English Every Day: Day One (A2-B1 Level)

Pre-production Series: Day One

Welcome to our first installment in the series: English Every Day. Here, you will learn (or consolidate) new words and expressions and practice your English skills with us in 3 quick-n-easy steps.

We have deliberately chosen a cartoon that is short, amusing and weird: PSYCHIC POWERS! We hope you will enjoy it.

Think Before You Watch

Try and answer these questions in full English sentences (you can use the 'comments section' below to type in your answers ;)

1. Do you know anyone who claims they are psychic, telepathic, or clairvoyant?
2. Do you believe that people can have psychic powers? Why (not)?

Watch and Listen

Watch & Listen: Can you tell what happens at the end of the video? (Write your answers in the comments :)

Time to Practice!

Now watch or listen again. Can you find out what the missing words or expressions are in the script below?

Milkman: Hey! (1)-------- see something cool? Watch me make your milk disappear, with my (2)--------- powers! Friend: No way! Milkman: (3)-------- ten bucks. Friend: Alright! You’re on. Milkman: Watch this! [trying hard] Damn! Why (4)---------- my powers working?! [looks around] [ chuckles] Milkman to another friend: Hey, Billy! I (5)----------- ten bucks I can make your milk carton disappear!

Wanna compare your answers? Here we go (don't look at the answers before you're done ;)
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Answer	Explanation
wanna /ˈwɒnə/	This is a short, spoken form of ‘want to’. Notice that ‘Do you’ has also been omitted in the question: (Do you) want to …? This is an informal way to address friends.
psychic	Remember that 'p' is silent and that both 'ch' /ʧ/ & 'c' here sound /k/, therefore: /ˈsaɪ-kɪk/
bet you	Notice that he doesn’t say ‘bet you’ but rather ‘betcha’: this is because in informal, spoken English, when ‘t’ comes to ‘y’, the sounds mix and become ‘ch’/ʧ/ as in ‘chair’. Also ‘you’ /juː/ becomes more like ‘ye’ /jə/
aren’t	Once again, you see that in fast, spoken English, the ‘t’ at the end of ‘aren’t’ is dropped, that is ‘not pronounced’
bet you	And again!

Did you notice? If you are seeing this post on a computer screen, you can actually move your mouse over the underlined words in the text to see the definition. You're welcome! :)

Wanna practice more until you're confident? Go here.

If you are a student of English: We'd be glad if you hit the buttons below and shared the lesson with your fellow learners.

If you are a teacher of English: If you find this post useful, please feel free to use it in your lesson and provide us with feedback.