Understanding native speakers and fast English isn’t about understanding the sounds of
American English, it’s about all the other things: linking, reductions. The more you
study them, the more effortlessly you’ll be able to speak fast English and understand
native speakers.
Today, we’re going to do just that in 18 conversations and monologues. Here’s the
first one we’ll study with the analysis we’ll do together.
>> Tom, what did you do today?
>> Today I woke up and I went for a run and um, then I just worked.
>> So, where do you run?
>> I run in Fort Greene Park, in Brooklyn.
>> So, what are you doing after this?
>> After this, nothing.
>> No plans. / No plans.
>> Should we get dinner?
>>Yeah.
Now, let's do an in depth analysis to study all these important parts.
Linking, reductions, flap Ts, stress and so on.
>> Tom, what did you do today?
>> Today I woke up
Tom, what did you do today? Lots of interesting things happening here. I noticed first of
all that I’ve dropped the T here: what did, what did, what did you do? I’m also noticing
I’m getting more of a J sound here, j-ou, j-ou. Whuh-dih-jou, dih-jou. So the D and
the Y here are combining to make the J sound. So we have wuh-dih-jou, what did you [3x].
Tom, what did you do today? The other thing I notice is that the T here is really more
of a flap sound, a D, do duh-, do duh-, do today, this is most definitely a schwa, so
we’re reducing this unstressed syllable to be the schwa. Today, today, do today, to
today. Tom, what did you do today?
>> Tom, what did you do today? >> Today? >> Today.
>> Today I woke up…
Now here we have ‘today’ three times. Always, the first syllable is reduced to the
schwa sound, but I’m noticing that these T’s are all True T’s, and not Flap T’s.
That’s because they are beginning sentences. So, we’re not going to reduce that to a
Flap T. In the case up here, ‘do today’, it came, the T in ‘today’, came in between
a vowel, ‘do’, the OO vowel, and the schwa sound. And that’s why we made this a flap
sound. But here we’re beginning a sentence, so we’re going to go ahead and give it the
True T sound—though we will most definitely reduce to the schwa. Today.
>> Today? >> Today. [3x] >> Tom, what did you do today?
>> Today? >> Today. >> Today I woke up…
Everything was very connected there, and I know that when we have something ending in
a vowel or diphthong sound, and the next word beginning in a vowel or diphthong sound, that
we want that to really glide together, today I [3x]. And anytime we have a word that begins
with a vowel, we want to say, hmm, does the word before end in a consonant sound? It does.
It ends in the K consonant sound, woke up, woke up. So, to help us link, we can almost
think of it as beginning the next word, wo-kup, woke up. Today I woke up.
>> Today? >> Today. >> Today I woke up, and I went for a run.
And I went for a run. Tom dropped the D here, connected this word ‘and’ to ‘I’,
‘and I’ [3x]. This was the schwa sound, so he’s reduced ‘and’. And I, and I,
and I went for a run. For a, for a. Tom reduced the vowel in the word ‘for’ to the schwa.
And we’ve connected these two function words together, for a, for a, for a, this is also
a schwa. For a, for a, for a run, for a run, and I went for a run. Can you pick out the
two stressed words here? Went, run. Those are the words that have the most shape in
the voice. The most length: and I went for a run. And I went for a run. Again, he’s
got the intonation going up here at the end, because, comma, he’s giving us a list here.
And there’s more information about to come.
>> Today I woke up, and I went for a run. [3x]
And, um, then I just worked.
And, um… Now here, Tom did pronounce the D, he linked it to the next word, beginning
with a vowel, which is just this thought-word that we say when we’re thinking, and um,
and um. Again, the intonation of the voice is going up at the end, and um, signaling,
comma, not a period, more information coming.
And, um, [3x] then I just worked.
Worked, worked, then I just worked. Here, finally, we have the intonation of the voice
going down at the end. So we know, period, end of the sentence, end of the thought. Then
I: he connected this ending consonant to the beginning vowel, the diphthong ‘ai’, I,
to smooth that out. Then I, then I, then I just worked. Did you notice? Tom dropped the
T here. We did not get ‘just worked’, ‘just worked’. He didn’t release it.
This happens often when we have a word that ends in a cluster with a T when the next word
also begins with a consonant. In these cases, often, the T will get dropped. I just worked. [3x]
Do you notice that the -ed ending is pronounced as a T sound. That’s because
the sound before, the K, is unvoiced. So this ending will also be unvoiced. Worked, worked.
…and I went for a run. And, um, then I just worked. [3x]
>> So, where do you run?
So, where do you run? Now, this is a question, but did you notice the intonation went down
at the end? Run, run. That’s because it’s a question that cannot be answered with just
‘yes’ or ‘no’. Yes/no questions go up in pitch at the end. All other questions
tend to go down in pitch at the end. Where do you run? Do you hear the stressed words
in that question? Where, run. So, where do you run? Longer words, more up/down shape
of the voice. Where, run. So where do you run?
>> So, where do you run? [3x] >> I run in Fort Greene Park.
What do you hear as being the stressed syllables there?
>> I run in Fort Greene Park. [3x]
I run in Fort Greene Park. I hear da-da-da-DAA-DAA-DAA. Definitely I hear ‘Fort’, ‘Greene’,
and ‘Park’ all being longer, all having that shape in the voice. I run in Fort Greene
Park. Also, ‘I’ is a little more stressed than ‘run in’. I, I, DA-da-da, DA-da-da,
I run in, I run in, run in, run in. So those two words are really linked together because
we have and ending consonant and a beginning vowel. Run in, run in, I run in, I run in
Fort Greene Park.
>> I run in Fort Greene Park. [3x] In Brooklyn.
In Brooklyn. Brooklyn, a two syllable word. One of the syllables will be stressed. What
do you hear as being stressed? Brooklyn, Brooklyn. Definitely it’s that first syllable. Brook-,
Brook-, Brooklyn, Brooklyn.
>> In Brooklyn. [3x] >> So, what are you doing after this?
So, what are you doing after this? How was I able to say so many words quickly, but still
be clear? First of all, I’m dramatically reducing the word ‘are’ to the schwa-R
sound, er, er. That means the T here is now coming between two vowel sounds, and I’m
making that a flap T sound, which sounds like the D between vowels. What are [3x]. Also
the word ‘you’ is unstressed, so it’s going to be in that same line, what are you [4x]
, very fast, quite flat, lower in volume. What are you doing? Now here we have a stressed
word, do-, doing. Doing, what are you doing? Do you hear how the syllable ‘do’ sticks
out of that phrase more than anything else? What are you doing? [2x] After this. Another
stressed word here. So what are you doing after this? [2x]
>> So, what are you doing after this? [3x] >> After this, nothing.
Tom’s speaking a little bit more slowly than I am here. After this, nothing. We have
two 2-syllable words here. Which syllable is stressed? Let’s take first the word ‘after’.
If you think you hear the first syllable as being stressed, you’re right. Af-, after,
-ter, -ter, -ter. The second syllable: very low in pitch, flat, and quick. After. What
about the word ‘nothing’? Again, it’s the first syllable. ING endings, even though
this isn’t an ING verb, will be unstressed. Nothing, no-, no-, nothing.
>> After this, nothing. [3x] >> No plans. >> No plans.
Nothing reduces in this phrase. I’m really hearing this as two different stressed words.
They’re both one syllable, no plans. No plans.
>> No plans. >> No plans. [3x] >> Should we get dinner? >> Yeah.
Should we get dinner? One of the things that I notice is that I’m dropping the D sound:
should we, should we. Should we get [3x]. That’s helping me say this less-important
word even faster. Should we get dinner?
>> Should we get dinner? [3x]
I notice that the T here is a Stop T, I don’t release it. It’s not ‘get dinner’, it’s
get, get, get, get dinner, get dinner. Should we get dinner?
>> Should we get dinner? [3x]
Do you notice, in this question my voice does go up in pitch at the end. Dinner, dinner.
That’s because this is a yes/no question. Pitch goes up. Should we get dinner? Yeah.
As you probably know, a more casual way to say ‘yes’. Should we get dinner? Yeah.
>> Should we get dinner? >> Yeah.
Here’s the conversation again. You’re going to see out markings on screen. You’ll
actually hear the conversation three times to help you really take in what you’re seeing.
>> Tom, what did you do today? >> Today I woke up and I went for a run and
um, then I just worked.
>> So, where do you run?
>> I run in Fort Greene Park, in Brooklyn.
>> So, what are you doing after this?
>> After this, nothing.
>> No plans. / No plans.
>> Should we get dinner?
Page Break
>>Yeah.
>> Tom, what did you do today? >> Today I woke up and I went for a run and
um, then I just worked.
>> So, where do you run?
>> I run in Fort Greene Park, in Brooklyn.
>> So, what are you doing after this?
>> After this, nothing.
>> No plans. / No plans.
>> Should we get dinner?
>>Yeah.
>> Tom, what did you do today? >> Today I woke up and I went for a run and
um, then I just worked.
>> So, where do you run?
>> I run in Fort Greene Park, in Brooklyn.
>> So, what are you doing after this?
>> After this, nothing.
>> No plans. / No plans.
>> Should we get dinner?
>>Yeah.
That was Tom, my colleague and great friend. You’re going to see some more conversations
with him in this video. But first, another dear friend, Laura. We’re grocery shopping.
Just casual conversation between two friends. Let’s see the conversation and then we’ll
study it.
I just got my first weird look.
But you know what? At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter.
I know.
At the end of the day, it’s the students who matter.
That’s right.
Ok green beans.
Ooo.
Cranberries.
Fresh.
Oh yeah.
Oh, and I was hoping that we wouldn’t have to buy a huge bag. How many do we need?
And now for that analysis.
I just got my first weird look.
But you know what? At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter.
I know.
At the end of the day, it’s the students who matter.
That’s right.
Ok green beans.
Ooo.
Cranberries.
Fresh.
Oh yeah.
Oh, and I was hoping that we wouldn’t have to buy a huge bag. How many do we need?
Now, the analysis.
I just got my first weird look.
I just got my first weird look. The words that I hear being the most stressed there
are just, weird, and look. They’re a little bit longer: So I just got my first weird look.
Let’s talk about the pronunciations of T here. They’re interesting.
First, we have a stop T in ‘got my’. This is how we usually pronounce an ending T when
the next word begins with a consonant. Got my– So it’s not: gah my– gah my– with
a continuous flow of sound but it’s: got my– got– an abrupt stop for the word,
then the word ‘my’. Got my- We stopped the air in our throat and that signifies the
stop T.
Got my–
The other two T’s are also ending T’s but now they’re part of a cluster, the ST
cluster and it’s very common when a T is between two other consonants, to drop that
T. So if you look, when we link the two words together, which we always do with a thought
group, the T’s now come between two consonants. So we will drop them.
This is so common with ST ending clusters. When the next word begins the consonant, we
drop it. So the word ‘just’ is a very common word and when it is followed by a consonant
word, we drop that T sound. So instead of ‘I just got’ it becomes ‘I just got’
Just got- The S sound right into the G.
Does this sound familiar to you? Do you think you’ve heard Americans doing this? It’s
really common.
Just got-
Just got my first weird look.
And for ‘first weird’, we pronounce that: first weird- firsts weird- Right from the
S into the W and this helps us link the two words more smoothly, and we always like a
smooth line in American English.
First weird look.
But you know what? At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter.
She’s speaking really quickly here: But you know what? At the end of the day, it doesn’t
matter. So even though she’s speaking really quickly, some of the syllables are a little
bit longer and that’s what helps make it clear to a native listener. Let’s just look
at the first sentence: But you know what? ‘Know’ and ‘what’ both a little bit
longer, we have a stop T at the end of ‘what’. But you know what? The intonation goes up
at the end, it’s a yes/no question.
But you know what?
What about ‘but’ and ‘you’? She pronounces that so quickly: but you- but you- She actually
drops the T which isn’t that common in general but in this phrase, which is pretty common,
But you know what? Or You know what? We say that quite a bit and in a phrase that’s
more common, we tend to do even more reductions because of the familiarity. We know that it
will still be understood.
So it’s very common to pronounce this phrase: But you know what? But you- But you- But you-
But you- These two words linked together, said very quickly, become just the B sound
and the schwa, buh- buh- buh- then the Y sound, and the schwa, a common reduction of the word
‘you’. But you- But you- But you- But you know what? But you know what? But you
know what?
But you know what? At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter.
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter. ‘End’ a little bit longer. At the end–
At the end– Of the day– It doesn’t ma–tter.
So those syllables are a little bit longer which provides a little contrast with her
very fast speech, her very fast unstressed words. And we do need this contrast of stressed
and unstressed to sound natural in American English. So let’s look at the unstressed
words ‘at’ and ‘the’.
At the end of the day-
It’s actually ‘at the’ and the vowel is so fast. This can either be the whole AH
vowel or it can be the schwa: but- but- but- or at- at- at- at-
At the end of the day–
It doesn’t really matter. What matters is that it said incredibly quickly. We have a
stop T so the word ‘at’ is cut off a little abrupt. You stop the air in your throat and
the E here is pronounced as the EE as in she vowel because the next word begins with a
vowel or diphthong sound. If the next word began with a consonant sound, then it would
be: the- which is what we get here.
Here, it’s pronounced as the schwa because the next sound is a consonant sound. So we
have ‘the end’ and ‘the day’. But of course it’s not pronounced that clearly,
is it? Because this isn’t an important word, so it’s: at the– at the– at the– at the–
at the end of the day–
‘Of’ and ‘the’ becomes: of the– of the– The whole word ‘of’ is reduced
to just the schwa, which we link on to the word ‘the’. of the– of the– of the–
end of the day– end of the day– at the end of the day–
end of the day–
So making these less important words really quickly helps provide the contrast we need.
Practice that with me. at the- at the- at the-
at the end of the day--
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter.
The words ‘it’ and ‘doesn’t’ also said pretty quickly. Another stop T here.
It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter.
It doesn’t matter.
It doesn’t matter. Now I think I hear the T here being totally dropped as well. This
is pretty common. We either drop the T or we make it sort of a nasal stop sound to signify
the NT: doesn’t– nt– nt– nt– nt– But here, I think she’s just making the
N sound glide right into the M sound: doesn’t matter– And because of that smooth connection,
there’s no stop. It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter.
The word ‘it’ very quick stop after ‘it’ but these two words are still said pretty
quickly: it doesn’t– It doesn’t matter. And then the stressed syllable ah with the
AH vowel in ‘matter’ and then we have a
flap T: matter. – It doesn’t matter.
– I know. – It doesn’t matter.
I know. I know. I know. So I said this at the same time she was saying doesn’t matter.
I know. It’s a two-word phrase and stress is on the word ‘know’ but the pitch of
the whole phrase is smooth. It’s not: I know. But it’s this smooth line connecting.
I know. It’s the smooth change in pitch.
This rise and fall of intonation that makes one of the characteristics of American English.
Smooth transitions. We want the words to be linked. We want the change in intonation to
be smooth so that nothing’s choppy. I know.
I know.
At the end of the day–
At the end of the day. Now here I definitely reduce the vowel to the schwa: but at- Stop
T. At the end of the day– Again, the whole phrase is very smooth. At the end of the day-
with ‘end’ and ‘day’ being a little bit longer, also having that peak in intonation.
Again, the letter E here makes the EE as in she vowel because the next word begins with
a vowel sound. And here it makes the schwa because the next word begins with a consonant.
So we have: at the– at the end– and then I also drop the V sound and make just the
schwa. of the– of the– of the– of the– These two words said very quickly: of the
day–
At the end of the day–
At the end of the day, it’s the students who matter.
It’s the students who matter. And here ‘stu-‘ is the most stressed syllable of that phrase.
Ma– also a little stressed.
Again, we have a flap T here: matter- It’s the students who matter. It’s the- said
quickly: it’s the- it’s the- it’s the-
it’s the stu–
Stu– dents who– dents who– dents who–
Students–
Then these two syllables more quickly. Ma– another little stretch. It’s the students
who matter. Aaahhhh– Smooth change in intonation with peaks on the stressed syllables.
It’s the students who matter.
That’s right.
That’s right. That’s right. That’s right. The TH sound here not terribly clear. She’s
not bringing the tongue tip through the teeth for it but she’s pressing the tongue tip
on the backs of the teeth where the top and bottom teeth meet. that’s- that’s- that’s-
that’s- that’s- That’s right. It allows us to make that sound a little bit more quickly.
That’s right.
Now here, we have the TS cluster into the R. All of these sounds are pronounced. we
get ts– and then er– That’s right. That’s right. But this is a stop T where we cut off
the air, the pitch doesn’t fall down slowly. We have an abrupt stop. Right– right–
That’s right.
Right–
Okay, green beans.
Okay, green beans. ‘Green’ most stressed word in that phrase and the pitch is all smooth.
Okay, green beans. The pitch goes up, energy builds towards the stressed word, and then
it falls away: beans– afterwards.
Green beans.
While I say that, Laura says: Oooh. Oooh. Oooh. Just a little exclamation you make when
you notice something or something’s important, you want to call attention to it or if you
get excited about something. Oooh. Look at that.
– Green beans. – Oooh.
Cranberries.
Cranberries. Cranberries. Stress is on the first syllable there. That’s a
three-syllable word, so the first syllable is ‘cran’ and the last two syllables are:
berries- berries- berries- They’re a little less clear, a little bit more mumbled, that’s
how unstressed syllables sound. Cranberries.
Cranberries.
Fresh.
Fresh. Fresh. What do you notice about the intonation of that word? Fresh. It moves up
and down. And that is the shape of a stressed syllable. Fresh. Fresh. Fresh. We don’t
want flat pitches in American English.
Fresh.
Oh yeah.
Oh yeah. Oh yeah. A little unclear because my head is turned so I’m not facing the
mic. Oh yeah. But you can still hear that the intonation is nice and smooth. Oh yeah.
Oh yeah. The words linked together. There’s no separation of the two words.
Oh yeah.
Oh, and I was hoping–
Oh. Oh. This is like ‘ooh’ it’s just a filler word, an exclamation: Oh. Oh. Do
you need some lip rounding for the second half of that diphthong? Oh.
Oh.
Oh. And I was hoping that we wouldn’t have to buy a huge bag.
And I was hoping that we wouldn’t have to buy a huge bag. Ho–. Buy a huge bag. These
are the words that I hear being the most stressed here.
The word ‘and’ is reduced we dropped the D: And I was– And I was– And I was–
And I was–
And in the word ‘was’, we reduced the vowel from the UH as in butter to the schwa.
That just means it’s said even more quickly with less jaw drop, a little less clarity.
I was– was– was– was–
And I was–
So these three words a little less clear than the stress word: ho- hoping- Flatter in pitch,
said more quickly:
And I was hoping that we wouldn’t have to buy–
That we wouldn’t have to buy– That we wouldn’t have to buy—What’s happening
here? We have: that we wouldn’t have to– and then a little bit longer on ‘buy’.
So how are we saying these words so quickly? The word ‘that’, we reduce the vowel to
the schwa so that we can say it more quickly. That– that– that– Stop T. That we–
That we– That we– That we wouldn’t have to–
That we wouldn’t have to–
That we wouldn’t have to buy–
Wouldn’t have to buy– that we– that we– wouldn’t have to buy– wouldn’t
have to- wouldn’t have to- So again, I think I’m hearing this as a dropped T. Just an
N sound going right into the H. Wouldn’t have to- The vowel here reduces to the schwa
and when we have an ending V linking into to, linking into the word ‘to’ which begins
with the T, it’s often in this two-word combination to change the V sound to an F
because T is unvoiced.
So this becomes unvoiced. The V unvoiced is the F. have to- have to- have to- have to-
Try that with me. have to- have to– have to–
have to–
that we wouldn’t have to- that we wouldn’t have to- that we wouldn’t have to-
that we wouldn’t have to-
What do you have to do to be able to say those words that quickly? We have to simplify mouth
movements. We have to produce some of the sounds and the pitch doesn’t change as much,
it stays lower and flatter. There is not quite as much energy in the voice. All of these
things are part of the important contrast between stressed and unstressed syllables.
