How to recite poetry

1. Read the poem slowly. Most teenagers speak rapidly, and a nervous reader will tend to do the same in order to get the reading over with. Reading a poem slowly is the best way to ensure that the poem will be read clearly and understood by its listeners. Learning to read a poem slowly will not just make the poem easier to hear; it will underscore the importance in poetry of each and every word. A poem cannot be read too slowly, and a good way for a reader to set an easy pace is to pause for a few seconds between the title and the poem's first line. Proceed at an appropriate and natural pace. People sometimes speak too quickly when they are nervous, which can make a recitation difficult to understand. Speak slowly, but not so slowly that the language sounds unnatural or awkward.

2. Read in a normal, relaxed tone of voice. It is not necessary to give any of these poems a dramatic reading as if from a stage. Modern poems are mostly written in a natural, colloquial style and should be read that way. Let the words of the poem do the work. Just speak clearly and slowly.

3. Obviously, poems come in lines, but pausing at the end of every line will create a choppy effect and interrupt the flow of the poem's sense. Readers should pause only where there is punctuation, just as you would when reading prose, only more slowly. There's nothing worse when. Hearing someone recite. A poem. Than to hear them pause slightly for each line or stanza break in a poem. When reciting a poem, ignore line breaks and even most punctuation. Just try to recite each sentence or phrase as naturally as possible, as if you were speaking to someone one-on-one.

4. Use a dictionary to look up unfamiliar words and hard-to-pronounce words. To read with conviction, a reader needs to know at least the dictionary sense of every word. In some cases, a reader might want to write out a word phonetically as a reminder of how it should sound. It should be emphasized that learning to read a poem out loud is a way of coming to a full understanding of that poem, perhaps a better way than writing a paper on the subject. Articulate.

5. Project to the audience. But don't shout. You want to capture the attention of everyone, including the people in the back row.

6. With rhymed poems, be careful not to recite in a sing-song manner.

7. Be expressive! The only thing worse than a performer pausing awkwardly at the end of each line
is a performer who drones on in monotone. Use the context of your poem to determine its delivery.
If a poem is sack recite it like you just heard that a friend's loved one just died and you are offering
your condolences. Is the poem funny? Recite it as if it were the funniest joke you've ever heard.
Most of all, plan areas in the poem to emphasize. Plan pauses in your delivery (although don't
pause too long or people will think you're finished and start applauding - and starting up again
when your audience thinks you've finished is awkward and embarrassing).

The key word here is "plan." Good performances require proper planning.

8. Record yourself. After you've practiced in private on speaking slowly, clearly, and projecting
your voice so people can hear you, you should record yourself (either on audio or video tape) and
review your performance. Did you speak too quickly? Mumble? Knowing the weaknesses in your
performance will help you to focus on those areas and improve on them.

Tips [or tempo: 1. Experiment with speeding up or slowing down specific sections of the poem to match the tone in those passages. For example, you could speed up during exciting or frenzied parts, and slow down for solemn or reflective sections. Just be sure you that you practise speaking slowly first so you get comfortable with your reading.

2. If one line flows directly into the next (called "enjambment" by academics), you are free to experiment reading from one line to the next without leaving a pause. This can give a poetry performance a more dynamic and natural feel and can enliven the recital of even a very traditional or well known poem. Of course, if you are more comfortable with a conventional reading style, leaving a small pause at the end of each line is equally acceptable.

Note: With older poems, you will sometimes have to make adjustments to your reading to allow for differences in meaning, pronunciation or spelling that have developed over time. This is especially important for poems written with a rhyming structure, where words which rhymed when the poem was written may no longer do so in modern pronunciation. There are two options: the first is to simply pronounce the words in question in the modern fashion and allow the rhyme scheme to be broken slightly; the second, for braver performers, is to attempt to recite the entire work in the accent or dialect in which it was originally written. Be warned, however: for certain poets (Scottish poet Robert Burns springs to mind) this is no small task.

Mind certain features of English poetry:

1. Alliteration. The repetition of the same sounds or of the same kinds of sounds at the beginning of words or in stressed syllables, as in "on scrolls of silver snowy sentences" (Hart Crane). Modern alliteration is predominantly consonantal; certain literary traditions, such as Old English verse, also alliterate using vowel sounds. It can be the use of the same consonant (consonantal alliteration) or of a vowel, not necessarily the same vowel (vocalic alliteration), at the beginning of each word or each stressed syllable in a line of verse, as in around the rock the ragged rascal ran.

2. Eye rhyme. A rhyme consisting of words, such as lint and pint, with similar spellings but different sounds. Also called sight rhyme. Another example: stone and none. An example by Shakespeare:

If this be error and upon me proved. I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

(Sonnet 116)

3. Mind obsolete, bookish and dated words characteristic of old poetry: thine (yours), thee (you), hark (listen), tidings (news), etc.

4. Poetic contractions. A poetic contraction is a shortening of a word by omitting letters or sounds from the middle of the word and replacing the omission(s) with an apostrophe. It is often used in poetry and music lyrics: ne'er (never), heav'n (heaven), e'en (even), e'er (ever). A poetic contraction is called syncope (SIN-ka-pee).

49 Travel

Look at the table of some basic travel vocabulary. Highlight any of the words that you are not sure about and look them up in your dictionary.

transport type	different kinds of vehicle	parts of vehicle	people working with it	associated
road	sports car, estate car, bus, coach, tram, van, lorry	boot, engine, gears, steering-wheel, brakes, tyres	driver, mechanic, chauffeur, bus-conductor	petrol station, garage, service station
rail	passenger train, freight train, local train, express	sleeping-car, buffet, restaurant-car, compartment	engine-driver, ticket collector, guard, porter	waiting-room, ticket office, signal-box
sea	yacht, rowing-boar, fishing-boat, liner, ferry, trawler	engine-room, deck, bridge, gangplank, companionway	captain, skipper, purser, docker, steward(ess)	port, buoy, quay customs shed, light-house, doces
air	aeroplane, jet, helicopter, supersonic aircraft	cockpit, nose, tail, wings, fuselage, joystick	pilot, ground staff, steward, air traffic controller	duty-free shop departure lounge hangar, runway

Words at sea

Traditionally sailors use different words at sea - a bedroom is a cabin, a bed is a bunk, the kitchen on a ship is a galley, right is starboard and left is port and the group of people who work on the ship is called the crew. These terms are also now used in the context of an aircraft. Sailors also refer to their vessels as 'she' rather than 'it'.

Some international road signs

Some words connected with travel

Last week he flew to New York. It was an early-morning flight. The plane was to take off at 6 a.m. and land at 7 a.m. local time. He was stranded at the airport overnight. The plane was delayed by fog. Air passengers often suffer such delays.

Trains always run on time here. You have to change trains at Crewe.

We are sailing on the QE2. It sets sail at noon. It will dock in New York at 6 p.m. and we shall disembark as soon as we can.

The ship was wrecked. The passengers were marooned on a desert island.

Our car does 10 km to the litre. It goes quite fast. We can usually overtake other cars, j 1

The car swerved into the middle of the road to avoid the cyclist.

He backed the car into the drive and parked in front of the house.

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