Hello Eat Sleep Dreamers, welcome back to another video with me Tom. Yes, I have grown
a bit of a beard. What do you guys think? I don't know. It's an experiment, alright?
So I'm trying it out. You guys let me know, if you think it looks ok, then let me know
in the comments below. If you think I need to shave it immediately, then tell me as well
but i though I'd try.
Alright, so thank you for joining me today because I have something super special for
you. We're going to look at the five tricks with pronunciation that every English student
should be using. We're going to look at five tricks that are going to improve your pronunciation.
They are also going to help you with your listening skills as well so you get the benefit
of both. Alright, I'm excited about this, I hope you are too. All that is coming right
up after we meet another Eat Sleep Dreamer.
The first trick is to master the schwa sound. The schwa sound is uh and it's the most common
sound in the English language. We use it pretty much all the time. Now what I want you to
focus on is how we use it with the smaller words, things like prepositions, auxiliary
verbs, articles. So we use it with those words to make life easier for ourselves. For example
'I'd like a glass of water, please'. So we've got 'I'd like a' so instead of a it's uh.
'I'd like a glass of water, please'. So not of of, 'I'd like a glass of water, please.'
So we're using the schwa sound on a and of to make it easier for us to say that sentence.
'I'd like a glass of water, please' Let's look at another example 'I'm going to the
cinema tonight.' Did you hear the schwa there? It was on to, so i didn't say I'm going to
the cinema. I said I'm going to the cinema tonight. That's the schwa sound, I'm going
to the cinema tonight. Now we call this change of sound a weak form. So I'm using the weak
form, I'm saying to rather than to. So that would be i guess the strong form, this is
the weak form. I'm going to the cinema tonight. Ok, your turn 'I'm going to the cinema tonight.'
Alright, good stuff. Practise, practise practise. As always the most important thing is to practise,
ok? Say these sentences as many times as you can so that you really train your mouth and
your brain to make these sounds.
Number two contractions. This is when we blend two words together because it makes our life
easier. So for example, I am becomes I'm, I have becomes I've, I would becomes I'd.
You see it just makes life easier, I can't be bothered to say 'I would like to go' instead
of just saying 'I'd like to go.' much easier. If you're not using contractions you need
to start using them because they are everywhere in English. We use them all the time. So,
start learning, start using them immediately.
Let's work through some of the most common contractions there are. Ok, let's start with
the verb to be. So I am becomes I'm, you're, he's, she's, we're, they're. The verb to have
I've, you've, he's, she's, we've, they've. Let's move on to would and had because that's
the same contraction, it's the d. So I'd can be I would or I had. It depends on the context
so you have to look at the grammatical structure and also the context to kind of know which
one it is. So for example 'I'd love to' it's I would love to not I had love to. Ok, so
you just have to learn that. So I'd, you'd, he'd, she'd, we'd, they'd. Ok and will so
I'll, you'll, he'll, she'll, we'll. they'll. Alright let's do a little practice sentence.
This is a fun one. Let's pretend there's some strange food that you don't know if you want
to try it and you are with a friend and you might say to them 'I'll try it if you try
it.' Ok, so I'll try it if you try it. Ok, your turn. I'll try it if you try it. Good
job guys, number three coming right up.
Number three is elision. Now elision is how we miss out sounds or syllables in speech
to make again, to make life easier for ourselves. To make it easier for our tongue to pronounce
words and easier for us to communicate with each other. For example 'I don't know' not
"I don't know' 'I don't know'. 'What's the weather going to be like today?' 'I don't
know'. And instead of saying I don't know we make it easier for ourselves, we use elision
'I don't know'. Often it's on vowel sounds and vowel sounds that don't have a stress.
So again another example might be interest and I'm missing out that middle e. Not interest.
