Well hey there I'm Emma from mmmEnglish!
Are you ready for today's lesson?
You are about to learn all of the secrets to help you understand
fast-talking native English speakers.
I want you to think back to the last time that you sat down
to watch an English movie
or maybe your favourite English TV series.
Have you been to the cinemas to watch the new Matrix movie?
Or maybe you've watched The Sex and the City reunion recently?
Or whatever else you're into. You've got your popcorn,
you've got your soft drink, you're looking forward to this show right
but then you start watching...
Come again?
Today you are going to learn exactly what native English speakers
do to speak fast so that you can understand more English
and so that you can sound more natural when you speak English
as well. There's lots to go through in this lesson
so I've created you a free worksheet so that you can go through
all of the pronunciation points that I explain in this lesson today.
There are some really common phrases and expressions to help
you practise out loud with me.
Make sure you click on the link down in the description below,
right below this video. Go and get that worksheet right now.
We're gonna watch my complete lessons about connected speech,
the secret to understanding fast-talking native English speakers.
Make sure you're ready to practise out loud with me,
that's what it's all about.
Let's get into it.
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I want you to loosen up, let your hair down and go with the flow
because you just won't hear a native English speaker say
I have got an awesome lesson for all of you today.
no no no no no.
In English, words bump into each other,
sometimes sounds change
new sounds can get added in
and sometimes sounds are dropped or just completely eliminated.
Natural pronunciation is not something that you can see,
you can't read it in a sentence and know exactly how
a native English speaker would say it.
So speaking naturally is really only a skill that you can develop
through practice by listening to native English speakers
and by trying it yourself
and that is exactly what we're going to do today.
We'll take a close look at linking, an important part of
natural pronunciation and I'll explain how it works,
where it happens and how you can use linking to reduce
your accent and sound more natural when you speak English.
Linking is an important part of connected speech in English
and there are three main categories to it.
Consonant to vowel linking.
Consonant to consonant linking.
And vowel to vowel linking.
Now if you haven't subscribed to the channel yet,
please do, click the subscribe button and the bell
so that I can tell you when the next lesson is ready.
And if you need to, just turn on the subtitles down there too.
The most important thing when talking about linking in English
is that we're talking about sounds, not letters.
Sounds that you can hear but not the letters that you can see
and this is really important to keep in mind.
We're talking about consonant sounds linking to vowel sounds
in quite particular situations.
When a word ends in a consonant sound and it's
followed by a word that starts with a vowel sound,
we can link them.
Trip over.
Hang out.
Clean up.
Consonant to vowel linking happens all the time
with phrasal verbs like this.
Now what happens all the time in English is that a word that ends
in a vowel letter on paper
can sometimes end in a consonant sound when spoken.
Can you think of any examples of this?
If you can write some of them in the comments.
They like it loud.
So here, like and it can link together.
Now if we just look at the spelling, like ends in E, a vowel letter.
But the E is silent in this word so like actually ends in a /k/ sound,
a consonant sound, like.
So with linking sounds
don't look for the letters, listen for the sounds.
This is the first clue to help you link words together
when you're speaking English.
All right, let's keep going.
With consonant to vowel linking the sounds blend,
they push together and this is how native English speakers
speak so quickly. We push our words together because it makes it
so much quicker and so much easier to say them.
When one word ends with a consonant sound and the next word
starts with the vowel sound, we can push them together.
The two sounds come together so that they flow.
Would you like a slice of cake?
Say it with me.
Would you like a slice of cake?
So can you tell me,
looking at this sentence where there is a word
that ends in a consonant sound followed by one that
starts with a vowel sound?
There are two examples here.
Like a and slice of.
Both of these vowels are unstressed so the sound actually
reduces to a schwa sound
and if you're not sure about what a schwa sound
is then check out this video next, it will explain everything.
But the /k/ sound from the end of like joins with the vowel schwa,
like a.
Hear how quick that is when you push those sounds together?
Like a.
There's no space between these sounds.
