Pronunciation: finish your words!
Shall we start with a warm-up question?
How do you say the Spanish word ‘bricolaje’ in English?
Recently, while out shopping at a hardware / D-I-Y store in Cocentaina, a young lady was looking for a replacement light bulb.
Other shoppers (not just ourselves) were amused to notice that she was clearly more interested in the young assistant serving her than in pronouncing her ‘anglicismos’ correctly! From the context she was clearly talking about bulbs, even though the words she was pronouncing were “¿…y si compro el coal, es ….?” “¿…. y el war es ….?
Remember: in English, not finishing a word can often change its meaning. Let’s continue with this example.
Modern light bulbs are supplied in a range of ‘colour temperatures’ which are described as cold – cool – warm, on a scale like this:
Click for the correct pronunciation, click the links you see highlighted like this: warm
And for those of you who can’t remember what a war is, it’s an armed conflict.
A ‘war front’ in conventional warfare is where battles or fighting take place:
On the other hand, a warm front (and a cold front) is a weather phenomenon, as you can see here:
Cold and warm weather fronts
Finally, coal is a fossil fuel which we burn in ‘real’ fires – sometimes along with wood (logs), to generate heat.
A coal fire
On a cold winter’s day, it’s nice to come home
and warm your hands in front of a nice coal fire.
