April Vacation Week

If you have kids out of school this week, or just have extra time for yourself, here are some places to go – to see more of Boston and MetroWest, have some family fun, and practice your English:

Pronouncing Someone’s Name

If you don’t know how to pronounce someone’s name, or you have difficulty repeating their name, here is some help.

One good place to listen to the common pronunciation of many names is YouGlish.

  • Type in the name (first name or last name)
  • Choose “US”  to see only videos using American English
  • Below the video, you can change the speed to “slower”, to listen more carefully
  • Listen to the name pronounced as part of several videos

For example:

Visit YouGlish.com

Try to pronounce these names by yourself, and then try them in YouGlish, above:
Elijah, Genevieve, Zachariah, Reynolds, Holmes

Finally, if you would just like to hear the pronunciation of a lot of common names, you can try these:

Framingham Bookmobile

Your library is a great place to improve your English.  They have…  

  • books to borrow and read – to yourself or your kids
  • audiobooks
  • music and movies
  • videos on learning English
  • and so many more free resources

In Framingham there are two libraries – the main library near downtown at 29 Lexington Street; and the new  McAuliffe Branch Library in North Framingham at 746 Water Street

Beginning on Tuesday, April 9th, there will also be a Bookmobile, that will bring a piece of the library to neighborhoods, schools, and other places all around the city.  On Tuesday morning at 8:30 in front of the Memorial Building (City Hall), there will be a little celebration for the bookmobile’s first day, with some snacks until 10:00.  Later that day, the fist places that the bookmobile will visit will be:

  • Woodrow Wilson School
  • Brookdale Senior Community
  • Carmel Terrace Senior Community
  • Framingham YMCA