Hey everyone, it's Hadar.
Thank you so much for joining me.
Today we are going to practice together the awesome speech of America Ferrera,
who plays Gloria in the movie Barbie.
And by the way, this is why I'm wearing pink.
And I know it's not as pink as it should be, but that's the pinkest I could find.
I wanted to share with you the speech because first of
all, I thought it was great.
I think it really consolidates the experience of being a woman.
And this is why it became so viral on TikTok and Twitter.
And everyone's talking about it, you can hear a lot of people talking
about that specific monologue.
But also in terms of intonation, I think it's such a great practice because
it has so many different contrasting ideas and it's a great opportunity to
practice your intonation, connected speech, and pronunciation when
working on this awesome monologue.
I think you're going to have fun.
Are you ready?
Let's get started.
"It is literally impossible to be a woman."
'It is literally impossible to be a woman'.
Let's break down the word 'literally': li, duh - flap T, ruh, lee.
Round your lips for the R.
'li-duh-ruh-lee'.
'It is literally impossible to be a woman'.
The word 'impossible' is stressed, so you want to try and stretch it
a little bit and raise your pitch.
'It is literally impossible to be a woman'.
"You are so beautiful and so smart".
'You are so beautiful and so smart'.
So here we wanna try and stress the word 'so' to emphasize
what it is that she's saying.
'You are so beautiful and so smart'.
"And it kills me that you don't think you're good enough".
'And it kills me that you don't think', 'you don't', 'you don't', the D is flap
and you connect it together - 'yuw-downt'.
'you don't think', stick the tongue up for the TH: 'you
don't think you're good enough'.
good, good, good enough, you don't think you're good enough.
"Like, we have to always be extraordinary."
'Like, we have to always be extraordinary', extraordinary.
The primary stress is the OR vowel - extraORdinary, so you
want to stretch it a little bit.
"But somehow we're always doing it wrong."
'But somehow we're always doing it wrong'.
Let's do that last part again.
'But somehow we're always doing it wrong'.
A quick tip about the word 'always': you don't have to pronounce the L sound
if it's tricky for you - 'aa-weiz', just an open 'aa' sound, 'aa-weiz'.
And now we start the part in the speech where she contrasts two different
ideas within the same sentence.
And I want you to pay close attention to the intonation pattern she uses:
one idea in comparison to another idea.
It's called to juxtapose ideas.
To juxtapose means to put closely together two contrasting ideas for comparison.
So for example, in the sentence we've just read, the idea of being extraordinary,
but also we're always doing it wrong.
Okay?
Being extraordinary and doing it wrong.
So two ideas, one in front of another.
Let's move on to the next sentence and pay attention to this idea.
"You have to be thin, but not too thin.
And you can never say you wanna be thin.
You have to say you wanna be healthy, but also you have to be thin."
'You have to be thin, but not too thin'.
One versus another.
'You have to be thin' - stick the tongue out for the TH, 'but not too thin'.
Right?
Can you see the two ideas?
Thin, but not too thin.
"And you can never say you want to be thin.
You have to say you want to be healthy."
'And you can never say you want to be thin.
You have to say you want to be healthy'.
So we have 'thin' versus 'healthy'.
So there is a lift in pitch when we say 'thin' - one idea,
versus another idea - 'healthy'.
thin.
thin - healthy.
So let's read that part again.
'And you can never say you want to be thin, you have to
say you want to be healthy'.
But then she adds: "but also you have to be thin".
'But also you have to be thin'.
Right?
So she compares: not too thin, be healthy, but also you have to be thin.
So, the emphasis is on the idea of being thin.
Before we move on to the next sentence, I want you to read out
loud what we've already practiced.
The next part: "You have to have money, but you can't ask for
money, because that's crass."
'You have to have money, but you can't ask for money, because that's crass'.
So here we're comparing 'have' versus 'ask': you have to have
money, but you can't ask for money.
