Rock Your English! newsletter

You do, my darling! Thank you so much for letting me slip into your inbox today. I really like it here. It’s kind of crowded, though, but at least I have some great neighbors, like “Viagra special” and “Russian bride”. Hey, you know how they came up with the word ‘spam’, don’t you? Way back in 1937 – we all remember that moment, right?

MY FATHER IS CRAZY AND WE MADE THIS JUST FOR YOU

My father has been a stranger to shame for nearly 74 amazing years. Just watch and see. See how traumatized I get just to save your ass?

WHAT’S UP IN BUFFILAND

It’s full of music these days! I’m nearly done with the new Epica (www.epica.nl)  album – and wow, it’s going to be amazing! I’m also looking forward to the new Within Temptation album and their world tour – starting February 20th! -Be sure to check them out live if they come to your country! Chances are they will – they’re just about everywhere! ☺ And my Songwriting colleague at the Rockacademie, Ton Engels, has a great side project called Mr Inglish. Check out a review here. He actually wrote a song based on my Facebook updates. What a surprise it was to hear that song! It’s called ‘The BDFB Song’. ☺

BRITISH VS AMERICAN SLANG

How are you at recognizing British or American slang? I’d be chuffed to bits if your ba-donk-a-donk self knew the difference! Try this at home.

YOUR QUESTIONS – ANSWERED!

“Hey, Buffi, I know there’s a difference between the blown and the buzzed TH sound, but how do I know which one to use for a new word?” – from K, during a session.

Great question! I get asked this a lot. First of all, if you want to improve your TH sound watch my short video on it here.

And if you have a new English word and don’t know which TH sound to use, type the word intowww.dictionary.com. Then click on ‘Show IPA’. (IPA is the International Phonetic Alphabet. It shows how you pronounce something using symbols. Every sound has its own symbol. Cool, right?) If you then see something that looks like an egg with a line through it – θ, that’s a blown TH. If you see something that looks like a ring – ð (which I always referred to as a ‘tomato wearing a little hat’ but then my client Thierry said ‘Nah, that just looks like a ring’ and then I realized I was waaaay too creative for my own good…..), then you know it’s a buzzed TH. Hope that helps!

LOVE YOU LONG TIME…

…but we’ve run out of that now. Time, my dear, not love. I can never run out of love! So I’m sending you this amazing package that will be delivered to you when you least expect it. It’s a box that appears to be empty but when you put your head in it and inhale you are taken to your favorite scent in the world. And then you click your heels 3 times and that magical thing that created your favorite scent comes right to you and embraces you in all its wonder….in my head.

See you next week!

Wit lof from Buffi x

More News & Blogs

Shocking news – English people usually don’t speak Dutch. We read text through English eyes. This is often where it goes dramatically wrong – when...
‘Never again.’ This is what she mailed me after her presentation. ‘I can’t speak English. I’m not good at it. And there’s no way I...
Ever feel nervous before giving a presentation? Or get the jitters just before you walk into a job interview? Or…before you go on a rollercoaster?...