Tricky words
• Ruler / Rural / Lure
• Kitchen, Chicken
• Except, Expect
• Procedure, Producer
• Insure, Ensure, Unsure, Assure
• Lemon, Melon
• Principle, Principal
• Angle ("ang-guhl") / Angel ("aen-jehl")
• rE-kOrd (verb) / reh-kehrd (noun)

Hard to pronounce
• Wolf ("wulf") / Wolves ("wulvz")
• Girl, world, Lord, Ruler, Clearly
• Position ("puh-zih-shuhn")
• Vision ("vih-zhuhn")
• Peculiar ("peh-cyu-lE-ehr")
• Squirrel ("skwihrihl")
• Lollipop
• English ("ihng-glihsh")
• hats ("hats") / cars ("cahrz") - plural 's' often sounds like 'z' when the previous letter has voice.

Strange pronunciations
• Would ("wud" - silent "L")
• Subtle ("suhttuhl" - silent "b")
• Raspberry ("razbehrE" - silent "p")
• Connecticut ("konnehtihkuht" - silent "c")
• -Ough words:
  • Though: ThO
  • Tough: Tuhff
  • Thought: Thawt
  • Cough: Kawff
  • Hiccough: Hik kuhp
  • Laugh: Laff
• Doubt ("dowt" - silent "b")

Sounds to practice

(Korean characters in paranthesis; use Internet Explorer to view)

Idioms (mostly from "The Big Picture, Idioms as Metaphors" by Kevin King, 1999, ISBN: 0-395-91712-3)
1. The odds are pretty good that he will win. -- [The chances are good]
2. He's got a shot at the Olympics. -- [he's a got a chance to go to the Olympics]
3. We could try it, but it's a long shot. -- [it has only a small chance of succeeding]
4. They hit it off so well together. -- [{usually between boy and girl} they found that they really liked each other]
5. I'll call him tonight to touch base. -- [I'll contact him before taking the next step]
6. It's not a big deal. -- [it's not that important]
7. He aced the test. -- [he got an "A" grade or even a perfect score on the test]
8. The contract went through. -- [the workers got a contract to do work]
9. We ran into problems with the computer program. -- [we had trouble with the computer program]
10. Because of the decision, he's in a tight spot / between a rock and a hard place. -- [he had a very tough decision to make]
11. We started this project from scratch. -- [to start from basic pieces]
12. Jobs are hard to find in the wake of the economic downturn. -- [finding jobs are tough because of the problems in the economy]
13. It was tough to go through all the classes. -- [the classes were hard to endure]
14. He was going to start his own company, but he got cold feet. -- [he got so worried that he decided not to do it]
15. My grandfather passed away in 1969. -- [my grandfather died in 1969]
16. It's all downhill from here. -- [ it's easy to go down now that we've reached the top]
17. It will go downhill from here. [currently, we're at our very best physically, but we'll only get older]
18. The invention of the transistor paved the way for the computer. -- [it made development easier]
19. We finally got that project off the ground. -- [we finally got it started / going ]
20. He's a chicken when it comes to heights. -- [he's afraid of heights]
21. He's a couch potato. -- [he sits on the couch a lot to watch TV]
22. There's a lot at stake / riding on it. -- [there's a lot at risk]
23. He's the big cheese. -- [he's the boss or the main person in charge]
24. The boss knows how to pull strings. -- [he knows the right people / methods to get something done]
25. The situation got a little out of hand. -- [ the situation got out of control ]
26. We got a little carried away with the graphics. -- [we spent a lot of time making the graphics look better than they needed to look]
27. Try to pin him down on an answer. -- [ try to get an answer from him ]
28. That issue is still up in the air. -- [ the topic is still being discussed with no conclusion]
29. The bottom line is that it will cost $500. -- [the final result is that you will have to pay $500]
30. Our advisor will foot the bill for travelling. -- [the advisor will pay for the travel]
31. The company is in the red -- [ they are losing money and in debt]
32. The player blew up at the referee for the bad call. -- [the player got very mad at the referee]
33. He has a very short fuse. -- [he gets angry very easily ]
34. Their pastries are to die for. -- [ the pastries are very very good ]
35. The special effects in the movie blew me away -- [ they really impressed me ]
36. I was floored when he told me. -- [ I was amazed or shocked ... ]
37. The article struck me as funny. -- [It seemed funny to me]
38. Her generosity really bowled me over. -- [her generosity was very surprising ]
39. His solution was on the right track. -- [his solution was on the correct line of reasoning]
40. He jumps to conclusions. -- [To arrive at a final statement without considering other possibilities, or arriving at the conclusion too quickly]
41. It's possible, as far as I know. -- [with all the knowledge I have, I think it's possible]
42. My idea was along the same lines. -- [we had similar ideas]
43. That class covered a lot of ground. -- [The class talked about a lot of topics]
44. He helped shed some light on the problem. -- [he helped understand the problem]
45. We knew it would work beyond a shadow of a doubt. -- [they were very confident in it with no doubt].
46. It suddenly dawned on me that I forgot to turn off the coffee maker. -- [it suddenly occured to him...]
47. I don't buy that idea. -- [I don't believe it's a true or doable idea]
48. He forgot to take gravity into account -- [he forgot to consider the effect of gravity]
49. The question was tough, but he hit the nail on the head. -- [his response was very accurate]
50. That's a sharp / nifty / cool gadget you have there. -- [It's a very neat or useful device]
51. He's a sharp student -- [he's very smart]
52. That topic is so complicated. We barely scratched the surface. -- [we didn't cover very much]
53. That technology is on the cutting edge. -- [it's the newest, most advanced technology]
54. What's a ballpark figure for the cost? -- [what's a rough estimate of the cost]
55. That job was put on the back burner. -- [It's something they'll do later]
56. It's food for thought. -- [It's something to think about]
57. Let's not open that can of worms. -- [let's not bring up that (tricky, uncomfortable) topic]
58. A $99 flight to California? It sounds fishy. -- [it's so cheap that there must be something wrong- probably because you have to stop 10 times before reaching california!]
59. That homework drove us nuts. -- [it was so hard, we thought we would go crazy]
60. It was a surprise, but he spilled to beans. -- [to spoil a surprise by telling the person]
61. They put a different spin on the topic. -- [to say it a different way, or to approach a topic from another angle]
62. To bounce some ideas around. -- [to get other people's opinions or ideas]
63. That was the impression that I got. -- [It was the picture in your mind or idea that you got ]
64. It's a very laidback place. -- [ It's not stressful work]
65. It was a lame movie. -- [ it was a boring, unimpressive movie ]
66. He's a shady character. -- [ he does things in secret ("in the shade") so that he doesn't get caught ]
67. She had a hard time with her class. -- [ The class was very difficult for her ]
    • "Thanks for your help."
    • "Oh, it's peanuts!" -- [ peanuts are cheap, so this means that it was easy to offer help ]

Slang Words
• Dough, bucks, cash, green, bananas, quid, ..... -- [different words for money. almost any word can mean money used in the right context!]
• What's up? / How's it going? / What's new? -- [a greeting similar to "How are you?" ]
• Shut up!! -- [ {usually in anger}: literally to move your bottom jaw up until your mouth is closed, meaning "stop talking"]
• Zip it! -- [ same as "shut up" but with the idea of zipping your mouth closed ]
• He got really pissed off. -- [ {strong language}: he got very mad ]
• Oh man! Oh my gosh! No way! "Nuht uhhh"! -- [ all express surprise at something ]
• Howdy, y'all -- [ {Southern US accent} -- hello everyone]