The reunion was brought about by a Southern California vet who mistook Nigel, an African grey parrot, for her own missing bird.

Teresa Micco tracked Nigel’s microchip to Darren Chick, a Briton who lives in Torrance.

“I introduced myself and said, ‘Have you lost a bird?'” Micco told the newspaper. “He initially said, ‘No.’ But he thought I meant recently.”

When she verified Chick’s name and said she had his African grey parrot, “He looked at me like I was crazy.”

He said his bird went missing four years earlier.

Little is known about Nigel’s whereabouts the past four years, but Chick says the bird’s British accent is gone, and it now chatters in Spanish.

Chick says last week’s reunion brought tears of joy to his eyes – despite the fact that Nigel bit him when he first tried to pick him up.

Micco said the behavior was not unusual and that Nigel would settle back in soon enough.

“He’s doing perfect,” Chick told the newspaper by the week’s end. “It’s really weird. I knew it was him from the minute I saw him.”

It’s the fifth parrot reunion facilitated by Micco, who has been running ads for her own missing bird for nine months. That parrot, Benjamin, flew the coop in February when it darted out a door that was left open.

Julissa Sperling found Nigel outside her home and brought him to Micco after seeing one of her ads.

But first, she took Nigel to her dog-grooming business.

“He was the happiest bird. He was singing and talking without control,” Sperling said. “He was barking like the dogs. I’m from Panama and he was saying, ‘What happened?’ in Spanish.”

Back in April, a crime-fighting parrot has saved his owner after she was pushed to the ground in a park. The female victim had been taking Wunsy the African grey for a walk and fly in Sunny Hill Park, north London, on Friday when she was grabbed by the shoulders and shoved.

The parrot, who is taken to the park daily in a harness and lead, flapped his wings and squawked, causing the attacker to flee.

source: The Telegraph

Have you been thinking of buying a parrot? Read these warnings first.

For those of you that enjoy this video and hope to get a parrot, I caution you that besides the cute talking, Clover spends 6+ hours a day clicking, honking, whistling, car alarms, shrieking, clucking, and begging for junk food, more nuts, more fruit, more showers, etc. Parrots are messy, poopy, destructive, bitey and throw sticky food everywhere. Because of Clover, I spent over an hour a day vacuuming and doing other cleaning. Parrots like African Greys create up to a tablespoon of “dust” in their feathers every day. Despite my perpetual cleaning, dust from Clover’s feathers got into my 1-year-old laptop and destroyed it. Parrots need almost non-stop interaction and care during the day. Parrots the size of Clover also need about $500-1000 in toys and “gear” every year just to keep them occupied for a few minutes of the day. Don’t get one if you do not have almost limitless money. Besides the purchase price (medium-large parrots are typically over $1000 in the U.S.) and a large cage ($500-$2000), parrots are extremely expensive to maintain. They need an endless supply of new toys…organic food…fresh food supplements… large cage… play stands… $300 typical annual vet appointment (if there is nothing wrong), etc. If your dream is to have a 3 year old, biting, screaming, destructive child in the room with you for the next 35 years, by all means get a parrot. But please adopt it from rescue. Some estimates show that 1 MILLION parrots are currently in rescues in the USA awaiting homes. These were all birds that people got as babies thinking they would raise it “their way” and it would be great. Note that it was not, and they ended up giving it away. Adult rescue parrots are often easier to train than babies and more grateful to adopters too.

P.S. I got Clover while living in Istanbul and had her from 2008-2012. I filled out tons of applications to bring her back to the U.S. when I returned home, but one permit was denied. In the end, she stayed behind in Istanbul with a wonderful young couple who also have another female African Grey. She has continued her life of free-flying indoors, and being out of her cage most of the day with owners who work at home.

Lisa Alamia has never visited the UK in her life – and doesn’t even watch British TV shows.

The 33-year-old woman was born and bred in Texas but now she sounds like she’s from England, despite never having travelled there.

“I have never been to England. I have never been to any European country.” – she said.

The mom of three underwent jaw surgery to fix an overbite, and when she woke up, she sounded as if she was from across the pond as a result of an unusual side effect.

She was diagnosed with a bizarre medical condition known as “Foreign Accent Syndrome.”

She has only left the US once her life, she visited Mexico on a missionary tour but has never been to the UK.

The Rosenburg, Texas resident woke up after surgery only to discover that she was now speaking in what seemed to be a British accent.

Speaking to ITV’s This Morning , Lisa – who revealed she still ‘thinks’ in her old accent – admitted it has been difficult, especially because some people still think she is faking her condition.