By the way, you can also say 'b't-chyuw-kent' in
contemporary American English.
So the T and the Y connect together, and then what you hear
is a CH sound - b't-chyuw-kent.
'but you can't ask for money because that's crass'.
Crass, by the way, is an act that lacks refinement or that is
insensitive or doesn't have class.
Okay?
So that's what she means.
Like you can't ask for it 'cause it's not cool.
Next up, now let's see how she's comparing those two different ideas.
"You have to be a boss, but you can't be mean."
'You have to be a boss, but you can't be mean'.
'boss' versus 'mean'.
'You have to be a boss', 'hafta'.
'You have to be a boss', aa as in 'father' in American English.
'You have to be a boss, but you can't be mean'.
'mean', right?
So even though 'mean' is not high in pitch, it's still
stressed because it's emphasized.
It's longer, more volume, which is another way for us to stress words in English.
'You have to be a boss, but you can't be mean'.
"You have to lead, but you can't squash other people's ideas."
'You have to lead', 'hafta', 'You have to lead, but you can't
squash other people's ideas'.
Squash, squeeze, demolish.
'squash other people's ideas'.
other people's, other people's, other people's ideas.
So, let's compare it.
'You have to lead' - stressed, 'but you can't squash other people's ideas'.
So, the stressed words are 'lead', 'squash', 'ideas'.
'You have to lead, but you can't squash other people's ideas'.
Now, notice the rhythm here.
The stressed words are the emphasized words, and that determines the
rhythm of the sentence, right?
'You have to lead, but you can't squash other people's ideas'.
And the words that appear between those stressed words, they have
to fit in the rhythm, whether it's one word or five words.
Notice this: 'you have to lead, but you can't squash'; but-you-can't – so
I'm reducing it to fit into the rhythm.
'You have to lead, but you can't squash other people's ideas'.
other people's, other people's, other people's, right?
These words are not stressed, so I'm going to say them faster, I'm
going to reduce whatever I can reduce so it can fit the rhythm.
'You have to lead, but you can't squash other people's ideas'.
Let's do it again.
'You have to lead, but you can't squash other people's ideas'.
Good.
Now you.
Next: "You're supposed to love being a mother, but don't talk
about your kids all the damn time."
'You're supposed to love being a mother, but don't talk about
your kids all the damn time'.
'Love', 'don't talk about your kids'.
'Love being a mother', 'don't talk about your kids all the damn time'.
Right?
So let's compare that again.
'You're supposed to love being a mother, but don't talk about
your kids all the damn time'.
"You have to be a career woman, but also always be looking out for other people."
'You have to be a career woman, but also always be looking out for other people'.
'have to be a career woman, but also always be looking out for other people'.
'Looking out', 'looking out'.
'Looking out' is considering the feeling of other people or taking care
of them, or making sure they're okay.
Looking out, looking out, looking out, stress on 'out'.
Now you.
"You have to answer for men's bad behavior, which is insane,
but if you point that out, you're accused of complaining."
'You have to answer for men's bad behavior, which is insane,
but if you point that out, you're accused of complaining'.
'complaining'.
Okay, so here we have 'you have to answer for men's bad behavior'.
So that's one part.
men's, men's, bad, 'men's bad behavior'.
And then there is a part where she states her opinion, so it kind of like
changes the intonation a little bit.
'Men's bad behavior', right, one idea.
'which is insane', here you can go down in pitch.
'but if you point that out, you're accused of complaining'.
Okay?
'complaining'.
Stress on 'complaining'.
Now you.
The next part: "You're supposed to stay pretty for men, but not so pretty that
you tempt them too much or that you threaten other women because you're
supposed to be a part of the sisterhood."
'You're supposed to stay pretty for men'.
'You're supposed to stay pretty', 'pretty', 'pretty', 'pretty for men'.
'but not so pretty', do it with me again, 'but not so pretty that you tempt them too
much or that you threaten other women'.