That we wouldn’t have to–
That we wouldn’t have to buy a huge bag.
A huge bag- Uh- The schwa said very quickly. ‘Huge’ a little bit longer and then ‘bag’
has more of that up-down shape of stress. a huge bag–
a huge bag–
How many do we need?
You know, that grocery store made me kind of hungry and this next one does too. This one
is just me talking about what I love for breakfast.
Before the conversation, I want to quickly though thank everyone who started supporting
my channel through the channel memberships. You guys are awesome! Click the join button
to find out how you can support my channel and get perks like audio lessons and private
posts. Okay here’s the conversation.
This morning for breakfast, I had Barbara’s Shredded Oats with milk. This is my favorite
breakfast. But sometimes, I do have eggs.
And now for that analysis.
This morning for breakfast. One of the first things I notice is how much this S and M were
connected. This morning, this morning. It’s almost like the S went on the next word: smorning,
smorning. This morning.
This morning for breakfast.
Did you notice how I pronounced the word ‘for’? That was reduced to ‘fer’, ‘fer’,
‘fer’. Very quick, with the schwa/R sound. For, for, for breakfast.
This morning for breakfast.
Also I notice the rhythm here. Morn and break- are the two stressed syllables. This morning
for breakfast. They have that swooping up and then down shape of the voice that makes
up a stressed syllable. Let’s listen in slow motion.
This morning for breakfast.
This morning for breakfast, I had Barbara’s Shredded Oats with milk.
What do you hear as being the stressed syllables? I hear Barbara’s, Shredded, and milk. What
else do you notice?
I had Barbara’s Shredded Oats with milk.
I notice that ‘Barbara’s’ is only two syllables, even though it looks like it might
be three. We sort of leave this middle sound out here. Barb-ra’s, -ra’s. Also note
this apostrophe S is the Z sound. That’s because the sound before is voiced, so the
apostrophe S is also voiced. Zzz, zz, -ra’s, -ra’s. Barbara’s. I also notice that the
ED ending here is pronounced as the IH as in ‘sit’ vowel, D sound. That’s because
the sound before was a D. ED endings are among the few cases in American English that follow
regular rules.
I had Barbara’s Shredded Oats with milk.
I notice that the word ‘with’ is not reduced, but it’s very flat in pitch because it is
unstressed. With with, with. It’s also quite fast. With milk, with, with, with, with milk.
I had Barbara’s Shredded Oats with milk.
Let’s listen in slow motion.
I had Barbara’s Shredded Oats with milk.
This is my favorite breakfast.
What was stressed in that sentence? I heard fav- and break-. Also, these three words,
‘this is my’, those were incredibly fast. Listen again.
This is my favorite breakfast.
So this string of three unstressed words, this is my, this is my.this is my,this is
my,very fast, and very connected. I also notice that the word ‘favorite’ was only pronounced
with two syllables, as if this letter was dropped. Fav-rit, favorite, favorite.
This is my favorite breakfast.
I’m also noticing this T pronunciation. The final T in ‘favorite’ was pronounced
as a stop. Favorite, favorite, favorite breakfast. So, there was no release, tt, of the T sound.
Favorite breakfast. Let’s listen in slow motion.
This is my favorite breakfast.
But sometimes, I do have eggs.
Did you notice the lift here, where the comma is? But sometimes, I do have eggs. There was
just a little pause there for the punctuation. I also noticed how I stressed the word ‘do’.
I do, I do have eggs.
But sometimes, I do have eggs.
The word ‘eggs’, even though it’s a content word, a noun, which is usually stressed,
doesn’t have that much stress, I notice, because it’s at the end of a sentence. I
do have eggs. Eggs, eggs, with just a little curve up, and then down in the voice. I do
have eggs. Also, the plural ending here, S, is pronounced as a Z. That’s because the
sound before, the G sound, is a voiced consonant. Eggs, eggs. Let’s listen in slow motion.
But sometimes, I do have eggs.
So, just three little sentences. But we really were able to study a lot about American English
pronunciation. Let’s listen once in slow motion.
This morning for breakfast, I had Barbara’s Shredded Oats with milk This is my favorite
breakfast. But sometimes, I do have eggs.
And now, the conversation three times.
This morning for breakfast, I had Barbara’s Shredded Oats with milk. This is my favorite
breakfast. But sometimes, I do have eggs.
This morning for breakfast, I had Barbara’s Shredded Oats with milk. This is my favorite
breakfast. But sometimes, I do have eggs.
This morning for breakfast, I had Barbara’s Shredded Oats with milk. This is my favorite
breakfast. But sometimes, I do have eggs.
Have you ever felt nervous about starting or ending a phone conversation. Let’s do
an analysis. Here are the parts.
Hey mom! What’s up?
Not much. How are you? Pretty good.
What are you doing? Roberta and Ernie are here.
Oh, that’s right!
Alright, well, have a good dinner tonight. Okay. We’ll have fun.
Alright, well, talk to you guys soon. Enjoy New York.
I will. Thank you. Bye.
Alright, bye.
And now, for that analysis.
Hey mom! What’s up?
Not much. How are you?
What would you say about the stress of those first two words? Hey mom!
Hey mom!
To me, those sound like they’re both stressed. Hey– mom!
Hey mom! Hey mom!
They both have huh— huh— a little bit of that up down stress in the voice. Hey mom!
It’s hard to hear my mom’s response because it’s through the phone.
What’s up? What’s up?
What’s up? With the intonation going up.
What’s up?
Very smooth and connected. The TS connected to the UH vowel. What’s up?
Not much. How are you?
Not much. How are you? I made a Stop T at the end of ‘not’. We do this when the
next word begins with a consonant. Not much. How are you?
How did I pronounce the word ‘are’? Not much. How are you? I reduced it to the schwa
R sound. Howwer– howwer– and connected it to the word before. Howwer– howwer–
Not much. How are you? How are you? How are you? With the pitch going down.
Not much. How are you?
Pretty good!
Pretty good! How are those Ts pronounced?
Pretty good! Pretty good!
Like a Flap T or D. Pretty. Pretty. Pretty good!
These phrases are typical of starting a phone conversation. You ask a person how they are.
How are you? And they ask you how you are. What’s up? Generally, you give little generic
responses. Not much, pretty good. This is small talk.
Hey mom! What’s up!
Not much. How are you? Pretty good!
What are you doing? Roberta and Ernie are here.
Oh, that’s right.
Again, the word ‘are’. What are you doing?
I reduced it to the schwa R sound whatterr– whatter— So the T became a Flap T between
vowels. What are you doing? Whatter– it sounds like one word, water. Water. What are
you doing? I dropped the G to make just an N sound instead of an NG sound.
What are you doing? What are you doing?
Roberta and Ernie are here.
Roberta and Ernie are here. The word ‘and’ was reduced to nn– Roberta and Ernie are
here. Nn– Roberta and Ernie
Roberta and Ernie are here. Roberta and Ernie are here. Again, R reduced
to the schwa R sound Ernie –err Roberta and Ernie are here.
Roberta and Ernie are here.
Oh, that’s right.
How is the T pronounced in ‘right’?
Oh, that’s right! –that’s right!
It was a Stop T. So we make a Stop T, unreleased, when the next sound is a consonant or at the
end of a sentence or thought.
Oh, that’s right.
Alright, well have a good dinner tonight. Okay, we’ll have fun.
And now, phrases you use when getting of the phone as you wrap up a conversation.
Alright, well, have a good dinner tonight. Okay, we’ll have fun.
It’s common for people to ‘have fun’ or ‘have a good time’ with what they’re
doing next. Here I’m commenting on their plans for dinner tonight.
Alright, well, have a good dinner tonight. In order to make this first word very quickly,
I dropped the L and make a Stop T.
Alright, well, have a good dinner tonight. Arright– arright– I also don’t put these
commas in, do I?
Alright, well, have a good dinner tonight.
I go straight to them without a pause. The first syllable of ‘dinner’ is stressed.
Have a good dinner tonight. Have a good dinner tonight. Have a good dinner
tonight.
And it’s the clearest syllable in that phrase. Notice ‘tonight’ is pronounced with the
schwa. We want to do this all the time. Tonight, tomorrow, i both of those words, the letter
O makes the schwa sound.
Tonight. How is the T pronounced?
Have a good dinner tonight. Tonight–
Another Stop T at the end of a sentence. Here again we’re entering small talk to get off
the phone. I tell my mom to have a good time. She responds ‘okay, we’ll have fun.’
Alright, well, have a good dinner tonight. Okay. We’ll have fun.
The intonation of ‘okay’ goes up. It shows that she’s not done talking yet. She’s
going to saw one more thing. Okay. We’ll have fun. The word ‘fun’ then goes down
in pitch. So I know it’s the end of her thought.
Okay. We’ll have fun. Alright, well, talk to you guys soon.
Enjoy New York. I will, thank you!
My next phrase again starts with ‘alright, well,’
Alright, well, talk to you guys soon. And again, to make that first word very fast,
I drop the L and make a Stop T. Alright well– alright well–
Alright, well, talk to you guys soon! Talk to you guys soon.
Talk and soon, both stressed, both have the up-down shape. Talk to you guys soon. Talk
to you guys soon.
Talk to you guys soon.
The less important words like ‘too’ are very fast. I reduced the vowel into the schwa.
Te– te– talkte– talkte– talk to you guys soon. More small talk. Now, my mom is
wishing me well and telling me to enjoy what I’m doing.
Alright, well, talk to you guys soon Enjoy New York.
Enjoy, have fun, these are the kinds of phrases we say when ending a phone conversation.
Enjoy New York. I will, thank you!
Bye. Alright, bye!
And I just respond generically with a confirmation ‘I will.’
I will, thank you.
Bye.
My mom actually says buhbye, doesn’t she? She makes the B sound twice. Buh-bye! This
is short for ‘bye’. Bye. Just --
And now, the conversation three times.
Hey mom. What’s up?
Not much. How are you? Pretty good.
What are you doing? Roberta and Ernie are here.
Oh, that’s right. Alright, well, have a good dinner tonight.
Okay. We’ll have fun. Alright, well, talk to you guys soon.
Enjoy New York. I will. Thank you.
Bye. Alright, bye.
Hey mom. What’s up?
Not much. How are you? Pretty good.
What are you doing? Roberta and Ernie are here.
Oh, that’s right. Alright, well, have a good dinner tonight.
Okay. We’ll have fun. Alright, well, talk to you guys soon.
Enjoy New York. I will. Thank you.
Bye. Alright, bye.
Hey mom. What’s up?
Not much. How are you? Pretty good.
What are you doing? Roberta and Ernie are here.
Oh, that’s right. Alright, well, have a good dinner tonight.
Okay. We’ll have fun. Alright, well, talk to you guys soon.
Enjoy New York. I will. Thank you.
Okay, now let’s play a game. I’m with my family and I have to get them to guess
as many words as I can in a minute.
Team two, listen up. -I’m looking at you.
-Woot, woot! Three, two, one.
Okay. This is something that you use to sweep the floor, and you plug it in.
– Broom. – No, you plug it in. Vacuum. – Uh, it’s
two words. – Vacuum cleaner.
And now, for that analysis.
Team two, listen up. -I’m looking at you.
-Woot, woot! Three, two, one.
Team two, listen up. So we had divided our family into two teams and both ‘team’
and ‘two’ are stressed. Team two. But ‘two’ is the most stressed because that
is the part that makes it different from team one. And actually, I wrote that poorly. That
should look like this. Team two.
In English, we don’t want choppy words within a thought group. We don’t want them to feel
separate. We always want them to feel very connected. The intonation, the pitch, always
changes smoothly. Team two. So the ending M right into the T with no break. Team two, listen up.
Team two
listen up.
Again here, it links together. Smooth: Listen up. The T in listen is always silent. The
ending N linking into the beginning vowel. Nup— listen up.
Listen up.
What’s going on with the P here? I’m not releasing it. Up. Ppp– I’m not releasing
it with a puff of air, my lips closed, that cuts off the sound, that’s the stop part
of the stop consonant. But then they don’t open releasing the air.
This is fairly normal. It’s fairly common to drop the release part of a stop consonant
when it comes at the end of a thought group. Listen up. You can see my lips come together.
Listen up.
That gives the idea of the P and then that’s it. I move on to my next phrase. ‘Listen
up’ is a phrasal verb. How is it different from ‘listen’? It’s something you would
use if you’re trying to get the attention of someone or even more often, of a group
of people.
This is something you might say if you feel like people have not been paying attention
and now you really need them to. You’re saying: I need everyone’s attention because
what I’m about to say is really important. Listen up. Listen up.
Listen up. Listen up. I’m looking at you.
I’m looking at you. I say this right as someone on my
team cheers me on with a little high-pitched: woot woot! That’s just something, a phrase
you might use to show excitement or to cheer someone on in a competition.
I’m looking at you.
So I say I’m looking at you. ‘Look’ and ‘you’ get the most stress in this
phrase.
A couple things happen here. First of all, well, we have the contraction ‘I am’ to
I’m which is said quickly: I’m. I’m. I’m looking— I’m looking— ‘Look’
being the stressed syllable there, then I changed the NG sound, I just make it an N
sound. Lookin. So I make the sound at the front of my mouth with the front of my tongue
rather than at the back of my mouth with the back of my tongue. I’m looking at you. Lookin.
I’m looking at you.
This is a little bit more casual of a pronunciation and we definitely change the NG to the N quite
a bit in -ing words but I don’t recommend doing it all the time. There’s definitely
such thing as doing it too much. We tend to do it more with the -ing words that are the
most common. What’s going on with ‘at you’?
First of all, I reduce the vowel in ‘at’ so it’s: uh- uh- uh- the schwa. Then we
hear a CH sound. Where’s that coming from? When a word ends in a T and the next word
is ‘you’ or ‘your’, it’s not uncommon to combine those to link them together with
a CH sound: choo— choo— at you— at you— I’m looking at you. at you—
at you— I’m looking at you.
I must have thought that somebody on my team had not been paying very good attention because
I say ‘listen up’ which means what I’m saying next really matters, I’m about to
start, and then I say ‘I’m looking at you.’ specifically calling out someone on
my team. I’m looking at you.
Three. Two. One.
Then my nephew gives me a countdown for the timer. Three separate content words. Three.
Two. One. All with an up-down shape of stress. Three. Two. One. We never want flat pitches
in our stressed words. This up-down shape of stress, this change of pitch of intonation,
is what marks a stressed syllable. It’s very natural American English to do this.
Three. Two. One.
Okay this is something that you use…
Okay this is something– So the words ‘this’ and ‘is’, they would usually be said very
quickly. This is something— but as I read it, I’m still thinking about what to say,
so they get made longer. This is— They’re both turned into stressed syllables but this
is not how it would normally be pronounced. ‘This is’ becomes: this is— this is—
this is something— this is something— That’s the change that’s important in
conversational American English. Now here of course it’s not quite conversational.
This is different. I’m playing a game and I’m taking more time as I’m thinking on
the spot. That means thinking without prior preparation about what to say.
This is something—
This is something that you use—
Something that you use—
So here we have a T followed by ‘you’. I do not make it a CH. I make it a Stop T:
that you use— but I do reduce the AH vowel. ‘That’ becomes: that— that— that—
This helps me say this word more quickly.
That you use–
That you use to sweep the floor.
To sweep the floor– Okay, another example of an over pronunciation of a word. The word
‘to’ almost never pronounced this way in conversational English. To. Why did I do
that? I was thinking of what is the right word to say.
So in conversational English, it would be: to sweep— to— to— to— The OO vowel
reduces to the schwa: to sweep— to sweep— to sweep the floor—
to sweep the floor—
to sweep the floor and you plug it in.
To sweep the floor and you plug it in. Sweep. Floor. To sweep the floor. Sweep the floor.
Sweep the floor. Listen to these three words and pay attention to the stress pattern. It’s
long, short, long.
Sweep the floor.
Sweep the floor. So the word ‘the’ doesn’t have this up-down shape of stress. It’s
flatter and it’s said very quickly. the– the– the–
Sweep the–
sweep the floor and you plug it in.
And you plug it in— and— Drop the D so even though I hold this word out a little
bit as I think and I don’t reduce the vowel, the vowel is still ah. I do drop the D, just
a very common reduction of that word. You plug it in—
And you plug it in–
So here we have three words: plug it in, where you have two links of ending consonant to
beginning vowel: plug it— git— git—
So you can think of the ending consonant G as beginning the next word git— git— plug
it— plug it— plug it— That may help you link. It in— it in— it in— Here,
again, we link the ending T right into the vowel IH and it changes to a flap T. Why does
it do that? Because it comes between two vowels. It in— it in— it in— plug it in— plug
it in—
plug it in—
‘Plug in’ is a phrasal verb and we use this with electronics or things that charge,
where you have the plug and you either insert it into the socket in the wall, or maybe you’re
inserting the plug into the device itself like your phone. This is the phrasal verb
to ‘plug in’.
Plug it in—
People guess broom. Broom. No, you don’t plug a broom in. This was my, my main clue:
sweep.
Of course people are going to guess broom but when I said plug it in, remember this
has to do with electronics, so that was my big clue. It’s not a broom.
No, you plug it in.
Okay so there’s some shouting here. I say ‘no, you plug it in.’ no. No. Just like
‘Three. Two. One.’, it’s a one word thought group, and it has that up-down shape.
No. Then I say ‘you plug it in’ as people are yelling and again we have this nice linking
ending G into the beginning vowel and then the flap T to link these two words. Plug it
in. And as I do that, they get, they get the idea. ‘Vacuum’, they yell.
– Broom.
– Vacuum!
But I need to get them to say ‘vacuum cleaner’ so I give them one more clue.
– Broom.
– Vacuum!
Uh, it’s two words.
It’s two words. ‘Two words’ stress there. ‘The word ‘it’s’ lower in pitch, flatter,
faster. Two words. Two words. Two words.
– Two words.
– Vacuum cleaner.
Vacuum cleaner. Vacuum cleaner. So now they’re stressing ‘clean’ because that’s what
makes the word different from vacuum. Although normally, in a compound word like this, it’s
the first word that is stressed, so that would be: vacuum cleaner. Other examples of compound
words: eyeball. First word is stressed. Mailman. First word is stressed. Basketball. First
word is stressed. In this case, well as always, it’s only the stressed syllable. So bas—
basketball. The first syllable is stressed. Compound words, first word is stressed.
And now, the conversation three times.
Team two, listen up. -I’m looking at you.
-Woot, woot! Three, two, one.
Okay. This is something that you use to sweep the floor, and you plug it in.
– Broom. – No, you plug it in. Vacuum. – Uh, it’s
two words. – Vacuum cleaner.
Team two, listen up. -I’m looking at you.
-Woot, woot! Three, two, one.
Okay. This is something that you use to sweep the floor, and you plug it in.
– Broom. – No, you plug it in. Vacuum. – Uh, it’s
two words. – Vacuum cleaner.
Team two, listen up. -I’m looking at you.
-Woot, woot! Three, two, one.
Okay. This is something that you use to sweep the floor, and you plug it in.
– Broom. – No, you plug it in. Vacuum. – Uh, it’s
two words. – Vacuum cleaner.
We went to dinner at a friend’s house, and she explained what she made. It was so good.
The sauce is on the table. So we’ve got eggs and the rice.
And usually the som tum would, would have sticky rice with it, but I couldn’t quite
imagine eating this, with, without this kind of rice.
So I, we just went with it.
Fluffy jasmine.
Ollie, what do you think of the food?
It’s definitely on point.
Now, the analysis. The sauce is on the table. So we’ve got eggs and the rice.
The sauce is on the table. What do you think are the two most stressed words there? I hear
‘sauce’ and ‘table’. The stressed syllable of ‘table’.
The sauce is on the table.
The other word just said very quickly. The word ‘the’ pronounced with the schwa:
the— the— the— the— the— Said really quickly, low in pitch, less clear. It’s
not ‘the’ but: the— the— the—
This is how we pronounce function words in conversation. The less important words. This
provides contrast with the stress words which we want to be clear and longer and have an
up-down shape of stress intonation in the voice. The sauce— the sauce— is on the—
is on the—
The sauce is on the table.
These three words linked together very quickly.
