How to Make the Flapped T Sound like an American Native English Speaker | Go Natural English

24,233 views ใƒป 2015-07-22

Go Natural English


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

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Hello there!
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How are you doing today?
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Welcome to a Go Natural English episode where we're going to talk about a question from
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a Go Natural English audience member, Abdelkrim.
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Abdelkrim asked, "Can you talk a little bit about the flapped "T"?
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Well, this is an excellent question.
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Abdelkrim, it sounds like you're studying linguistics.
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Maybe you're really interested in pronunciation in the English language and this is a really
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important point for understanding American English.
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So, if you want to talk to Americans, or if you want to sound more like an American English
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speaker, then this answer is really important.
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Now, Abdelkrim asked for a lot of examples and exercises, and I'm going to do my best
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but remember these English tip videos are really short.
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I try to keep them between two and five minutes.
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The shorter, the sweeter.
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But if you want more examples, more practice, and more support, then you should join the
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Go Natural English premium course at gonaturalenglish.com.
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Now, here are some examples: We have words that I mentioned before in another
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video such as "water," Another example would be "pretty."
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"Isn't it a pretty city?"
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Now that's another example -- "city."
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So, we have the flapped "T" when you have a "T" between two vowels.
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So, "Pretty -- P-R-E-T-T-Y."
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"Y" would be considered a vowel in this case, makes the "T" sound like a "D" -- this is
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what we call the flapped "T" in linguistics or pronunciation.
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So, what it means is that the "T" in American English sounds like a "D."
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Now, in British English, it's a bit different but as you know, I'm an American English teacher
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so I can help you out with this flapped "T" sound.
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So, it's "pretty."
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Now, you may want to say "pretty" and that's OK.
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It's not incorrect but that's more of a British accent.
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So, if you want to understand and sound more like an American, you should say, "pretty"
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and you should expect people to say "pretty" and know that that word is spelled with a
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"T" even though it sounds like a "D".
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Same thing for "city".
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You might be tempted to say "city" and that's OK but what sounds more natural in American
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English is "city."
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It's not "city."
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It's "city."
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So, a "D" sound is softer than a "T" sound.
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The flapped "T" is soft like a "D".
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So, I'm currently in Tokyo and I would say that Tokyo is a pretty city.
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Oh, but I have an even better example -- ooh "better" -- B-E-T-T-E-R.
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Not "better" but "better".
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A better example -- I just thought of a better example which is actually "thought of".
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Now this will blow your mind because when we say words, we have to consider the linking
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between two words.
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We don't just say individual words like "pretty" -- "city."
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We link words together into phrases, sentences.
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So, if you have a word like "thought" that ends in a "T" and then the next word like
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"of" which begins with an "O" -- so, "thought" vowel, "T" at the end, and the next word vowel
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"O" -- when you say them together that "T" at the end of "thought" becomes a flapped
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"T".
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"I thought of -- duv, duv -- I thought of a better example."
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So, those are some flapped "T" examples.
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I hope that they were helpful.
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There are many examples of these in American English, so remember, if you want to learn
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more, if you want more practice and support, come visit me at gonaturalenglish.com and
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you can learn more about the premium course.
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I hope you enjoyed this tip.
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Make sure to come back.
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Make sure to subscribe on YouTube and listen to the podcasts, the Go Natural English podcasts
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on iTunes for ios or on Stitcher if you have an Android device.
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So you can listen to Go Natural English five times a week or watch here on YouTube three
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times a week.
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Also, come over and talk to us on Facebook -- facebook.com/gonaturalenglish and on Twitter
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at gonaturaleng.
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I would love for you to join the conversation and practice your English on social media
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with us.
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Thanks so much for being part of the community and I'll talk to you soon.
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05:00
Bye for now.
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