Practice for Understanding FAST SPEAKING English - Improve Your Fluency

Would you like to improve your listening skills  

of fast English so you can understand  native English speakers the first time?

Well, that's exactly what you'll do today.

With this lesson, we're all  test your listening skills.

Welcome back to JForrest English.

I'm Jennifer.

Now let's get started.

Here are your instructions for the entire lesson.

You're going to listen to me  say a sentence three times,  

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

Next I'll explain what I said,  

and you'll learn the pronunciation  changes that take place in fast English.

And you'll learn the advanced  expressions that I use.

So Are you ready?

Let's start our first listening exercise.

I'll say it three times.

You all set for the meeting tomorrow.

You all set for the meeting tomorrow.

You all set for the meeting tomorrow.

How'd you do with that?

I said you all set for the meeting tomorrow.

Let's talk about the pronunciation changes.

Notice.

You all.

You all, you all.

I said it quickly, but I did  say the individual words.

You all.

You all set.

You all set.

I will point out that in the South,  in southern US, the southern states,  

it's very common to combine you all into one word.

Do you know what that is?

Y'all, y'all.

I'm sure you've heard this mainly in movies or TV.

Y'all y'all already.

I personally don't say y'all,  because I'm not from the southern US,  

but it is extremely common in the southern US.

For me, I simply say you all, you all.

I say them quickly, but I do say both words.

You all set.

You all set for the meeting tomorrow.

Notice here how for the meeting  tomorrow for when it's unstressed.

More of a reduced sound, a quick sound.

It sounds like fur.

Fur for the meeting you all set for.

For the meeting.

For the meeting.

For the meeting tomorrow.

Now, before we talk about what this sentence  means, you might be wondering about the grammar.

Does this sentence perhaps look  grammatically incorrect to you?

Is there a word missing?

The auxiliary verb are is missing.

Are you all set for the meeting tomorrow?

We need R as an auxiliary verb  because this is a question.

Grammatically you need it.

But in spoken English, native speakers commonly  drop auxiliary verbs when they're only required  

grammatically, but they're not required  to understand what the sentence means.

So when native speaker does not need to  hear an auxiliary verb to understand what  

a sentence means, and that's why in spoken  spoken English, we commonly get rid of them.

So grammatically, are you all  set for the meeting tomorrow?

A native speaker would commonly say you all  set you all set for the meeting tomorrow.

And then to show it's a question,  

we can use a rising intonation at  the end to show it's a question.

Now let's talk about what this means.

This has a very simple meaning.

To be all set is simply to  be ready or to be prepared.

So it's asking the person if they're  ready for the meeting tomorrow,  

if they're prepared for the meeting tomorrow.

Native speakers commonly use this to ask  if someone's ready or prepared to leave.

For example, to leave a house, leave a restaurant,  leave a hotel room, it doesn't matter where,  

and we'll just use 2 words with a rising  intonation to show it's a question.

All set, all set.

I'm asking you Are you ready?

All set.

And then you can simply reply and  say, Yep, and then we'll leave.

Let your class.

You're all set.

All set.

All set.

All set, All set.

Let's try another listening exercise.

I'll say it three times.

This reports all over the map.

This reports all over the map.

This reports all over the map.

I said this reports all  over the map pronunciation.

Notice here this reports  report is as a contraction.

Reports.

This reports all over, all over.

So notice how I can link those sounds together  

by extending that sound to the  next word because it's a vowel.

All over, all over, lower.

All over.

This reports.

All over the map.

The expression to be all over the map.

This means that something is in a disorganized  or confused state, so the report is disorganized.

The report is confusing.

As another example, I could say the consultants  recommendations were all over the map,  

to be all over the map, which means his his  recommendations were disorganized or confusing.

Maybe they talked about a lot of different  topics and it was difficult to follow.

They were all over the map.

Yeah, this firms all over the map.

Is the Internet.

All over the map.

On that, you know, charming, but all over the map.

And let's try this again.

I'll say it three times.

Keep your eyes peeled for the turn.

Keep your eyes peeled for the turn.

Keep your eyes peeled for the turn.

I said keep your eyes peeled for the turn.

Notice the reduced sound for your your eyes.

Your your your eyes.

Keep your eyes.

Keep your eyes peeled.

Fur, we talked about this before.

For becomes an unstressed, reduced sound fur.

Keep your eyes peeled.

For the turn, for the turn,  for the turn, for the turn.

Notice here the sentence starts with a verb.

Then it starts with a base verb, which  means it's the imperative verb tense,  

and we use the imperative verb  tense to give orders or suggestions.

Keep your eyes peeled.

I'm giving you this as an order or a suggestion.

And what does that mean to keep your eyes peeled?

This means to watch carefully or to be on alert.

So if you're driving and you're  following the directions, the GPS,  

you need to watch carefully for the  specific streets so you know when to turn.