Explaining reaction to Foreign Accent Syndrome – which has only had around 100 diagnoses in the past 100 years – Lisa said: “For people who do say it’s fake, I’d just tell them to be open minded and accept something that’s so rare it might not be understandable but it’s still there.”

She added that it was difficult to “go public” after speaking to her doctor, and revealed she was “scared” over talking to her friends and family.

“A lot of people think I’m faking it, which is why I didn’t want to go public,” she admitted. “It’s not the accent I wasn’t ok with, I just felt I wasn’t myself.”

Lisa’s daughter Kayla spoke about her mum’s new accent – which also had a hint of Australian as she spoke to Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield – and gave her honest opinion.

“At first I thought she was joking with me, I didn’t think it was serious,” she said. “Now I’m used to her accent and I kind of like it now.”

Can you fill in the gaps in the sentences with one of the given words?

understandable, rare, admitted, side effects, despite, intrigued

1. This medicine has no known ……… .

2. It’s ……… that you are afraid of spiders after having spent a summer in the jungle.

3. …….. studying very hard, he still didn’t pass the exam.

4. The table was decorated with beautiful …… plants and flowers.

5. …….. by his words, she obeyed but had her doubts anyway.

6. I was wrong and I …… it at last.

Key

1. side effects

2. understandable

3. Despite

4. rare

5. Intrigued

6. admitted

– Well, a spot of bother up at Ellroy Farm. Old Arthur Webley’s been clipping hedgerows that don’t belong to him.
– Yes, sir?
– That’s it.
– Yes, sir.
– Why do we need the dog?
– It’s not the dog we need.
– Right.
– What did he say?
– He said, “An ‘edge is an ‘edge.”He only chopped it down’cause it spoilt his view. “What’s Reaper moaning about?”
– Right. Look, I appreciate your position, Mr. Webley, but you can’t go around chopping down
other people’s hedges without permission.
– “Yes, I suppose.”
– Thank you.
– All right.
– Mr. Webley, I trust you have a license for that firearm?
– He does for this one.
– What do you mean by “this one”?
– By the power of Grey Skull.
– Where on earth did you get these?
–  Found them.
–  He found them!
–  And what is this?
– Sea mine.
– Sea mine.
– Well, Mr. Webley, this is an extremely dangerous collection. It’s a wonder nobody’s been hurt before.
– No, it’s just a lot of junk.
– Move, move, move!

Watch the scene once again and fill in the gaps, please.

– Well, a spot of bother up at Ellroy Farm. Old Arthur Webley’s been clipping hedgerows that don’t  1. ___________.
– Yes, sir?
– That’s it.
– Yes, sir.
– Why do we need the dog?
– It’s 2. ___________ we need.
– Right.
– What did he say?
– He said, “An ‘edge is an ‘edge.”He only chopped it down’cause it spoilt 3. _________. “What’s Reaper moaning about?”
– Right. Look, I appreciate 4. __________, Mr. Webley, but you can’t go around chopping down other people’s hedges 5. ___________.
– “Yes, I suppose.”
– Thank you.
– All right.
– Mr. Webley, I 6. _________ you have a license for that firearm?
– He does for this one.
– What do you mean by “this one”?
– 7. ___________ Grey Skull.
– 8. ____________ did you get these?
– Found them.
– He found them!
– And what is this?
– Sea mine.
– Sea mine.
– Well, Mr. Webley, this is an extremely dangerous collection. It’s a wonder nobody’s been hurt before.
– No, it’s just a lot of junk.
– Move, move, move!

Key:

1.    belong to him

2.    not the dog

3.    his view

4.    your position

5.    without permission

6.    trust

7.    By the power of

8.    Where on earth

So zed is British and zee is American, yes? Well, that might be the case today, but once upon a time things were quite different. Historically, both zed and zee were used pretty much interchangeably in both British and American English, alongside a whole host of other more outlandish names for the last letter of the alphabet, like izzard, uzzard, zad, shard and, our personal favourite, ezod.

Of the two we’re talking about here, however, zed is by far the oldest, and takes its name via French and Latin from that of its Greek equivalent, zeta. Zed first appeared in print in the early 1400s, in a Middle English document that fairly straightforwardly described it as “þe laste lettre of þe a b c”. Zee, on the other hand, first appeared in print in a British language textbook— Thomas Lye’s New Spelling-book—in 1677. The name zee itself is thought to have originated as nothing more than a dialect variation of zed, probably influenced by the regular bee, cee, dee, ee pattern of much of the rest of the alphabet. But precisely how or why it became the predominant form in American English is unclear.

