When was the last time you thought about your breathing when speaking English?
After all, breathing is an automatic process, right?
When you run out of air, you breathe again.
We usually don't pay that much attention to our breathing unless we have a cold, or we're
feeling short of breath, maybe we're nervous, or doing a sport or other activity like singing
that requires breath support.
That's why I'm here to remind you that breathing properly will help you speak English more
clearly and confidently.
Let's start off by talking about the simple act of breathing.
Taking a few deep breaths will help you relax if you feel nervous or anxious when speaking.
These deep breaths will also distribute more oxygen throughout your body, which can help
you feel more energized and alert.
Any time you know that you're going to have to speak at length, whether that's in a social
situation or when giving a presentation, be sure to pause and take a few deep breaths.
Let's take a few deep breaths together right now.
We're going to breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth.
One reason that we breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth is that it
helps us notice these parts of the body.
[deep breath] Really sigh out that exhale at the end of your breath.
[deep breaths] How are you feeling right now?
Now let's think about using our breath to speak a little more powerfully.
Take your hand and place it on your belly, just below your rib cage.
As you breathe in, you should feel your belly expand.
As you breathe out, you should feel your belly release and your hand should move back in.
[deep breath] Let's try it a few more times.
[deep breaths] This deeper breathing while you're speaking
will help you get more power behind your words.
If you're finding these deep belly breaths a little challenging, you're not alone.
A lot of people take more shallow breaths from their chest.
This may happen because you're nervous and you're breathing more quickly, or it may just
be out of habit.
It can take some practice to start breathing more deeply.
Remember, your body loves these deep breaths, so build them into your routine.
Take a few moments every day for some deep belly breaths.
In fact, you can take a few moments to breathe deeply right now.
Hit pause on the video and take a few more deep belly breaths.
I'm not going anywhere and I'll be waiting right here.
At this point, you may be wondering if you should breathe through your nose or your mouth
when speaking English.
For most of us, it's more natural and more efficient to breathe through the mouth when
speaking.
If you feel a little uncomfortable about how you sound when breathing through your mouth
when speaking, try this little trick.
Try to relax the back your tongue as you're breathing in.
When you relax the back of your tongue, when breathing in, your breath will sound a little
quieter.
It will sound less like you're gasping for air and more like you're breathing comfortably.
Now that you understand the importance of taking deep breaths and you feel a little
more relaxed, let's talk about how to breathe when speaking English so that you sound more
natural, speak more clearly, and are more easily understood.
If you've ever listened to a non-native speaker who has an awesome accent in English, you've
probably noticed that they seem to be breathing or pausing in the right places.
In other words, if you've ever wondered how to breathe in English, you're probably thinking
about these natural sounding pauses or breaks in our speech.
These pauses may seem subtle, but they play an important role in how we communicate and
make our ideas easy to understand.
Of course, these pauses give us time to breathe regularly so that we're able to keep on speaking.
A simple way to think about where to breathe in English is to take a breath every time
you would write a punctuation mark.
When you come to the end of a sentence, question, or exclamation, take a full breath.
When you would write a comma, semi-colon, or colon, pause and take a small breath if
you need it.
Obviously, when you're speaking naturally, you won't actually be using any punctuation
marks.
Let's practice with a few examples.
Listen to the examples and pay attention to where I breathe.
The weather is beautiful today.
Have you gone for a walk outside?
This is the most wonderful time of year.
I went to the park earlier, and I enjoyed some sunshine.
The weather has been great recently; I hope it stays that way.
The best part of summer is this: the sunshine.
Now it's your turn!
Try It along with me.
The weather is beautiful today.
Have you gone for a walk outside?
This is the most wonderful time of year.
I went to the park earlier, and I enjoyed the sunshine.
The weather has been great recently; I hope it stays that way.
The best part of summer is this: the sunshine.
Obviously when you're speaking naturally, you won't actually be using any punctuation
marks.
Instead, you're going to break your ideas into smaller, more manageable chunks, or what
we call thought groups.
If you want to speak more clearly, be more easily understood and of course sound more
natural, you want to work on pausing between thought groups.
I find that when people are asking about breathing in English, they're actually talking about
thought groups because you'll often breathe during these short pauses.
In natural speech, we use a variety of sentences.
Some are shorter; others are a little bit longer with a few more details.
At times we string a series of ideas together in a sentence that seems to go on and on and
on and on.
If you waited to breathe until the very end of this idea, you would definitely run out
of breath and you'd probably pass out.
That's one of the biggest reasons why we use thought groups: it gives us time to breathe.
Let's talk a little more about why thought groups matter.
When you use thought groups, you divide or separate your ideas logically.
It makes your thoughts easier to understand because you're keeping key concepts together.
The pause between ideas gives your listener extra time to process what you're saying.
Without these pauses, they may get tired from listening so carefully to identify your main
points.
When you separate your ideas into thought groups, you're able to communicate your meaning
more effectively.
Now, let's talk about how to use thought groups when speaking.
As I mentioned a moment ago, a thought group is a chunk of language about three to seven
words long.
Don't get too concerned about the number.
There are no specific rules for length.
Your meaning is what's most important.
Instead of worrying about how many words should be in a thought group, think about how you
can divide your ideas for effect, emphasis, and clarity.