The ending Z sound links into the vowel: is— is on the— the N consonant goes right into
the TH sound with no break, and again the word ‘the’ pronounced with the schwa very
quickly. Is on the— is on the— is on the— So it’s not: is on the— all of those are
stressed and that’s not right, but it’s: is on the— is on the— is on the— is
on the— A little mumbled, a little bit less clear, because they are function words. ‘Sauce’
and ‘table’, the two content words, are longer. And all of the words and all of the
sounds flow together smoothly with no jumps and pitch and no choppiness. The sauce is
on the table.
The sauce is on the table.
So we’ve got eggs and the rice.
So we’ve got eggs and the rice. Okay, what is the most stressed there? ‘Eggs’ and
‘rice’. Both longer than the rest of the words. So we’ve got the— So we’ve got
the—
So we’ve got the—
So we’ve got the— So we’ve got the— So we’ve got the— The vowel here is almost
dropped, it’s almost like we’re just linking the S sound in.
So we’ve got the— so we’ve got the— so we’ve got the— That helps to say this
word more quickly in this string of words that are said so quickly. So you’ve got
the very quick V sound before the G then we have a stop T. So we don’t say: got the—
got the— with a true T, but we say: got the— got the— got the— where we stop
the air really quickly in the throat. This symbolizes the stop T. The word ‘the’
here she pronounces it with the schwa.
The rule is that if the next word begins with a vowel sound, like this word, that the E
in ‘the’ is pronounced as the EE as in She sound. The— the— the— But I’ve
noticed that this is not a rule that Americans necessarily follow all the time. The— the—
the eggs— the eggs— She says it with the schwa. It still sounds normal. Nobody would
hear that and think she mispronounced ‘the’.
Eggs—
Eggs and the rice—
And the rice— and the rice— ‘And’ and ‘the’ between the two content words,
we have two more function words which will be said more quickly.
The word ‘and’ is reduced: and the— and the— and the— We drop the vowel, put
it into the schwa vowel instead. We drop the D altogether. So schwa N. You don’t need
to try to make a schwa sound. It just gets absorbed by the N. Just make the N. Eggs and
the— eggs and— eggs and— eggs and the rice— and the rice— And the— and the—
eggs and the rice—
Making this reduction helps us say this word really quickly and we want to do that because
it’s not an important word, it’s a function word. Those are less important. The more important
words are the content words and we want the stressed syllable of the content words to
be longer.
For example: rice— and the rice— and the— and the— and the— Those two words said
much more faster than ‘rice’ where we take a little bit more time and we have the
up-down shape of stress. And the rice—
And the rice—
And usually the som tum would, would have sticky rice with it. And usually— So here,
she doesn’t reduce the vowel. She keeps the full vowel but she does drop the D.
We almost never say the D unless we’re thinking or holding out the word ‘and’ for some
reason. Usually— us— The stressed syllable there. Usually the som tum would— is the
most stressed syllable of the sentence. And usually—
usually—
Usually— So this word can be pronounced as four syllables: usually— or more commonly,
three syllables and that’s what she does:
usually—
Usually– yoo– So the JU as in Few diphthong stressed, usual— The djz sound, schwa L,
it’s just a dark L sound. Usually— And the ending IH vowel: usually— usually—
It’s easier to pronounce this word as three syllables than four so I suggest that you
practice it this way and use this pronunciation: usually—
usually—
usually the som tum would have sticky rice with it.
The som tum— ‘The’ said quickly with the schwa, then we have a couple words that
are a little bit more stressed.
Of course this is not English, this is Thai, she’s making a Thai dessert, I’m sorry
a Thai salad here. The word ‘would’, L is always silent.
Usually the som tum would have sticky rice with it—
would have sticky rice with it— would have sticky rice with it— So ‘stick’ the
most stressed syllable there. Again, there’s no L sound in the word ‘would’. Would
have— would have— would have sticky rice with it—
Would have—
would have sticky rice with it—
A Stop T at the end of ‘it’ so we stop the air in our throat: it- it- it- it- and
this abrupt end signifies the T.
Everything in this phrase is smoothly linked together. The D goes right into the H sound.
She could have dropped to the H but she didn’t. Would have— would have— The V sounds smoothly
right into the ST cluster, the EE vowel right into the R, the S sound right next to the
W. Rice with— rice with— And the ending TH links right into the beginning vowel IH:
with it— with it— with it— would have a sticky rice with it—
would have a sticky rice with it—
But I couldn’t quite imagine eating this—
But I couldn’t quite imagine eating this— ‘This’ the most stressed as she is pointing
to something. But I couldn’t quite imagine eating this—
So she puts a little break here between ‘but’ and ‘I’. If she didn’t, she would have
flapped the T: but I couldn’t— but I— but I couldn’t— Since she doesn’t, she
puts a break separating these into two thought groups. We have a stop T: but I couldn’t—
but I couldn’t—
but I couldn’t quite imagine eating this--
couldn’t quite— couldn’t quite— You can link the ending N right into the K sound
while dropping the T. Couldn’t quite— couldn’t quite— Or you can make a little
stop in your throat: couldn’t quite— couldn’t quite— to signify the T there.
Either one is okay, and just like with ‘would’, the L in ‘could’ is silent. Both of these
have the UH as in Push vowel. Would— could— couldn’t–
but I couldn’t quite imagine eating this
Quite imagine— quite imagine— Here we have an ending T sound linking into beginning
vowel sound and because the sound before the T was also a vowel or diphthong, it becomes
a flap which sounds like the D in American English. It might sound like the R in your
language, depending on the language. Quite imagine— quite— The tongue just flaps
once against the roof of the mouth: Quite imagine—
Quite imagine—
quite imagine eating this—
Quite imagine eating— Another flap T here, because it comes between two vowel sounds.
Eating— eating this–
Quite imagine eating this—
with, without this kind of rice.
with, without—So she repeats herself, with, she starts the word without, she pauses while
she’s thinking, then she says the full word: without— without— Stop T at the end because
the next word begins with a consonant. This kind of rice— ‘This’ again, a little
bit stressed because we’re comparing. This— This kind of rice with that kind of rice.
Because it’s the word that we’re using to compare: this, that, those, these. It’s
a little stressed. This kind of rice.
This kind of rice.
Kind of rice. Kind of rice. The word ‘of’ often pronounced without a consonant but I do hear a light V sound
here. However, the word is said quickly: kind of rice— of- of- of- of- It’s a function
word, it’s not as important as the content words like ‘this’ and ‘rice’. So it’s
a little bit more mumbled. It’s said very quickly. Kind of rice.
Kind of rice.
Rice. Rice. Her intonation goes up a little bit at the end because she’s going to keep
going. Making the intonation of her voice go up is a signal to us that she’s not finished
her sentence yet.
Rice.
So I, we. Just went with it.
So I, we. Just went with it. So why– she changes her mind, decides to say something
different, we just went with it. This is the end of her thought and at the end of her thought,
her voice trails off a little bit and we get a little bit less air in it. So the last word
sounds like this: went with it– went with it–
We just went with it.
This is called a popcorn quality and it comes in a lot at the ends of phrases in American
English. So we just went with it. Let’s talk about the pronunciation of ‘we just
went with it’. We have an ST cluster followed by a consonant. In this case, we almost always
drop the T sound. She does.
So instead of: just went— It’s: just went— just went— just went— Right from the S
sound into the W sound.
We just went with it.
Went. Went with it. Went with it. Stop sound, we have a nasal N sound which we stopped in
the throat: went. Went. Went. That signifies the stop T. With it. Everything links together.
T links into the IH vowel and we have another stop T because it’s a T at the end of a
phrase.
We just went with it.
The phrase ‘to go with something’ means to go ahead with something, with an idea,
or with the situation, even if it’s not what you originally imagined. So she’s saying
this is not the kind of rice she would usually imagine with this dish, but because of another
dish, she decided to just go with it. We just went with it, she says. We just went with
it. It shows flexibility, being able to ‘go with the flow’, to use another idiom. So
if something comes up that’s unplanned or unusual for you, but you move forward anyway,
then you can say: you know what? I’m just going to go with it. Or in the past tense:
I just went with it.
We just went with it.
Fluffy jasmine.
Fluffy jasmine. Now, someone else is talking in the background. It’s a little hard to
hear, but these are two two-syllable words with stress on the first syllable. Fluffy
jasmine. Fluffy jasmine. All linked together, all part of the same thought group where we
have one steady line of intonation, of pitch. Fluffy jasmine. Nothing choppy, nothing broken
up, this is important in American English.
Fluffy jasmine.
Ollie, what do you think of the food?
Ollie, what do you think of the food? This is me speaking here behind the camera. Everything
is linked together. Again, we have that smooth intonation. Ollie, what do you think of the
food? These are the three most stressed words.
Ollie, what do you think of the food?
‘What do you’ becomes: wha dya— wha dya— wha dya—
So I drop the T, linked the vowel into the D of ‘do’. Wha dya— And I’ve reduced
the vowel here to the schwa in all three of these words: what do ya— This helps me say
them more quickly. They all link together. What do you— What do you— Try that with
me. What do you— So it’s definitely not: What do you— That’s way too well pronounced.
This is not how we pronounce function words like this. Function words like these need
to be lower in pitch, less clear, simplified mouth movements. What do ya— what do ya—
what do ya— So that the stressed words pop out of the line more. It is this difference,
this contrast between the stressed words which are longer, clearer, louder, higher in pitch,
against these unstressed words. It’s this contrast that makes American English clear.
What do you think of the food?
‘Of’ and ‘the’, two more function words together, said very quickly, uh– just
the schwa, I don’t pronounce the V sound at all, ‘the’ pronounced with the schwa:
othe—
othe— othe— othe— It’s not ‘of the’ but: othe—othe— othe— This is how we
pronounce this in conversation. Of the food— What do you think of the food?
‘Think’ and ‘food’ both being clear and longer.
What do you think of the food?
It’s definitely on point. It’s definitely on point.
‘Def’ and ‘point’. Most stressed words there, the word ‘it’s’ is reduced, he
doesn’t really say a vowel, he just makes the T S sound. It’s definitely— It’s
common to do this with the word: it’s, that’s, what’s, and let’s. We just make the TS
sound and attach it to the beginning of the next word. It’s definitely—
It’s definitely on point.
definitely— A little stop T in there: definitely— because the next sound is a consonant. Definitely
on point.
It’s definitely on point.
On point.And he doesn’t really release the T. It’s certainly not a true T. On point.
Point— nnnn— A nasal N sound, little bit of an abrupt stop, that’s how we know it’s
a stop T. On point. On point. This is an idiom. What does the phrase ‘on point’ mean?
It means perfect, really good, high-quality, excellent, and I will say: I have this food
and it was delicious. Let’s listen to the whole conversation one more time.
The sauce is on the table. So we’ve got eggs and the rice.
And usually the som tum would, would have sticky rice with it, but I couldn’t quite
imagine eating this, with, without this kind of rice.
So I, we just went with it.
Fluffy jasmine.
Ollie, what do you think of the food?
It’s definitely on point.
And now, the conversation three times.
The sauce is on the table. So we’ve got eggs and the rice.
And usually the som tum would, would have sticky rice with it, but I couldn’t quite
imagine eating this, with, without this kind of rice.
So I, we just went with it.
Fluffy jasmine.
Ollie, what do you think of the food?
It’s definitely on point.
The sauce is on the table. So we’ve got eggs and the rice.
And usually the som tum would, would have sticky rice with it, but I couldn’t quite
imagine eating this, with, without this kind of rice.
So I, we just went with it.
Fluffy jasmine.
Ollie, what do you think of the food?
It’s definitely on point.
The sauce is on the table. So we’ve got eggs and the rice.
And usually the som tum would, would have sticky rice with it, but I couldn’t quite
imagine eating this, with, without this kind of rice.
So I, we just went with it.
Fluffy jasmine.
Ollie, what do you think of the food?
Here’s Tom again, and I’m introducing him to a friend. I’m pregnant in this one.
R: HaQuyen, this is Tom. HQ: Hi.
T: Hi. HQ: Nice to meet you.
T: How are you? T: Nice to meet you, too.
R: Have you guys met before? HQ: Um…
T: I don’t think so. HQ: No, not, not in person. But you’ve told
me about him. R: Okay. It seems like you have because I’ve
known both of you for so long, but … T: Yeah.
R: Never overlapped. T: Yeah, well, it’s about time!
And now for that analysis.
R: HaQuyen, this is Tom.
Did you notice how the second syllable of ‘HaQuyen’ and the syllable ‘Tom’ were
the most stressed? They had that up-down shape. Especially ‘Tom’, which came down in pitch
at the end of the sentence.
R: HaQuyen, this is Tom.
We want this shape in our stressed syllables. The two words ‘this is’ were flatter and
quicker.
R: HaQuyen, this is Tom. HQ: Hi.
T: Hi:
Both words, ‘hi’, ‘hi’, ‘hi’, had that up-down shape. Hi. Hi.
HQ: Hi. T: Hi.
HQ: Nice to meet you.
These two phrases happened at the same time. HaQuyen said, “Nice to meet you.” What’s
the most stressed word there? HQ: Nice to meet you.
‘Meet’. ‘Nice’ also had some stress, a little longer. Nice to meet you. The word
‘to’ was reduced. Rather than the OO vowel, we have the schwa. Nice to, to, to.
HQ: Nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you. What did you notice about the pronunciation of this T?
HQ: Nice to meet you.
It was a Stop T. Meet you. There was no release of the T sound.
HQ: Nice to meet you.
Tom’s phrase, “How are you?” How are you?
T: How are you?
He stressed the word ‘are’. How are you?
T: How are you?
You’ll also hear this with the word ‘you’ stressed. How are you?
T: How are you? Nice to meet you, too.
Tom really stressed the word ‘too’.
T: Nice to meet you, too.
It was the loudest and clearest of the sentence.
T: Nice to meet you, too.
He, like HaQuyen, also reduced the word ‘to’ to the schwa. To, nice to, nice to meet you.
T: Nice to meet you, too. [2x]
Also, again like HaQuyen, he made a Stop T here. He did not release the T sound. Meet
you.
T: Nice to meet you, too. R: Have you guys met before?
I put a little break here, between ‘guys’ and ‘met’, while I thought about what
I was going to say.
R: Have you guys met before?
Did you notice my pronunciation of T? A Stop T.
R: Met before?
We tend to make T’s Stop T’s when the next word begins with a consonant. Or, when
the word is at the end of a thought or sentence.
R: Met before? R: Have you guys met before?
What do you notice about the intonation of the sentence? How does it end?
R: Have you guys met before?
Before? It goes up in pitch.
R: Have you guys met before?
That’s because this is a yes/no question. A question that can be answered with yes or
no goes up in pitch at the end. Other questions, and statements, go down in pitch.
T: I don’t think so.
I don’t think so, I don’t think so. Again, there was a clear stop in sound here. I don’t
think so.
T: I don’t thinks so.
I don’t think so. The words were not connected. I don’t, I don’t, I don’t think. I don’t
think so. ‘Think’ was the most stressed word there. I don’t think so. Feel your
energy to towards it and then away from it in the sentence. I don’t think so.
T: I don’t think so. HQ: No, not, not in person.
The first ‘not’ was a Stop T, as HaQuyen did not continue. Not, not. Not in person.
The second T, though, was a Flap T because it links two vowels together. The AH vowel,
and the IH as in SIT vowel. Most Americans will make the T between vowels a Flap T, which
sounds like a D between vowels. Not in [3x]. Not in person.
HQ: Not in person.
‘Person’ is a two-syllable word. Which syllable is stressed?
HQ: Not in person.
The first syllable. PER-son. The second syllable doesn’t really have a vowel in it. It’s
the schwa sound. But when the schwa is followed by N, you don’t need to try to make a separate
vowel, -son, -son, person, person.
HQ: Not in person
but you’ve told me about him.
How is the T pronounced in ‘but’?
HQ: But you’ve told me about him.
It’s a Stop T, but you’ve, but you’ve. What’s the most stressed, the most clear
word in this phrase?
HQ: But you’ve told me about him.
It’s the verb ‘told’. But you’ve told me about him. The sentence peaks with that
word.
HQ: But you’ve told me about him.
HaQuyen dropped the H in ‘him’. We do this often with the words ‘him’, ‘he’,
‘his’, ‘her’, for example. Also, ‘have’ and ‘had’.
HQ: But you’ve told me about him.
Now the T comes between two vowels. What’s that going to be? A Flap T. About him, about
him. Just flap the tongue on the roof of the mouth.
HQ: But you’ve told me about him. R: Okay.
I didn’t really pronounce the OH diphthong here, it was more like a schwa, okay, okay.
‘-Kay’ had the shape of a stressed syllable. Okay.
R: Okay.
It seems like you have…
In the first part of this sentence, what is the most clear, the most stressed syllable?
R: It seems like you have
It’s the word ‘seems’. It seems like you have
R: It seems like you have
because I’ve known both of you for so long, but.
What about in the second half of the sentence. What’s the most stressed syllable?
R: because I’ve known both of you for so long, but.
Known. Because I’ve known both of you for so long. ‘Long’ is also stressed, it’s
also a longer word.
R: because I’ve known both of you for so long, but.
Even though this sentence is very fast, it still has longer stressed words, ‘seems’,
‘known’, ‘long’. It’s important to keep your stressed words longer, even when
you’re speaking quickly. This is what’s clear to Americans.
R: because I’ve known both of you for so long, but.
The less important words, the function words, will be less clear and very fast. And sometimes,
we’ll change the sounds. For example, in the word ‘for’. That was pronounced with
the schwa, for, for, for. It’s very fast.
R: For so long,
but.
How did I pronounce the T in ‘but’?
R: For so long, but.
It was the end of my thought, it was a Stop T. But, but. I stopped the air.
R: For so long, but. T: Yeah.
Tom’s interjection, ‘yeah’: stressed. Up-down shape. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
T: Yeah. R: Never overlapped.
Can you tell which is the stressed syllable in ‘never’? Which is longer?
R: Never overlapped.
It’s the first syllable. Ne-ver. What about in the next word?
R: Never overlapped.
Again, it’s the first syllable. O-verlapped. Never overlapped. Uh-uh. Never overlapped.
R: Never overlapped.
Notice the –ed ending here is pronounced as a T, an unvoiced sound. That’s because
the sound before, P, was also unvoiced. Overlapped, overlapped.
R: Never overlapped. T: Yeah, well, it’s about time.
Did you notice that Tom didn’t really make a vowel here. Tsabout, tsabout. He connected
the TS sound into the next sound.
T: Well, it’s about time.
How is this T pronounced?
T: Well, it’s about time.
A Stop T, because the next sound is a consonant.
And now, the conversation three times.
R: HaQuyen, this is Tom. HQ: Hi.
T: Hi. HQ: Nice to meet you.
T: How are you? T: Nice to meet you, too.
R: Have you guys met before? HQ: Um…
T: I don’t think so. HQ: No, not, not in person. But you’ve told
me about him. R: Okay. It seems like you have because I’ve
known both of you for so long, but … T: Yeah.
R: Never overlapped. T: Yeah, well, it’s about time!
R: HaQuyen, this is Tom. HQ: Hi.
T: Hi. HQ: Nice to meet you.
T: How are you? T: Nice to meet you, too.
R: Have you guys met before? HQ: Um…
T: I don’t think so. HQ: No, not, not in person. But you’ve told
me about him. R: Okay. It seems like you have because I’ve
known both of you for so long, but … T: Yeah.
R: Never overlapped. T: Yeah, well, it’s about time!
R: HaQuyen, this is Tom. HQ: Hi.
T: Hi. HQ: Nice to meet you.
T: How are you? T: Nice to meet you, too.
R: Have you guys met before? HQ: Um…
T: I don’t think so. HQ: No, not, not in person. But you’ve told
me about him. R: Okay. It seems like you have because I’ve
known both of you for so long, but … T: Yeah.
Now, here’s a conversation with my dad.
Now, we were trying to think when was the last time we were out here?
When was the last time you came out?
I think we came out last winter.
Okay.
So probably, yeah.
Yeah.
--uh, 12 months ago.
Yeah. You haven’t been out yet this year?