That's the turn if you're driving.

Keep your eyes peeled for the turn.

Watch carefully.

Be on alert for the turn so you don't miss it  and you're not late for your important meeting.

This is an expression you can  use in many different situations.

Let's say you're editing an important  document, your resume or something.

You're submitting for an  assignment or to a client.

You might say.

Keep your eyes peeled for any  spelling or grammar mistakes.

Which means as you're reviewing  it, pay close attention.

Watch carefully, be on alert for  any spelling or grammar mistakes,  

which is very good advice for everyone.

Keep your eyes filled.

Keep your eyes peeled.

Keep your eyes filled.

Are you ready to try this again?

I'll say it three times.

Can you just ballpark the cost for me?

Can you just ballpark the cost for me?

Can you just ballpark the cost for me?

I said, can you just ballpark the cost for me?

Can in this sentence is an auxiliary verb.

So we pronounce it unstressed,  and it sounds like kin.

Kin, Can you?

Can you and you you can make that  unstressed too and reduce it to ya.

Kenya.

Kenya can you just I think  I did say can you but you  

it's very common to hear native speakers say ya.

Kenya, can you just ballpark the cost for me  

We already talked about for it  sounds like fur for me for me.

Let's talk about this odd word here.

Ballpark.

Did you notice that grammatically, it's a verb?

It's the main verb of the  sentence to ballpark something.

When you ballpark something, it means you  provide a rough estimate of something.

And yes, a ballpark is where people play baseball,  

but we're not talking about  baseball or sports at all.

To ballpark something is to provide  a rough estimate of something.

In our sentence, it's a verb to ballpark,  but we commonly use this as an adjective,  

a figure, a ballpark figure.

So the figure is the number,  the cost, or a statistic.

And if it's a ballpark figure,  it means it's a rough estimate.

It's not exact.

It's not precise.

It's an estimate, which means it's more  of a range, a lower and upper range.

For example, maybe a consultant is providing  you a quote, an estimate on using a certain  

software system, and you want to know well,  how much is this going to cost my company.

But the consultant can't give  you an exact number at this  

point because he doesn't have enough information.

So the consultant could say  if I had to ballpark it,  

I'd say 3 to $5,000,000, but  that's just a ballpark figure.

So you know, it's just an estimate.

Look, just give me a number,  Ballpark, take a guess.

Ballpark figure, I'm fine.

A ballpark figure.

Let's do this one more time.

I'll say it three times.

Let's revisit this down the line.

Let's revisit this down the line.

Let's revisit this down the line.

I said let's revisit this down the line.

Notice let's is a contraction  for let us, let's let's revisit.

When you put re in front of a base  verb, it means to do that verb again.

Visit this again.

But for pronunciation, that re is a strong sound.

E you hear that E?

Revisit.

Revisit.

Let's revisit this down the line and  notice how let's is the imperative.

Let us let's the imperative verb tense  again for a order or a suggestion.

Let's revisit this down the line.

Let's talk about down the line.

This means in the future,  but at an unspecified date.

So it's not clear at all.

You don't know when we'll revisit this, visit this  again, but you know it will happen in the future.

But it could be a week from now,  it could be a month from now.

So this is a way that a native  speaker can postpone something  

if they don't actually want to do it.

I'll do it down the line because it's  not specific on when you'll do it,  

it's just some point in the future.

Here is another example that could apply to you.

If you don't improve your English now,  it could hurt your career down the line.

Now notice when I say down the line, I'm not  being specific on when your lack of English  

skills could hurt your career, but at some  point in the future it could be tomorrow,  

it could be a week from now,  it could be a year from now.

And that's why it's so important that  you're here with me improving your English.

Amazing job, improving your listening skills.

Now let's do an imitation exercise so you  

can improve your pronunciation and  practice these pronunciation changes.

So I'll say the sentence, and then  I want you to say the sentence out  

loud and try to imitate my pronunciation,  and I'll repeat each sentence three times.

So let's do that now.

You all set for the meeting tomorrow.

You all set for the meeting tomorrow.

You all set for the meeting tomorrow.

This reports all over the map.

This reports all over the map.

This reports all over the map.

Keep your eyes peeled for the turn.

Keep your eyes peeled for the turn.

Keep your eyes peeled for the turn.

Can you just ballpark the cost for me?

Can you just ballpark the cost for me?

Can you just ballpark the cost for me?

Let's revisit this down the line.

Let's revisit this down the line.

Let's revisit this down the line.

Amazing job with this lesson.

Now if you like this lesson and you want  me to make more lessons just like this,  

then put ballpark in the comments because that  

was a really fun expression and it  will help you remember it as well.

So put ballpark in the comments.

If you want me to make more listening exercises  just like this, ballpark in the comments.

And of course, make sure you like this video.

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

to speak English fluently and confidently.

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

And why don't you get started  with your next lesson right now?