can you say it with me now one two three
oh yeah
what is up I'm Ethan your real-life
English fluency coach and we have a new
type of lesson for you this week I'm
really excited about it by at the end of
this lesson you're going to see why fast
speaking natives are so difficult to
understand and you will even train your
pronunciation to speak more clearly and
fluently this week's lesson is all about
correct word stress in English and if
you wait until the end we even have a
test for you so let's jump into that but
first if you're new here please remember
to subscribe so we can bring you more
powerful lessons like this every single
week all right let's get into
all right to start off this video I'm
going to give you a quick lesson about
stress in English then we will look at
some real-life examples from friends and
finally we will test everything you
learned today so are you ready first in
order to understand stress in English
you need to learn that English is a
stressed timed language not a syllable
timed language civil time languages
stress every syllable in a sentence
about the same for example in languages
like Spanish Brazilian Portuguese or
Mandarin stressed time languages on the
other hand like Russian German and
English stressed some syllables
differently than others this may sound
confusing and scary but the good news is
that in English this is predictable
because it is divided between two types
of words content and function words to
illustrate this take a look at how I say
the following you can always spot
someone who's never seen one of his
plays before you may have noticed that
that's not how you're supposed to talk
but rather you need to stress the
content words and reduce the function
words now look at how Chandler says this
in this clip from friend's picture
sighting you can always spot someone
who's never seen one of this place
before you can always spot someone who's
never seen one of this place before
notice content words get more stressed
they sound louder they seem longer
they're higher in pitch and even sound
clearer content words always have a
strong vowel function words get less
stress they're shorter quicker and
de-emphasized they often drop consonants
or syllables they do not have strong
vowels but rather usually reduce the
vowel to a schwa sound or other weak
vowel sound
for example D becomes the can becomes
can for becomes fur and it even happens
with multiple words for example
is in a becomes shosanna stressed words
that is content words are heard more
clearly than others unstressed words
that is function words are squeezed
between stressed words in such a way
that many times they almost disappear so
it goes without saying that if you
stress function words it can make your
speech sound unnatural and in some cases
it can even convey a slightly different
meaning so I said this is predictable
right so you are probably wondering now
how do we identify content and function
words and content words the ones that
are usually stressed are generally nouns
main verbs adjectives adverbs
interjections question words like what
when and where and negatives auxilary
and modal verbs so function words the
ones that are usually unstressed are
articles particles auxiliary verbs model
verbs pronouns prepositions or
conjunctions so let me give you some
examples Dave goes to the store dick
goes the store with his daughter and
notice how even though these sentences
seem longer we say them in about the
same amount of time Dave goes to the
store Dave he's going to the store
David's gonna have gone to the store
they could have gone to the store no
wonder it seems like natives speak so
fast function words take almost no time
to say so if you want to make a phrase
longer you have to add content words and
what happens when you stress too many
syllables Dave could have gone to the
store verses difficult got in the store
she is going to buy a red car even
though she wants the pink one she's
gonna buy a red car
even though she wants a pink one the
kids have been playing at the playground
because I've been playing at the
playground as you can see not only is it
more tiring to speak this way but it
also sounds unnatural and robotic this
also shows you that natives are not
necessarily speaking fast rather because
we de-stress reduce and cut the function
words sentences become short
which to the untrained ear gives the
perception that we speak fast luckily
for you today you will begin training
your ears to these native stressed
tendencies and understand fast speaking
natives alright I think you have
probably got it down but even if you are
a little confused
don't worry because now we will look at
some real-world examples to help you
fully comprehend this concept
why do you have to break up with them
why do you have to break up with them be
a man just stop calling be a man just
stop calling your man Joey's picture so
exciting you can always spot someone
who's never seen one of this place
before you can always spot someone who's
never seen one of this place before
please could she be more out of my
league please could she be more out of
my league could she be more out of my
league he can never get a woman like
that in a million years he could never
get a woman like that in a million years
[Music]
so you can invite us all to the big
opening so you're gonna invite us all to
the big opening so you can invite us all
to the big opening no I don't even think
you just get one shot I mean I don't
even think you just get one shot
I don't even think you just get one shot
just wish there was something we could
do just wish there was something we
could do what do you want me to do with
a dozen lasagnas what do you want me to
do with a dozen lasagnas what do you
want me to do with a dozen lasagnas you
guys are always hanging out in my
apartment you guys are always hanging
out in my apartment you're always
hanging out my apartment I love her
books I cannot get on a plane without
one I love her books I cannot get on a
plane without one I love her books I
cannot get on a plane without one man
I'm sure your little boy's not gonna
grow up to be one man I'm sure your
little boys not gonna grow up to be one
but I'm sure your little boys not gonna
grow up to be one
now for your test if you really want to
make the most of it
I recommend grabbing a pen and paper so
here is how it's going to work
first we will show you the text on the
screen second you need to try to guess
which are the content and which are the
function words third we will play you a
video one time fast and then one time
slow fourth we will show you the text on
the screen again and you should consider
if you still think you are right and
five finally we will give you the
correct answer so are you ready yep
Chandler you've been there for five
years
yeah Chandler you've been here for five
years yep Chandler you've been here for
five years he's opening up a restaurant
and he's looking for a head chef
he's opening up a restaurant and he's
looking for a head chef
you guys want to try to catch a late
movie or something you guys try to catch
you later
you guys want to try to catch a late
movie or something
maybe but ha yeah I hope you had a ton
of fun with today's lesson be sure to
let us know what you thought about this
new format in the comments below and if
you want to continue learning like this
then I highly recommend you check out
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will help you to understand fast
speaking natives improve your
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thanks again for joining us today now go
out there and kick ass with your English
oh yeah