If you can understand these 15 audio clips, your English is AMAZING!

If you can understand these 15 audios,  your listening skills are amazing!

I understand how it is. You can  understand most of what I say  

in my videos. You can understand  what your English teacher says,

but when it comes to fast, informal speech—it's  a lot harder. Today, I'm going to test you.

This is going to be a gap-fill  exercise, so grab a pen and paper.

You're going to hear 15 audio clips  from British and Irish celebrities.

These clips will gradually increase in  difficulty. I'm going to play each clip  

twice to give you a chance to fill in the  gaps. Then, I will reveal the answer, and  

pick out any interesting pronunciation features,  and explain any tricky grammar or vocabulary.

So, you won't just practice your listening skills

in this lesson, we'll be focusing  on your pronunciation, grammar,  

and vocabulary knowledge too.

As always, I've created a PDF to go  along with this video. In the PDF,  

you'll find even more information about  the pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar

and some top tips for improving your listening  skills. If you'd like to download the PDF,  

just click on the link in the description box or  

scan that QR code there. You enter  your name and your email address,

you sign up to my mailing list and the  PDF will arrive directly in your inbox.

After that, you'll automatically  receive my free PDFs alongside my news,  

course updates and offers. It's a free  service and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Okay, are you ready for the  first clip? Here is the sentence.

You need to try to fill each gap with one word.

Are you ready? Here's clip number 1:

'I _ dogs. _, on the other hand… I mean, I _  like cats. Don't _ do a film with them, though.'

Listen again!

'I _ dogs. _, on the other  hand… I mean, I _ like cats.  

Don't _ do a film with them, though.' I must say I am more of a dog person.

Ready for the answers—here they are!

Benedict stressed the key words he wanted to  emphasise. 'Love', 'cats', 'do' and 'ever'.

This helps the listener pick  out the important information.

And he also added 'do' to a  positive statement—'I do like cats'.

This is quite unusual, but we do do this  when we want to emphasise the following verb.

He also added a /j/ between 'the' and 'other'.  'The /j/ other' to smooth the transition between  

the vowel sounds. We'll also pick up on  this in some of the later audio clips.

Next clip, let's listen to Ed Sheeran answering  

the question—'Who looks after  your cats when you're touring?'

'_, but _ actually here today _  she's got a couple _ weeks off  

work. So at the moment my mum and dad have them.'

One more time!

'_, but _ actually here today _  she's got a couple _ weeks off  

work. So at the moment my mum and dad have them.'

That was a lot harder, especially  with music in the background.

Okay, here are the answers. Did  you hear 'Cherry' with a /tʃ/ or  

'Sherry' with a /ʃ/? Ed said 'Cherry' with a /tʃ/,

but both of these sounds are very similar  and often confused. To make the /ʃ/ sound,  

imagine you're telling someone to be quiet—shh!  Round your lips. Push them forward. Shh!

You can continue this sound for as  long as you have air in your lungs—/ʃ/.

That /tʃ/ sound combines a /t/ and /ʃ/.  I build up pressure with the /t/ and then  

I quickly switch to the /ʃ/—/tʃ/. Notice  how the sound stops and my jaw opens—/tʃ/.

'Cherry'. 'Sherry'. 'Cherry'. 'Sherry'.

Can you hear the difference?

Ed also uses the shortened form of  'because'—'cause, /kəz/. And this  

is very common in fast, informal spoken English. And did you also notice how he dropped the in /v/.

He said—'a couple /ə/ weeks, a couple  /ə/ weeks, not a couple /əv/ weeks'.

This is especially common when 'of'  comes before a consonant sound. Okay,  

are you ready for clip number 3?

What animals does Adele want and what do you  notice about her pronunciation of 'want to'?

'I _ to get some _. Basically, I _ have…  I _ have a little _ - that's what I _ do.'

One more time.

'I _ to get some _. Basically, I _ have…  I _ have a little _ - that's what I _ do.'

Okay, here are the answers. I love Adele.