No, I think this is the first time.
And now for that analysis.
Now, we were trying to think when was the last time we were out here?
This sentence was very fast. So how did I make it fast, what did I shorted? I noticed
I dropped the g here and I made an n sound instead of an ng sound trying trying. This
is something that can happen a lot in the South although really everybody does it with
very common ing words sometimes. I tell my students not to do this in general because
sometimes they do it too much but look, here we’re studying real conversation and I did
it.
were trying to think
The word to, that was very fast I made a flap t and a schwa so that it could be even faster,
trying to dudududu.
were trying to think
You can make that word incredibly short and then you know we want to link it to the word
before, trying to trying to. So it doesn’t sound like a separate word, it just sounds
like another syllable at the end of trying
were trying to think
when was the last time we were out here?
Another reduction I noticed is ‘was’, rather than having the uh as un butter vowel,
it also had the schwa, was was. So then it could be really fast, when was, when was the
last time.
when was the last time
Last time were both a little bit longer. They are content words so they are more important
when was the last time
we were out here?
I noticed a stop t here in and out, out here. So that saves a little tome because I’m
skipping the release t, out here, out here, that takes time and makes it feel very choppy
but out here, out here. A stop t makes it a little smoother.
we were out here?
When was the last time we were out there?
When was the last time you came out?
I think we came out last winter.
My dad also made a stop t. Out last, out last winter.
we came out last
we came out last winter.
Now he made a true t sound here, winter tttt. Sometimes Americans will drop a t when it
comes after n and then it becomes winner and it sounds like this word. But my dad didn’t
do that, he made a true t.
last winter.
Okay.
So probably.
My dad said the word probably as a three-syllable word with stress on the first syllable. Probably,
probably. He’s speaking extra well here because I’ve definitely caught him on camera
before saying prolly, reducing the words to just two syllables.
So probably, yeah.
Yeah.
--uh, 12 months ago.
My dad did a very common reduction with the word months. And he didn’t make a th sound
but just a t sound. So that goes together with the s to make it a ts ending. Months,
months, months. That helps to make it faster, it’s a little bit of simple tongue movement
rather than making the th, lots of Americans do this. Months, months.
12 months ago.
Yeah. You haven’t been out yet this year?
It’s a little hard to tell but I’m pretty sure I dropped the h in haven’t. We dropped
the h at the befinning of function words like have, him, her, he a lot. That helps us make
it quicker, it’s less important and we can link it to the word before, you haven’t,
you haven’t, you haven’t.
You haven’t been out yet this year?
You haven’t been out yet? Another stop t here in out . Why are we making all of these
stop t’s? Remember when a word end in a vowel or diphthong and then a t and the next
word is a consonant, ye, this is the y consonant that we make t’s in general we skip the
release out yet. It helps to make the transition more smoothly.
You haven’t been out yet this year?
I also noticed the intonation for the phrase goes up at the end. This year? This year?
Why is that? That’s because this question can be answered with a yes or no. And yes
no questions do go up in pitch at the end.
You haven’t been out yet this year?
No, I think this is the first time.
DId you hear how my dad did a vowel to vowel here. No, I, No, I. So there really wasn’t
a comma there.
No I
We really like to link things together for smooth transitions between words in American
English
No, I think this is the first time.
Dad did something funny here. He dropped the t so think really just started with an h sound.
Now, this is a content word. Content words are important and normally we do not reduce
them but I have noticed that people do drop the th sound in think and make an h instead
hink I think, I think so. My husband David says that all the time, I think so, I think
so.
No, I think this is the first--
No, I think this is the first time.
Yeah.
First time. Those two words linked together really well because my dad did not release
this t and then make another one, there was just one t sound. First time, first time.
And now, the conversation three times.
Now, we were trying to think when was the last time we were out here?
When was the last time you came out?
I think we came out last winter.
Okay.
So probably, yeah.
Yeah.
--uh, 12 months ago.
Yeah. You haven’t been out yet this year?
No, I think this is the first time.
Now, we were trying to think when was the last time we were out here?
When was the last time you came out?
I think we came out last winter.
Okay.
So probably, yeah.
Yeah.
--uh, 12 months ago.
Yeah. You haven’t been out yet this year?
No, I think this is the first time.
Now, we were trying to think when was the last time we were out here?
When was the last time you came out?
I think we came out last winter.
Okay.
So probably, yeah.
Yeah.
--uh, 12 months ago.
Yeah. You haven’t been out yet this year?
No, I think this is the first time.
Have you ever noticed how much people talk about the weather?
Today it’s a hundred degrees in Philadelphia. That’s thirty eight degrees Celsius.
We’re in the middle of a heat wave, which is the opposite of a cold snap, and every
day this week is supposed to be upper nineties. I know some people love the heat. I am
not one of these people. Weather like this makes me want to stay inside all day and only
venture out after the sun has set.
And now for that analysis.
Today it’s a hundred degrees in Philadelphia.
Today it’s a hundred degrees in Philadelphia. What do you hear is being the most stressed
words in that little thought group?
Today it’s a hundred degrees in Philadelphia.
Today it’s a hundred degrees in Philadelphia. I hear the
stressed syllable of ‘a hundred’ and ‘Philadelphia’. Let me write
this out. A hundred. So stress is on the first syllable of ‘hun’. A hundred. Today, it’s
a hundred degrees in Philadelphia.
Today it’s a hundred degrees in Philadelphia.
And I feel that I’m emphasizing the H a little bit more than normal, that’s to add
stress to that syllable, to that word. A hundred. Hundred, making the H a little stronger than normal.
A hundred degrees.
And I break it up a little bit. There’s a little break between ‘today’ and ‘it’s’.
Today it’s a hundred degrees in Philadelphia. And then I do another little break here. Why
did I do that? Well, I think I did it to add emphasis to how hot it is. It’s a hundred
degrees. When we put a little break before a segment in a thought group, it helps to
add stress to it just like exaggerating the beginning consonant did. It’s a hundred
degrees.
Today it’s a hundred degrees.
Today it’s a hundred degrees in Philadelphia.
Philadelphia. This is a long word and long words can be intimidating. Notice the PH,
which is in here twice, is pronounced as an F. Philadelphia. Phila-del-phia. So the syllable
‘Phil’ has a little bit of secondary stress, it’s a little bit longer but ‘del’ has
the most stress, the up-down shape of the voice, and that’s what we can use to shape
the word. Philadelphia. Philadelphia. Philadelphia.
Philadelphia. That’s thirty eight degrees Celsius.
That’s thirty eight degrees Celsius. That’s thirty eight degrees. I did it again, I put
a little break before the TH for ‘thirty’ and that adds stress. That’s thirty eight
degrees.
If I made it more smooth: That’s thirty eight degrees. That’s thirty eight degrees.
Then I lose some of the stress that I want to put on how hot it is. I want to put stress
on the number: That’s thirty eight degrees. Let’s write that out too.
That’s thirty eight degrees.
Thirty eight degrees. Okay, we have a couple things happening with our T’s here. We have
this first T in ‘thirty’, that’s a flap T. And the T is a flap T when it comes between
two vowels or when it comes after an R before a vowel like in the word ‘thirty’.
Thirty. Thirty. Thirty eight degrees. So the T in ‘eight’ is a Stop T because the next
sound is a consonant. Thirty eight degrees. So we definitely don’t release it, it’s
definitely not a True T, that would sound like this: Thirty eight degrees. Thirty eight
degrees. And that’s just more emphasis on the T. It’s a more clear pronunciation than
we would give it. We make it a stop.
Thirty eight degrees. Thirty eight. Eight. Eight. Eight. Eight. We cut off that word
by cutting off the air. That abrupt stop is what lets us know this was a T. Thirty eight
degrees.
Thirty eight degrees.
The word ‘degrees’ ends in the Z sound and the word ‘Celsius’ begins with the
S sound. If I was speaking less clearly, a little bit more conversationally, I would
have said: Thirty eight degrees Celsius. And I would have connected the two and just made
a single S sound, but I was being a little bit more clear here, just like up here when
I said ‘a hundred degrees’, and then I put a little break after ‘degrees’. I
did not connect with the same sound because I wanted the ‘thirty eight degrees’ to
stick out of the line a little bit for stress, for emphasis.
Thirty eight degrees Celsius.
Celsius. Celsius. First syllable stress: thirty eight degrees. Stress on ‘thir—’. Thirty
eight degrees Celsius. And then we also have stress on that first syllable. Celsius.
Celsius.
We’re in the middle of a heat wave.
We’re in the middle of a heat wave. One word is the most stressed there, is most clear,
highest in pitch. What is it?
Heat. Definitely ‘heat’ has the most stress. We’re in the middle of a heat wave. And
what do you notice about the T there? A Stop T because the next word begins with a consonant.
We’re in the middle of a heat wave.
We’re in the middle of a heat wave. So ‘mid’, a little bit of stress. ‘Wave’ is also
a stressed word. It’s not as stressed as ‘heat’, that’s the most stressed, but
it is longer and more clear. What about these two strings of words that are not stressed?
What do they sound like? Let’s just listen to them on their own. First: We’re in the—
What does that sound like?
We’re in the—
We’re in the— We’re in the— We’re in the— Not very clear. It’s definitely
not: We’re in the—, that would be a stressed pronunciation. They’re all unstressed, said
very quickly, no gaps between the words. We’re in the— We’re in the— We’re in the—
We’re in the—
I would write this contraction ‘we’re’ with the schwa. Schwa R, said very quickly,
not too clear: we’re, we’re, we’re, we’re, we’re.
Then ‘in’: We’re in— we’re in— we’re in— we’re in— with no break,
we’re in the— we’re in the— we’re in the— The word ‘the’ with no break,
schwa. We’re in the— we’re in the— we’re in the—
We’re in the—
Then we have the words ‘of’ and ‘a’.
Of a—
Of a— of a— of a— of a— of a—
I don’t drop the V sound, and I would probably write this with the full UH as in butter rather
than a schwa. But it’s still said quickly, it’s still unstressed. Of a— of a— of
a— of a—
That’s really different than our most stressed word ‘heat’ which has up-down shape and
is much longer. These strings of unstressed words are very flat in pitch, compared to
the stressed words, and that’s part of the important contrast of American English.
We’re in the middle of a heat wave.
We’re in the middle of a heat wave which is the opposite of a cold snap.
Which is the opposite of a cold snap.
So ‘heat wave’, ‘cold snap’, in both of those phrases, both words are stressed
but the first word is the most stressed.
Which is the opposite of a cold snap.
So in this sentence fragment, ‘op’ and ‘cold’ and ‘snap’ are our most stressed
words and the other words like above are less clear, flatter in pitch, unstressed.
Let’s listen to ‘which is the’.
Which is the—
Which is the— which is the— which is the— which is the— Now, I noticed I pronounced
the word ‘the’ with a schwa. There is an official rule about the pronunciation of
‘the’ and it says: when the next word begins with a vowel, you make that an EE vowel:
the opposite.
But I have noticed that many Americans don’t do this and I did not do this here. I made
this a schwa. Which is the— which is the— which is the— Notice the S in ‘is’ makes
the Z sound. The letter S often makes the Z sound. Don’t be deceived and think because
you see the letter S, that it’s the S sound.
Which is the—
Which is the opposite of a cold snap.
Opposite of a cold—
So these words are all linked together. The T becomes a Flap T which links into the next
word. Opposite of a— of a, of a, of a. Opposite of a cold snap— But all of these words link
together, there’s no break, there’s no choppiness.
Which is the opposite of a cold snap.
Let’s look at the ending D in ‘cold’. It is not released. That would sound like
this: cold snap, cold snap, cold snap, cold ddd—. We don’t do that. We put the tongue
up into position for the D, and we vibrate the vocal cords: cold snap, and then we go
right into the S sound without releasing. So the D sound is very subtle when it’s
followed by a consonant because we don’t release it but native speakers still definitely
hear that vibration in the vocal cords. Cold, cold, ddd, cold snap.
Cold snap.
So a ‘heat wave’ is a phrase we use when there’s a period of time, a couple of days,
where the heat reaches an extreme high, and a ‘cold snap’ is the exact opposite. We
use this phrase for a period of days where the weather reaches extremely low temperatures.
Usually, a heat wave or a cold snap lasts just a few days, maybe at most, a week.
We’re in the middle of a heat wave which is the opposite of a cold snap.
And every day this week—
And every day this week— And, and. I drop the D there. We almost always drop the D in
this word. And, and. I don’t reduce the vowel. I still make: ah, ah, ahn, it is common
to make that a schwa, and that would sound like this: Nn every day this week— Nn every—
Nn every— But I did put more of a vowel in it: and every— and every day— every
day this week— ‘Every’ the most stressed word there.
And every day this week—
‘Day’ and ‘week’ also a little bit longer than the unstressed word ‘this’,
but they don’t have the height of pitch that ‘every’ has. ‘Every’ is most
stressed. Every day this week. Let’s listen to just these three words. Day this week.
So you can hear the contrast of long, short, long: da da da. Da da da. Day this week.
Day this week—
Day this week is supposed to be upper nineties.
Is supposed to be upper nineties. Let’s write this out again. I should do a better
job of writing out my numbers for these exercises. Is supposed to be upper nineties. So I put
a little break here. Again, for emphasis. I want to emphasize how hot it’s supposed
to be. Upper nineties. Upper nineties.
Both of those two-syllable words have first syllable stress: upper nineties. And notice,
this is a Flap T, it comes between two vowels.
Nineties, da, da, da, da, da. Nineties.
Now, what’s happening with the word ‘supposed’ in the phrase ‘supposed to’?
Is supposed to be upper nineties.
So we have ‘is supposed to’. ‘Is’ ends in the Z sound. ‘Supposed’ starts
with an S. Now here’s a case where I am linking and I’m dropping the Z. S is an
unvoiced consonant and unvoiced consonants are considered to be strong. Voiced consonants
like Z are weak, so when they link together, the strong consonant wins.
So rather than saying: is supposed— and making a Z than an S, it’s just: Isspposed—
Isspposed— isss— just one single S sound.
Is supposed to—
Now, this word, this phrase, actually: supposed to, never pronounced that clearly. We do a
reduction with it. Can you hear it?
Is supposed to—
Supposed to— supposed to— So it’s a three-syllable word, suh— sorry it’s a
three-syllable phrase. Supposed to— But I turn that into a two-syllable phrase. Spposed
to— So officially, this would be a ZD ending, but I make it unvoiced ST and when I link
that into the next word that begins with a T, the word ‘to’ with the reduced to the
schwa ‘to’.
When I link it in, then I just make one T sound: spposed to— And I’m basically dropping
this first syllable: Suh— po— I drop the vowel so it’s just: Ssspose to— Ssspose
to— So we do a couple things here: we reduce by instead of putting a vowel between the
S and the P, we just put the S right up next to the P, which drops the first unstressed
syllable.
So we take the S, put it on to the stressed syllable ‘po’: sspo—, and then we take
the ending, we make it unvoiced, and we link it directly into the T. Ssspose to— Ssspose
to— Ssspose to—
I actually have a video where I go over the pronunciation of ‘supposed to’ and I give
some more examples. So I’ll link to that at the end of this video. But practice that
with me for a moment: is supposed to— is supposed to— is supposed to— That’s
a very natural way to pronounce those three words together.
Is supposed to—
Is supposed to be upper nineties.
I know some people love the heat. I am not one of these people.
Okay, then I have: I know some people love the heat. It’s very clear there, I think,
what the most stressed syllable is. What about in the next sentence?
I know some people love the heat. I am not one of these people.
I am not— Okay, so in both of those phrases, I bring the stressed word out even more, even
more up-down shape, even more putting a little bit more strength on the first consonant.
I also make a True T here at the end of ‘not’. That’s, again, because I’m exaggerating
that word. I’m making it even more clear than normal. Normally, if I was going to link
that into the sentence, it would be a Stop T because the next word begins with a consonant.
I know you’re thinking: wait, that’s the letter O, that’s a vowel, but phonetically,
it’s written with the consonant: one. So that would be a stop T, but I’m making it
a true T for extra emphasis, to bring it away from the rest of the sentence a little bit
for stress. I am not one of these people.
I am not one of these people.
So we have a couple other words that have a little bit more length. I know some people
love the heat. But it’s not the same as ‘love’ which is the most stressed. And
I give a light True T here at the end. It would also be very common to make that a Stop
T.
I know some people love the heat.
I am not one of these people.
‘One’ a little bit more length. One of these people. And a little bit more length
on the stressed syllable of people as well. I am not one of these people.
I am not one of these people.
Of these, of these, of these. Said quickly, unstressed, flatter in pitch.
One of these—
One of these people—
Weather like this makes me want to stay inside all day.
Weather like this, weather like this. So ‘weather’ isn’t super clearly pronounced but I do
stress the first syllable. The stressed syllable. Weather like this makes me want to stay inside.
Weather like this makes me want to stay inside.
Weather like this makes me want to stay inside all day and only venture out after the sun
has set.
Stay inside all day and only venture out after the sun has set. So those are the longest,
most clear words. Of course, we have other stressed words: makes, want, inside, venture
out, after. But when you have many stressed words in a sentence, some are going to take
precedence and are going to sound more stressed and others will sound more unstressed and
that’s what’s happening here. All stressed words, all nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs,
will not be equally stressed in a sentence.
Weather like this makes me want to stay inside all day and only venture out after the sun has set.
Are there any reductions?
Weather like this makes me want to stay inside all day and only venture out after the sun has set.
I definitely hear this one: want to. So common to reduce that: makes me wanna, makes me wanna.
Weather like this makes me want to stay inside.
So these words here from ‘like’ all the way to ‘wanna’, a little flatter in pitch,
they don’t have the stressed shape of the other syllables in this sentence. Makes me
want to stay inside all day—
Makes me want to stay inside all day—
Makes me want to stay inside all day and only venture out—
And only, and only. Dropped D in ‘and’. And only venture out—
And only venture out—
And only venture out after the Sun has set—
And I put a little break here after ‘out’. I make that a Stop T. If I didn’t put a
break and I was linking it in, then it would be a Flap T because it would come between
two vowels or diphthongs. Out after, out after. But I said: venture out after the sun is set.
So I put a little break there, breaking up my longer sentence into smaller thought groups.
And only venture out after the sun has set.
Sun has set, sun has set. So two unstressed words, flatter in pitch. After the sun has
set. Contrast of stressed and unstressed, so important.
And now, the conversation three times.
Today it’s a hundred degrees in Philadelphia. That’s thirty eight degrees Celsius.
We’re in the middle of a heat wave, which is the opposite of a cold snap, and every
day this week is supposed to be upper nineties. I know some people love the heat. I am
not one of these people. Weather like this makes me want to stay inside all day and only
venture out after the sun has set.
Today it’s a hundred degrees in Philadelphia. That’s thirty eight degrees Celsius.
We’re in the middle of a heat wave, which is the opposite of a cold snap, and every
day this week is supposed to be upper nineties. I know some people love the heat. I am
not one of these people. Weather like this makes me want to stay inside all day and only
venture out after the sun has set.
Today it’s a hundred degrees in Philadelphia. That’s thirty eight degrees Celsius.
We’re in the middle of a heat wave, which is the opposite of a cold snap, and every
day this week is supposed to be upper nineties. I know some people love the heat. I am
not one of these people. Weather like this makes me want to stay inside all day and only
venture out after the sun has set.
And now here I’m talking with a friend about his pets.
- Yeah we have two dogs.
- Yeah.
Yeah. Big ones.
Big dogs. Okay, Daisy and let me see if I can remember.
Oh, I can't.
- Banjo.
- Banjo! That's right.
And they made the move with you guys from Texas.
Mmm hmm. They did.
How long have you guys had them?
Daisy, about five years.
Banjo, four.
And now for that analysis.
- Yeah we have two dogs.
- Yeah.
Yeah. Big ones.
Yeah we have two dogs. Yeah we have two dogs. What are the most stressed words you hear
There? I hear 'two' and 'dogs' as being the two content
words here, the most stressed words, longer. Yeah also. Yeah. 'We have', these are both
said really quickly.