'Tempt', 'tempt', you don't really hear the P here - [temt].
'tempt them too much, or that you threaten other women', 'women',
'women', 'because you're supposed to be a part of the sisterhood'.
Let's say that all together, connect all the words together in connected speech.
'Because you're supposed to be a part of the sisterhood.
of the, of the, of the, of the sisterhood, sisterhood, sisterhood, of the sisterhood.
Now you.
The next part.
"But always stand out and always be grateful."
'But always stand out and always be grateful'.
stand out, stand out - stick out, be noticeable.
Stand out is another phrasal verb, and in phrasal verbs, we stress the
second part: stand OUT, stand OUT.
'But always stand out and always be grateful'.
"But never forget that the system is rigged."
'But never forget that the system is rigged'.
'Rigged' is manipulated or dishonest, in a dishonest way, like rigged elections.
'But never forget that the system is rigged'.
Try to connect all the words together: but-never-forget-that-the-system-is-rigged.
'But never forget that the system is rigged'.
"So find a way to acknowledge that but also always be grateful."
'So find a way to acknowledge that but also always be grateful'.
Now you.
Okay, the next part, I'm going to need my phone for that, the next part
feels like one long sentence, that one idea builds on top of another.
So also I want you to pay attention to what you can do with your intonation
to distinguish one phrase from another.
"You have to never get old, never be rude, never show off, never be selfish,
never fall down, never fail, never show fear, never get out of line."
Let's do it together.
'You have to never get old, never be rude, never show off'.
Show off - another phrasal verb, 'off', 'show off'.
'never be selfish'.
Now, to make sure that it's not repetitive, make sure that each phrase
is a little different in terms of the musicality, intonation, and pitch.
Try to be varied.
Let's do it again.
'You have to never get old, never be rude, never show off, never be selfish,
never fall down, never fail, never show fear, and never get out of line'.
'Out of line' is like not following the rules or not doing
what is expected to be done.
Okay, so now you try it.
Try to make each phrase slightly different in pitch.
Okay, next part.
"It's too hard!
It's too contradictory and nobody gives you a medal or says thank you!"
'It's too hard.
It's too contradictory'.
Let's break down this word: kaan-truh-dik-tuh-ree.
Contradicting itself.
Contradictory.
"It's too hard.
It's too contradictory, and nobody gives you a medal or says thank you'.
'And nobody gives you a medal'; medal, notice the D, it's really light,
it's like a flap T: medal, medal.
'or says thank you'.
And the next part, this is a long sentence, so we're going to take a
deep breath and say all the sentence, the entire sentence, on one breath.
"And it turns out, in fact, that not only are you doing everything wrong,
but also everything is your fault."
'And it turns out, in fact, that not only you are doing everything wrong,
but also everything is your fault'.
Let's do it again.
Read it with me, and we're going to do it slowly.
'And it turns out, in fact, that not only are you doing everything wrong,
but also everything is your fault'.
Now you try it.
So now we're getting to the last part.
"I'm just so tired of watching myself and every single other woman tie herself
into knots so that people will like us."
Let's take a deep breath.
'I'm just so tired of watching myself and every single other woman tie herself
into knots so that people will like us'.
So sometimes when we want to emphasize something, we just separate the words.
We don't use regular connected speech and every word is somewhat stressed.
All right, now you do that last part.
All right, that's it.
If you want to see the full script, click the link below and it'll take you
to my website where I put the entire script there for you to practice with.
And I recommend using it on the go.
You can also listen to it as a podcast, I'm going to link to it in
the description so you can practice along with me and with this awesome,
wonderful, insightful monologue.
Alright, I hope you enjoyed it.
If you did, make sure you like and subscribe to my YouTube channel.
You can also check out my website at hadarshemesh.com for more content
for you to speak English with clarity, confidence, and freedom.
Thank you so much.
Have a beautiful, beautiful rest of the day.
And I will see you next week in the next video.
Bye.