So, Adele wants 'chickens' and 'a little  farm'. But what's interesting about this  

clip is how Adele pronounces  'want to' as 'wanna', 'wanna'.

This informal contraction is  incredibly common in spoken English.

In this clip, Adele uses 'wanna'  as a contraction of 'want to'—'I  

want to get some chickens',  'I wanna get some chickens'.

We can also use it as a contraction of 'want  

a'. For example—'Do you wanna  drink?' 'Do you want a drink?'

I've included lots more of these  informal contractions in the PDF.

If you'd like to download that,  click on the link in the description  

box or scan that QR code there.  Let's move on to clip number 4!

We're going to practise our prediction skills for  this next clip. Predicting what you might hear  

is a handy real-life skill, and it can also help  you get better marks in official language exams.

Here is Tom's answer to the  question—'Why do you love  

dogs so much?' Any ideas about  what could go in each gap here?

Pause the video and have a  think. I'll now play the clip.

'- Erm, 'cause they don't _; they're just all  _, aren't they dogs? And they don't ask for _.'

One more time.

'- Erm, 'cause they don't _; they're just all  _, aren't they dogs? And they don't ask for _.'

Here are the answers. How  close were your predictions?

Tom loves dogs because they don't lie.

Notice how he used the shortened form  of 'because'—'cause—just like Ed did.

He also didn't pronounced the /t/ sound in the  

negative contraction /nt/ between  'don't lie' and 'aren't they'?

He said—'don't lie' and 'aren't they'.

And then he said—'they're all heart'. Have  you heard this expression before? If not,  

can you guess what it means from the context?

The idiom 'to be all heart'  is usually used to describe  

very kind and generous humans. By  using this phrase to describe dogs,  

I think Tom is emphasising the huge amount  of love and affection you receive from them.

And I couldn't agree more!

Let's move on to clip 5: this is  our last beginner audio. Then,  

we'll move on to intermediate. We're going  to hear from the wonderful Nadia Hussain.

Here's the gapped sentence,  try and catch the missing  

words. There's one missing from each space. Ready?

'When I _ a _, I had _ cat and then I  just _ obsessed with rescuing them.'

One more time!

'When I _ a _, I had _ cat and then I  just _ obsessed with rescuing them.'

Are you ready for the answers? Here we are.

Nadia says—'When I was a teenager'

with the weak form of 'was',  /wəz/—generally used in positive statements

'when I was'.

Now, the consonant sound /z/ joins to the vowel  

sound /a/, so the 2 words sound like  one—'wasa', 'when I wasa teenager'.

So, when Nadia was a teenager, she had one  cat and got obsessed with rescuing them.

In this context, 'got' means 'became'. We often  use 'get' with an adjective to describe a process  

or a changing situation. For example—'I'm getting  hungry', 'I'm getting tired, cold' and so on.

Which clip out of the five we've covered so far,  

have you found the most  challenging and least challenging?

It might not just be about their accent, it  might be about the speed at which they speak.

Let's move on to some slightly  more difficult clips now. Are you  

ready for number 6? Here is comedian  Russell Howard talking about a dog  

called 'Marnie' who made it big on social  media because of her unusual appearance.

Can you match the missing words here?

Go ahead!

'All _ _ are _. They took all _  _ out and _ tongue _ _ a bit.'

Oh, let's listen to that again!

'All _ _ are _. They took all _  _ out and _ tongue _ _ a bit.'

So, are you ready for the answers?

Here they are! We have a couple of really  interesting pronunciation features here. Did you  

notice how Russell dropped the /h/ sound or the  'h' sound at the beginning of 'her' and 'hangs'?

He said—'er' and 'angs'.

It's common for speakers to drop the /h/  sound from grammar words like 'his' and 'her',  

but Russell also dropped it from the  verb 'hang', which is less common.

Also, Russell said—'teeth' with a /f/,  

not 'teeth' with /θ/. The dental sound  /θ/ is quite challenging to make,

so many speakers switch it for  the easier unvoiced consonant /f/.

