This worksheet is to be used for educational purposes only Activity © Tune into English 2007 – www.tuneintoenglish.com Worksheet written by Caterina Ziliani, Milan

Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off – Notes Activity type: Pronunciation and phonetic transcriptions..

Time: 20 minutes.

1) Ask the students to match the words below to the correct phonetic symbols (Note: these

are in the correct order here, you can mix them up for students).

/ai/ and /i:/ fly/flea /a/ and /ei/ far/away /ɑ:/ and /æ/ car/cat /e/ and /i/ beg/big /ə/ and /Ɔi/ teacher/toy

Note: There is a copy of the phonetic chart on the Downloadable Worksheets page of the Teachers’ Area of www.tuneintoenglish.com.

2) Give students a copy of the Activity page. Work though the exercises together. 3) After Exercise 2 play the song. 4) After Exercise 3 give students a copy of the lyrics worksheet. 5) Correct Exercise 5 and continue working though the exercises.

Key: 6. a. b. to decide to stop an activity 7. a. false b. true c. true 8. The activity on this worksheet looks at words pronounced differently in

regional variations, but this is a good opportunity to study some heteronyms (words pronounced differently in standard English, with different meanings), such as read (v)/read (past) and record (v)/record (n) – you can find a comprehensive list by clicking on the link on the video page for this song on www.tuneintoenglish.com.

6) Sing together.

This worksheet is to be used for educational purposes only Activity © Tune into English 2007 – www.tuneintoenglish.com Worksheet written by Caterina Ziliani, Milan

Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off Activities

1. How would you pronounce the following words?

after either laughter neither

oysters potato pyjamas

sarsaparilla tomato vanilla

2. What do you think are the correct phonetic transcriptions of the following words?

ɑ:ftə r po ’ tatoυ

AFTER æftə r

POTATO pə ’ te i təυ

‘ i:ðə r pi ’dƷɑ :məz EITHER ‘aiðə r

PYJAMAS pə ’dƷæməz

læftə r sæspər ’ i la LAUGHTER

lɑ:ftə r SARSAPARILLA

sæspər ’ i lə ‘naiðə r tə ’mei toυ

NEITHER ‘n i:ðə r

TOMATO tə ’matəυ

‘Ɔ istə r z və ’n i lə OYSTERS

‘əstə rz

VANILLA və ’ne la

3. Listen to the song and number the words in the order they appear in the song. 4. Your teacher will give you a copy of the lyrics. Listen again and underline the phonetic

transcription of each word as pronounced by the singer.

5. Check your answers with a partner. How do these compare to your answers to Exercise 2?

6. What do you think the expression “to call something off” means?

a. to shout b. to decide to stop an activity c. to make something exist or happen

7. True or false?

a. The singer wants to leave her partner because she doesn’t understand when he speaks. b. The singer doesn’t want to leave her partner because it would break her heart. c. The singer and her lover pronounce some words in different ways.

8. Do you know any other words which are pronounced in more than one way?

9. In your opinion why do the singer and her lover pronounce these words differently? Is it

because of their geographical origins or social class?

This worksheet is to be used for educational purposes only Activity © Tune into English 2007 – www.tuneintoenglish.com Worksheet written by Caterina Ziliani, Milan

Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald

Things have come to a pretty pass, our romance is growing flat

For you like this and the other while I go for this and that. Goodness knows what the end will be, oh I don’t where I’m at,

It looks as if we two will never be one, Something must be done

You say either [‘i:ðər / ‘aiðər] and I say either [‘i:ðər / ‘aiðər],

You say neither [‘naiðər / ‘ni:ðər] and I say neither [‘naiðər / ‘ni:ðər] Either, either, Neither, neither… Let's call the whole thing off!

You like potato [pə ’teitəυ / po’tatoυ]

and I like potato [pə’teitəυ / po’tatoυ] You like tomato [tə ’matəυ / tə’meitoυ]

and I like tomato [tə’matəυ / tə’meitoυ] Potato, potato, Tomato, tomato…Let's call the whole thing off!

But oh, if we call the whole thing off then we must part. And oh, if we ever part, then that might break my heart.