One widely-held theory is that because zed, as the older of the two, was the most widespread variation amongst British English speakers, during the Revolutionary War American English speakers looking to distance themselves from anything even vaguely British simply adopted the zee version as their own to make a stand – no matter how small it might seem – against British control. Alternatively, there mightn’t have been any political reasoning behind it at all, and the name might simply have come to the forefront as American English was forced to adapt and simplify as more and more colonists – coming from ever more distant countries, and speaking an ever more varied array of languages – began arriving in the New World.

Whatever the motivation might have been, by the mid-nineteenth century zee had become the standard form of the letter Z in the United States, and has remained so ever since.

source: Mentalfloss

Find words in the text which has a similar or the same meaning.

1. strange

2. known by many people

3. clearly

4. to make something less complicated

5. a lot of

6. not clearly

7. to come from

8. to change because of the new conditions

9. the most common

10. to change someone’s thinking or behaviour

Key:

1. outlandish

2. widespread

3. straightforwardly

4. simplify

5. a host of

6. vaguely

7. to originate

8. to adapt

9. predominant

10. influence

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, the results of The Time Out Global Dating Survey have been released, and it turns out that Brits are deemed to have the most attractive accents in the world.

English-speakers overall did quite well, with Americans coming in 2nd and the Irish taking 3rd.

The inhabitants of Australia captured 4th place, but the real shocker is which country came in 5th.

Believe it or not, France with its long-standing history of romantic people and places only received enough votes to land it in the relatively so-so position.

Of the more than 11 thousand people who participated, only about 7-and-a-half percent said that French, which has long been known as the ‘language of love’, made their knees weakest.

The British, on the other hand, pulled in a whopping 27 percent of the hottest-accent vote.

Attraction is not, of course, all about how a person speaks, and a number of other dating preferences were revealed in the survey.

Both genders in a number of cities said that the most appealing professions for a potential mate to be in are those related to finance and banking.

Common deal breakers include not resembling one’s profile picture and having questionable political views.

source: GeoBeats News 

Fill in the gaps with words from the text.

It has … (1) out that British people have the most … (2) accent in the world. Americans came second and the … (3) of Ireland third. France, which is famous for being romantic, pulled in … (4) enough for the fifth place only. 11 thousand people … (5) in the survey. People were also asked about which profession they found the most … (6) for a potential … (7) and the winner was … (8). It was also found attractive if you didn’t … (9) your profile picture and had … (10) political views. 

——————————————————–

Key:

1. turned out

2. attractive

3. inhabitants

4. votes

5. participated

6. appealing

7. mate/partner

8. finance and banking

9. resemble

10. questionable

The ‘Brummie’ accent is considered to be the ugliest accent in the British Isles, according to a new poll from YouGov. The UK and Ireland has a massive range of accents for such small islands – we have the same amount of dialects as the whole of North America- including Canada, Bermuda and Native American dialects.

The Brummie accent is the least attractive, followed by the Scouse (Liverpool) accent, then the Mancunian (Manchester). The top three most attractive accents are the Southern Irish, then Received Pronounciation (RP), then Welsh. Yorkshire comes in at fourth. RP is known as ‘BBC English’ and is the standard accent of the Southern areas of Britain.

Older people like West Country accents

Different age groups find different accents attractive. 63% of the over 60s find it attractive, compared to 22% of the 18-24 year olds. The youth just don’t like that West Country (South West England) voice.

Young people like Northern Irish accents

If you’re Northern Irish and into 18-24 year olds, you’re in luck. They’re the age group most likely to find your accent attractive (54%) compared to only 37% of over-60s.

We like our own accents

People in London don’t find the cockney accent too offensive, scoring it an attractiveness rating of -16, whereas the rest of the UK dislike it by -30. Scottish people also quite like Glaswegian accents, scoring it at net 7, but the British don’t like it, rating it -29.

www.mirror.co.uk

Where from?

answers: 1-d 2-e 3-a 4-b 5-c

—————————————-

Amanda: Hello Monica. It’s Amanda calling again. I am in the neighborhood hoping I can pop by your flat!
Monica: You’re from Yonkers! Your last name is Buffamonteezi!
Amanda: Let’s see.. so should you get this directly, ring me back on my mobile.
Phoebe: Ok, don’t hold thy breath!

Chandler: Hello? Is someone on the line?
Amanda: Yes, I was looking for Monica.
Chandler: Hang on, she’s right here. Someone’s on the phone, for ya.
Monica: We weren’t picking up, it’s Amanda!
Monica: Hi Amanda! Actually now… it’s… is not a good time. Dinner tomorrow night? Phoebe and I will see you then!
Phoebe: Why, why, why didn’t you just say no!
Monica: Well, I said ’no’ to her coming over now! I couldn’t say ’no’ twice! I get this uncontrollable need to please people!

