Day 4 - Linking Consonant Sounds - Understanding Fast Speech in English

Hello. It's Day 4.

Do you know something?

I like tongue twisters and the challenge of saying them fast.

Here's one.

She sells seashells by the seashore.

English with Jennifer

To say "she sells seashells" smoothly,

we link consonant sounds between words.

I'm linking the final sound in "sells" /z/

to the first sound in "seashells" /s/.

They're similar sounds, so it makes it easier to connect them.

I let the air flow from /z/ into the /s/.

Let the air flow and there should be no break, no pause

in between words.

She sells seashells.

We can link consonant sounds together,

especially similar sounds or the same exact sounds,

by holding the airflow and releasing the air and the sound into the second.

It's especially easy when the sounds are the same.

In the case of "take care"

I don't say, "Take / care."

There's no break when I say it smoothly.

Take care (ta-care).

/k/ is present in both words,

so when I link them, it sounds like one long /k/ sound.

Take care.

Listen as I say these words.

There isn't a break in between words.

What may be helpful is to picture that final consonant sound

in the first word being pushed over into the second.

For example:

In the case of "web design" and "space heater"

just don't make a break.

In fast speech, you'll hear English speakers

use the same airflow to go from one consonant sound to the next.

Not "web / design" but "web-design."

Not "space / heater" but "space-heater."

Listen closely.

I'll say a sentence or phrase.

You try to understand.

That's all for now.

Thanks for watching and happy studies.