And we just lose it because we don't need it, we don't need to pronounce it. The meaning
can stay the same, you can still understand what I am saying but it's easier for me to
say interest not interest. Alright and another example 'I'm going to go home now'. Not 'I'm
going to go home' 'I'm going to go home now' So that's a great example of elision. Ok,
let's do an example together 'I love your new camera.' Camera, it's not camera, it's
camera. 'I love your new camera'. Ok, your turn. Ok, good job.
Number four is catenation. Catenation is when one word finishes with a consonant and the
next word begins with a vowel, how we blend those two together so it sounds like the second
word begins with the consonant. For example, the classic example would be 'an apple' so
it's not an apple, it's anapple. So it sounds like the word apple begins with n anapple.
An egg, so it's not an egg, it's anegg. Sounds really strange when you say it over and over
again. Let's look at an example sentence. 'He runs a start up business'. Start up, so
the t is the consonant, the u is the vowel but instead of saying start up, I'm saying
startup. 'Start up business' 'He runs a start up business' Ok, try and say that for me 'He
runs a start up business'. Ok, this one definitely takes some time to get used to. It's really,
again, really fantastic when you are listening to native speakers talking because it might
sound like one word when in fact it's two words. Alright another example 'He's in Italy
at the moment'. So he's in, so the s there, the consonant goes across to in. So instead
of saying he's in, it's he's in. 'He's in Italy at the moment.' Try that with me 'He's
in Italy at the moment.' Ok, your turn. Ok, once again practise and notice other people
making these sounds. It's a great beginning, so if you can start noticing other people
using these sounds then you can start using them yourself.
Finally the last little trick is all about Intrusion. Now intrusion is how we link words
together with three extra sounds w j and r. Now why do we do this? Well, again it makes
life so easy when we are talking. For example, instead of saying 'go away' i could say go
away. I'm adding the w sound in there 'go away' Now we have two vowel sounds go o a
away 'Go away' and it juts helps us to blend these two vowel sounds together to say it
much more clearly much more fluently. Now I have done a whole video on intrusion that
you can click on just up there on the link below. On the link above sorry and it will
take you through intrusion in a lot more depth. But essentially we're adding three sounds
w j and r. Another classic example 'I agree' so it's not 'I agree' it's 'I agree'. So I'm
adding the j sound in there. Alright, you are going to like this one, this is slightly
crazy. 'I want to go to England' Can you hear the intruding sound? 'I want to go to England'
England? Where is England? I don't know. So we've got to, ok the vowel is 'o' and then
England begins with a 'e', to England. So an intrusion of the 'w' sound, 'to England'
'I want to go to England'. Crazy , I know but it's so much easier to say 'I want to
go to England' than 'I want to go to England' that's not easy. Alright, practise that with
me 'I want to go to England'. Alright, make sure you get that 'England' 'i want to go
to England' Alright, good job. So remember, two vowel sounds, coming together at the end
of one word and at the beginning of another one we're going to add the intrusion r w or
j. Let me know in the comments below, which one did you find most useful? Those are five
really great tricks guys to help you with your pronunciation and of course your listening
because they are intertwined, they are connected because when we are listening people are using
pronunciation to express themselves and of course when we are trying to express our own
ideas we're using pronunciation so they are very much linked. So let me know in the comments
below which ones did you find interesting, useful, difficult? Now, my tip would be to
start small, ok? So don't try and use all of them all the time. Try and incorporate
one, choose one of those tricks and start to use it in your own English. Maybe just
by repeating it and recording yourself and then when you are in a conversation trying
to use it. You could also use it as listening practice so when you are next watching a TV
series, focusing on one trick for example elision and trying to listen for examples
of it. Ok, so now you are aware of it, it would be really great to try and listen and
to raise your awareness in other speakers English. And if you know anyone that would
find this video useful, please share it with them. If you are in an English class please
share it with your other classmates, share it with your teacher, share it with a friend
or a family member that's trying to learn English as well. Let's try and spread the
message so that everyone can improve their English with us. Don't forget that I've got
new videos every Tuesday and every Friday. Until next time guys, this is Tom the Chief
Dreamer, saying goodbye.