Today, we're going to do one of the most effective exercises in improving your listening comprehension,
which in turn, improves your pronunciation,
your accent, and how natural you sound when speaking American English.
We're going to do a Ben Franklin exercise.
I've been doing these exercises for years with my students
and i've seen that they are truly one of the best ways to understand how Americans really speak.
So what we do is we take a bit of speech that a real American is speaking,
and then we do a full analysis of the pronunciation.
We'll look at the stress, we’ll look at reductions, we'll look at things like a flap T,
so that you understand everything that's being said and how to say that yourself.
First, the speech that we're going to analyze.
I'm going to talk about a fall baking weekend that I had with my friend, Laura.
This year, the fall baking weekend was a little bit different.
because now we have not just one kid, not just two kids, but three kids, including a newborn.
So everything was a little chaotic when my friend Laura and her family came to visit.
We made a caramel custard tart.
It was delicious.
But most importantly, we had an amazing weekend spending time together with our families.
And now, the analysis.
This year, the fall baking weekend was a little bit different because—
That was a long thought group.
I didn't take a breath or make a longer break until after the word because, but I did put a little bit of a lift.
Was a little bit different--
This year, the fall baking weekend was a little bit different because —
This year, the fall baking weekend was a little bit different because—
And by just putting a little lift, a little tiny break in the voice, it brings those out more of those words,
it makes them more important.
Also 'was' I made that pretty long, I drew out the vowel a little bit.
Often, the word 'was' is reduced and then it's pronounced: wiz, wiz, said very quickly.
But I didn't do that. I fully pronounced it. Did not reduce to the schwa.
But I left the UH as in butter vowel.
Was, was, was a little bit different.
Was a little bit different
And we have flap T in the word ‘little’.
That's always pronounced that way.
Little, da-da-da-da.
With the tongue flapping against the roof of the mouth.
And then we have a stop T in ‘bit’.
A little bit different, different.
And also in different.
the stop T in bit, followed by a consonant.
same with the stop T in different.
The NT ending, whether it's in a word like this, or where it's N apostrophe T,
is often pronounced as a nasally stop T.
So we have two stops here.
A little bit different, nt-nt-nt-nt-nt--
With that nasal N sound coming to an abrupt stop in the nose.
A little bit different, a little bit different, a little bit different.
Notice how I'm pronouncing the word ‘different’.
This is a word that can be pronounced with three syllables, diff-er-ent or two, diff-rent,
and I pronounce it as two. Its more common, it's easier.
So go ahead and just think of it as two syllables with the first syllable being stressed.
diff-rent, rent, rent, rent.
And notice this is a schwa, not much of a vowel, and the second syllable said very quickly.
Rent, diff-rent, different, different.
different, different, different.
What about the top line?
All of those words said really quickly, but there are important words there.
The fall baking weekend.
I'm talking about an event.
Why did I say these words so quickly?
Listen to how quickly I said them.
This year, the fall baking weekend--
Well, I had already introduced the idea that I was going to be talking about the fall baking weekend,
so that's why this second time, I said it more quickly.
I'm not introducing the idea, i've already told you that's what I'm going to talk about.
So what was the most important part about this sentence to me, was describing it, not introducing it.
You already know I'm talking about the fall baking weekend, that's why that ended up sounding faster.
That's why it was said more quickly.
and the information about it that it was a little bit different is what was more stressed and more clear.
This year, the fall baking weekend--
This year, the fall baking weekend was a little bit different because--
So then I say because, because.
because, because, because.
It's not reduced.
Often this word is reduced, but I'm saying it more clearly here.
Be-- unstressed syllable with the IH as in sit vowel, then a stressed syllable, UH as in butter vowel.
Because, because.
Because now we have not just one kid--
Now we have-- And I put a break, not just one kid.
Now we have not just one kid--
And I really stress the first word of each of those thought groups.
Now we have not just one kid--
And again, a stop T in ‘not’ because the next sound is a consonant.
Not just one kid--
What do you notice about the T in the word ‘just’?
Not just one kid--
It's actually dropped.
I don't say it at all.
Why?
We often drop the T when it comes between two consonants.
So when the ST cluster is followed by a word that begins with a consonant, we drop it.
Now you're thinking, hold on, the letter O, that's a vowel.
You're right.
