VIP Class Notes (Raph)[S]

Vocabulary

Comedian (n): 1- a person whose job is to make people laugh by telling jokes and funny stories or by copying the behavior or speech of famous people:
E.g.: He is a stand-up comedian, but he isn’t very funny.

Illiterate (adj): 1- unable to read and write ( Literate)(n: Illiteracy ≠ Literacy)
E.g.: A surprising percentage of the population is illiterate.
E.g.: The government is trying to combat high rates of illiteracy.
E.g.: The great majority of adults in the country are literate.
E.g.: The country has a literacy rate of almost 98%.

Speaking exercise

Original:

I’d like to talk about a story about a man who had been a teacher for 17 years, but he couldn’t read and write. He find out that he had some reading problems when he was 8. He talked to his parents and his teachers, but every time the teacher always told him he’s a smart boy and he would make it, so he finished his primary school without any idea about reading and writing. Then he went to high school and university. He passed all the exams by the way of cheating on the exam and all his homeworks were finished by his friends or his classmates. No one realize that he did all this because he couldn’t read or write. After he graduated from the university, he got an opportunity to teach in a high school, I think. He thought it might be the best way to keep his secret, because no one would think that a teacher can’t read or write. Once he tried to tell his wife that he couldn’t either write or read, but his wife didn’t believe him, she just thought it was a joke.

Edited:

recently read a story about a man who was a teacher for 17 years, but couldn’t read or write. He found out that he had some reading problems / a learning disability when he was 8. He talked to his parents and his teachers, but they always told him he was a smart boy and he would make it. He finished primary school without any idea about reading or writing and then went to high school and university. He passed all the exams by the way of cheating and his homework was always done by his friends or classmates. No one ever realized that he was doing all this because he couldn’t read or write. After he graduated from university, he got an opportunity to teach at a high school and thought that might be the best way to keep his secret, because no one would think that a teacher would be illiterate. Once he tried to tell his wife the truth, but she didn’t believe him and  just thought it was a joke.

Pronunciation

Precedent: /ˈpres.ə.dent/

Obviously: /ˈɑːb.vi.əs.li/

Illiterate: /ɪˈlɪt̬.ɚ.ət/

Illiteracy: /ɪˈlɪtərəsi/