Don't take a breath, don't do anything like that,
just combine the two sounds together until they roll smoothly from the
/k/ to the sound so it becomes like one word.
Like a.
Now slice of follows the same rules. You blend the /s/ from the
end of slice and connect it to the schwa sound at the start of
of
which is pronounced of.
And so it's smooth and connected, moving from one to the other.
Slice of.
Would you like a slice of cake?
Okay so I think the rules are pretty clear here.
Consonant sounds at the end of a word link to a word
following that starts with a vowel sound. Simple.
But I'm going to put a sentence right here on the screen
and then I want you to listen to me say each sentence,
listen carefully because I want you to listen to how these
words connect. Look at the sentence, listen to me say it
and try and work out where this linking can happen.
You can write it in the comments so that it looks like this
using little dashes to link those words together.
Okay, ready.
It's hot today.
Okay.
She ate a piece of toast with avocado.
Where are the linking opportunities?
Ate a.
Piece of.
Ate a piece of.
She ate a piece of..
She ate a piece of toast with avocado.
Did you get those?
Did you hear how those sounds push together so the words
move together in your sentence.
Now speed it up, I want you to say it with me. Are you ready?
She ate a piece of toast with avocado.
Nice one.
Okay.
Did you get a new assignment?
Say it with me.
Did you get a new assignment?
So where in this question can we link words together?
Get a, for sure. Get a.
And new assignment.
Did you get a new assignment?
Remember that this is part one, there's more coming.
And while it may seem complicated at first,
this kind of linking is quite straightforward when you slow down
and you think about it.
You'll notice that lots of small and very common words start with
vowels, prepositions, articles, conjunctions.
These are all great places to start
practising linking and connected speech.
Remember to practise with your ears by imitating and copying
a native English speaker. This is a really great way to improve
your linking sounds and your natural expression.
Today we are going to concentrate on
consonant to consonant linking.
Small lake.
So here we have a word that ends in the consonant sound
and the word following also starts in the same consonant sound
so it makes sense to pull together these sounds right
so that they become one, it's much easier.
Small lake.
There's no pause there at all, no break in the sound.
It's just one continuous sound.
Small lake.
I went to Japan.
Went to.
I went to Japan.
Do you like my stylish shirt?
Stylish shirt.
Do you like my stylish shirt?
Now this all seems pretty straightforward, right?
Consonant followed by the same consonant.
You can push them together and make the sound flow quickly
without pausing between those two sounds.
Now there are some consonants that can link to different
consonants which is a little unusual but when that happens
the sound changes. It creates a different consonant sound.
So let's look at an example.
Would you buy it?
Now let's speed that up a bit to regular pace.
Would you buy it?
So can you hear that /dʒ/ sound in there?
Would you.
Now if we just say would by itself there's no /dʒ/ sound.
There's also no /j/ in you either, right?
So the D at the end of the word would
can link to the you at the start of you but when we do this
it creates a new sound. The /dʒ/ sound.
So actually in any situation where one word ends in a /d/
and it's followed by a word that starts with a /u/,
often it can combine to create the /dʒ/ sound.
Would and you, would you.
Could you?
Should you?
Did you?
Had you?
Do you?
Do you wanna?
So as the auxiliary verb do reduces down
to just the /d/ sound here
we can also link it just like the other examples to say:
Do you wanna?
And check out how that too reduces down to the schwa sound.
Instead of too, it's
The schwa is another important feature of fast connected speech
in English, in spoken English.
So if you need to check out what the schwa is,
maybe have a reminder, this whole lesson here focuses on
the schwa sound. It's a good one to watch next.
Now there is another exception that we need to talk about here.
Those times when a word ends in a /t/ sound
and it's also followed by the /j/ sound.
So there is a change in these sounds when we link them together.
The sounds /t/ and /j/
together can create /ʈʃ/
Did she hit you?
Don't you have one?
Don't you becomes don't you.
Don't you have one?
Didn't you?
Can't you?
See? There are so many really common word combinations there,
ones that you can definitely start practising
right now today even in simple conversations.