But the word ‘one’ is pronounced beginning with the W consonant.
Www-uhh-nn.
So whenever we're talking about rules with the T, we're talking about sounds, not letters.
The sound T here comes between two consonant sounds, the consonant sound S
and the consonant sound W.
Now, even though this word is spelled with the letter O at the beginning, that doesn't matter.
It still comes between two consonant sounds, and it's dropped.
Just one, just one.
T is dropped and the two words are linked together.
Just one, just one, just one kid.
Kid, this is a more casual way to say child, very common in English.
Just one kid, just one kid.
Just one kid, not just two kids.
Not just two kids.
Again, stressing not, and again, a stop T.
Not just two kids.
Now here, we have the T followed by a T.
Ok, those just combine just to make one true T.
because a T beginning a stressed word like ‘two’ will always be a true T.
Not just two kids.
So the S links right into that true T.
Not just two kids, not just two kids.
Not just two kids, but three kids.
But three kids.
So I'm stressing ‘three’.
So I stressed not, not, and then three.
I'm saying first of all, what we didn't have, one kid, two kids. That would have been simple.
But we had three kids in the house.
Three. This is a tricky word, isn't it?
We have the unvoiced TH, thhh-- and then the R consonant, thr, thr.
So the tongue tip must come through the teeth for that unvoiced TH, then the tip pulls back
so it's not touching anything inside the mouth to make the R.
Thr-, thr-, three.
But three kids, but three kids, but three kids including a newborn.
Including a newborn.
So ‘include’, stress on the middle syllable there.
A, a schwa just linking these two words together.
Including a newborn.
In the word newborn, the first syllable of stress but I make my pitch go up at the end
to show that I'm not done talking about this.
What about the fact that we had three kids? Well, I'm about to tell you that.
Including a newborn, including a newborn, including a newborn.
newborn, newborn.
So the intonation goes up.
Well, what about that?
Well, that means everything was a little chaotic.
A newborn, a newborn, a newborn, so everything was a little chaotic.
So everything was a little chaotic.
A little chaotic, chaotic.
First syllable stress there, that's the most stressed word there, and we have a flap T.
Did I say first syllable? definitely meant middle syllable.
Cha-o-tic.
chaotic with a flap T beginning the third syllable.
Notice this CH here?
not pronounced ch--, also not pronounced sh-, but instead pronounced kk- like the K sound.
Chaotic, chaotic, chaotic.
So everything was a little chaotic.
A little chaotic.
Again, the word ‘little’.
T's there pronounced as a flap T.
A little, a little, a little.
And the letter A, the word ‘a’, just a quick schwa.
A- a- A little, a little.
A little chaotic, little chaotic.
So everything was a little chaotic.
Everything was a little chaotic.
Ev-- First syllable stress, and also the word ‘was’ reduces here.
On the first screen, we talked about how it wasn't introduced, it was pronounced was,
but here, it's pronounced: was, was, was, said very quickly, linking into the next word.
Was a, was a, was a, everything was a little chaotic.
Ev-- and a, chao--, are the most stressed syllables there.
The other syllables said pretty quickly, maybe a reduction, like in was: was a, was a.
So everything was a little chaotic.
So everything was a little chaotic when my friend--
When my friend--
when my friend--
Okay the word ‘when’ definitely not pronounced.
Whe-- with a full EH as in bed vowel that's really sounding reduced.
When, when, when, when.
I would write that with the W, the schwa, and the N.
Also notice WH, that can be pronounced with a little escape of air.
When.
But I did not do that, and I don't do it, really.
I find it a little old-fashioned and my mom does it.
She's not old-fashioned, but she maybe talks that way sometimes,
but most people, more modern is just to do a clean W sound with no escape of air beforehand.
When my friend.
When my friend, when my friend Laura.
when my friend Laura--
So I then say her name, I put a tiny lift between the words ‘friend’ and ‘Laura’.
and if I hadn't, I probably would have dropped the D, my friend Laura, my friend Laura,
because it's very common to drop the D between two consonants just like we did with the T in the words
‘just one’.
Just one, just one.
Friend Laura.
Would very often be pronounced: friend Laura, friend Laura, with no D,
but I put a little tiny break before her name to emphasize it, and so I do give a light D at the end of the word ‘friend’.