To start thinking about dividing your speech, consider short phrases and grammatical clauses.
You want to make sure you're dividing your ideas logically, and you're not separating
words that should stay together.
For example, take this sentence: I've been speaking English for a long time.
You don't want to break up that verb phrase: have been speaking.
You probably don't want to separate the object from the verb: speaking English.
And you definitely don't want to break up that prepositional phrase: for a long time.
Then where would you chunk or break up that sentence?
I've been speaking English for a long time.
You're going to pause or breathe slightly after the word "English."
I've been speaking English for a long time.
After the word "English," you're going to pause slightly and perhaps take a micro breath.
Try it with me.
I've been speaking English for a long time.
What else do you notice about these thought groups?
You'll notice that one word in each chunk receives the most stress.
This is what we call the focus word.
That's why you may have noticed different levels of stress on content words.
In this example, the focus words are "English" and "time."
I've been speaking English for a long time.
Try it with me.
I've been speaking English for a long time.
You may also notice a slight rise in intonation after a thought group.
I've been speaking English for a long time.
I call this slight rise "holding intonation," because you're holding the person's attention
and signaling that you're not done speaking yet.
I've been speaking English for a long time.
Let's try a few more examples.
When I got to the park, I went for a walk, and then I read my library book under my favorite
tree.
Take a moment and think about where to break this longer sentence into thought groups.
When I got to the park, I went for a walk, and then I read my library book under my favorite
tree.
When I got to the park, I went for a walk, and then I read my library book under my favorite
tree.
Now try to identify the focus words.
Which words in each thought group should be stressed?
When I got to the park, I went for a walk, and then I read my library book under my favorite
tree.
In this example, the focus words are park, walk, library, and tree.
When I got to the park, I went for a walk and then I read my library book under my favorite
tree.
Now think about using a slight rise in intonation after each thought group.
When I got to the park, I went for a walk, and then I read my library book under my favorite
tree.
Be sure to pause between each thought group.
If you need to take a breath, this is your opportunity.
Let's try another example.
The last time I was here, we waited for a table for over an hour.
Think about where to break this longer sentence into thought groups.
Where can you pause logically between ideas?
The last time I was here, we waited for a table for over an hour.
Now let's think about which words are the focus words of each chunk.
The last time I was here, we waited for a table for over an hour.
In this example, the focus words are here, table and hour.
The last time I was here, we waited for a table for over an hour.
Be sure to stress or emphasize the focus word in each thought group by making it the longest,
the loudest and the highest in pitch in that particular chunk.
The last time I was here, we waited for a table for over an hour.
You can hear me hit one word in each thought group with more emphasis.
The last time I was here, we waited for a table for over an hour.
Remember to include a slight rise in pitch after each thought group.
You'll use falling intonation at the end of the sentence.
One more time: The last time I was here, we waited for a table for over an hour.
Let's look at one more example.
After you finish the project, give me a call so that we can celebrate with dinner and a
movie.
Take a moment and think about where to divide this sentence into thought groups.
Where is a logical place to pause in order to keep ideas together?
After you finish the project, give me a call so we can celebrate with dinner and a movie.
After you finish the project, give me a call, so that we can celebrate with dinner and a
movie.
Now think about the focus word in each thought group.
Which word should receive the most emphasis?
After you finish the project, give me a call so we can celebrate with dinner and a movie.
In this example, the focus words are project, call, celebrate, and movie.
After you finish the project, give me a call, so that we can celebrate with dinner and a
movie.
Once again, remember to include a slight rise in pitch after each thought group and then
fall at the end.
After you finish the project, give me a call, so that we can celebrate with dinner and a
movie.
Now that we've practiced with these examples, are you starting to notice where you should
pause in order to keep ideas together?
Can you hear the word that receives the most stress and the slight rise in pitch that you
often hear mid-sentence?
As you get started working on thought groups on your own, focus on chunking your ideas
in logical, comfortable places.
Stress the most important content word in the chunk, lift your pitch slightly to signal
that there's more to come, pause, and perhaps take a little breath if you need it.
Now you understand how pausing more regularly to breathe and separate your ideas into thought
groups will improve your accent, and most importantly, help people understand you.
As you continue to work on thought groups, you can experiment with pausing more frequently
to emphasize key points or to say certain words dramatically and with feeling.
You can also rush through longer chunks without pausing in order to signal that these words
don't matter as much.
In addition to practicing thought groups with your own ideas, be sure to tune your ear to
how other people use thought groups when speaking.
Listen to other people speaking English, both native speakers and non-native speakers.
Pay attention to where they pause and where they breathe.
Notice how often they pause and whether or not it helps you understand their ideas.
Do you notice their breathing?
Does it help support these thought groups?
Does it help you follow what they're saying?
Now it's your turn to practice thought groups.
In the comments, write down a longer sentence.
Separate the ideas into thought groups using a slash.
I'll let you know if those seem like good places to separate your ideas.
For extra practice, try reading your sentence out loud a few times and let me know how it
goes.
Is it a little easier for you to use thought groups now that you understand them better?
For more practice with stress and intonation, be sure to check out the playlist I've linked
in the description below.
Once again, I'm Kim from englishwithkim.com.
I'm your guide to the essential communication skills you need to sound more natural in English.
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Have a good one.
Goodbye.