Rhythm for English Speaking (How British People Really Speak English)

Hello, lovely students, and welcome  back to English with Lucy. Today,  

I have a pronunciation lesson for you.

We're going to be focusing on rhythm. But  what do we mean by rhythm in language?

If we say that intonation—that is, the way your  voice rises and falls as you speak—is the melody

or the tune,

rhythm is the beat. You know, the beat you  tap your foot or click your fingers to.

And why is rhythm so important  

in English? Well, it's key to making  your message clear, natural and fluid.

Today, I'm going to show you how  you can get into the rhythm of  

English. And what I'm modelling  today fits my modern RP accent.

There are, of course, so many other  wonderful varieties of English,  

which will all be spoken a little bit differently.

Speaking English clearly isn't just  about rhythm. There's also word stress,  

individual sounds, intonation, and so much more.

I can help you with all of these things and if you  

would like to know how you measure  up when it comes to pronunciation,

you might like what I have just developed—I have  created a free online Pronunciation Level Test.

It's quite in-depth.

There are 45 carefully designed questions.

It moves from beginner to advanced,  

helping you discover how clear and  accurate your pronunciation really is.

Using this test, you'll be able to  pinpoint the exact areas you can  

improve to make your English sound even better.

If you'd like to take this test for free,  

all you have to do is click on the link in  the description or scan that QR code right  

there. Complete the test and we'll send you  your results straight to your email inbox.

Okay, let's get started with today's  lesson. The key to rhythm is the  

way we switch between stressed and  unstressed syllables in a sentence.

And let's just check that you know what  a syllable is. It's a unit of speech  

with a single vowel sound usually—cat,  dog, fish, frog—all have 1 syllable.

And see how we have a vowel sound  surrounded by consonant sounds.

Each syllable is like one beat.

Tiger, donkey, hamster, camel—all  have 2 syllables or 2 beats.

But in English, not all syllables are  created equally. Some syllables are  

given more energy. They're often  pronounced louder and longer.

Did you notice how I emphasised the first  

syllable in all of these words?  Tiger. Donkey. Hamster. Camel.

The first syllable is the stressed syllable.

And what happens to the second  unstressed syllable? Well,  

I pronounced it more quickly and quietly.

Many unstressed syllables contain weak vowels  and the most famous of all is the schwa.

That's the very lazy 'uh' sound at the beginning  

of 'about' and at the end  of 'tiger' and 'hamster'.

I'm going to say some more  animals now and before I do,  

try and identify the stressed  syllable in each word.

Here we are, pause the video if you need a  bit more time. If not, let's check together.

'Elephant' and 'crocodile' have 3  syllables and are both stressed on  

their first syllable. 'Elephant'.  'Crocodile'. 'Chimpanzee' has  

3 syllables but is stressed on  the last syllable. 'Chimpanzee'.

There are 4 vowel sounds in 'alligator',  

so that's 4 syllables and the main  stress is on the first syllable.

And finally, we have 'gorilla' with 3 syllables  stressed on the second syllable. Got it. Okay,  

so now we know the difference between stressed and  unstressed syllables. Let's get back to rhythm.

Rhythm in music is the regular repetition  of a pattern over a period of time.

In language, rhythm is the regular  repetition of stressed syllables.

What does that sound like?

Repeat after me as I read these  sentences: 'I want to have a drink.'

'She went to see her friend.'

'We need to call our boss.'

'They liked the gift I bought.'

Okay, not too difficult, I hope. In a sentence,  

we usually stress the words that  carry meaning like verbs and nouns.

In the first sentence, 'want', 'have' and  'drink' were stressed. We don't generally  

stress pronouns like 'I', 'she', 'we' and  'they' or other often short grammar words.

In these examples, the stressed syllables occur  

at regular intervals—one stressed  syllable and one unstressed syllable.

Let's see what that sounds like with  some longer words. Repeat after me again.

'The song you heard on Monday made you smile.'

'That meal you cooked last Friday tasted yummy!'

'The email sent this morning never reached you.'

'Don't forget to close the door behind you.'

And the last one. 'Can't they  fix the problems any faster?'