When my friend Laura, when my friend Laura.
when my friend Laura and her family came to visit,
Laura and her family came to visit.
So what are the most stressed words there?
The clearest, the longest?
Laura and her family came to visit.
Two nouns and a verb.
What about the other words?
What about and and her?
They get reduced. Let's listen.
Laura and her family--
And her, and her, and her, and her, and her.
The word ‘and’ reduced to just schwa N: and, and, and.
The word ‘her’ reduced to just schwa R.
er, er, er.
So I dropped the H, I dropped the D, I reduced the vowels: And her, and her, and her, and her.
Laura and her family--
And her, and her, and her.
Said very quickly, very unclear, yet this is the pronunciation that Americans use
And that is clear to Americans because it makes the stressed words, the more important words.
stick out of the phrase more and be more clear.
It's like giving the listener the most important words.
So the contrast that we like in American English is only possible when we make some words less clear
like ‘and’ and ‘her’.
These are function words.
Laura and her family.
Laura and her family--
Notice the word ‘family’.
This could be a three-syllable word: fam-il-ly, family, family.
Maybe that's how you say it.
maybe that's how you learned it.
but I recommend going with a two-syllable pronunciation instead: fam-ly.
So the first syllable is stressed and the middle syllable is dropped.
Family, family.
That's more common and it's easier.
So try it out.
Family, family, family came to visit.
came to visit, came to visit.
So came, another verb, but less important than ‘visit’.
It's not as clear, it's not as stressed, and the word ‘to’ reduced.
we turn that into more of a flap sound.
Came to, came to, came to visit, came to visit, came to visit.
We're after the M, the tongue just bounces quickly against the roof of the mouth, and the vowel is reduced.
Came to, came da-da-da.
You could also think of this as a D, if that works better for you, a very light quick D.
Came to visit.
And a stop T because this T comes at the end of a thought group.
Came to visit, Came to visit--
Came to visit.
We made a caramel custard tart--
We made a caramel custard tart.
We made, made, made.
I make the D sound here, I don't release it.
That would sound like this: made, made, but it's more of a stop: made, made.
Mmm-- Different from a stop T where I just stopped the air.
Here, I am actually making a little D sound with a vibration of the vocal cords.
Made.
dddd-
That makes the D.
I don't need dda-- the release.
Made, made, made a caramel custard tart.
A-- The letter A, the word ‘a’, a quick schwa.
A caramel custard tart, caramel custard tart.
Each one of those words stressed, but the stress is less clear as we go on because
the general trend in sentences is the energy is less in the voice towards the end.
We made a caramel custard tart.
Caramel custard tart.
So do you hear how the pitch is lower for each one of those?
Car-- cus-- tart--
Caramel custard tart.
That's what feels natural in American English.
The pitch goes down and the volume goes down towards the end of a sentence.
Caramel custard tart.
Did you hear I made a clear true T here at the end?
Tart, tart.
I wouldn't have had to, I could have said: tart, tart, tart, and made an abrupt stop there.
but we do often make a clearer true T sound in a cluster like the RT cluster.
Tart.
Tart, tart, tart.
It was delicious but--
It was delicious.
I'm noticing something interesting here. I drop the T in ‘it’.
I don't even make a stop T. That would be: it was, it, it,
but instead, I just make an IH vowel.
It was delicious, it was delicious.
There's no stop at all, and why is that?
It's because it's a common two-word sequence.
It was.
It's not stressed, it doesn't have to be that clear.
It was delicious.
The important word there is the adjective.
It was delicious.
And here, my pitch goes up at the end.
Delicious.
Because again, I want to signify I'm not done talking.
I'm going to talk more about how that weekend was.
It was delicious.
The word ‘was’ here, reduced.
Was, was.
How quickly can you say that word?
Was, was.
It was, it was, it was, it was.
This little two-word phrase not very clear on its own but in the context of the whole sentence.
It was delicious.
It's very clear to native speakers.
It was, it was, it was, it was.
It was, it was, it was delicious but most importantly--
But most importantly.
The word ‘but’, it's own little thought group, stop T.
But, but, but.
but, but most importantly--
most importantly.
Okay, ST cluster.
Now you learned that we will very often drop that T if it's followed by a consonant.
Here, it's followed by a vowel.
The IH as in sit vowel.
but you know what?
I still drop it.
