You Should Be Learning English Listening Like This

Today you're going to learn how to talk  fast and sound like a native speaker.

And you'll do this by testing  your listening skills.

And this test will progress from  more beginner A1 to more advanced C2.

Welcome back to JForrest English.

Of course, I'm Jennifer.

Now let's get started.

Here's how this lesson will work.

I'm going to say a sentence three times,  

and you need to write down exactly  what you hear in the comments.

Are you ready for your first listening test?

I'll say it three times.

It was a cakewalk.

It was a cakewalk.

It was a cakewalk.

Did you get this one?

I said it was a cakewalk.

Let's talk about was a you can combine  these together and it sounds like was ZZZ.

So notice I'm linking the sounds and I'm taking  that was, but it's a, it's a voiced sound.

So I'm going to transfer that sound to ah, so  you hear ZA ZA was a was a It was a cakewalk.

It was a cakewalk.

This thing was a cakewalk, right?

What does this mean to be a cakewalk?

This means that something is simple or effortless.

You might be familiar with the  idiom to be a piece of cake.

When you describe something as a piece  of cake, it means simple or effortless.

This is the same idiom, it's just  slightly changing it to be a cakewalk.

Piece of cake.

Hopefully, you would say learning English  becomes a cakewalk when you have a great teacher.

If you agree, then put cakewalk, cakewalk.

Put cakewalk in the comments.

Remember that you have to conjugate your verb  to be with the subject and the time reference.

This was a cakewalk.

In the past simple this is a cakewalk.

In the present simple this will be a cakewalk.

In which verb tense, the future  simple And this has been a cakewalk?

Which verbs tense the present perfect?

And also remember the article?

It's always a cakewalk.

This was a cakewalk.

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Now let's continue with our lesson.

Let's try this again a little more advanced.

I'll say it three times.

It's a Band-Aid fix.

It's a Band-Aid fix.

It's a Band-Aid fix.

Did you hear this one?

I said it's a Band-Aid fix.

Of course it's is our contraction of  it is, it's it's Band-Aid is 2 words.

But to pronounce them like one, I'll  take that D and transfer it to the  

vowel Band-Aid, Band-Aid, Band-Aid, Band-Aid fix.

A Band-Aid fix is a temporary  solution to a problem.

To understand this expression you  need to know what a Band-Aid is.

This is is a Band-Aid.

This is the brand name for bandage, but  the brand name is Band-Aid and native  

speakers just referred to bandages as Band AIDS.

Band aids on it.

But remember this means a  temporary solution to a problem.

You could say filling the  potholes is a Band-Aid fix.

This entire Rd.

needs to be repaved, but  it's just a Band-Aid fix now.

There are many temporary solutions  to help you improve your English,  

but not all of them are permanent.

For example, relying on ChatGPT to  write for you is a Band-Aid fix.

Remember, the article Our noun is a fix, and  then Band-Aid is an adjective, a Band-Aid fix.

And although a Band-Aid fix means a temporary  solution, you can't say a Band-Aid solution.

You must always say a Band-Aid fix because  that's the word choice in this expression.

Let's try this again a little more difficult.

I'll say it three times.

You can't rest on your laurels.

You can't rest on your laurels.

You can't rest on your laurels.

Did you get this one?

I said you can't rest on your laurels.

Native speakers often pronounce T as a flap T,  

which means we don't push out that puff of  air because it forces us to take a pause.

You can't.

So I don't say you can't, I say you can't.

You can't rest on.

So here you hear that T because  I'm linking the 2 words together  

and I'm transferring the T sound onto the vowel.

Rest on taun, rest on Rest on your is pronounced  in spoken English as an unstressed your your.

You can't rest on your your laurels.

This could be a hard word to pronounce  depending on your native language,  

because we have an R and an L Lore OLS, lore OLS.

So divide the sounds until you're comfortable with  

each sound Lore OLS and then  you can pronounce it as one.

Laurels, laurels.

The expression is to rest on your laurels.

We use this to say that you shouldn't become  

too comfortable or stagnant with  past achievements, past successes.

You should set new goals.

You should push yourself further.

You shouldn't rest on on your laurels.

For example, the author wrote an international  bestseller, but then rested on her laurels.

So she had a past accomplishment, past success  with this international bestseller that she wrote.

But because she rested on her laurels, it  means that she didn't set new goals, she  

didn't push herself further, so she didn't write  anything after that international bestseller.

She just remained successful based on her past  success, but didn't achieve any new success.

Let's think about this in a  language learning context.

Maybe you have a past success  with a high score on an exam.

It's amazing that you got a  band 9 on your IELTS last year,  

but you can't just rest on your laurels.

So this sounds like after  your amazing accomplishment,  

your band 9, you stopped trying to improve.

You stopped trying to improve even more.

You just rested on your laurels.

You had that past success and  you thought you were done with  

language learning, which of course isn't the case.

So to help motivate this friend  who's resting on their laurels,  

you can say subscribe to J Force  English and keep improving.

Keep learning, keep growing.

Don't rest on your laurels.

Let's try this one more time.

The most advanced listening exercise.

I'll say it three times.

I'm going out for a bit.

I'm going out for a bit.

I'm going out for a bit.

Did you get this one?

I said I'm going out for a bit.

Of course I'm is our contraction of  I am, I'm, I'm, I'm going out again.

We have that flap T because I'm not going  to say out, I'm going out, I'm going out.

Now, many native speakers will combine  all three of these together and they'll  

pronounce for as more of an unstressed  fur, Fur a fur a bit, fur a bit,  

and again that flat T on bit 'cause I'm not  saying bit for a bit for a bit, you can still  

link them together even if you say for or a native  speaker commonly says fur for a bit, for a bit.

Now sometimes native speakers  will pronounce the T In this case,  

because it's at the end of a  sentence, there's a period,  

so we have to take a pause anyway for a bit,  for a bit, I'm going out for a bit to go out.

This means to temporarily  leave your current location.

Most commonly your home, for a bit is a time  reference and it means for a small amount of time.

Sorry guys, I have to go out for a bit.

This is a common way that  someone will say they're leaving.

I'm going out for a bit now where are they going?

Well remember it's more of a  they're going out temporarily,  

so perhaps they're going to run errands.

Go grocery shopping.

Need a friend or go to the  movies any small amount of time?

We also commonly use this as a suggestion to say  

let's leave the house and do  something more interesting.

We've been watching Netflix all day.

Let's go out.

Let's go out for a bit.

Let's go out tonight.

Now let's do an imitation exercise so you  

can practice these pronunciation  changes and practice fast English.

So I'll say each sentence again three times,  

and after each sentence, I want you  to repeat the sentence out loud.

Here we go.

It was a cakewalk.

It was a cakewalk.

It was a cakewalk.

It's a Band-Aid fix.

It's a Band-Aid fix.

It's a Band-Aid fix.

You can't rest on your laurels.

You can't rest on your laurels.

You can't rest on your laurels.

I'm going out for a bit.

I'm going out for a bit.

I'm going out for a bit.

Did you like this lesson?

Do you want me to make more  lessons just like this?

If you do, then put Yes, Yes, Yes,  Yes, Yes, Yes in the comments below.

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And you can get this free speaking  guide where I share 6 tips on how  

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You can click here to download it or  look for the link in the description.

And you can keep improving your  English with this lesson right now.