And we have two-
And actually the word 'have' reduces. He drops the H sound. It's common to do this in function
words that begin with an H like: have, had, his, her, him. We have- we have- So the EE
vowel goes right into the AH vowel, smoothly connected: we have- we have- we have- we have-
This allows him to say these two words more quickly and we want to do that because we
want contrast with the longer words. So we want our less important function words to
be said really really as quickly as possible. We have- we have- we have two dogs-
we have two-
We have two dogs.
Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. I respond. I'm pretty sure I knew that. It's like just a way of saying I'm listening
to what you're saying.
We have two dogs.
Yeah.
Yeah. You'll hear this word in conversation a lot. Yeah. Yeah. It's a stressed word. It
will generally have an up-down shape of stress and be a little bit longer. Yeah. Yeah. Rather
than: yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Which is how it would be pronounced if it was unstressed. Yeah. Big ones.
We have two dogs.
Yeah.
Yeah. Big ones.
Big ones. Big ones. So these are both stressed words. Big ones. They're both longer than
a function word like we have up here. Big ones. 'Big' is more stressed than 'ones'.
The pitch is a little bit higher.
Big ones.
The pitch for 'ones' falls away from the stressed 'big', from the peak of 'big' Big ones. Big
ones.
Big ones.
Big dogs.
Big dogs. So again, two stressed words and I'm sort of stretching them out even more.
Big dogs. I'm doing this for emphasis.
Big dogs.
Okay.
Mmm hmm.
He says mm-hmm. And you can see his mouth doesn't open at all. This is an affirmation,
a way of saying yes or yeah. We say it a lot in conversation. Mmm hmm. Mmm hmm.
- Okay.
- Mmm hmm.
Okay Daisy and--
Okay Daisy and-- So in this thought group, 'dai' is definitely the most stressed. It's
a proper noun and it's the name of the dog so the stressed syllable of this word will
be very clear: Daisy.
Okay, Daisy-
Okay, Daisy and-
And- So this is unusual, this is a function word.
We usually reduce it which means we drop or
change some of the sounds. I say the whole word clearly. The AH as in
bat vowel transitioning into the N consonant and the D sound.
We almost always drop the D but I'm thinking here, I can't remember the name of his other
dog.
And....So by drawing out the word like that, I'm taking more time showing that I'm uncertain
trying to remember that dog's name.
And--
let me see if I can remember.
Let me see if I can remember. Let me see if I can remember. See and the stressed syllable
of remember
are the most stressed words there. The rest are said very quickly. And we do have some
reductions: 'let me' becomes lemme. We drop the T completely. You might have seen people
write it this way
before: lemme. I don't recommend writing reductions but we use them in spoken English all the
time.
Let me see- Let me see-
let me see if--
let me see if I can remember--
If I can-- If I can-- If I can remember. So 'if I can' and actually even the first syllable
of 'remember' because it's unstressed. If I can re-- are all said really quickly, lower
in pitch, a little flatter in pitch:
If I can re-- all of them linked together smoothly. If i can re-- If i can re-- Notice
the word 'can'. I'm not pronouncing it fully pronounced which would have the AH vowel but
I'm reducing it: can- can- can- K schwa N. Can- can- can- This is because 'can' is a
helping verb here. That means it's not the main verb.
'Remember' is the main verb. 'Remem--' and it does have stress but 'can' when it's not
the main word,
which is most of the time, when it's not the main verb, is reduced. So instead of 'can'
it becomes: can, can, can, said very quickly. Practice that with me now.
Can- can- if I can- if I can- if I can- if I can- if I can remember.
if I can-
if I can remember.
So there's a big difference between the unstressed words: if I can- and the stressed word 'remember'
which has that clear up-down shape, full pronunciation, long stressed syllable.
If I can remember.
Oh...I can't.
I say: Oh, I can't. I can't. I can't. A stop here at the end where we stop the air: can't--
nt-- nt-- nt--
An abrupt stop. The air stops in my nose because N is a nasal constant. I can't-- I can't--
- I can't-- - Ba-
Banjo.
And I say this at the same time that he is taking me out of my misery and giving me the
right answer: Ban- Banjo. Banjo. Again, it's a proper noun so it's going to be stressed.
The first syllable is the stressed syllable: Ban-- jo. Banjo.
Banjo.
Banjo. That's right.
Banjo. That's right. So I'm being dramatic here spending more time on the name. Of course,
I remember as soon as he said it. I've seen Banjo on Instagram many times. Banjo.
Banjo.
Banjo. That's right.
That's right. That's right. That's right. These two words a little bit mumbled. Not
as clear I definitely drop the TH in 'that's'. at's right. at's right. at's right. That's
pretty common.
In fact, I could have even dropped the vowel and just put the TS sound in front of the
R consonant. T's right. T's right. We do that quite a bit with that, it's, let's, and what's.
Reducing those words to just the TS sound. But here I don't do that. I keep the AH vowel
but I do drop the beginning consonant. That's right. That's right. This is pretty normal.
You'll hear this quite a bit in normal conversation, casual conversation.
That's right.
That's right. And they made the move with you guys.
And they made the move with you guys. So notice I definitely dropped the D here and that is
a more normal pronunciation of the word 'and'. And they made the move. I keep the full AH
vowel. Could have reduced it to the schwa: And they made the move--
And they made the move-
And they made the move with you guys from Texas.
And they made the move with your guys-- A little stressed there. From Texas-- So the
stressed words more clear, more time, up-down shape of stress. The unstressed words flatter
in pitch, said more quickly, less important. And they made the move with you guys from
Texas. The word 'from' reduced.
It's not: from but: from- from- from Texas- So the vowel changes to the schwa. So we can
see that word really quickly: from- from Texas-
- From Texas.
- Mmm hmm they...
- From Texas.
- Mmm hmm they did.
Mmm hmm. Again, an affirmation. Like saying: Yes, they did. They did. 'Did' more stressef
than 'they'. They did.
- From Texas.
- Mmm hmm. They did.
How long have you guys had them?
How long have you guys had them? That is definitely the longest word in the sentence, the most
stressed. The other words a little less clear. In fact, I reduced the word 'have' by dropping
the H consonant. How long have you guys- Have-- have-- have-- I also changed the vowel from
AH to the schwa. So it's just schwa V. Long have- long have- long have- And whenever we
do reductions, we want to make sure that we link them in. So this is just linked right
on to the next word, to the word before, and the next word: how long have- long have- Practice
that with me now. Long have- long have- long have you- long, have you- How long have you
guys had them?
How long have you--
How long have you guys had them?
'Had' also has a little bit of stress. Had them- had them- 'Them' is another word that
often reduces by dropping the TH. I did not do that here. How long have you guys had them?
Even though I didn't do it, it's still not stressed. It's lower in pitch. The intonation
doesn't have the up-down shape of stress, that curve in the voice. How long have you
guys had them? Them? Them? Them?
Had them?
Daisy, about five years. Banjo, four.
Daisy, about five years. Dai-, five, and Banjo, about four. So again, our two proper nouns
Daisy and Banjo stressed. Here, we're talking about, we've already established that that's
who were talking about.
And now we're asking about something different. We're asking about how long Chris has had
these dogs. So I think the word 'five' is even more stressed than Daisy.
Daisy, about five years. Because this is the new information. This is the information I'm
asking about.
Daisy, about five years.
Five years. Five years. 'About' with a stop T because the next word
begins with a consonant. About five years.
About five years.
Five years. The intonation for the word 'years' is a little high and he holds it out a little
bit. That says to me that it's an estimate. It's like not exactly five years. Five years.
Five years.
And he's also thinking: How, how would I say that? Is that true? Maybe he's also thinking
about Banjo.
He's about to tell me Banjos age. Maybe he's not quite sure how long they've had Banjo.
Five years. Banjo, four.
Four. Four. So we have a bit of this quality... which is called popcorn we have a bit of a
popcorn sound in the voice. And that's pretty normal for final words in a thought group.
The general trend of phrases in American English is that they go down in pitch and they lose
energy towards the end. That's why it's very common for there to be that popcorn quality
at the end of a sentence. Four. Four. Instead of: four, four.
Four.
If you notice this, pay attention to this. You don't want to have this popcorn quality
in your voice all the time. But if you do bring it in at the ends of phrases, it can
definitely help you sound more natural when speaking English.
And now, the conversation three times.
- Yeah we have two dogs.
- Yeah.
Yeah. Big ones.
Big dogs. Okay, Daisy and let me see if I can remember.
Oh, I can't.
- Banjo.
- Banjo! That's right.
And they made the move with you guys from Texas.
Mmm hmm. They did.
How long have you guys had them?
Daisy, about five years.
Banjo, four.
- Yeah we have two dogs.
- Yeah.
Yeah. Big ones.
Big dogs. Okay, Daisy and let me see if I can remember.
Oh, I can't.
- Banjo.
- Banjo! That's right.
And they made the move with you guys from Texas.
Mmm hmm. They did.
How long have you guys had them?
In this next conversation, I’m talking about being stressed.
>> Are you stressed about anything, Rach?
Can I call you Rach?
>> You can call me Rach.
>> Um, sort, of, but in a very good way. You
know I’m leaving for Europe.
>> Yes, that’s right. How long are you going to be gone for?
>> I’m going to be gone for five weeks.
>> That’s a good long time.
>> It’s a good long time. I’m leaving
in 10 days. So it feels like there’s a lot to be done.
And now for that analysis.
>> Are you stressed about anything, Rach?
Are you stressed about anything, Rach? Every
word there was quite fast except for the word ‘you’. It’s a little uncommon to stress
a function word like this. Normally, I think I would stress the word ‘stressed’. Are
you stressed about anything, Rach? But the reason why Tom stressed the word ‘you’
is because I had just asked him if he was stressed about anything. So now, he was turning
the question to me, and he stressed ‘you’. Are you stressed about anything, Rach?
>> Are you stressed about anything, Rach?
A couple other things I notice about this sentence, Tom turns the T into a D, making
it a flap. About anything, about anything. He’s doing this because it’s a T coming
between two vowel sounds. Even though it’s two separate words, the T still comes between
two vowel sounds, which means it’s a great
opportunity to link the two words together with a Flap T (which sounds like the American
D).
About anything [3x]. Are you stressed about
anything, Rach?
>> Are you stressed about anything, Rach?
Did you notice how the intonation went up at the end? About anything Rach? Rach? Rach?
That’s because this is a yes/no question.
And yes/no questions go up in pitch at the end.
>> Are you stressed about anything, Rach?
Can I call you Rach?
>> You can call me Rach.
These next two sentences are great examples
of reducing the word ‘can’.
>> Can I call you Rach?
>> You can call me Rach.
The word ‘can’ is so fast there, as if it has no vowels at all. Just the K sound
and the N sound. Kn, kn, kn. Can I call you Rach? You can call me Rach.
>> Can I call you Rach?
>> You can call me Rach.
Notice how everything flows together. We don’t
feel like we have five separate words in this sentence. Can I call you Rach? Can I call
you Rach? It’s just like one long word. We do that by linking words together. When
a word begins with a vowel, and the word before ends in a consonant, this is an easy time
to link. Just like up here, when we used a Flap T to link. Can I, can I, can I. Linking
an ending consonant to a beginning vowel helps smooth out the line. Can I. Can I call you
Rach? You can call me Rach. Again, the word ‘can’ is almost lost here. Kn, kn. You
can call me Rach.
>> Can I call you Rach?
>> You can call me Rach.
We reduce the word ‘can’ like this when it’s not the only verb in the sentence.
In these two sentences, the main verb is ‘call’. That means the word ‘can’ is a helping
verb. That’s a function word, it’s not as important as the main verb ‘call’.
The word ‘can’ is usually a helping verb. When you pronounce it reduced, kn, kn, it
will help you sound more American. Can I call you Rach? You can call me Rach. Kn, kn.
>> Can I call you Rach?
>> You can call me Rach.
>> Um, sort of, but in a very good way.
Did you notice? Another Flap T here, linking the word ‘sort’ and ‘of’. Sort of,
sort of, sort of. So it sounded like an American D. I just said that when the T comes between
two vowel sounds, it turns into a Flap T and can link words. But R is not a vowel sound.
The rule is, if the T comes between two vowels,
or after an R, before a vowel, that it becomes a Flap T. Sort of. [3x] If we think of this
as one word, stress is on the first syllable. Sor-duv. And the second syllable is very fast.
It has the schwa, not a full vowel. Sort of. [2x]
>> Um, sort of, but in a very good way.
Let’s go back for a second. I left something important out. The word ‘um’. This is
the word we use when we’re thinking. Um or uh. These thinking sounds use the UH as
in BUTTER vowel. Uh, uh. I call this the core sound of American English. Everything in the
mouth, face, neck, throat is extremely relaxed.
Uh, um. That allows the placement to be lower in the body, less in the face. Very American.
Um, uh.
>> Um, sort of, but in a very good way.
The first syllable of the word ‘very’, ver-, and the word ‘way’, but in a very
good way, are the most stressed. Do you hear how fast this string of function words is?
But in a. [4x] But in a very good way. They all link together. Again, we have ending consonant
linking into a beginning vowel, ending consonant linking into a beginning vowel. Both of these
links help to make it sound like one word,
very smooth. But in a, but in a. Again, this T is turning into a Flap T, or, a D sound.
But in a, but in a. But in a very good way.
>> Um, sort of, but in a very good way. You
know I’m leaving for Europe.
You know I’m leaving for Europe.
What do you hear as the most stressed syllables in this sentence? I hear ‘know’, ‘leav-‘,
‘Eur-‘. You know I’m leaving for Europe.
>> You know I’m leaving for Europe.
These are all the most important parts of the sentence, the content words. Content words
are nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Here we have verb, verb, and proper noun.
You know I’m leaving for Europe.
Notice that in a content word, for example, leaving, that only the stressed syllable is
stressed.
Even though this is an important word, and it’s a stressed word in the sentence, the
unstressed syllable, the –ing ending, is not stressed. So, unstressed syllables, even
in stressed words, are still unstressed syllables.
>> You know I’m leaving for Europe.
Notice I use the contraction I’m. Some of my students don’t like to use contractions
because they don’t think they’re clear enough. They will say ‘I am’.
You know I’m leaving for Europe.
But using a contraction, like I’m, is just like up here, where we took these three words
and linked them together and made them very fast. But in a. So, contractions are words
we reduce and link together in writing and in speech. I’m, I’m.
>> You know I’m leaving for Europe.
Reducing and contracting words will help you sound very American. There’s actually one
more example of a reduction in this sentence. It’s the word ‘for’. For Europe. For
Europe. I reduced that vowel to the schwa. And the schwa-R together make one sound, rr.
Rr, rr, fr, fr. For Europe, for Europe. And again, here we have an ending consonant linking
into a beginning vowel. For Europe. [3x] So those
two words glide together very easily. For Europe, for Europe.
>> You know I’m leaving for Europe.
>> Yes, that’s right. How long are you going to be gone for?
This was all very fast. Yes, that’s right. How long are you going to be gone for? Wow.
Tom didn’t even really finish the word ‘right’. Yes that’s right how long? He certainly
didn’t pronounce a full T. He moved on to the next sentence before he even finished
that word.
>> Yes, that’s right. How long are you going to be gone for?
So there was no real break here between sentences. You probably noticed he took ‘going to’
and turned it into ‘gonna’. How long are
you gonna? You gonna? [3x] How long are you gonna be gone for?
>> Yes, that’s right. How long are you going
to be gone for?
Did you notice Tom did not reduce the word ‘for’ to the schwa. Well, I just said
that that’s something that we want to do with this word in order to make it sound more
American. But, I do need to add: we don’t reduce words like ‘for’ when they’re
at the end of a sentence.
>> Yes, that’s right. How long are you going
to be gone for?
There, they need to be fully pronounced. Even though it was still very fast, it wasn’t
a stressed word, it did have the full vowel.
>> Yes, that’s right. How long are you going
to be gone for?
>> I’m going to be gone for five weeks.
Again, I used ‘I’m’ instead of ‘I am’. That helped me make it fast and less
important, compared to the more important words in the sentence.
>> I’m going to be gone for five weeks.
You also may have noticed, I also took ‘going to’ and pronounced it ‘gonna’. I’m
gonna [3x].
>> I’m going to be gone for five weeks.
How do you hear this word ‘for’? Listen again.
>> I’m going to be gone for five weeks.
You’re right, it’s reduced. For, for, for, for five, for five. For five weeks.
>> I’m going to be gone for five weeks.
So, the most important words there, the loudest, the clearest, are ‘gone’, ‘five’,
and ‘weeks’. Those are the words that carry the actual meaning of the sentence.
So, we don’t reduce these more important
words. But if we say all the other words fast, reduce them, then it makes these more important
words stand out the most. I’m going to be gone for five weeks.
>> I’m going to be gone for five weeks.
>> That’s a good long time.
That’s a good long time. Tom didn’t really pronounce the TH here. He reduced the word
‘that’s’ to just the schwa-TS sound. Utsa, utsa, utsa good long time. [2x]
>> I’m going to be gone for five weeks.
>> That’s a good long time.
We reduce that’s, it’s, what’s, at the beginning of a sentence like this a lot. And
look, we have an ending consonant beginning vowel to link. That’s a, [3x] that’s a
good long time. He stressed the last three words.
>> I’m going to be gone for five weeks.
>> That’s a good long time.
We have adjective, adjective, noun. The three content words are stressed,
longer, clearer.
>> I’m going to be gone for five weeks.
>> That’s a good long time.
>> It’s a good long time. I’m leaving
in ten days.
I reduced the word ‘it’s’ by dropping the vowel. Tsa, tsa, it’s a good long time.
>> It’s a good long time. I’m leaving
in ten days.
It’s a good long time.
Linking the TS cluster into the schwa. Tsa, tsa, it’s a good long time. It’s a good
long time. Again, these
three words are stressed, good long time.
I stressed the word ‘good’ the most. It’s
a good long time.
It’s a good long time.
Just like Tom did earlier, I didn’t really leave a sentence break here, did I? I went
straight on to my next thought.
>> It’s a good long time. I’m leaving
in ten days.
Look. Another contraction. The most important syllables in that sentence: leav-, ten, days.
I’m leaving in ten days. [2x]
I’m leaving in ten days.
Again, they’re the most important parts of the sentence for content. The verb leaving,
and the time amount, ten days.
>> I’m leaving in ten days, so it feels like there’s a lot to be done. I notice
the word ‘it’ is not very clear. So it feels. [2x]
>> I’m leaving in ten days, so it feels
like there’s a lot to be done.
So it feels like.
The word ‘it’ begins with a vowel. Here, the word before ends with a vowel. So we can
link vowel to vowel. So it. [3x]
So it feels like.
It’s a very smooth transition. And it can feel like I go through the glide consonant
W. So it. [3x] That helps me link them together.
So it feels like.
What’s happening with the T in ‘it’?
It’s a Stop T. So it, so it, so it feels.
So it feels like.
The T is not fully pronounced, tt. So it, so it. But instead, I stop the air. So it.
In general, we pronounce T’s this way when the next sound is a consonant.
So it feels like there’s a lot to be done.
And the ending Z sound of ‘there’s’ links right into the schwa sound uh. There’s
a, there’s a, there’s a lot to be done.
>> There’s a lot to be done.
How are these two words pronounced? Lot to, lot to. This is clearly not an ‘oo’ vowel,
it’s a schwa. Lot to. But what about the T’s? Lot to. I’m making the first T a
Stop T. Lot. So I’m just stopping the air
for a second—lot to, lot to—before releasing to make the second T. There’s a lot to be
done.
>> There’s a lot to be done. [2x]
We use these three words together, a lot to, quite a bit. Let’s do a quick comparison
to ‘a lot of’, which we also use together frequently. Here we have an ending T consonant
and beginning vowel. The T comes between two vowels, so it’s a Flap T or a D sound. A
lot of, a lot of. So the T in ‘lot’ is pronounced one way in this phrase, a lot to,
and a different way in this phrase, a lot of.
And now, the conversation three times.
>> Are you stressed about anything, Rach?
Can I call you Rach?
>> You can call me Rach.
>> Um, sort, of, but in a very good way. You know I’m leaving for Europe.
