Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.
00:08
Hi. I'm Tim and this is my Pronunciation workshop.
0
8360
4760
00:13
Here I'm gonna show you how English is
really spoken. Come on, let's go inside.
1
13120
6940
00:25
This week, I'm going to need some help from my
favourite twin. Please welcome back Tom, who's
2
25120
7499
00:32
going to help me present. Hi Tom!
3
32619
2092
00:34
Hi Tim! Now, are you a lover?
4
34711
3979
00:38
Or a fighter? Do you prefer to dance?
5
38690
3060
00:41
Or would you rather have an argument?
6
41750
1920
00:43
There's an expression we have in English that
7
43670
2139
00:45
contains the name of a dance...
8
45809
1750
00:47
...and means when two people get involved
9
47559
3151
00:50
in a fight or argument, then in most cases
both have to take some of the responsibility.
10
50710
6910
00:57
Do you know the expression?
11
57620
1000
00:58
Well, let's ask the people of London.
12
58620
2980
01:01
It takes two to tango.
13
61600
1780
01:03
It takes two to tango.
It takes two to tango.
14
63380
3060
01:06
It takes two to tango.
15
66440
1000
01:07
It takes two to tango.
16
67440
3030
01:10
Lot of 't's in that, Tim.
17
70470
1560
01:12
Lot of 't's indeed, Tom. Five in fact. It
18
72030
5080
01:17
takes two to Tango. But are all of these usually
pronounced? Can you hear all of them? Listen again.
19
77110
9500
01:27
It takes two to tango.
20
87110
1630
01:28
It takes two to tango.
It takes two to tango.
21
88740
3060
01:31
It takes two to tango.
22
91800
1470
01:33
You might remember from a previous video that
23
93270
3040
01:36
when the sound /t/ comes in between two consonants,
we don't usually pronounce it.
24
96310
5890
01:42
But what happens if there's a vowel sound
25
102200
3260
01:45
before the /t/? and the next word also begins
with /t/?
26
105460
3750
01:49
Well, in this case the two /t/ sounds join
27
109210
4150
01:53
together to create one slightly stronger /t/.
So 'it takes two' becomes 'it takes two'.
28
113360
9440
02:03
This is an example of twinning or gemination.
Here are some more examples.
29
123040
6080
02:09
It took him twenty years to get to the top.
30
129120
3320
02:12
You don't have to cheat to pass the test.
31
132440
2820
02:15
You were right to be upset.
32
135420
1660
02:17
We took the overnight train to Venice.
33
137500
1940
02:19
Right, so you've heard the examples, and now
34
139450
4440
02:23
it's your turn. You know the drill. Listen
and repeat.
35
143890
4250
02:28
It took him twenty years to get to the top.
36
148520
2600
02:34
You don't have to cheat to pass the test.
37
154700
2400
02:39
You were right to be upset.
38
159240
2000
02:43
We took the overnight train to Venice.
39
163260
2000
02:46
Well done. Now remember, if you want to learn
40
166460
4270
02:50
more about pronunciation, then please visit
our website, bbclearningenglish.com. And that
41
170730
8390
02:59
is about it from the pronunciation workshop
for this week. We'll see you soon. Bye bye!
42
179120
7259
03:06
Ah, thank you for all your hard work, Tom.
43
186379
2701
03:09
Ah. No problem, you're the best Tim.
44
189080
2520
03:11
Hey, thanks, you're great too.
45
191600
3100
03:25
Ah! That was weird! What was that all about?
46
205420
4660
03:30
Hey, you started it.
47
210220
1660
03:31
No I didn't.
48
211890
1000
03:32
Yes you did.
49
212890
1020
03:33
Well, maybe a little bit. I guess that just
50
213910
4400
03:38
goes to prove it takes two to tango.
51
218310
3300
New videos
About this website
This site will introduce you to YouTube videos that are useful for learning English. You will see English lessons taught by top-notch teachers from around the world. Double-click on the English subtitles displayed on each video page to play the video from there. The subtitles scroll in sync with the video playback. If you have any comments or requests, please contact us using this contact form.