—————————————-

Phoebe: Hi!
Monica: Hi!
Amanda: Hi!
Amanda: Hello!

Amanda: It’s so nice to see you! Both of you! Look at me. Look how young I look! Oh gosh! We have so much to catch up on! But first things first: touch my abs, I don’t exercise at all! Oh gosh, so Monica, you’re married!
Monica: Yeah! Yeah! His name is Chandler and…
Amanda: Smell my neck! It’s not perfume! It’s me! It’s my natural scent!
Phoebe: Musty!

Monica: Hello? Chandler, what’s wrong? Oh my God, are you alright? Yeah, I’ll be right there. I’m so sorry, but Chandler was in a car accident.
Phoebe: Oh my God. Was Mike with him?
Monica: Nope!

—————————————- 

Monica: We are not friends with Phoebe anymore.
Chandler: If she asks, I protested a little, but ok! 

Phoebe: Oh Chandler! Thank God you’re alive. Monica, can I talk to you outside for a minute?
Monica: I have nothing to say to you.
Amanda: Wow, my flat is twice this size!
Phoebe: Please, Monica? In the hall?

Amanda: Ooh, that accident must have been terrible. You look positively ghastly.
Chandler: Well, aren’t you a treat.

Monica: Well, I guess we should go back in. When you gave me another chance, I guess we should do the same for Amanda.
Phoebe: Yeah, I guess you’re right.

Amanda: Can you believe it. I’ve never had any professional dance training.

to believe – elhinni
fake – hamis, ál, mű
British accent – brit kiejtés
machine (answering machine) – üzenetrögzítő
to cut someone out – megszabadulni valakitől
to ignore – mellőzni, figyelmen kívül hagyni
to dodge – kitérni valami elől, elkerülni, kicselezni
to get the point – megért valamit, rájön
harsh – kíméletlen, durva, nyers
to pop by – beugrani valakihez
don’t hold thy breath – arra várhatsz!
to hold one’s breath – lélegzetvisszafojtva várni
hang on – várj csak
it’s not a good time – épp rosszkor
to come over – átjönni
to please someone – valakinek a kedvére tenni
to catch up – behozni lemaradást
abs (abdominal muscles) – hasizom
musty – dohos
nope – dehogy
to protest – tiltakozni
ghastly – rettenetes
aren’t you a treat (sarcastic) – de jó fej vagy (pont ellentétes értelemben használva)
to guess – gondolni, hinni vmit
to give someone another chance – még egy esélyt adni valakinek

learn to speak with a british accent

How To Do A British Accent

The beloved British accent is within reach of the non-British at last! Use your sultry new voice to get all the girlfriends you ever wanted, or to ensnare that hot British guy next door.

Hello, I’m Gareth Jameson! I’m an actor and a voice coach from www.londonvoicelessons.com.

Here are some tips for working on your voice. Now, you might want to do a British accent because you’re in a play, or maybe you want to impress your friends or maybe you want to fit in better in the UK. Whatever the reason, playing with accents is a great way to work out your voice and speech.

Now, the key to every accent is to isolate the sounds that are specific to that accent. So we’re going to start with the British "r" sound. Now, when I’m saying "British", I actually mean the sounds used in the very south part of England, the received pronunciation accent you might hear on the BBC.

So let’s look at this sentence: "Are there more birds?" Are there more birds? Despite there being an "r" – letter r – in all of those words, you don’t hear the "r" sound. Are there more birds? Now change it to "Are there any birds?" Suddenly, you hear the "r" at the word, at the end of the word, "there". Are there any birds? That’s because we’ve put an "any", which has a vowel sound at the beginning. Are there any birds?

Now listen to these: daughter, brother, shopper. Don’t make the mistake of having a big, huge vowel sound at the end of those words: daughter, brother, shopper. A lot of people trying a British accent do that. You need a tiny sound. "Daughter, brother, shopper".

Now, another feature of this British accent is that we have different vowel sounds for "hot" and "dog" than we do in "talk" and "law". That’s "hot dog" and "talk, law". Try this sentence out: "Do you talk froth or are hot dogs against the law?"

My final tip for this British accent is for you to make sure you keep your vowel sounds very small when they’re short vowels. So that’s "pit", "put", "pet", "putt", "pot" – keep it really tight. We want them "pit", "put", "pet", "putt", "pot". 

That’s only a few features from the British accent – of course, there are many more and waht I’m saying doesn’t apply to every speaker of a British accent. 

If you want to find out more about accents and how you can look after your voice and speech, go to "www.londonvoicelessons.com".