>> Yes, that’s right. How long are you going to be gone for?
>> I’m going to be gone for five weeks.
>> That’s a good long time.
>> It’s a good long time. I’m leaving in 10 days. So it feels like there’s a lot
to be done.
>> Are you stressed about anything, Rach?
Can I call you Rach?
>> You can call me Rach.
>> Um, sort, of, but in a very good way. You know I’m leaving for Europe.
>> Yes, that’s right. How long are you going to be gone for?
>> I’m going to be gone for five weeks.
>> That’s a good long time.
>> It’s a good long time. I’m leaving in 10 days. So it feels like there’s a lot
to be done.
>> Are you stressed about anything, Rach?
Can I call you Rach?
>> You can call me Rach.
>> Um, sort, of, but in a very good way. You know I’m leaving for Europe.
>> Yes, that’s right. How long are you going to be gone for?
>> I’m going to be gone for five weeks.
>> That’s a good long time.
>> It’s a good long time. I’m leaving in 10 days. So it feels like there’s a lot
to be done.
Here you get to see my in-laws, my husband David’s parents.
>> Not till two. >> Right, but we’re…
>> And maybe somewhat after that. >> But we said we’d be there at 1:30.
>> Right. I think they want to just chat, and, you know…
>> Yeah. >> Stuff before.
>> Sure. >> Will it take, like 15 minutes to get there?
Or? >> Oh no. It’ll take…
>> Ten? >> Five.
>> Five.
And now for that analysis.
>> Not till two. >> Right, but we’re…
>> And maybe somewhat after that. >> But we said we’d be there at 1:30.
I notice my dad makes a Stop T here, not till, not till, instead of not till. That makes
the transition between these two words less obvious, it makes it a smoother link. Not
till two.
>> Not till two. >> Right, but we’re…
>> And maybe somewhat after that.
Another Stop T here at the end of ‘that’ because it’s the end of a thought, the end
of a sentence. Often we make those T’s Stop T’s in American English.
>> …somewhat after that.
>> But we said we’d be there at 1:30.
But we. I actually dropped the T altogether here to make this even more connected and
smooth. But we, but we. ‘But’ is a function word, not too important, so it’s okay to reduce it.
>> But we said we’d
be there at 1:30.
Did you notice how I pronounced ‘thirty’? I took this second T and made it a Flap T
so it sounded like a D. Thirty, thirty, 1:30.
>> But we said we’d be there at 1:30
1:30
This was another Stop T. And, it was very quick, so it was hard to tell, but I think
this was a schwa, at, at. At 1:30 [2x].
>> Be there at 1:30.
When you’re talking about the time of something, try pronouncing ‘at’ this way, very quickly.
>> Right. I think they want to just…
Another Stop T here. It’s the end of a sentence. Right.
>> Right.
I think they want to just …
Did you notice how my Dad did not make a TH sound here, but rather just an H sound? And
he connected it to ‘I’. I think, I think, I think.
>> I think they want to just--
I’ve noticed some native speakers do this with the TH in ‘think’. We use this phrase
a lot. I think this, I think that. And it’s not uncommon to hear the H sound instead of
the TH. It’s a funny little reduction that we do of a content word. I think they.
>> I think they want to just
chat, and… >> Yeah.
You probably noticed the ‘wanna’ reduction here.
>> I think they want to
Very common in American English.
>> I think they want to just chat, and… >> Yeah.
Also, the word ‘just’. We often reduce this so it sounds like there’s basically
no vowel. Just [3x], want to just [2x].
>> I think they want to just
chat, and… >> Yeah.
Chat. Another Stop T at the end of this thought.
>> I think they want to just chat, and…
The word ‘and’ was very reduced, to just the schwa-N sound, nn, nn.
>> Chat and >> Yeah.
>> You know, stuff.
You know. Did you notice that this was the schwa and not the OO as in BOO vowel? You,
you, you know. We pronounce these two words together this way all the time. You know [3x].
>> Chat and. >> Yeah.
>> You know, stuff
before. >> Sure.
>> Will it take, like, fifteen minutes to get there, or?
Let’s talk about the word fifteen for a second. Some people have a hard time hearing
the difference between 15 and 50. The sounds are a little different, but also, the stress
is different. Fifteen. Stress is on the second syllable there, -teen, -teen, fifteen. So
it’s short-long. For the word fifty, it’s the opposite. It’s long-short. Fifty, fifty.
Fifteen, fifteen.
>> Will it take, like fifteen minutes
to get there, or?
I reduced the vowel in ‘to’ to the schwa, like we almost always do. I did keep this
as a True T though. The sound before was unvoiced, ts, ts, ts. Minutes to, minutes to.
>> Fifteen minutes to get there, or?
Did you notice this T? Stop T because the next sound was a consonant, the voiced TH.
Get there, get there.
>> Fifteen minutes to get there, or?
How was this word pronounced? Or, or. Just the schwa-R sound, very quick. This is another
function word, so I’ve reduced it.
>> To get there, or? >> Oh no. It’ll take…
Did you hear Dad? He reduced ‘it will’ to the contraction ‘it’ll’. It’ll [3x]
>> Oh no. It’ll take
>> Ten? >> Five.
What’s different about the pitch, the intonation of these two phrases?
>> Ten? >> Five. >> Five.
This one goes up in pitch, this one goes down. That’s because I’m asking the question
here. I don’t know how long it will take. The statement, where my dad was sure, goes
down in pitch. If you’re not sure, your phrase goes up. If you’re sure, your phrase
goes down.
And now, the conversation three times. >> Not till two.
>> Right, but we’re… >> And maybe somewhat after that.
>> But we said we’d be there at 1:30. >> Right. I think they want to just chat,
and, you know… >> Yeah.
>> Stuff before. >> Sure.
>> Will it take, like 15 minutes to get there? Or?
>> Oh no. It’ll take… >> Ten?
>> Five. >> Five.
>> Not till two. >> Right, but we’re…
>> And maybe somewhat after that. >> But we said we’d be there at 1:30.
>> Right. I think they want to just chat, and, you know…
>> Yeah. >> Stuff before.
>> Sure. >> Will it take, like 15 minutes to get there?
Or? >> Oh no. It’ll take…
>> Ten? >> Five.
>> Five.
>> Not till two. >> Right, but we’re…
>> And maybe somewhat after that. >> But we said we’d be there at 1:30.
>> Right. I think they want to just chat, and, you know…
>> Yeah. >> Stuff before.
>> Sure. >> Will it take, like 15 minutes to get there?
Or? >> Oh no. It’ll take…
>> Ten? >> Five.
>> Five.
I don’t live in New York City anymore, I live in Philadelphia. But in this old clip,
I’m describing where I live.
I live in New York City, in Manhattan, currently in midtown. But I do move around a lot. I’ve
been in New York for about five years, and I’ve already moved four times..
And now, for that analysis
The first things I notice is how my voice goes up at the end of the word ‘city’,
city, city. That’s because of the comma here, and I’m not done, I’m going to keep
going, I’m going to say more about that.
I live in New York City.
I also notice how connected that first line is. I live in New York City. There are no
breaks.
I live in New York City.
And I notice the ending consonant sound of ‘live’ links into the beginning of the
next word, live in, v-in, v-in, live in.
I live in New York City. In Manhattan.
In Manhattan. Again, my voice went up at the end. Again, there’s a comma here, and I’m
about to give more information about that. New York City, Manhattan, more specifically
midtown. So, my voice is going up at the end of each of these little phrases to signal
that there is more information yet to come about this.
In Manhattan.
I notice that the stressed syllable of ‘Manhattan’ is the middle syllable. Manhattan. Also, I
hear that I’m not really pronouncing these T’s as True T’s. That would be ‘Manhattan’,
-tan. But I’m saying Manhatt-an, with a little break. That means these T’s are stop
T’s.
In Manhattan.
Also, the last syllable, -an, is really just the N sound. So the letter A there is representing
the schwa sound. Manhattan, Manhattan.
In Manhattan. Currently in midtown.
Again, I did not hear the release of this T. That would be currently, I heard ‘currently’,
with a stop, that’s a stop T. Currently, currently. And, in this three-syllable word,
I notice that stress is on the first syllable. Curr-, curr-, currently.
Currently in midtown.
Midtown. Stress on the first syllable here, and that is a true T. Midtown. Currently in
midtown.
Currently in midtown. But I do move around a lot.
The stressed syllables in that sentence are do, round, and lot. But I do move around a
lot.
But I do move around a lot.
Let’s talk about the T pronunciations here. But I do, but I, but I. I’m hearing that
as a flap T, or a D sound. But I, but I. It’s also very connected. But I do, but I do.
But I do move around a lot.
The final T, lot, I did release that and give it a true T sound.
But I do move around a lot.
Again, this sentence was very linked together, the ending V consonant here linking onto the
next vowel, move-a, move-a, va, va, va, move around. But I do move around a lot.
But I do move around a lot.
I’ve been in New York for about five years,
The stressed words in this sentence fragment: New, York, and Five, Years.
I’ve been in New York for about five years
So how are the unstressed words pronounced? The contraction I’ve, the word been, and
in: they’re all quite quick and linked together. I’ve been in, I’ve been in, I’ve been
in New York. And the words ‘for’ and ‘about’: for about five years. I notice I’m reducing
this to the schwa, for, for, for about five years, for about five years. I’ve been in
New York for about five years. So, these three words, I’ve been in, very quick. They’re
unstressed. New, York: the pace slows down a bit there, so those words are longer because
they’re stressed. Then, for about. Those two words, unstressed, are again quite quick.
For about. And then ‘five’ and ‘years’ are both given more time because they are
stressed.
I’ve been in New York for about five years, and I’ve already moved four times.
Here I’m hearing ‘al-‘ and ‘moved’, ‘four’ and ‘times’ as being the most
stressed syllables in that sentence fragment. And I’ve already moved four times.
And I’ve already moved four times.
I also notice I’m not really pronouncing the L here. This syllable is coming out more
as the AW as in LAW, already, already.
And I’ve already moved four times.
Also, did you notice how I reduced the word ‘and’? And I’ve already moved. Nn, nn,
nn, the schwa N sound. And I’ve already moved.
And I’ve already moved four times.
And now, the conversation three times.
I don’t live in New York City anymore, I live in Philadelphia. But in this old clip,
I’m describing where I live.
I live in New York City, in Manhattan, currently in midtown. But I do move around a lot. I’ve
been in New York for about five years, and I’ve already moved four times..
Chatting with friends here about reading headlines in the paper.
I feel like that’s a lot of the conversations that I have with people, is, I’ll be like,
“oh, I read about…”. Yeah.
But I didn’t actually read the actual thing. The actual about.
I read the headline. Or I read the one-sentence blurb that…
Yeah. Facebook posts with the headline.
And now for that analysis.
I feel like that’s a lot of the conversations that I have with people, is, I’ll be like,
“oh, I read about…”.
In this little quip of conversation, my friend Laura and I are talking about how we’re
in this bad habit of not actually reading articles. We’ll just read headlines and
the one-second summary and then we’ll talk about it, “Oh, I read about…blah blah
blah” even though we didn’t actually read the article. Are you guilty of that too?
I feel like that’s a lot of the conversations that I have with people—
Okay this is a really long through group and I’m speaking really quickly. But even though
I am, I am still making some words longer. They’re being brought out with a little
bit more length but also a little bit more volume. And they’ll be a little higher in
pitch, they’ll have uuuhhh—- this shape. Let’s try to identify what they are.
I feel like that’s a lot of the conversations that I have with people—
I feel like— I feel like that’s a lot— Let’s just start there. I feel like that’s
a lot of the— ‘Feel’ and ‘lot’ are a little bit longer and they have the peak
of the volume and of the pitch of the stress. Let’s listen to that little sentence part,
that little sentence fragment again.
I feel like that’s a lot of the—
I feel like that’s a lot of the— I feel like that’s a lot of the— So even though
we speak quickly in American English, we still have longer syllables and that is really important
for clarity with American English. I have some students who know that Americans speak
quickly and they want to do that too. And it feels way too rushed and the reason why
is because it doesn’t have these longer words or syllables within the faster syllables.
We have to have the long ones too. I feel like that’s a lot of the—
Okay let’s listen to a little bit more. Ts— Ts— So what else to we hear being
a little bit longer, a little bit more stressed?
I feel like that’s a lot of the conversations that I have with people—
Conversations that I have with people— Conversa— So this syllable is a little bit more stressed,
a little bit longer: conversations that I have with people— ‘Have’ is more stressed
here, a little longer.
the conversations that I have with people— the conversations that I have with people
is, I’ll be like “Oh, I read about…”
Conversations that I have with people is, I’ll be like “Oh, I read about…” So
those are for me the longest, most clear syllables and a lot of the other syllables are said
really quickly. Are there any reductions? Let’s go back and see.
I feel like that’s a lot of the conversations that I have with people—
Let’s look at the first sentence fragment. Um. What’s happening? So, this is not a
reduction but it’s a link putting two words together when one word ends with the same
sound that the next word begins with. We don’t say ‘feel…like’ but we say ‘feel like’.
We connect them with a single L. I feel like that—
I feel like—
I feel like that’s a lot of the—
Another thing, so we have the linked L here. Another thing I’m noticing is um, how high
the intonation is here. I feel like— I feel, feel— That’s pretty high and I guess I
was just doing that because it’s sort of funny and so that brought more emotion and
energy into the voice which made the pitch even higher.
Okay, so everything links together. I feel like that’s— K right into TH sound, TS
cluster right into the schwa: tsa— that’s a— that’s a— that’s a— Then we have
‘a lot of the’. Now it’s unclear to me, the word ‘of’ will be fully pronounced
this way, definitely reduce it to the schwa. I’m not quite sure if I drop the V or not,
it’s said very quickly. You can definitely drop the V here. A lot of the— A lot of
the— Then you just use schwa to link ‘lot’ and ‘the’ and the T here will become a
Flap T, just one single flap against the roof of the mouth because it comes between two
vowels. And the little three-word phrase, ‘a lot of’, is very common. So practice
it that way with me now: a lot of— a lot of— a lot of— a lot of— really smooth,
forward flow of sound.
A lot of—
A lot of conversations that I have with people—
The conversations that I have with people. Okay so the schwa ‘of the’ going right
into the C, there’s no break here. Conversations that— The word ‘that’, I reduce that.
The vowel has the schwa. Conversations that— that I have with people—
Okay, I’m doing something a little interesting here. Well, first, the Z sound of ‘conversations’
linking into the TH. Conversations that— Conversations that— No stop in sound. So
usually, most people would link this but I don’t. I don’t link it with a Flap T.
I sort of re-emphasize. Why do I do that? Don’t know. Doesn’t matter. Usually, we’ll
link things with a Flap T when the next word begins with a vowel, we’ll link that ending
word. We’ll link that ending sound, rather. When a word ends in a vowel or diphthong plus
T and the next word begins with a vowel or diphthong, just like up here with ‘lot of’,
we so often flap that T.
Every once in a while, we don’t. I’m emphasizing ‘I’ by putting a little break. I’m emphasizing
that. I have— I have these conversations with people—
That I have with people—
So even though I don’t connect with a Flap T, it’s still petty smooth. There’s not
a big break there. That I have with people— So ‘have’ is more stressed but ‘I’
is also a little bit longer: That I have with people— have with people— have with people—
These sounds are all connected. The V right into the W, the H right into the P. No break
here. With people—
This word can be tough for some people. Haha. ‘People’ can be tough for people. Okay,
so the pronunciation is P, the EE as in She vowel in the stressed syllable, and then the
Dark L, pll— pll— pll— in the unstressed syllable. A lot of people want to round their
lips a little bit. They substitute that in for the Dark L. Try to make sure your lips
are relaxed for this sound. People. Ull, ull, ull, ull. You want the back of the tongue
to be doing the work for this sound.
people—
Is I’ll be like— Is I’ll be like— Is I’ll be like— Okay so this is all pretty
mumbled. IS, the word ‘is’ has a Z sound so that links into the next sound: Is I’ll
be like— So the word ‘I’, the words ‘I will’ contract to ‘I’ll’ but
it’s hardly every pronounced that way. It’s almost always reduced to something like: all,
all, all. Which sounds like ‘all’ said quickly. All, all. Is I’ll— Is I’ll—
Is I’ll— Is I’ll be like— Is I’ll be like— Is I’ll be like—
Is I’ll be like—
Is I’ll be like— Is I’ll be like— The word ‘be’ said really quickly. It’s
almost like there isn’t a vowel there. Be like— be like— be like— So this is all
lower in pitch, a little flatter, it comes across pretty unclear. So we have sets of
words like this, strings of words like this in American English that are less clear, certainly
less clearly pronounced and that provides contrast with the clearer stressed syllables
like ‘I have’. And that contrast is important in American English.
Is I’ll be like “Oh, I read about.”
Oh, I read about. So here, I’m slowing down. I’m speaking really clearly because I’m
quoting myself. I’m not just talking. I’m saying something that I had said. When we
say: I’ll be like— ‘Like’ is another way to say ‘she said’ so ‘I’ll be
like’ is ‘I’ll say’ or if you’re talking about a woman, you can say: And then
she was like ‘No way!’. That would be the equivalent of saying: And then she said
‘No way!’.
So we use the word ‘like’ sometimes in storytelling as a substitute for ‘said’.
I’ll be like— I’ll say or I said. ‘And she was like’ is like saying ‘and she
said’.
Oh, I read about. Okay so more clear, longer words, ending D links into beginning schwa
of ‘about’. Everything is nice and connected. I do a True T here. Again, I’m speaking
more clearly. I’m not just talking, I’m quoting myself so I have to make it seem different.
And that’s why it’s all a little bit more clear that just normal conversation.
Is I’ll be like “Oh, I read about.” Is I’ll be like “Oh, I read about.”
But I didn’t actually read the actual thing.
But I didn’t actually read— I put a little break here separating thought groups. But
I didn’t actually read the actual thing. I do that for emphasis. It’s funny. I’m
talking about reading something but I didn’t read it. I just read one sentence about it.
But I didn’t actually read— ‘Read’, much longer, the most stressed word there.
But I didn’t actually read— But I, but I, but I— This is like I was saying before,
usually when a word ends in a T and the sound before is a vowel or a diphthong, and the
next word begins with a vowel or diphthong, we flap that to make a smooth connection.
But I, but I, but I—
But I,
But I didn’t actually— Didn’t actually— It sounds to me like I’m stop– I’m dropping
the T. There’s no sense of a stop here: didn’t actually— So ending N is linking
into the next vowel. na— na— didn’t actually— actually—
I didn’t actually—
Actually. Actually. So this word can be four syllables: actually. Or it can be three: actually.
I think three syllables is a little bit more common. It’s a little easier, that’s what
I have done. Ac— tually— In IPA, I would write it like this. Stress on the first syllable:
Ac— tuall— and then I’ll probably write that with the schwa. Actual— ly— Actually.
Actually.
The ending E links right into the next sound, the consonant R. Actually read— Actually
read— So everything is smoothly connected.
actually read—
actually read the actual thing.
The actual thing. The actual thing. So I’m stressing this quite a bit. I’ve slowed
down: The actual thing. Those two syllables have some stress. The word ‘the’ pronounced
with the EE vowel. We typically do that when the next word begins with a vowel or diphthong.
Otherwise, we pronounce it as the schwa: the. But here, it’s ‘thee’. The actual—
The actual— and it links right into the next word. The actual thing.
The actual thing.
And as I’m saying that, Laura says: The actual about. I can’t quite tell because
I’m speaking at the same time but I think she might be doing a schwa. The actual. That’s
pretty normal too. I mean the rule is if the next word begins with a vowel or diphthong,
you pronounce this E as the EE vowel but I’ve noticed Americans certainly don’t always
do this. The actual about.
Actual about. Linking those two words together. L about— l about— The actual about. And
then she puts a Stop T at the end. She does not release that.
The actual about.
I read the headline.
I read the headline. Okay, what are the two most stressed syllables there? I read the
headline. So the words that are usually the ones that are stressed in a sentence are the
nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. They don’t always have equal stress but those
are the words that are content words, that are usually the ones that are these longer,
more clear words.