Okay, so notice how we have this  regular alternation between stressed  

and unstressed syllables. Now,  in English, we absolutely love  

this steady rhythm we get by switching  from stressed to unstressed syllables.

But there's a problem, which you may have  already noticed. Not many sentences follow  

this precise pattern of 1 stressed  syllable and 1 unstressed syllable!

Take a look at this sentence  that I said to my husband, Will,  

earlier today. Well, I say this  to Will most days to be honest.

'Do you think we should take Diego  for a walk before it starts to rain?'

It rains a lot in England. Between  each stressed syllable, we have 1,  

2 or 3 unstressed syllables. It's all over the  place. So, what do we do to try and keep the  

rhythm? Simple, we just say the unstressed  syllables more quickly to squeeze them in.

Listen and repeat: 'Do you think we should take  Diego for a walk before it starts to rain?'

What do you notice about  those unstressed syllables?

'Do you think we should take Diego for a  walk before it starts to rain?' That's right,  

most of them are pronounced with the schwa.

'Do you' becomes /ˈdujə/,

'for a' becomes /fərə/,

and 'to' becomes /tə/.

Now, we wouldn't be able to keep the  English rhythm if I pronounced these  

full strong versions of these short grammar words.

Listen to what happens when I try to do this.

'Do you think we should take Diego for a  walk before it starts to rain?' It's very  

hard for me to do this. It doesn't feel natural.

I naturally want to follow that English  rhythm—and that was in the English rhythm as well.

So, contractions and weak forms with  the schwa are key to English rhythm.  

Let's practise squeezing those unstressed  syllables in between the stressed ones, now.

I'll start with the content words,  which will be the main beat.

Then, I'll gradually add in more function words.  

They'll squeeze in between the  content words. Are you ready?

'Make dinner now. I'll make

dinner now. I'll make some dinner now.  I'll make some for dinner right now.'

We followed the beat. It was the same speed,  

but we fitted the functional  grammar words in. Let's try another.

'Live house road. He lives in a house down the  road. He's living in a house down the road.  

He's been living in a house  down the road from me.'

So, here we can see that in English, the  length of time it takes to say something often  

depends on the number of stressed syllables  rather than the total number of syllables.

Isn't that cool? Should we try a few more?

See if you can shadow me and  speak along with me, okay?

'Send text home. Send a text when you're home.  

Send me a text when you're home. Can  you send me a text when you're home?'

Okay, last one. Let's do  it. Try and shadow me now.

'Order pizza go.

Order a pizza to go.

Could you order a pizza to go?

I'll be ordering that pizza to go.'

Someone should make a remix  out of that. Now, obviously,  

we don't always speak like this. It's  not always going to be possible or  

particularly comfortable to keep this  steady rhythm, but I encourage you to  

try and notice the rhythm of common phrases  you hear and copy it to sound more natural.

Let's practise that now.

I've marked the stressed syllables.  Try to speak along with me.

'I haven't seen you for ages!

Do you fancy a quick coffee?

Shall we head to that place on the corner?

I went there last week and it was great!

Put your phone away - it's my turn to pay!'

Other great ways to pick up and practise  English rhythm are, of course, through songs  

and poems. And in fact, I'd like to end today's  lesson with a limerick. Limericks are short,  

usually funny poems of 5 lines in total.  Lines 1, 2, and 5 usually have 3 stressed  

syllables, and lines 3 and 4 usually have 2.

Here's an example, shadow me if you can:

'There once was a teacher named Lucy, Who taught  with a sense of duty. Her grammar was slick,  

Her accent did click, And her  lessons were simply a beauty!'

I would love to see your very own  examples of limericks in the comments!

Bonus points if the last words  in lines 1, 2 and 5 rhyme.

Have a go. I really look  forward to reading through them.

Okay, that brings us to the end of  today's lesson. I hope you enjoyed it.

And remember—'The rhythm of speech  is the key, To sounding more fluid,  

you see. With stress and the schwa, You'll  go very far, Now use it to sound more RP!'

I very much enjoyed that lesson. I hope you did  too! I will see you soon for another one! Muah!