Most importantly, most importantly.
Why? It doesn't really follow a rule.
I'm doing it because it's so clear what I'm saying, most importantly, most importantly,
that I don't feel like I need the T sound.
Of course, I didn't think this but as I said, it, this is what came out.
Most importantly, most importantly.
Just connecting the S sound into the next word.
Most importantly, most importantly, most importantly.
importantly importantly.
Stressed syllable there. The second syllable, import, stop T, nntt-- stop T, ly.
So the two stop T's, we have a sequence here.
T schwa N, and whenever we have that sequence of T schwa N, it's a stop T,
that's the most common pronunciation.
Important, importantly.
Mountain, sentence.
All of these words have the T schwa N.
kitten, mitten.
and we make that a stop sound followed by N.
Mitt-nn.
import-nnt-ly.
This one's interesting because it's two stop T's in a row.
Impor-nnnt-ly.
So you put your tongue up into position for the T, import--, you stop the air, then you make an N sound,
stop the air, and make the ‘ly’ ending.
Importantly, importantly, importantly.
Importantly, importantly, importantly, we had an amazing weekend spending time together with our families.
We had an amazing weekend--
Amazing weekend--
Really stressing the stressed syllable there.
It was amazing.
with a word like this that has some drama and some intensity in it, we tend to really stress them.
We had an amazing weekend spending time together, also stressed, with our families, also stressed.
And notice fam-lies, just like fam-ly, I'm dropping the middle syllable.
Fam-lies.
So first syllable stress, fam-lies, fam-lies.
We had an amazing weekend spending time together with our families.
Let's look at the other words.
We have a couple unstressed words here in a row.
We had an, we had an, we had an.
Lower in pitch, flatter in pitch, a little less clear.
The word ‘an’, that's just schwa N said really quickly.
We had an, we had an.
D links into the schwa, and N links into the next vowel.
Had an amazing.
We had an amazing
we had an amazing, we had an amazing.
By linking the ending consonant of a word into the beginning vowel of the next word,
that helps us link things together smoothly.
It helps everything sound nice and smooth, and in American English, we really like smooth speech.
We had an amazing--
We had an amazing weekend spending time together.
We had an amazing weekend--
Very, very light D there.
Spending time together.
Crisp true T here, time, time.
That's because it's a stressed word and it begins with the T, so that's gonna be a true T.
We had an amazing weekend spending time together.
Time together--
And I did also a true T to begin ‘together’.
Time together, together, together.
Notice it looks like the word ‘to’.
We don't pronounce it too, we pronounce it: te, te, te, together.
Stress on the second syllable.
Together, time together.
time together, time together, time together with our families.
With our families, with our families.
With and our, a little bit less important, said a little bit more quickly.
With our, with our, with our, with our, with our.
with our families, with our families, with our families.
The word 'our' were sounds like the word ‘are’.
With our, with our, with our, with our, with our, with our.
And you can think of it as being AH, R or or even you can make it the schwa R,
with our families, when you're pronouncing it extra quickly.
With our families, with our families.
with our families, with our families, with our families.
Let's listen to the whole speech one more time.
This year, the fall baking weekend was a little bit different because
now we have not just one kid, not just two kids, but three kids, including a newborn.
So everything was a little chaotic when my friend Laura and her family came to visit.
We made a caramel custard tart.
It was delicious.
But most importantly, we had an amazing weekend, spending time together with our families.
Now as a bonus, I'm going to put in a video that I made last year with Laura at our fall baking weekend
and you're going to learn some interesting things about American English pronunciation,
phrasal verbs, idioms, and more.
In this American English pronunciation video,
we're going to study real-life English while I make an apple pie with my dear friend Laura.
Okay, time to eat the caramel sauce.
Caramel. Caramel. Caramel.
They're all okay.
Okay.
Hmm…
this tasty word can be pronounced three ways.
Caramel. Caramel.
Or caramel.
Each pronunciation is accepted and you will find all three of these pronunciations listed in the dictionary.
Here's what it says.
Whisk in a medium saucepan.
Now it doesn't say over medium-low heat.
K.
Mkay.
>> I'll do that. >> Okay.
Notice how we respond to each other.
K and mkay.
These are both common variants of the word ‘okay’.
This word is used a lot in conversational English.