So everything in this four-word thought group is linked together, said very smoothly, always
a forward motion of the voice, not choppy at all. I read the headline. I read the headline.
The word ‘the’ pronounced with the schwa, the next sound is a consonant. We do pronounce
the H in this word.
I read the headline.
Or I read the 1-sentence blurb—
Or I read the 1-sentence—I put a little break here while I’m thinking of what word
to say. The word ‘or’. This often reduces to ‘ur’. Ur— ur— ur I read— ur I
read— I don’t reduce it here. Or. Or I read the— Or. So the word ‘Or’ is the
AW as in Law sound followed by R when it’s not reduced. But the AW sound really changes
here. It’s not the AW, it becomes oh, oh, oh, much more closed. The lips round further.
The tongue pulls further back in the mouth. Or, or, or.
Or—
I read the 1-sentence—
Or I read the 1-sentence— One sentence. ‘Read’ and ‘one’ get the most stress
there. Everything is linked together. Let me spell out the word ‘one’ here. This
letter is a vowel. But the word, the sounds, are these in IPA. These are the sounds. So
whenever we’re talking about rules like with Flap Ts or this kind of thing or the
pronunciation of the word ‘the’, we’re never talking about letters, we’re always
talking about sounds. So the beginning sound of this word is a consonant. That means the
rule is this would be pronounced with the schwa, not an EE vowel. The one— the one—
not: thee one— thee one— the, the, the, the one. The one-sentence.
The one-s.
The one-sentence.
One-sentence. Let’s talk about this word for a second. Sentence. What’s happening
with that T? Sent—ence. I’m making it a Stop T. The rule is when the T is in a sequence
of T, schwa, N, that it’s a Stop T. That’s what I’m doing here. Sent— stop the air,
really quickly just hold it for a second, sent— ence.
Sent— ence. ence. ence. Sent— ence. Other words like this: Mountain. Kitten. Fountain.
Curtain.
I have a video where I go over this a little bit more in detail, you can search on YouTube,
Rachel’s English Mountain. And it should come up. Sentence. One-sentence.
One-sentence.
blurb that…
So now I say: Blurb that— and that’s one thought group. I’m thinking of exactly what
to say. blurb that… blurb that… So I might normally reduce the word ‘that’ to the
schwa but I don’t here because I’m thinking about what to say so I’m speaking a bit
more slowly. Blurb that— So that keeps its full AH vowel, it does have a Stop T. Blurb
that— Blurb that— So here we have an R, a B, a TH. Three consonants in a row. Blurb
that— I don’t release the B. B is a stop consonant just like T. The lips come together,
that stops the air. And then they release: bb—bb—bb—
But we often don’t release stop consonants in conversation especially when the next sound
is another consonant. So my lips come together, I make the B sound: blurb— But then, rather
than releasing, I go right into the TH sound. Blurb that— Blurb that— Blurb that—
Blurb that—
That— Yeah. Laura said ‘yeah’. Up down shape of stress, she knows what I’m going
to say, she agrees with me, she probably does it too.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Facebook posts with the headline.
Facebook posts with the headline. Facebook posts with the headline. So more stress on
‘face’ and ‘head’. ‘Posts’, this is a verb and I said that nouns, verbs, adjectives,
and adverbs are the words that are usually stressed. But not all of them will be stressed
everytime. Facebook posts with the headline. That would be too much.
So even content words are sometimes not stressed compared to the stressed words in a sentence.
Facebook posts with the headline. So here we have STS. I do make all of those sounds.
Posts. Posts. Posts.
Posts.
Posts with the headline.
Facebook posts with the headline. With the headline. So I said before when we have the
same sound at the beginning and ending of a word that links together, two words that
link together that we make one sound. So ‘with’ is usually pronounced with an unvoiced TH,
‘the’ is usually pronounced with a voiced TH. When these two words come together, which
happens pretty frequently, the unvoiced sound wins. It’s stronger. With the— with the—
with the headline. With the headline. With the— with the— with the— with the—
So its like taking the word ‘with’ and just putting a schwa at the end. with the—
with the— with the headline. Facebook posts with the headline.
With the headline.
The D sound in ‘headline’. D just like T, just like B, is a stop consonant. Here,
it’s followed by another consonant. When stop consonants are followed by consonants,
they’re very often not released. It’s not headline. Head. Head. D, d, d— we don’t
release the tongue. Headline. We say: headline. So we put our tongue up into position for
the D, we make a quick D sound, rather than releasing, we go right into the L sound. Headdddline.
Headline. Headline. Headline.
And now, the conversation three times.
I feel like that’s a lot of the conversations that I have with people, is, I’ll be like,
“oh, I read about…”. Yeah.
But I didn’t actually read the actual thing. The actual about.
I read the headline. Or I read the one-sentence blurb that…
Yeah. Facebook posts with the headline.
I feel like that’s a lot of the conversations that I have with people, is, I’ll be like,
“oh, I read about…”. Yeah.
But I didn’t actually read the actual thing. The actual about.
I read the headline. Or I read the one-sentence blurb that…
Yeah. Facebook posts with the headline.
I feel like that’s a lot of the conversations that I have with people, is, I’ll be like,
“oh, I read about…”. Yeah.
But I didn’t actually read the actual thing. The actual about.
I read the headline. Or I read the one-sentence blurb that…
Yeah. Facebook posts with the headline.
Here’s another monologue talking about a double date.
Tonight, David and I are going out to dinner with two friends, a double-date. We both got
sitters and we got a reservation at Park at six forty-five. I already know what I’m
going to get. They have the best French onion soup I’ve ever had. I don’t know how long
it takes them to make it, but it’s worth every minute. It’s going to be so great
to enjoy a nice meal catching up with these friends.
And now for that analysis.
Tonight David and I are going out to dinner with two friends, a double date.
Tonight David and I are going out to dinner. Tonight. I stress that, the time, when this
was going to happen. David and I, a little bit longer, going out to dinner, go, a little
bit longer, din, a little bit longer, with two friends, two, I stressed that, I bring
the pitch of my voice up, two friends, friends, a little bit longer.
Tonight David and I are going out to dinner with two friends.
And the rest of the words are said pretty quickly. Please notice the word ‘tonight’
is pronounced with a schwa in the first syllable. So many people pronounce that: to– tonight,
today, tomorrow, but they’re all: te, te, just the T and the schwa. To– tonight, tonight.
Tonight,
The second T is a stop T because it’s followed by a word that begins with a consonant, that
would be David. Tonight, David–
Tonight David and I–
David and I. Now whenever we have two things that were putting together with ‘and’,
it’s very common to reduce the word ‘and’ which I did, I changed, the vowel to the schwa and
We drop the D. And, David and I, David and I. And then the N links right into the next
word which is the AI as in buy diphthong. David and I. David and I.
Tonight David and I are–
The word ‘are’. David and I are. ‘Are’ is more like rr–. David and I are. David
and I are going out. Rrrrr– Said more quickly.
David and I are going out.
I’m going to put a little bit more length on ‘out’ as well. Out to dinner. So here
we have two Ts and I combined those with just one true T. Out to, out to. So a stop and
then a release. Out to dinner. And the word ‘to’ is reduced. We use the schwa instead
of the OO vowel so it’s not ‘to’ it’s ‘te’. Out to dinner.
Are going out to dinner.
Are going out to dinner with two friends.
The word ‘with’ said very quickly. With, with, with, with, with. So the TH is made
very simply here. It’s very fast. With two, with two. Now here, TWO is pronounced with
the OO vowel and this word never reduces, unlike this word which is pronounced with
the OO vowel, which almost always reduces. So it’s actually the schwa instead of the
OO vowel.
With two friends,
With two friends, a double date.
A double date. A double date. With a stop T. So we have the word ‘a’ with a schwa,
a, a, a double date. And in this thought group, these three words are very linked together.
We have an unstressed syllable, then a stressed syllable, then an unstressed syllable, and
a stressed syllable.
Da-da, da-da, a double date. A double date.
A double date.
We both got sitters.
We both got sitters. Both and sit are the most stressed word there. Sitters. The double
T there is a flap T, that’s short for a babysitter, someone to watch our kids. We
both got sitters. The T in got, a stop T. Why? Because the next word begins with a consonant.
We both got sitters. We both got sitters. We both got sitters. We both got sitters and
we got a reservation at park at six forty-five.
And we got a reservation at park at six forty-five. Park, probably the most stressed word in that
whole sentence. The word ‘and’ reduces, did you hear that? I dropped the T.
And we got our reservation at–
And we got a reservation, and we got a, and we got a, and we got a.
Dropped the D, the T here turned into a flap to connect the words, linking right into the
schwa, got a, and we got a, and we got a, and we got a. Those four words are all flatter
in pitch. They’re unstressed, and they all link together. And we got a reservation. The
stressed syllable of ‘res’ is a little bit longer, a little bit clearer. Reservation.
Notice the letter S here makes the Z sound. Rezzzz, reservation.
And we got a reservation at Park at six forty-five.
So I have the word ‘at’ twice. Both times, it’s reduced. It’s not the AH vowel but
it’s the schwa, and it’s a stop T, at park, at park at six forty-five. At, at, at,
at, at, at, at, at.
So it’s not at but: at, at, at. Both times it’s a stop T because the next word begins
with a consonant. Here, it’s a P, and here, it’s the S sound.
At park at six forty-five.
Six forty-five. Six forty-five. Whenever you’re giving a time, it’s the end of the time,
the last part of the time that’s stressed. So forty-five. If I was going to say, let’s
say this, then I would say: seven thirty, and the final word ‘thirty’ would be the
most stressed.
Here, the final word is ‘five’ so it’s: six forty-five, ‘five’ being the most
stressed.
Six forty-five
And notice the T in ‘forty’ is a flap T. We flap the T if it comes after an R before
a vowel. Forty, forty.
Six forty-five. Six forty-five. Six forty-five. I already know what I’m going to get.
I stress the word ‘already’ the most. I already know what I’m going to get. I
already know what I’m going to get. This is a little unusual. I’m stressing it because
we haven’t even arrived at the restaurant and I’ve already chosen what I’m gonna
eat. So that’s why ‘already’ is coming out the most.
Now this word is normally stressed. Already. I already know. But sometimes, we do stress
the first syllable. I already know. I already knew that. I already know.
I already know what I’m going to get.
I pronounce this word without an L. Already. Already. It’s like a tighter AW as in law
vowel. Already. I already know. You can do this as well. I think it simplifies the word
for non-native speakers and it’s a good little shortcut to that word. Already. Already.
I already know.
I think I also make ‘know’ a little bit longer. Know what I’m. Know what I’m.
Know what I’m. What and I’m, both flattened, said faster, not as clear. Flap T connecting
the two words. Know what I’m, know what I’m.
I already know what I’m going to get.
I definitely could have said: what I’m gonna get, gonna, gonna, gonna. ‘Going to’ is
such a good candidate for getting reduced. Gonna. But instead, I said: going to get,
going to get, going. So I did a full OH as in no diphthong. Going. Then I made a flap
T. And we make a flap T in the word ‘to’ quite a bit when the sound before is voiced.
And here, it’s the NG sound that is voiced, so rather than saying: going to, I said: going,
going. So my tongue is in position for the NG. That’s the back of the tongue and then
the front of the tongue flaps.
Going to get. Going to get. Stop T at the end of ‘get’, why? Because it’s at the
end of a thought group. Going to get.
Going to get.
They have the best French onion soup I’ve ever had.
Okay I really stress the word ‘best’, don’t I? They have the best French onion
soup I’ve ever had. Ever.
They have the best French onion soup I’ve ever had.
They have the, they have the, they have the. These three words, a little less clear, flatter
in pitch, and then I bring out the word ‘best’, and I emphasize the B and I move my head as
I say the word to say: This is an important word, it is the best.
They have the best,
they have the best French onion soup I’ve ever had.
Soup I’ve ever had. So I noticed I closed my lips for the P, but I don’t really release.
Soup, soup. You don’t hear that escape of air right into the next word ‘I’ve’.
Soup I’ve ever had. Soup I’ve ever had. So there was no release of the P there. Soup.
P is a stop consonant.
Soup I’ve ever had.
I don’t know how long it takes them to make it.
Those are my two longer most stressed words there. I emphasize the H. I make it a little
stronger than normal to bring out the stressed word. Let’s look at this phrase. I don’t
know. There are several ways we can pronounce that. We can say: I don’t know, I don’t
know, I don’t know.
That’s the most conversational, the least clear. That’s not how I do it, and make
it a little bit more clear.
I don’t know how long it takes them to make it.
I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know.
Don’t, a little bit longer, the higher stress there, the higher pitch. I don’t know. Don’t,
end a little stop for the T there. I don’t know. I don’t know. If I didn’t make that
tiny break, it would sound like this: I don’t know, don’t know, but instead, there is
a tiny break: I don’t know, don’t know, don’t know.
I don’t know,
I don’t know how long it takes them to make it.
Them becomes them. How long it takes them to make it. Them. Them. I could have dropped
the TH sounds. That’s a common reduction. I didn’t, but I did reduce the vowel. Them.
How long it takes them--
How long it takes them to make it.
The word ‘to’ reduced, I keep it true T but I make a schwa. Takes
them to make it. Takes them to make it.
So even though the sound before was voiced, I did not make that a flap T. Honestly, it’s
probably because I was speaking in front of a camera, and even though I don’t mean to,
I often speak just a little bit more clearly in front of a camera. But when I do a normal English conversation.
Takes them to make it.
To make it. Short, long, short. To make it. Stop T at the end because it’s the end
of my thought group.
To make it.
To make it but it’s worth every minute.
But it’s worth every minute. But it’s worth every minute.
My two most stressed words there even though the word ‘minute’ is one of the most stressed
words, it still ends in a stop T because it’s the end of the thought group.
But it’s worth every minute.
But it’s, but it’s, but it’s. These three words said quickly. Flap T connecting,
but it’s, and then I actually say a contraction even though it’s written out here as two
words. I definitely reduce that into a contraction. But it’s, but it’s, but it’s, but it’s.
Flap T linking the two together.
But it’s,
It sounds funny on its own, doesn’t it? But it’s, but it’s, but it’s, but it’s.
However, in the context of the whole sentence, where we have that against the longer more
stressed words, it sounds very natural to a native speaker.
But it’s worth every minute.
It’s gonna be so great to enjoy a nice meal.
It’s gonna be so great to enjoy a nice meal. It’s gonna be so great to enjoy a nice meal.
Okay, we do have a couple reductions here, don’t we? Going to. How did I pronounce
that? Gonna. It’s gonna be so great.
It’s gonna be so great.
It’s gonna be so great to enjoy a nice meal.
So great to enjoy. To enjoy. So here, I don’t reduce the vowel in ‘to’ because it’s
linking into another vowel. To enjoy, to enjoy. To, to, to. However, it’s still said very
quickly. Very much so unstressed. To enjoy, to enjoy.
To enjoy,
The first vowel in ‘enjoy’ is the EH vowel, which is unstressed. And unstressed EH and
schwa sound the same, so if I had made this vowel into the schwa, there would be no definition
between these two words, we would lose the word ‘to’.
So that’s why the vowel OH is not changed it’s because of the next sound. Now, we
have a true T connecting these. Great to enjoy. Great, stop, then release of the true T into
the vowel. To, great to, great to.
Great to enjoy,
great to enjoy a nice meal catching up with these friends.
Nice meal catching up with these friends. I didn’t say the word ‘and’, did I?
I wrote it in here but I don’t hear it at all.
A nice meal catching up with these friends.
A nice meal catching up with these friends. To ‘catch up’ means to tell each other
your news. Tell each other what’s been going on in your lives. We do this with friends
or family that we haven’t seen for some time. We catch them up on what has happened
since the last time we saw them. Phrasal verb.
Catching up with these friends.
‘Up’ has a little bit more length compared to ‘with these’. It has a little bit more
height to the pitch. Catching up with these friends. So I’m going to give it that little
curve so that we know it was a little higher in pitch. Catching up with these. With these.
With these. Lower in pitch, less clear, and then friends.
Catching up with these friends.
The word with and an unvoiced TH. It can be pronounced a voiced, but unvoiced is much
more common.
The word ‘this’ is pronounced with a voiced TH but when we have one word that ends in
a consonant and the next word that begins in the consonant, if they’re very similar,
then they’ll link together with one sound. And in this case, it’s the unvoiced sound
that wins.
Unvoiced sounds are considered stronger than voiced sounds. So when S and Z link together,
S the unvoiced sound wins. When unvoiced TH and voiced TH link together, it’s the unvoiced
sound that wins. So you can link these together: with these, with these, and drop your voiced
TH, just make one unvoiced TH consonant to link the words together.
With these, with these, with these, with these, with these.With these friends, with these
friends, with these friends.
And now, the conversation three times.
Tonight, David and I are going out to dinner with two friends, a double-date. We both got
sitters and we got a reservation at Park at six forty-five. I already know what I’m
going to get. They have the best French onion soup I’ve ever had. I don’t know how long
it takes them to make it, but it’s worth every minute. It’s going to be so great
to enjoy a nice meal catching up with these friends.
Tonight, David and I are going out to dinner with two friends, a double-date. We both got
sitters and we got a reservation at Park at six forty-five. I already know what I’m
going to get. They have the best French onion soup I’ve ever had. I don’t know how long
it takes them to make it, but it’s worth every minute. It’s going to be so great
to enjoy a nice meal catching up with these friends.
Tonight, David and I are going out to dinner with two friends, a double-date. We both got
sitters and we got a reservation at Park at six forty-five. I already know what I’m
going to get. They have the best French onion soup I’ve ever had. I don’t know how long
it takes them to make it, but it’s worth every minute. It’s going to be so great
to enjoy a nice meal catching up with these friends.
Ok, this is a fun scene I made with my friends Vicki and Jay where we are acting out checking
in at an airport. They also have a Youtube channel, “Simple English Videos”, be sure
to check them out.
The machine didn’t recognize my passport. I can help. Where are you flying to today?
-Recife -Rio
We’re flying to Rio and then we have a connecting flight to Recife.
What are you looking for? My reading glasses.
They’re on your head. Oh!
I had a bottle of water. I threw that away.
Why? You can’t take liquids on the plane.
Are you checking any bags? Yes, just one.
Can you put it on the scale? Sure!
Can you check our bag through the Recife. No, I can’t. You’ll need to pick it up
in Rio to go through customs. How much time do we have?
How long is our layover? About two and a half hours.
That’s plenty of time. Here are your boarding passes.
Thank you. Your flight leaves from Gate 19 and boarding
begins at 11:20. Eleven twenty.
Have a great trip! We will!
And now for that analysis.
The machine didn’t recognize my passport. Didn’t recognize.
Did you notice how Jay pronounced the N apostrophe T contraction? Didn’t. He didn’t release
the T. But rather, ending this word with a nasal stop sound. Didn’t. N-n-
The machine didn’t recognize my passport Didn’t recognize my passport
Didn’t recognize.
This is how we pronounce all N apostrophe T contractions. N– Didn’t recognize.
I can help.
Did you notice how the word ‘can’ was reduced? K, schwa, N sound. So it sounds like
there’s no vowel. Can- can- I can help. This is because ‘can’
is a helping verb here. It’s not the main verb. The main verb is ‘help’. ‘Can’
is usually a helping verb. And in these cases, we do reduce it.
I can help.
Where are you flying to today?
Where
I reduced the word ‘are’ to the schwa R sound, ‘ur’.
Ur- where-ur
It linked up with the word before: Where-ur. Where-ur. Where-ur. And just sounds like an
extra syllable at the end of ‘where’.
Where are you flying to today?
Where-ur. I pronounced a full OO vowel in the word ‘to’ but I reduced the vowel
in the word ‘today’ to the schwa. Tu- tu- today. So this syllable was short and
this syllable, ‘day’ was longer. Today.
What do you notice about the intonation of that question?
Where are you flying to today?
Today. The pitch went down at the end. But it’s a question. Questions that can’t be answered
with Yes or No do go down in pitch at the end, just like phrases.
We’re flying to Rio and then we have a connecting flight to Recife.
