Through, Throughout and Go Through | Voa english

Through, Throughout and Go Through | Voa english
This week, we answer a question about three similar sounding terms. Our listener Suri writes:

Question:

Hi, I want to know the meaning of “through,” “throughout” and “go through.”

Answer:

Hello Suri,

Let me begin by talking about “through” and “throughout.” Both can be used as prepositions or adverbs. Today, I will explain their uses as prepositions.

Both words can relate to space or time, depending on how they are used.

Space: though, throughout

I will talk about space first.

“Through” means moving from one side, or end, to another side, or end of something. For example, you can say, “The train went through the tunnel.” That means it went in one side of the tunnel and out the other side.

“Through” can also mean within a place or within a piece of land, air, or something else. For example, you can say, “I walked through the park.” That means you walked within the park.

“Throughout” means in every part of a place or thing. You can say, “There were pretty flowers throughout the park.” That means every part of the park has pretty flowers. You can also say, “People throughout the United States have wonderful accents.”

An easy way to think of the difference between “through” and “throughout” is this: “Through” generally suggests motion; “throughout” generally describes a place or location.

Time: through, throughout

Now, let's think about how these words relate to time.

“Through” suggests moving toward the completion or end of something. For example, “The sale goes through the end of June” means the sale will continue or last until the end of June.

“Throughout” means during an entire situation or period of time. For example, “We heard birds singing throughout the day” means we heard them all day long.

Go through

And finally, we turn to the term “go through.”

“Go through” is a phrasal verb with several meanings. Yet most are not related to the meanings of “through” and “throughout.”

But there is one meaning that relates in a small way — to examine something carefully. I can say, “I went through all of the papers and found what I was looking for.” This meaning of “go through” suggests moving “through” something: in this case, the papers.

For other meanings of “go through,” you can use an online dictionary, such as The Merriam Webster Learners’ Dictionary.

That’s all for Ask a Teacher this week.

I’m Alice Bryant.

Alice Bryant wrote this story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

What questions do you have about English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com.

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Words in This Story
preposition - n. a word that shows direction, location or time, or introduces an object

adverb - n. a word that is often used to show time, manner, place, or degree

tunnel - n. a passage that goes through a hill or under the ground

park - n. a piece of public land in or near a city that can be used for pleasure and exercise

accent - n. a way of pronouncing words that occurs among the people in a region or country

phrasal verb - n. a group of words that functions as a verb and is made up of a verb and a preposition, an adverb, or both

dictionary - n. a reference book that contains words listed in alphabetical order and gives information about the meanings, forms and pronunciations

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Waste Not, Want Not Is Good Advice|| Voa English

And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English.

Waste. It is something we are often told not to do.

At home, parents tell us not to waste food.

In the classroom, teachers tell us not to waste time.

On a sports team, coaches tell us not to waste energy.

People who do not want to hear our ideas, tell us not to “waste our breath.”

Whether it is food, time, energy or breath -- waste is a loss of something valuable. Waste happens because we use too much of a resource or because we do not use it well.

We often use “waste” in arguments. If we are unhappy with someone, we can say: “Don’t waste my time.” If we are really unhappy with someone, we can say to them, “You are a waste of space!”

And if you are not happy with the result of something you have done, you can say, “Well, that was a complete waste of time.”

There are other ways we use the word “waste.”

If someone is very sick or is losing a lot of weight, we can say they are “wasting away.” And if someone has too much alcohol and cannot control their words and actions, we can say they are “wasted.”

So, those are some ways we use the word “waste.” We also find it in some useful expressions.

Here’s the first one: “Haste makes waste.”

The online dictionary Merriam-Webster says this expression was first recorded in 1678. The full saying was: "Haste makes waste, and waste makes want, and want makes strife between the good-man and his wife."

“Haste” means doing something very quickly. “Haste makes waste” means if you hurry and rush while doing something, you could make mistakes. And it takes more time and effort to fix mistakes. So, if someone says, “Hurry up! It’s taking you forever to cut that wood for the house project.” You can simply say: “Haste makes waste. I want to do it right the first time!”

