The Parable of the Prodigal Son is found in Luke 15, verses 11-32. This exercise is the fourth part of Beginner Lesson 1, or you can do it as an individual speaking exercise.

Let’s practice speaking by using one sentence from this parable.

1. First, listen to the recording without speaking.
2. Play it again, but this time, pause it after a few words, and repeat them. Listen to a few more words, then pause again and repeat the words you heard.
3. Continue like this until you have repeated the entire sentence.

Try to imitate the speaker’s intonation, the rhythm of his or her speech, and the stresses they put on words and syllables. Imitate the pronunciation as well as you can.

Don’t worry if you can’t speak with an accent that is identical to the speaker! That’s the great thing about English – it is spoken by many people around the world with many different accents. The important thing is that you speak so that people can understand you. That has more to do with your intonation and the stress you put on words than because you can’t pronounce “r” in the way English speakers do, for example.

Here we go! Do your best.