It can be used to say ‘I understand, I'm listening’ which is how Laura and I both use it here.
Over medium-low heat.
K.
Mkay.
I've read a part of the recipe and we're both saying I understand that.
Then she offers to take care of it and I say ‘mkay’ again here meaning I understand.
-I'll do that. -Okay.
We also use it for ‘yes’.
Will you add the sugar?
Okay.
Over a medium low heat.
K.
Mkay.
>> I'll do that. >> Okay.
Here's what it says.
So we do this until the sugar is dissolved then we add the butter which I put out on the counter
with a stick.
>> Just light on the butter. >> Yeah.
You know, it's not… this, this pie is not very high in calories
so that's false.
False.
I've said something here that's not true.
It's false.
I'm not being serious.
The pie is very high in calories.
Listen to the different ways you can say I'm not being serious.
False. Oh I'm joking. I'm being facetious.
I'm just kidding.
- How else could you say that? - She's joking.
You already say that?
- I did say that. I'm pulling my leg. -You’re pulling your leg.
Yeah, I'm pulling your leg.
It's a high in calorie pie.
Okay so um...
- Just joshing… - I'm just joshing you.
Where does that one come from?
I'm just Joshin.
You could say that. I'm just joshing.
Hey, don't get upset. I'm just Joshin.
I'm joking.
I'm being facetious.
I'm just kidding.
I'm pulling your leg.
I'm just joshing.
All of these things mean what I'm saying should not be taken seriously or literally.
I could have also said I'm just playing or I'm playing.
The word ‘just’ in all of these phrases can be used but doesn't have to be used.
A note on the pronunciation of the word ‘just’, if it's followed by a word that begins with the consonant,
the T will usually be dropped.
For example, I'm just kidding.
Just kidding.
Straight from the S sound into the K with no T.
False. I'm joking.
I'm being facetious.
I'm just kidding. I'm pulling your leg. It's a high in calorie pie. I'm just joshing you.
Where does that one come from?
>> You want to grab the stick of butter? >> Yeah.
So every fall, for what, how many years have you been doing this?
Well we've lived here since 2010.
- Here? No way. - And it probably started...
No way.
Here no way.
What does that mean?
That means I can't believe what she's saying.
I don't think it's true and it turns out I misunderstood.
I thought she meant she had been living in that house since 2010
but she meant she'd been living in the town since then.
Well we've lived here since 2010.
- Here? No way. - And it probably started…
- No. No. No. In North Hampton. - Oh, you mean North Hampton.
-Seven-ish. -6 or 7 years. Yeah.
I said seven-ish years while Laura said six or seven years.
‘Ish’ is something you might hear put at the end of a word to show approximation.
-Seven-ish. -6 or 7 years. Yeah.
Every fall I come up to Laura's house and we have a fall baking weekend
and actually we've made lots of videos from the fall baking weekend so I’ll put a link to that playlist
in the comments below.
Also right here, just click the I.
They're really fun.
They are.
At least we have fun.
We have fun.
We keep on working on the sauce for that pie adding butter and then adding cream.
Okay, are you ready to whisk?
- I think I’m supposed to add this really slowly. - Slowly.
Am I supposed to keep on whisking or stirring?
There we're both unsure of what the recipe says.
We both used the phrase ‘supposed to’.
We both reduce this phrase to: spose ta.
We reduced it from three syllables to two.
This is really common.
The S and T can either be pronounced: sposta, or ZD, spose ta.
- I think I’m supposed to add this really slowly. - Slowly.
Am I supposed to keep on whisking or stirring?
Alright. Here we go.
>> Woah! >> Woah! Steam bomb! The camera!
Ok, so now we're slicing the apples.
We're using machine to make it a little easier.
You can put them in here then.
Yeah.
Okay.
There are always lots of reductions in American English.
Let's look at the ones I just used.
‘We are’ contracts to ‘we're’ and is often pronounced ‘were’ in conversation.
It's really fast and it sounds just like this word: were.
I use that contraction twice here.
So now we're slicing the apples.
We're using a machine to make it a little easier.
You can put them in here then.
Yeah.
Okay.
You're going to put them in here then.
Some more reductions.
The word are at the beginning was dropped.
We need that word to be grammatically correct but it is sometimes dropped in spoken English.
‘Going to’ became ‘gonna’ and the TH was dropped in them.