This is a common feature in many dialects.

And finally, why are you able to  catch the last word in the sentence?

I say out, but Russell pronounces this  more openly and drops the final /t/ sound.

'They took all her teeth out.'

Okay, next clip! In this one, James Acaster,  

who's a British comedian, is  talking about an old myth that

the position of cows in a field can  help us know if it's going to rain or  

not. Here's the gapped sentence,  try to catch the missing words.

'Basically, um, there's a rumour going round that  

cows can predict the _. It's gonna  be sunny, they _. It's gonna rain,  

they _. _, beyond those two types _, cows  appear _ very little idea what's going on.'

Okay, that was slightly longer,  let's listen to it again.

'Basically, um, there's a rumour going round that  

cows can predict the _. It's gonna  be sunny, they _. It's gonna rain,  

they _. _, beyond those two types _, cows  appear _ very little idea what's going on.'

Okay, are you ready for the answers? Here they  are. Did you catch the 2 phrasal verbs—'stand  

up' and 'lie down'? Did you notice how he's  stressed the particles 'up' and 'down'?

Most phrasal verbs are stressed on  the second word rather than the verb,  

although there are quite a few exceptions.

He also used the conjunction, 'granted',  which means the same as 'admittedly',  

and is used to say that something is true often  in contrast to something else you say about it.  

James didn't pronounce that /t/ in 'granted'  or 'little'. He used a glottal stop instead.

'Granted', 'little'.

Glottal stops are very common in British  English and are made by closing the throat,  

blocking the flow of air very briefly  before releasing it—'granted'. 

Can you hear the slight pause in there—'granted'?

There are also 2 interesting  pronunciation features,  

similar to the last audio from Russell  Howard. Russell pronounced the unvoiced  

't-h' sound /θ/ with a /f/, and  said—'teeth' instead of 'teeth'.

Did you notice the sound James  used instead of the voiced 't-h'  

sound /ð/ in 'weather'? Go back  and listen again if you need to.

'Beyond those two types of weather.'

That's right. He changed  the /ð/ for a /v/—weather.

Like Russell, James also drops the 'h' sound  or /h/ sound at the beginning of words.

He said 'ave' instead of 'have'.

He also used a linking /w/ sound to  join 'to' and 'have' together—'to have'.

Okay, clip 8. Let's listen to  another comedian, Sarah Millican.

She's from Newcastle and she  has a lovely Geordie accent.

She's talking about going to a well-known  pet shop to see animals instead of the zoo,  

but can you catch the missing words here?

'So we have perfected the art of  wandering around Pets at Home. _  

go in with _ confidence, you know?'

She's so good. Let's listen again.

'So we have perfected the art of wandering  

around Pets at Home. _ go in  with _ confidence, you know?'

Okay, you ready for the answers? Here they are.  She reduces—'you have got to' to 'you gotta'.

And a 'lot of' to 'a lotta'.

This helps her to speak more quickly and  fluently. And another interesting feature  

is how she uses a linking /w/ sound between 'go'  and 'in'—'go /w/ in'. We often use /w/, /j/ or /r/

between 2 vowel sounds to link them. You  can find out more about this in the PDF!

Let's listen to clip number 9. We have  Orlando Bloom talking about his rescue dog.

Here are the gaps. Let's listen.

'But I created… it was this incredible _. He  

came with me everywhere. He was  _ on set on the boat on Pirates.'

One more time. 'But I created… it was this incredible _. He

came with me everywhere. He was  _ on set on the boat on Pirates.'

Did you catch the 2 words missing here?

Here they are.

The first word 'bond' is a strong  connection between people or  

animals. We often talk about a close or  a strong bond. Now, Orlando is British,  

but he's married to American singer  Katy Perry and has starred in a lot  

of big Hollywood movies, which might  have had an effect on his pronunciation.