The other common expression is: “Waste not, want not.”

This means that if a person never wastes things, he or she will have what is needed. We often say this as a response to being very frugal. Frugal people are careful about spending money or using things. They are not wasteful.

Here is one way to use it. Let’s say I am carefully putting paper into a pile. Some of the papers have writing on them, but most do not. And I think I can still use it for something.

If someone sees me and says, “Why don’t you just throw that paper away? We have lots of paper.” I can say to them, “Waste not, want not.” It is a simple way to say, “I don’t want to waste this paper. If I need it for something later, I’ll have it.”

Now let’s hope learning about “waste” in this Words and Their Stories was not a “complete waste of your time.”

Until next time … I’m Anna Matteo!

And there's so much time to make up everywhere you turn

Time we have wasted on the way

So much water moving underneath the bridge

Let the water come and carry us away …

Anna Matteo wrote this story for VOA Learning English. Hai Do was the editor. At the end of the program the music group Crosby, Stills & Nash sings “Wasted on the Way.”

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Words in This Story

coach – n. one who instructs players in the fundamentals of a sport and directs team strategy

strife – n. formal : very angry or violent disagreement between two or more people or groups

rush – v. to move or do something very quickly or in a way that shows you are in a hurry

frugal – adj. careful about spending money or using things when you do not need to : using money or supplies in a very careful way

pile – n. a large number of things that are put one on top of another

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How Can I Improve My English Pronunciation|| Part 2|| VOA English

How Can I Improve My English Pronunciation|| Part 2
Many people write to us here at VOA Learning English with this question:

Question:

How can I improve my English pronunciation?

Answer:

Last week on our program, we talked about setting realistic goals. That means, you do not have to sound exactly like a native English speaker. You can keep your accent and still communicate clearly. We also talked about learning the rhythm of English.

Today we will talk about three things you can do to sound more like a native speaker.

Watch and listen to yourself

A good place to start is to watch and listen to videos and other programs recorded in English.

For example, choose a story from our website. Listen to the recording while looking at the words. Make a note of any words you think may be hard to say, and then say them aloud. Play the audio again and read along. Then record yourself reading it slowly and clearly. Listen to your recording. Are you speaking loudly enough? As an English speaker, speaking more slowly than you normally do and speaking loudly with confidence can make it easier for others to understand you.

Take 'Selfie Videos'

You can also learn how to improve your pronunciation by taking selfie videos. Record a few sentences. Watch the video and ask yourself: Is my voice loud enough? Did I say all of the words clearly? Next, ask an English-speaking friend to listen, or try reading the story for a friend.

Listen to your dictionary

Our final piece of advice is to listen to recordings from an online dictionary. Try using a dictionary app, like the Merriam-Webster Learners’ Dictionary, which gives you the correct pronunciation in an audio file.

Click on the small picture (it looks like a speaker) to play the sound of the word.

You can also use a website like Google Translate. Type in a word, then click on the small picture to hear the pronunciation.

If you click it a second time, it will play more slowly so you can hear each part of the word clearly.

What else do you do?

Now you have heard our suggestions for sounding more like a native English speaker. What do you tell your friends about improving your pronunciation? Write to us and tell us your own advice. Our email is learningenglish@voanews.com

And that’s Ask a Teacher!

I’m Jill Robbins.

Dr. Jill Robbins wrote this story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

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Words in This Story
pronunciation – n. the way in which a word is said

accent – n. a way of saying words that is common among the people in an area or country

rhythm – n. a regular, repeated order of sounds or movements

confidence – n. a feeling or belief that you can do something well or succeed at something

file – n. a collection of computer data or other information stored in an electronic device

click – v. to press or strike a button on a control device

type – v. to write something on a computer or typewriter

Do you have a question for the teacher? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.

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How Can I Improve My English Pronunciation| Part 1| VOA english

How Can I Improve My English
Pronunciation? (Part 1)

Many people want to sound more like native English speakers. So
they send questions about pronunciation to us here at VOA Learning English. We
often get asked:

Question:

“How
can I improve my English pronunciation?”

