Summer is a popular time to get married or plan a marriage proposal. The weather is usually easier to predict and there's plenty of sunshine.

People usually propose marriage with an engagement ring. This confirms their engagement, they then have a wedding to marry each other and become a legal couple. In some cultures, it's not always necessary to propose with a ring first. Sometimes a couple just decides together to get married.

During the time a couple is engaged together, the man is known as a fiancé (masculine) and a woman is a fiancée (feminine). A lot of people get confused between these two words.

A fiancé is a man who is engaged to be married. A fiancée is a woman who is engaged to be married. These are words borrowed from the French language (we call these 'loan words'). Although both words are spelled differently, they are both pronounced in English as either fi-ahn-say or fee-ahn-say. I have heard both of these before.

I'm having some technical difficulties posting the pronunciation for these words so you can listen, but will have it up as soon as possible.
My husband proposed to me in 2011(As you've probably guessed, I said yes!). We were engaged and I became his fiancée and he became my fiancé for about one year. We planned our wedding and were married in November 2012 to become husband and wife! It's still hard to believe that we've been married for almost three years now. It feels just like yesterday!

How long were you a fiancée or fiancé for? Do you have such words in your culture?

As we all know, there are seven days in a week. Saturdays and Sundays are usually rest days so we call them "weekends" (the end of the week because we usually work Monday to Friday).

The days between Monday to Friday are known as "weekdays", these are the days we usually go to work. It's also important to know that "weekday" and "days of the week" are not the same thing. In "days of the week" we refer to all seven days of the week (Monday-Sunday.)

In some cases we have a holiday either on a Monday or Friday. This means the weekend is extended for extra days of rest. We call this a "long weekend." I wish we could have a long weekend every week!

It's also important to know the common abbreviations of these days.

Monday= Mon.
Tuesday= Tues.
Wednesday= Wed.
Thursday= Thurs.
Friday= Fri.
Saturday= Sat.
Sunday=Sun.

If you're interested in hearing how the days of the week are pronounced, you may want to take a listen to Rachel's English. She does a great job of showing how each day should be pronounced in American English. Watch and listen.

What's your favorite day of the week?

The term "selfie" or "selfies" is a fairly new internet slang known as a picture taken by yourself with a camera phone or a digital camera. It's usually uploaded to a social media site, such as Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.

Selfie (plural: selfies) is a noun. These days you'll probably hear a lot of people say, "Let's take a selfie!" 

Why do people take selfies? To show off? Get attention? Because it's fun and camera phones are so easy to use? We all have our reasons but it's definitely a phenomenon, so it's an important word to know! 

Here is a funny read on eight types of selfies you should never take!! 

If you're going shopping, don't confuse people by pronouncing it as chopping. Your husband or wife might come home expecting the dinner to be ready and not a pile of shopping bags! 

Let's begin with the differences in meaning first.
Chop is to cut something into smaller pieces. Chopping is the act of a person who chops.

Shop is most commonly known as either a noun (a store) or a verb (go to a store to buy things).Shopping is the act of a person who shops.

Can you hear the difference between the two sounds?

SH and CH sounds are so easily confused because in both sounds, the shape of the mouth is the same. Here are some differences between the two sounds that might help you distinguish between the two. 

SH(ʃ):

• Think of saying, "Shhh! Please be quiet!!"
• We don't use the vocal chords (touch your throat, there should be no vibration. 
• Soft sound
• Mouth is more closed
• Long sound

CH (tʃ)

• Think of when you sneeze, "Achooo!!" or the sound of a train, "Choo Choo!"
• We use the vocal chords touch your throat, you should be able to feel some vibration)
• Hard sound
• Mouth is open a little
• Short sound

When I was young and living in another country, watching cartoons was very integral in helping me develop new language skills- new vocabularies, mastering pronunciation, and understanding sentence structures. The best part was, I never felt like I was learning, I was just watching My Little Pony!

The good news is, no matter how old you are, cartoons can be very beneficial to you! Don't judge it as being too childish or boring. It's actually a very good way to learn, especially if you can't live in the language environment.

It can help develop listening skills, new vocabularies, and help you become familiar with common everyday words. If there are subtitles, you can practice reading it to improve pronunciation and reading skills. Furthermore, because of the simple context of cartoons, it's much easier to learn tenses that way. Even a cartoon with no dialog like Tom and Jerry can be used to help you practice writing. The possibilities are endless!

Try and watch an episode for yourself!

If you want to watch cartoons with transcript to follow, take a look at this website.