Interestingly, in 'bond', he used a  longer vowel sound similar to /aː/—'bond',  

which is often used in North American English  rather than the short vowel sound /ɒ/—'bond',

which is commonly used in British English.  British 'bond'. North American English 'bond'.

He then uses a flap T, which is also more  

common in North American English.  I say 'literally' and Orlando says

'literally on'.

'Literally'. Can you hear how  that /t/ sounds more like a 'd'?

How do you pronounce this word, more  like me or more like Orlando? I've  

included more information about  the flap T in the PDF. Okay,  

let's move on to clip number 10, our  last in the intermediate section.

You'll need up to 4 words here to complete  each gap. Are you ready? Let's listen.

'Animals, _, are not destroying their  environments, although some of them _. But  

they've evolved so there's a _.' One more time.

'Animals, _, are not destroying  their environments, although some  

of them _. But they've evolved so there's a _.'

Okay, are you ready for the answers? Here we  are. Jane Goodall uses the phrase 'by and large'  

meaning something is usually or generally  true. It sounded like one word, didn't it?

That's because she used the linking /j/  to join 'by' and 'and'—'by and large'.

She also elided or didn't  pronounce the /d/ in 'and'

and she did this in order to join  it smoothly to the next word.

'By and large', 'by and large'.

Linking sounds and elision are 2 common aspects of  

connected speech. Did you get the 2 modal  verbs that she used 'would' and 'could'?

They were quite easy to hear because Jane  stressed them. Modal verbs are not usually  

stressed when they're in the positive, but they  can be when they aren't followed by a main verb

as we heard there.

At the end of the clip, Jane said  'natural balance' with rising intonation.

'But they've evolved so that  there's a natural balance.'

Her rising intonation may have indicated  that she hadn't finished speaking.

Okay, we're on to the advanced section now.

In clip 11, we're going to hear comedian Ricky  

Gervais talking about a hypothetical  past using the third conditional.

Each gap here contains a  contraction and one other word.

Let's have a listen.

'If _ you _ a dog in Covid, that _ problem.'

Tricky, isn't it?

Let's hear it once more.

'If _ you _ a dog in Covid, that _ problem.'

Okay, are you ready for  the answers? Here they are.

Ricky barely pronounced the /d/ sound  in the contracted form—'they'd'. So,  

we have to use our grammar  knowledge to fill in the gaps.

'If' plus past perfect—'if  they had', 'if they'd said'.

Also, notice how Ricky doesn't  pronounced the /t/ in 'can't';  

we just have the long /aː/ vowel sound  like in 'car'? And then the /n/, 'can',

'can't touch'?

Focusing on the long vowel sound rather than  listening for the full negative contraction  

'n't' is a good way to differentiate between the  positive and negative forms in British English.

'I can touch', 'I can't touch'.

And did you catch the last bit?  'Would have' becomes 'wudda',  

'wudda' with just the /ə/ sound at the end.

He also reduces the long 'e'  vowel sound in 'been' to /ɪ/,  

'would have been'. This is very  common in fast-spoken English.

Okay, time for clip 12. Here we have the actor  Eddie Redmayne talking about his experience  

with chickens during lockdown. You'll need  a few words to complete some of these gaps.

Let's listen.

'They were sort of _ chickens, so they didn't  look that well but we kind of _ and I spent most  

of lockdown sort of running into other people's  gardens trying to sort of _ chickens that _.'

Let's listen once more.

'They were sort of _ chickens, so they didn't  look that well but we kind of _ and I spent most  

of lockdown sort of running into other people's  gardens trying to sort of _ chickens that _.'

Okay, here are the answers. We had  some advanced vocabulary in this clip,  

which might have made it a  bit more challenging for you.

Did you catch the word 'battery'? 'Battery'?  Maybe you did, but were confused as to how a  

'battery' could be connected to 'chickens'? Well,  'battery' here has nothing to do with energy.

'Battery chickens' are chickens raised in 'battery  

cages'. These are lots and lots  of small cages in a small space.

Eddie said that they nurtured  the chickens to health.