So if you like pyjamas [pi’dƷɑ:məz / pə ’dƷæməz]

and I like pajamas [pi’dƷɑ:məz / pə ’dƷæməz] I'll wear pyjamas [pə ’dƷæməz / pi’dƷɑ:məz]

and give up pajamas [pə ’dƷæməz / pi’dƷɑ:məz] For we know we need each other so we better call the calling off off…

Let's call the whole thing off!

You say laughter [lɑ:ftər / læftər] and I say laughter [lɑ:ftər / læftər] You say after [æftər / ɑ:ftər] and I say after [æftər / ɑ:ftər]

Laughter, laughter, after, after… Let's call the whole thing off!

You like vanilla [və ’nilə / və ’nela] and I like vanilla [və ’nilə / və ’nela] You sarsaparilla [sæspər’ila / sæspər’ilə]

and I sarsaparilla [sæspər’ila / sæspər’ilə] Vanilla vanilla.. chocolate strawberry! Let's call the whole thing off!

But oh if we call the whole thing off then we must part

And oh, if we ever part, then that might break my heart.

So if you go for oysters [‘Ɔistərz / ‘əstərz] and I go for oysters [‘Ɔistərz / ‘əstərz]

I'll order oysters [‘əstərz / ‘Ɔistərz] and cancel the oysters [‘əstərz / ‘Ɔ istərz].

For we know we need each other so we better call the calling off off…

LET'S CALL THE WHOLE … THING … OFF!

This worksheet is to be used for educational purposes only Activity © Tune into English 2007 – www.tuneintoenglish.com Worksheet written by Caterina Ziliani, Milan

Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off – Complete

Things have come to a pretty pass, our romance is growing flat For you like this and the other while I go for this and that.

Goodness knows what the end will be, oh I don’t where I’m at, It looks as if we two will never be one,

Something must be done

You say either [ ‘i:ðə r / ‘aiðə r] and I say either [ ‘ i:ðə r / ‘aiðə r], You say neither [ ‘naiðə r / ‘n i:ðə r] and I say neither [ ‘naiðə r / ‘n i:ðə r]

Either, either, Neither, neither… Let's call the whole thing off!

You l ike potato [pə ’ teitəυ / po ’ tatoυ] and I l ike potato [pə ’ teitəυ / po ’ tatoυ] You l ike tomato [tə ’matəυ / tə ’meitoυ]

and I l ike tomato [tə ’matəυ / tə ’meitoυ] Potato, potato, Tomato, tomato…Let's call the whole thing off!

But oh, if we call the whole thing off then we must part. And oh, if we ever part, then that might break my heart.

So if you l ike pyjamas [pi ’dƷɑ:məz / pə ’dƷæməz]

and I l ike pajamas [pi ’dƷɑ:məz / pə ’dƷæməz] I ' l l wear pyjamas [pə ’dƷæməz / pi ’dƷɑ :məz]

and give up pajamas [pə ’dƷæməz / pi ’dƷɑ :məz] For we know we need each other so we better call the call ing off off…

Let's call the whole thing off!

You say laughter [lɑ:ftə r / læftə r] and I say laughter [lɑ:ftə r / læftə r] You say after [æftə r / ɑ:ftə r] and I say after [æftə r / ɑ:ftə r] Laughter, laughter, after, after… Let's call the whole thing off!

You l ike vanil la [və ’n i lə / və ’ne la] and I l ike vanil la [və ’n i lə / və ’ne la]

You sarsapari l la [sæspər ’ela / sæspər ’ ilə] and I sarsapari l la [sæspər ’ela / sæspər ’i lə]

Vanil la vanil la.. chocolate strawberry! Let's call the whole thing off!

But oh if we call the whole thing off then we must part And oh, if we ever part, then that might break my heart.

So if you go for oysters [ ‘Ɔistə rz / ‘əstə rz]

and I go for oysters [ ‘Ɔ istə rz / ‘əstə rz] I ' l l order oysters [ ‘əstə rz / ‘Ɔ istə rz]

and cancel the oysters [ ‘əstə rz / ‘Ɔistə rz] . For we know we need each other so we better call the call ing off off…

LET'S CALL THE WHOLE … THING … OFF!