‘Put them’ becomes: put ‘em— put ‘em— No TH and a flap T to connect the two words.
Put ‘em— put ‘em—
You can put them in here then.
Yeah. Okay.
Right. Watch this do its magic.
Love it. They come out at the bottom. Totally thin slice.
Let's put the lemon juice in.
The word ‘let's’ is really unclear.
It's very common to drop the beginning and basically just make the TS sound.
Let's put the lemon juice in. Ts- ts- ts-
That's, its, and what can also make this reduction.
We're just putting the TS sound in front of the next word.
See this video for further examples and explanation.
Let's put the lemon juice in.
And the baby’s up. Let me go get him.
Let me go get him.
A couple reductions here.
Let me becomes lemme, and the H is dropped in ‘him’.
Dropping the H in this word is a really common reduction.
When we do this, it sounds just like when we dropped the TH in them.
‘Get him’ becomes ‘get um’.
Just like ‘put them’ was ‘put em’.
The flap T links the words and the reduction of ‘them’ and ‘him’ are the exact same sounds, schwa and M.
Get em— put em—
Let me go get him.
Can you look right there?
Say ‘Hi! I just had a nice nap!’
Can you say ‘Hey everybody!’
Can you try that?
‘Hey everybody!’
You want to try?
No. Okay.
Can I go ahead and put the apples in there?
Yeah, dump them in.
Dump them in.
‘Them’ is reduced again.
Dump em— dump em—
Yeah, dump em in.
I'm going to take you down to daddy.
'I'm going to' got reduced.
With our most common words and phrases, we tend to do the most dramatic reductions.
I’m gonna-- There's almost an idea of I in front of it but not really.
I’m gonna-- I’m gonna-- I’m gonna--
I'm gonna take you down to daddy.
I made a video where I go over this reduction and more examples.
Click here or in the description below to see that video.
I'm going to take you down to daddy.
Alright.
- All of them? - Let me read ahead.
Yeah, all of them.
I love how when you start paying attention to a particular reduction, you constantly hear it.
Did you catch the reductions of ‘them’ here?
We're talking about the apple slices.
- All of them? - Let me read ahead.
Yeah, all of them.
All of them. Nice ‘them’ reduction, Laura.
-All of them? -Mm-hmm.
I like it. Linking with the V.
Okay.
Then we mixed the apples in with the other dry ingredients.
We packed the apples into our pie shell and drizzled on the caramel sauce which got too thick as it cooled.
We overcooked it and finally we make the lattice top for the pie.
I had some problems and I kept messing it up.
I couldn’t-- What is wrong with me?
I’m like really screwing up.
Really screwing up.
Screw up is a phrasal verb which means to do something the wrong way
or to do a bad job with something.
I screwed up the pie crust.
You could also say mess up.
I messed up the pie crust.
I’m really screwing up.
I have to wipe that off.
Oh darn.
I beat that caramel sauce.
This is weird, Laura. Last time I made this, it seeped in much more.
So when... because look when I'm doing the lattice now, when I pull it up, it's like bringing up all this goo.
- It’s thicker. - It's weird.
I gotta say right now I'm like, I'm feeling embarrassed about how this is turning out.
Turn out.
Another phrasal verb.
As I'm using it here, it means how something develops or ends.
I'm not happy with how it's going, I'm embarrassed with the end result of my pie.
I got to say, right now, I'm like, I'm feeling embarrassed about how this is turning out.
I finished making the top and we put it in the oven and the final scene of course needs to be trying the pie.
It’s out of the oven, looking good.
Laura, how are you feeling about it?
I’m feeling great!
Oh, also we made a pumpkin pie.
I’m also feeling great about that.
From scratch with a pumpkin.
We made whipped cream.
Big deal.
And Dana made chocolate-dipped macaroons.
Macaroon or Macaron?
To clarify, this is a macaroon and this is a macaron.
Which is also pronounced ‘macaroon’.
I don’t know, I’ll look it up and I’ll let everyone know.
Okay, let’s cut this pie.
Who wants a little bit of apple?
If you'd like to recreate this pie, it really is amazingly delicious.
Please see the link in the video description below.
It's from my favorite pie book, the Four and Twenty Blackbirds book.
I’m going to have a caramely taste.
It turned out well.
That’s it guys, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English!