If you 'nurture' something, you look  after it and you provide it with the  

conditions it needs to develop and be successful.

In this case, Eddie and his family provided their  chickens with the necessary conditions to recover.

And what did the chickens do in return? They  

caused 'havoc'. 'Havoc' is a word  with a similar meaning to chaos.

If you create 'havoc', you might damage things,  make a lot of noise or cause general confusion.

So, Eddie's chickens escaped into  neighboring gardens and had to be  

retrieved. If you retrieve  something, you get it back.

This clip is packed full of interesting  things. There's a longer explanation in  

the PDF that goes with this video,  so don't forget to check that out!

Okay, we've got another clip with some tricky  language. This time it's idiomatic language.  

Let's listen to number 13 with Colin  Farrell answering the question—'Why do  

animals make such good co-stars?' Here's  a sentence try to complete the 2 phrases

'- 'Cause you're trying to… when you're  telling stories for film or television,  

you're trying to make things look  like they're _ and animals _.'

One more time.

'- 'Cause you're you're trying to… when  you're telling stories for film or television,  

you're trying to make things look  like they're _ and animals _.'

Okay, so did you catch what was in the  first gap—'happening on the fly'? If  

something 'happens on the fly', it happens  spontaneously without any preparation.

And in the second gap, we have—'to keep  you on your toes'. To say that something  

'keeps you on your toes' means that it  requires you to stay alert, attentive  

and ready to react quickly  to the situation that arises.

Okay, it's time for our penultimate clip  from Scottish actor David Tennant. Let's  

listen to him talk about his  dog. How does he describe her?

'She about that big. More of a _ than  a….little _ thing; very excitable.'

Let's listen once more!

'She about that big. More of a _ than  a….little _ thing; very excitable.'

Okay, how does he describe her?

Well interestingly, David omits the verb  'is' completely and just says 'she about'  

rather than 'she is about'. And what  does he compare her to—'a hand towel'?  

Bravo if you caught that, as it's a  pretty unusual comparison to make.

David also elides the /d/ in hand towel,  

he says 'han towel'. Many speakers  drop the /d/ sound, especially

when it occurs between 2 consonant sounds.

In the last gap, we had the word  'fluffy'. If a dog is 'fluffy',  

it's covered in lots of soft fur like this.

Okay, time for our final clip—  clip 15. We're going to end with  

a very strange story from the late Paul O'Grady.

Are you ready?

Here's your sentence. Let's listen.

'And here's Dot, ____ cow, in the kitchen....and  

she was eating a bit of _ that was _  from the night before in the sink.'

Let's listen one more time.

'And here's Dot, ____ cow, in the kitchen....and  

she was eating a bit of _ that was _  from the night before in the sink.'

Okay, this one is incredibly challenging.  Not only is the sentence somewhat surreal,  

but Paul also has a very distinct  Liverpool or Scouse accent.

Did you notice he said /mɪ/  instead of 'my'—Dot /mɪ/ cow?

And did you hear what Dot was  eating from the kitchen sink?

'Yellowfish', a type of freshwater fish.

What's interesting, though, is  how Paul pronounced 'yellow'.

He said 'yell-uh fish'.

And the last word, 'left',  was hard to distinguish,  

as Paul pronounced 'left' more like  'lift' and said the word really quickly.

If you managed to get all of those words,  then well done! That was really tough!

Okay, lovely students, what was your total  score? I'd love to know—share it in the  

comments. There is so much more information  to go through in the PDF that goes with this  

video. The link is in the description  box, or you can scan that QR code there.

I'd love to know which clips you found the  most challenging and which you found easiest.

I really hope you enjoyed this lesson. I  know it was very challenging! Let me know  

if you'd enjoy another one—maybe  it could be harder or easier.

Don't forget to check out my English courses.

I've got my—B1, B2 and  C1—3-month English Programmes.

If you'd like to check out my 3-month English  Programmes, visit englishwithlucy.com.

I hope to see you in another lesson.

Muah!