And there you have it!
They are the simple principles of consonant to consonant linking
in spoken English but now
I think we should practise a little.
Do you want to practise a little with me now?
She hates sandwiches with avocado.
So here in this sentence the /s/ at the end of hates
pulls together with the /s/ from sandwiches.
Hates sandwiches.
And the TH sound can link to the following vowel sound.
With avocado.
Did you get a new watch?
Where can we link here?
You're right!
Did you.
We can link there. We can link get a.
New watch.
Did you get a new watch?
She's always saying she'll live to a hundred and one.
Where can we link?
She's always, definitely.
She's always saying.
She'll live.
Hundred and.
So there's a cheeky little vowel to vowel link in there too by the way
if you know about those.
To a.
But that's the next lesson.
This is quite an advanced pronunciation lesson but I absolutely
recommend that you keep watching even if you don't
consider yourself an advanced student because understanding
how sounds influence each other and change in spoken English
will allow you to be aware of it,
it will allow you to hear connected speech when you're listening
to native speakers and help you to understand them more easily.
The way that native English speakers speak is just not perfect.
You won't hear a sentence where each word is perfectly
separated, well unless you're talking to Siri.
Hey Siri,
How old are you?
I am as old as the eastern wind
and as young as a newborn caterpillar.
And I'll show you how to link vowel sounds to vowel sounds
in spoken English and this can be a little tricky
so before we get started I need you to relax.
Don't worry about how these words are normally spoken,
just take it easy, listen to the sounds
and just try to copy the sounds that I make.
When we link consonants, we often connect or blend
or even sometimes change sounds into new sounds.
But linking vowel to vowel sounds is a little different.
We actually add
a new sound, a consonant sound
to link two vowel sounds together
which might sound a little crazy. I get that.
Emma, isn't the whole point of connected speech to make it easier
and faster to say a sentence?
Yes absolutely and it will make sense soon.
Once I explain all this to you.
We link vowel sounds when one word ends in a vowel sound
and the next word begins with a vowel sound.
It can feel kind of awkward or strange to link two vowel sounds.
It's not very natural.
It feels kind of strange, right? A little uncomfortable.
When we link vowel sounds to other vowel sounds, we actually
add a new sound to make it easier and quicker
to keep that sound happening.
All right but these sounds are not written.
They're - you can't see them and you can't hear them when you say
each word individually. It's only when they're pushed together.
Now remember, just because a word ends in a vowel
doesn't mean that it ends in a vowel sound.
You've got to be really careful with linking.
We're talking about sounds, not letters so you need to be
concentrating. For example, the word make ends in the letter E,
a vowel but the final sound is a consonant.
We don't say make,
we say make.
It ends in a consonant sound, the /k/ sound.
The word by ends in a consonant letter but the sound is a vowel
so we can link by to a word following if it starts with a vowel.
So don't focus on the letters that you see,
think about the sounds that you hear.
Close your eyes if you need to.
All right, enough talking. Let's look at some examples and
get going here.
I asked for two orders of chips.
Where are the linking opportunities that you see here?
Any opportunities to link vowel sounds.
Which words end with a vowel sound and then are followed
by words that start with a vowel sound.
I'll give you a few seconds to choose.
All right there are five vowel sounds at the beginning
or end of words in this sentence.
I asked for two orders of chips.
Now since we're focusing on vowel to vowel linking sound,
let's forget about of right now.
That's consonant to vowel linking right there.
I asked.
There is an extra sound in there if you can hear it.
I asked
We have to pay close attention to the vowel sounds here
and the position of our mouths as we make this sound. We have
I asked.
So we need to move our mouth quite a bit between these two
vowel sounds
and when we do that quickly, if we do that really quickly right now
that /j/ sound naturally occurs as we move quickly between those
sounds we naturally create that /j/
sound. It's one continuous sound, there's no break
between the vowel sounds.
Let's look at another example.
Two or three.
Can you hear that /w/ sound in there?