Vicki has pronounced this beautifully in British English. As you know, this is an American
English channel and that’s really where my expertise is. I’m not going to comment
too much on what Vicki says, except to point out a few differences between British English
and American English.
What are you looking for? My reading glasses.
The first major difference I’ll point out is how she pronounced the phrase ‘what are’.
She made a True T here. And most Americans will make that a Flap T. What-r. What are
you looking for?
I noticed that people who speak British English tend to make many more True Ts than Americans.
We like to make more Stop Ts and Flap Ts. What-r. But Vicki says…
What are your looking for?
What do you notice about the intonation of this question? Looking for? It goes down in
pitch at the end. Because it cannot be answered with Yes or No.
My reading glasses
No reduction in Jay’s short sentence but listen to how the sounds and words all flow
together.
My reading glasses
One thought with a swell over the stressed syllable ‘read’.
My reading glasses. All one nice smooth phrase.
My reading glasses. They’re on your head.
I had a bottle of water. Jay flapped the double T in ‘bottle’ so
it sounded like an American D. Bottle. Bottle. Also the word ‘water’.
Vicki probably would have said this with True Ts. Bottle. And Wat-t-t…True T.
Actually, ‘water’ is an interesting word because it sounds totally different in British
English than it does in American English. The vowel is different, the pronunciation
of T is different. And the pronunciation of the last two letters is different. I actually
have a video on how American pronounce the word ‘water’. Check it out!
I had a bottle of water. I threw that away.
Why?
Another clear True T from Vicki where an American probably would have flapped that.
I threw that away. That-a…
I threw that away.
But Vicki says…
I threw that away. Why?
Again, up but then down at the end. Why? This is a question that cannot be answered with
Yes or No.
Why? You can’t take liquids on the plane.
Are you checking any bags?
Here, I pronounce the word ‘are’ more fully with a vowel.
Are. Aaaare.
I wouldn’t have to. Even though it’s the beginning of the sentence, I could still reduce
it to ‘Urr”. Ur you checking? But I said ‘are’. Are you checking?
Are you checking any bags?
Smooth connection across the phrase with the stressed syllables ‘check’ and ‘bags’.
It’s a question. What do you notice about the intonation?
Are you checking any bags?
This is a Yes/No question. So the pitch should go up at the end. But actually, I made it
so the pitch goes down. Bags.
Are you checking any bags?
Okay, so the rules aren’t perfect. I also could have said this with intonation going
up at the end. Are you checking any bags? And in general, it’s more polite to make
your intonation go up at the end of a Yes/No question.
Are you checking any bags? Yes, just one.
Can you put it on the scale?
Another ‘can’ reduction. Kn- kn- Why is that? What’s the main verb here? The main
verb is ‘put’. So ‘can’ is a helping verb. Reduce it.
Can you put it on the scale?
Scale? The intonation does go up at the end of this Yes/No question.
Can you put it on the scale?
I noticed my Flap T is making this little 3-root phrase very smooth. Puuuttiiiton. Put
it on. Put it on.
Can you put it on the scale?
Not True Ts but just flapping the tongue against the mouth to make the connection between the
words smoother.
Put it on. Can you put it on the scale?
Can you put it on the scale?
Sure.
There are a couple different ways to pronounce this word. I usually say ‘sure!’ Jay said,
‘Sure’! Both are acceptable.
Sure. Can you check out backs through to Recife?
Notice Jay reduced ‘can’ to ‘kn’. Can you check our bags?
What’s the main verb here? Can you check our bags through to Recife?
The main verb is ‘check’ so can is a helping verb and we want to reduce that. The word
‘to’, Jay pronounced that with a Flap T and the schwa. This is the common reduction:
Through-da
Can you check our bags through to Recife? Through to Recife?
No, I can’t. You’ll need to pick it up in Rio to go through customs.
Can’t. I did pronounce a strong True T there, didn’t I? I was being extra clear. What
do you notice about the vowel in the word? Can’t.
No, I can’t.
It’s a full AA vowel. AA. Even though we reduced the vowel in the word ‘can’ often,
we do not reduce the vowel in the word ‘can’t’.
No, I can’t.
You’ll need to pick it up in Rio to go through
customs.
I reduced the vowel in ‘to’ to the schwa.
You’ll need te- Pick it up.
What do you notice about the T here?
Pick it up.
Its a Flap T. it comes between two vowels so I made that sound like the American D sound.
Pick it up. Pick it up.
You’ll need to pick it up in Rio
You’ll need to pick it up in Rio to go through customs.
Again, I reduced the vowel in ‘to’. Now I could make this T a Flap T, but I didn’t.
I made it a True T.
…in Rio te. But I could have said ‘in Riote’
You’ll need to pick it up in Rio to go through customs.
How much time do we have? How long is our layover?
What do you notice about the intonation of these two questions? After the phrase peaks
on the stressed word ‘time’, ‘do we have’, the last three words are all pretty
low in pitch, heading down.
How much time do we have? Layover
Both of these phrases, questions, but not Yes/No questions, go down in pitch.
How much time do we have? How long is our layover?
About two and a half hours. That’s plenty of time.
Did you notice the very clear Stop T in ‘about’?
About two and a half hours.
I made it True T for ‘two’ but I made a Stop T for ‘about’. About, stop the
air, two and a half hours.
This is how you’ll want to pronounce this when one word ends in a T and the next word
begins with a T.
About two and a half hours.
Don’t make two T sounds. Just make a stop and then one true T.
About two and a half hours.
How did I pronounce the word ‘and’? I reduced it to just the schwa N sound. Nn-
Two and a half.
Notice the L in ‘half’ is silent.
About two and a half hours.
That’s plenty of time.
Vicki made a nice clear True T here.
That’s plenty of time.
Americans will often drop the T completely when it comes after an N. Actually, we’ll
see an example of this in just a minute.
Here are your boarding passes. Thank you.
Here are your boarding passes. I did make a full vowel in the word ‘are’.
But it was still very fast, very quick. It’s a function word, it doesn’t need
much time. Here are your…
Here are your boarding passes.
Thank you.
Your flight leaves from gate 19 and boarding begins at 11:20.
Your flight leaves
The word ‘your’ was very fast. I reduced it so that it has the schwa R ending.
Yer. Yer. Yer flight. Your flight leaves.
Your flight leaves-
from gate 19 and boarding
begins at 11:20. ‘Flight leaves’ with a clear stop T, not
released.
Flight
Flight leaves
Your flight leaves
Your flight leaves from gate 19 and boarding begins at 11:20.
Eleven twenty.
Here is the example I talked about earlier. Americans often drop the T when it comes after
an N. ‘Twenty’ is a perfect example. I did it.
Eleven twenty.
And so did Jay. Eleven twenty. Twenty.
Eleven twenty.
Have a great trip!
Great trip.
Again, I did not make two Ts. One word ended in a T, the next word began in a T, but I
didn’t repeat the T. Great trip
Have a great trip!
Trip
The TR consonant cluster can be, and often is pronounced as CHR. CHRip. CHRip. Instead
of TRip. TRip.
Have a great trip.
And now, the conversation three times.
The machine didn’t recognize my passport. I can help. Where are you flying to today?
-Rio -Recife
We’re flying to Rio and then we have a connecting flight to Recife.
-What are you looking for? -My reading glasses.
They’re on your head. I had a bottle of water.
I threw that away. Why?
You can’t take liquids on the plane. Are you checking any bags?
Yes, just one. Can you put it on the scale?
Sure. Can you check our bags through to Recife?
No, I can’t. You’ll need to pick it up in Rio to go through customs.
How much time do we have? How long is our layover?
About two and a half hours. That’s plenty of time.
Here are your boarding passes. Thank you.
Your flight leaves from Gate 19 and boarding begins at 11:20.
Eleven twenty. Have a great trip!
We will!
The machine didn’t recognize my passport. I can help. Where are you flying to today?
-Rio -Recife
We’re flying to Rio and then we have a connecting flight to Recife.
-What are you looking for? -My reading glasses.
They’re on your head. I had a bottle of water.
I threw that away. Why?
You can’t take liquids on the plane. Are you checking any bags?
Yes, just one. Can you put it on the scale?
Sure. Can you check our bags through to Recife?
No, I can’t. You’ll need to pick it up in Rio to go through customs.
How much time do we have? How long is our layover?
About two and a half hours. That’s plenty of time.
Here are your boarding passes. Thank you.
Your flight leaves from Gate 19 and boarding begins at 11:20.
Eleven twenty. Have a great trip!
We will!
The machine didn’t recognize my passport. I can help. Where are you flying to today?
-Rio -Recife
We’re flying to Rio and then we have a connecting flight to Recife.
-What are you looking for? -My reading glasses.
They’re on your head. I had a bottle of water.
I threw that away. Why?
You can’t take liquids on the plane. Are you checking any bags?
Yes, just one. Can you put it on the scale?
Sure. Can you check our bags through to Recife?
No, I can’t. You’ll need to pick it up in Rio to go through customs.
How much time do we have? How long is our layover?
About two and a half hours. That’s plenty of time.
Here are your boarding passes. Thank you.
Your flight leaves from Gate 19 and boarding begins at 11:20.
Eleven twenty. Have a great trip!
We will!
Now back to a monologue about my free time.
One of my favorite things to do with a free day is to ride my bike. Sometimes I’ll ride
along the Hudson River or in Central Park, and sometimes I’ll go visit friends in Brooklyn.
And now for that analysis.
>> One of my favorite things to do
One of my favorite. I definitely here ‘one’ and ‘fav-‘ as being stressed. ‘Of my’
is very quick, very different than ‘one’ and ‘fav’. Of my, of my, of my. So I’m
using the schwa here, and I am giving the V sound: of my, of my, of my, but it’s very
flat and quick.
>> One of my favorite
I notice that I’m dropping the middle, unstressed syllable in ‘favorite’. So it’s not
FA-vo-rit, but simply, FA-vrit. Favorite. Favorite things. And I notice that I am making
that a stop T, I’m not releasing it. I’m going straight into the TH. One of my favorite things.
>> One of my favorite things to do with a free day
One of my favorite things to do with a free day … so I notice both the words ‘free’
and ‘day’ have a lot more length than the others. ‘Things’ is a content word,
it is a noun, but it’s more generic than ‘free’ and ‘day’, I think that’s
why I didn’t give it as much time. One of my favorite things to do with a free day.
>> One of my favorite things to do with a free day
I notice, with the word ‘to’, I am reducing that to the schwa sound. It’s not ‘to
do’, it’s ‘t’do’.
>> To do
with a free day.
Also the article ‘a’, of course, is a schwa. Now I pronounced the ending TH unvoiced,
with a, with a. Sometimes when people link the ending TH that is unvoiced into a voiced
sound, like the vowel schwa, they will voice it and say ‘with a’. With a. But I left
that unvoiced: with a, with a, with a free day.
>> with a free day
Is to ride my bike. Ride, bike. Those were the two longest words in that sentence fragment.
Is to ride my bike. I notice again, I reduced this to the schwa sound. It’s not ‘to’,
it’s to, to, is to, is to, is to ride, is to ride my bike.
>> Is to ride my bike.
Sometimes I’ll ride along Hudson River
What did you hear as the most stressed syllables there? I’m hearing some-, ride, Hud-, Riv-.
As you practice your own speech, listen to it and make sure that you can pick out stressed
syllables in a sentence. If you can’t, then they all sound too much the same. And we’re
lacking good rhythmic contrast. So, it’s always good to study other speech, and to
note what do you hear as being the longest syllables. Usually, it will go along with
adjectives, adverbs, nouns, and verbs.
>> Sometimes I’ll ride along the Hudson River
What else do you notice? I notice the ending S here is pronounced as a Z. Sometimes I’ll
ride. Also, did you notice how I pronounced that contraction? I didn’t say I’ll, I
said I’ll, I’ll. So it sounded a lot like this word. In fact, it sounded just like this
word. I’ll, I’ll. I used the ‘aw’ as in ‘law’ vowel. Sometimes I’ll, sometimes
I’ll ride. So, I reduced the contraction, which is already a reduction of ‘I will’,
to I’ll, I’ll, I’ll. Sometimes I’ll ride.
>> Sometimes I’ll ride
along the Hudson River.
The Hudson River. The word ‘the’ pronounced with the schwa. Sometimes it’s pronounced
with an EE vowel. That would be when the next word begins with a vowel or diphthong. Here
it begins with a consonant, the H sound, Hudson, Hudson, so it was a schwa. The Hudson, the
Hudson River.
>> The Hudson River.
Did you notice how the second and unstressed syllable of ‘Hudson’ was pronounced? It’s
written with the letter O, but there’s the schwa vowel in there. As an unstressed syllable,
it’s very fast, -son, -son, -son. And when the schwa is followed by the N sound, you
don’t need to worry about making a separate schwa sound. It gets absorbed by the N. -Son,
-son, -son, Hudson. The Hudson.
>> The Hudson River
or in Central Park.
I notice I did not reduce the word ‘or’, that can be reduced to ‘er’, Hudson River
or Central Park. But in this case I didn’t. I said ‘or’. Wait, I just realized I missed
the word ‘in’. Or in Central Park, or in Central Park. Do you hear how fast the
word ‘in’ is? Or in, or in, or in, or in Central Park. Central. Stressed syllable
of ‘Central’ is the first one. Cen-, Cen-. The second syllable has the schwa: -tral, -tral.
>> In Central
Did you notice? I’m making more of a CH sound here instead of a T sound for the T
in ‘Central’. Cen-tral, -tral, -tral. This can happen when the T is followed by an R.
>> In Central
Park, and sometimes I’ll go visit friends in Brooklyn.
And sometimes. I definitely dropped the D in that word, and sometimes, and sometimes,
reducing the word ‘and’.
>> And sometimes
Let’s talk about stress in that last part of the sentence.
>> And sometimes I’ll go visit friends in Brooklyn.
What do you hear as being the most stressed syllables? Some-, sort of, but even stronger,
vis-, friends, Brook-. Verb, noun, noun. The content words. And did you notice the contraction
‘I’ll’? Again, pronounced with the ‘aw’ as in ‘law’ vowel, reduced to ‘I’ll’, ‘I’ll’.
>> And sometimes I’ll
go visit friends in Brooklyn.
Also, all of these words, as always in a thought group, were very connected. I had a Stop T
here in ‘visit’, so I didn’t bother to release it, which would have made a little
gap in my line. Visit friends, visit friends.
>> visit friends
in Brooklyn.
Also, the ending Z sound of ‘friends’ linked into the beginning vowel of the next
word, friends in, friends in, friends in, friends in Brooklyn.
>> visit friends in Brooklyn.
And now, the conversation three times.
One of my favorite things to do with a free day is to ride my bike. Sometimes I’ll ride
along the Hudson River or in Central Park, and
sometimes I’ll go visit friends in Brooklyn.
One of my favorite things to do with a free day is to ride my bike. Sometimes I’ll ride
along the Hudson River or in Central Park, and
sometimes I’ll go visit friends in Brooklyn.
One of my favorite things to do with a free day is to ride my bike. Sometimes I’ll ride
along the Hudson River or in Central Park, and
sometimes I’ll go visit friends in Brooklyn.
And our last one, a monologue about evening plans.
Tonight I’m meeting up with some friends in the West Village for pizza. We may stay
in the West Village afterwards, or we may hop on our bikes and go up to UCB for a comedy show.
And now, for that analysis.
Tonight I’m meeting up with some friends in the West Village for pizza. We may stay
in the West Village afterwards, or we may hop on our bikes and go up to UCB for a comedy show.
One of the first things that I notice is that I’ve made this a Stop T rather than a Flap T.
>> Tonight I’m meeting up with some friends
>> Tonight
Often, when the T comes between vowels or diphthongs, in this case we have the AI as
in BUY diphthong for ‘tonight’, and the AI as in BUY diphthong for ‘I’, we would
make that a Flap T to connect. But I made this a stop T, so there was a little break
in the line. Tonight I’m meeting, tonight, tonight.
>> Tonight I’m meeting up with some friends
>> Tonight
I also notice that I’ve made this O a schwa: to-, to-, to-, tonight. This T, on the other
hand, was a Flap T, meeting up, meeting up. I did not release the P here, so that’s
a stop consonant. Up, Up. My lips came together to make the P. But rather than releasing them,
up, I went right into the next word, with. Meeting up with some friends. I’m noticing,
sort of to my surprise, that I also dropped the TH. With some friends, with some friends.
>> …up with some friends
So, I took this function word, which will not be stressed (it is less important in the
sentence), and I dropped the final sound. With some, with some, with some, with some
friends in the West Village for pizza. It’s very obvious to me there what the most stressed
words are.
>> In the West Village for pizza.
Let’s start with the first four words: in the West Village. ‘In the’ was very quick.
In the [6x]. ‘West’ and ‘Village’ both had more time. West, Village. In the
West Village. So even though ‘in the’ is two words, it was probably faster than
the single word ‘West’. In the West, in the West Village.
>> In the West Village.
And the final two words, ‘for pizza’. For pizza. I definitely hear the first syllable
of ‘pizza’ as being stressed. The word ‘for’ was reduced, it had the schwa, for
[4x], for pizza, for pizza.
>> …for pizza. >> In the West Village for pizza.
We may stay in the West Village afterwards: which syllable was the most stressed?
>> We may stay in the West Village afterwards.
I definitely heard ‘stay’ as being the most stressed. That’s our verb. That’s
a content word, which will usually be stressed in a sentence. Again ‘in the’ was very
quick. ‘West’ and ‘Village’ were both stressed, as was ‘afterwards’, but they
had less curve to the voice. They were less stressed to me than the word ‘stay’, which
was louder. We may stay in the West Village afterwards. I notice that I did not reduce
the word ‘or’. That’s one word that can reduce to ‘er’: or we may. But here
I said ‘or we may, or we may’. I did not reduce the vowel.
>> Or we may hop on our bikes
We may hop on our bikes. What do you think is the loudest, most stressed word in that
sentence fragment?
>> We may hop on our bikes
I hear ‘hop’, again, the verb.
>> We may hop on our bikes and go up to UCB.
And go up to UCB. I definitely reduced the word ‘and’ here, by dropping the D, and
go up to UCB.
>> And go up
Again here, the word ‘up’: I did not release the P sound, I made that a stop. Up to, up
to. Again, a reduction I did not do. The word ‘to’ usually has the schwa sound in it.
And instead, I left in the vowel ‘oo’. To, to. I usually reduce the word ‘to’
in conversation. To [3x]. I did not do it here because I was talking into the camera,
and I’ve noticed that I do use fewer reductions when I’m recording than I do in normal conversation.
>> to UCB for a comedy show.
For a comedy show. I most definitely reduced this vowel to the schwa. For [3x], for a,
for a. So I also connected that word, very much so, to the article ‘a’, which is
also pronounced as the schwa. For a [4x]. For a comedy show.
>> for a
comedy show. For a comedy show.
Let’s test your listening skills for stress. The word ‘comedy’ is a three-syllable
word. Which did you hear as being the most stressed?
>> comedy
It’s the first syllable. So, the last two syllables are lower in pitch and flatter,
also maybe a little quieter than the stressed syllable. -medy [4x], co – medy [2x]. Comedy show.
And now, the conversation three times.
Tonight I’m meeting up with some friends in the West Village for pizza. We may stay
in the West Village afterwards, or we may hop on our bikes and go up to UCB for a comedy show.
Tonight I’m meeting up with some friends in the West Village for pizza. We may stay
in the West Village afterwards, or we may hop on our bikes and go up to UCB for a comedy show.
Tonight I’m meeting up with some friends in the West Village for pizza. We may stay
in the West Village afterwards, or we may hop on our bikes and go up to UCB for a comedy show.
When you watch this much analysis all at once, you really start to feel those characteristics
that are important to American English. You can’t deny them, you start to feel them
in your body. If you want to start training that, you’ll want to work with the audio
training that goes along with these kinds of analysis videos in my online school, Rachel’s
English Academy. We have thousands of students training right now, to get these habits into
their voices. Visit RachelsEnglishAcademy.com to sign up today.
Keep your learning going now with this video and don’t forget to subscribe with notifications,
I make new videos on the English language every week. I love being your English teacher.
That’s it, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.