause 2** words: ice routine amazing dedicate to honor determination courage painful inspire trick boring loud cheer (verb) dull outstanding impressive 1* words: performers solo [adjective] heart attack skate (noun & verb) jump (noun) spin (noun) arguably disappointed cheer (noun)

Collocations:
(What are collocations?) figure skating/figure skater ice skating hockey skates in honour of participate in heart attack

dedicated to do (something) for (someone/something) disappointed with