The most important thing to keep in mind while you're linking
sounds together is we're trying to create just one long continuous
sound. There's no pause, right? The sound flows from one sound
to the next and when we link vowel sounds, one of these two
sounds will naturally occur if the sound is unbroken.
Whether to add the /j/ or the /w/ sound will depend on
which vowels are being linked.
So the /j/ sound is added between words that end in the long
E and words that start with the short A, right?
Now you could write down and memorise all of these linking
sounds which is great. I really think that you should just try and
hear those sounds between the words.
It's pretty easy to hear the incorrect option or even to feel it
yourself if you say it out loud. It doesn't make sense to add /w/
between I asked
because your mouth has to come into this very tight
small position, right?
I asked.
It doesn't really make sense whereas the /j/ sound helps us to
flow between
I asked.
Let's try a few more examples together. I'm going to say
two words separately and I want you to link them.
Say them out loud wherever you are,
decide whether you need to use the /j/ or the /w/
sound to link these words, right? You need to say it out loud.
Ready?
Three oranges.
Did you add the /j/ sound?
That's correct.
What about high apartment?
High apartment.
Again the /j/ sound and notice that high ends with a GH
but it actually ends with a vowel sound, a little tricky?
High.
Do it.
This one is the /w/ sound. Did you get that?
She always.
The /j/ sound.
One more.
Go over.
This all makes sense, right?
Just practise combining these vowels
out loud, all right?
You can say them, you can whisper them, you can
yell them, whatever makes you say it out loud,
pull these vowel sounds together
and practise using those linking sounds
and while you're at it, can you think of any other examples
where you can add linking sounds between two vowels?
If you can think of some examples, add them to the comments.
Now there's an interesting little rule here for British English
pronunciation and Australian English pronunciation which is
how I speak. There's actually a third sound that you can link
between vowels. The /r/ consonant sound.
The linking R doesn't occur in American English pronunciation
because the R consonant sound is always pronounced
at the end of a word whereas in British English
or Australian English it's not.
Let's look at the number four as an example, it's pronounced four
in American English and four
in British English or Australian English.
You don't hear that consonant sound at all.
Now I talk about these pronunciation differences between
British and American English in this lesson here
if you want to go a bit further but the reason why it's important
now is the /r/ linking sound occurs between vowels in British
English pronunciation, all right? So look at this example.
Your eyes.
Now in British and Australian English pronunciation,
you don't hear that /r/ sound at the end. When it's pronounced,
the final sound of that word is a vowel sound. It's
as in door.
Your eyes.
So technically here I'm linking two vowel sounds together.
Your eyes.
And we do that with the linking R.
Let's practise some more.
Our olives.
Hear over.
Now this linking /r/ sound probably makes quite a bit of sense
to you since the letter itself is actually there
but I just wanted to highlight how this happens in British English
and Australian English so let's practise with a few example
sentences now. Listen for the extra linking sounds
and try to hear them yourself but I also want you to say
the sentence out loud. See if you can feel
which sound is the correct sound.
Saying it yourself is going to help you to feel that
transition between the vowel sounds, all right?
Practise as much as you can out loud and
as exaggerated as you can.
She asked her English teacher for help.
She takes care of her uncle because he's very old.
They got here the day after you arrived.
All right there you have it. We've covered three important areas of
connected speech in English:
consonant to vowel, consonant to consonant and now
vowel to vowel. Now you really have a good understanding
of connected speech in English, how it works, where it happens
and how you can use linking to speak more fluently
and to sound more natural as you speak, even speed up
your speech in some ways.
So let me know in the comments if you've enjoyed these lessons
about connected speech and if there are any other pronunciation
lessons that you want me to teach you.
Just remember that all of this takes practice.
You can't expect to just suddenly wake up and perfectly link
sounds in English, it takes regular practice,
both your ears and your mouth.
My imitation lessons are a great place to practise so you can
test out your linking skills right here in this lesson
or you can check out that one there which I've picked out
especially for you.
I'll see you in there!