Answer:

Today
we will look at two simple things you can do to improve your pronunciation.

Speak loudly enough

The
first is to speak loudly enough.

Many
people learning a foreign language worry about having an accent or
saying words differently because of their mother tongue.

Yet
there are plenty of people who have learned English as a second or even third
language. Take, for example, Hollywood actors Antonio Banderas and Jackie Chan.
The two are non-native English speakers. Banderas has a Spanish accent, while
Chan has a Chinese accent. But both men are easy to understand, partly because
they speak loudly and clearly.

When
speaking, the goal should be communicating to be easily understood, not
removing your accent, which is often hard to do.

To
read more on this subject, see our story called Keep Your Identity While
Changing Your Accent.

Listen for patterns

The
second thing you can do to improve pronunciation is to listen for patterns.

English
sentences have a rhythm. In other words, you
will find a kind of systematic arrangement, or order, to the words and expressions.
When you listen to someone speaking English, try humming along with the rhythm
of their sentences. Think of yourself making sounds like that of an insect.

Here
is an example: What are you doing in there?

The
line shows how the voice changes:

Here’s what it sounds like to hum this sentence.

It
is easy to make sounds while keeping your mouth closed.

Some
English learners like to listen to music and sing songs. These exercises will
help you to learn the rhythms of the language.

For
more exercises, see our story Improve Your Pronunciation by Training Your Ears.

Next
time, we will talk about some more things you can do to improve your
pronunciation.

And
that’s Ask
a Teacher!

I’m
Jill Robbins.

Dr.
Jill Robbins wrote this story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the
editor.

Do you have a question for the teacher? We want
to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section or email us at learningenglish@voanews.com.

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VOA English| How Can I Sound American|| Làm sao để nói được giọng Mỹ

Today on Ask a Teacher, we answer a question from Igor in Russia. He writes,

Question: I'd like to speak with an American accent. Could you give me advice on how to improve it? Thank you so much.

Yours sincerely,

Igor, Russia

Answer:

Dear Igor,

An accent is more than simply the way one says individual words. It is also the way speakers use three things: intonation, pacing and stress. Intonation is the rise and fall in one’s voice when speaking. Pacing is how fast you are speaking. And stress is the word or words you play up, or emphasize, when you talk.

If you want to sound more like an American when you speak, there are a few sounds that experts say make up the American accent.

American sounds

The thing most people notice is that many Americans pronounce the "r" sound at the end of words, like “butter." And, in American English, the "t" in the middle of a word is often said like the letter "d."

Try making the “r” sound in these three words: better, door, poor.

Another of these sounds is the short “a” sound you hear in words like "cat." To make this sound, pull your lips back as if you are smiling, but keep your mouth open.

Try making this short "a" sound in these words: dad, map, tag.

Another sound you should watch for is the short "o," as heard in the words "bot" and "cod." Your lips do not need to be round to produce this “o” sound.

Try saying this sound in mom, got, and pop.

Practice makes perfect

The most important way to improve your accent is to keep on speaking and listening to American English. Try to hear the rhythm, or "music," of the language as you listen to Americans. The pace, or speed, should be slower than other accents. And it is not necessary to sound exactly like a native speaker. As long as you speak clearly enough to be understood, most Americans enjoy hearing a foreign accent. It makes you sound a little mysterious!

Our website has several Education Tips stories on pronunciation, as well as the new video series "How to Pronounce." To learn more, see Keep Your Identity While Changing Your Accent, our story about a program that helps students change their accents.

Your questions

What question do you have about English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com.

And that's Ask a Teacher for this week.

I’m Jill Robbins.

Dr. Jill Robbins wrote this story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

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Words in This Story

accent – n. a way of saying the words of a given language

emphasize – v. to give special attention to when speaking or writing

lips – n. (pl) the two soft parts that surround the mouth

Do you have a question for the teacher? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section or send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com.

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Meditation music| Nhạc thư giản, ngày mới làm việc hiệu quả

Nhạc thư giản, ngày mới làm việc hiệu quả

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