🤔Learn English with the TV show Friends! 📺| LEARN ENGLISH SPEAKING | English with Rachel’s English

Well, last week, we celebrated Thanksgiving, and no, I didn't make a Rachel's English trifle,

but I thought about it. I've been thinking a lot about this trifle since we made our video last week.

In this week's video, we're going to continue with learning English with TV,

learning English with Friends as we study more of this Thanksgiving episode.

Here's the scene.

Rach, you killing us here. Will you serve the dessert already?

What is it?

It's a trifle. It's got all of these layers. First, there's a layer of ladyfingers,

then a layer of jam, then custard, which I made from scratch,

then beef sautéed with peas and onions,

and then a little bit more custard, and then bananas, and then I just put some whipped cream on top!

What, what was the one right before bananas?

The beef?

Yeah. That was weird to me, too.

But then, you know, I, I thought, well, there's mincemeat pie. I mean, that's an English dessert.

These people just put very strange things in their food.

You know?

Oh, by the way, can I borrow some rum from your place?

Yeah, sure, yeah.

And while I'm gone, don't you boys sneak a taste!

Okay.

And now let's do the analysis.

Rach.

Rach, Rach, a nickname, of course, I'm very familiar with this nickname as I get called it all the time.

Rach, Rach, Rach, Rach.

Little up-down shape, but it is also pretty flat. He's a little frustrated.

Rach, Rach, Rach.

Rach, Rach, Rach, you're killing us here--

You're killing us here--

you're killing us here--

A couple reductions. You are, your, becomes yer, yer, yer, yer,

said really quickly, as if there's not even a vowel there.

You're killing us here.

You're killing us here.

Kill, the peak of stress for that phrase, the most stressed word, with that up-down shape.

Now he doesn't say killing, with an NG sound, he says killing with an N sound, tongue at the front of the mouth.

Killin'. You're killin' us here.

You're killing us here.

You're killing us here.

You're killing us here.

The energy of the word 'your'. Yer, yer, yer, yer.

It goes up, it's going towards the peak of stress, and then the final three syllables,

in us here, are all flatter, falling away from that peak.

You're killing us here.

You're killing us here.

You're killing us here.

You're killing us here. Will you serve the dessert already?

Will you serve the dessert already?

Serve and dessert, the most stressed syllables there,

they actually have the same vowel,

the UR as in bird vowel, serve, dessert, I call this an UR vowel.

It's just like the R consonant, only it's held out. It has that shape.

But you don't try to make two different sounds, a vowel, and then an R.

It's just the one sound.

Serve.

Serve.

Serve the dessert.

Will you serve the dessert already?

Will you serve the dessert already?

Will you serve the dessert already?

The letters SS here make a Z sound, dessert, dessert.

Will you serve the dessert?

Will you serve the dessert?

Will you serve the dessert?

Will you serve the dessert?

Will you-- both flatter, lower in pitch, unstressed.

Will you, will you. Will you serve.

The, also unstressed.

Will you serve the dessert?

So we actually have two unstressed syllables here because even though dessert is a stressed word,

the first syllable is unstressed.

Dessert. And that's the schwa.

The de-- the de-- the de-- the dessert.

Will you serve the dessert?

Will you serve the dessert?

Will you serve the dessert?

The T in dessert, that's pronounced as a stop T, dessert.

The dessert already?

The dessert already?

The dessert already?

The dessert already?

Listen to just the word 'already'.

Already?

He says it just like I do without an L sound.

Already. Already. Already. Already.

This is a three syllable word with middle syllable stress.

Already. You can definitely drop that L there, simplify that.

Already?

What is it?

This three syllable phrase what is our most stressed syllable?

What is it?

What is it?

What is it?

It's the middle syllable.

What is it?

What is it?

The word 'what' goes up in energy towards the peak and the word 'it' falls off in energy.

What is it?

Notice that the first T here in this phrase, the T in what, is a flap T linking those two words together,

and the second T is a stop T, it's at the end of the phrase.

What is it?

The letter S here is a Z sound, and it links the two words together.

Is it? Is it? Is it? What is it?

What is it?

What is it?

What is it?

It's a trifle.

Rachel's response: it's a-- It's a trifle.

Energy leading up to that stressed syllable tri-- It's a trifle.

And then the second unstressed syllable falls back from that.

It's a trifle. It's a trifle.

All links together, all very smooth, the letter A is the schwa.

It's a, it's a, it's a. It's a trifle.

It's a trifle.

It's a trifle.

It's a trifle.

The TR cluster is very often pronounced as a CHR and that's what she does here.

Tri-- tri-- trifle.

It's a trifle.

It's a trifle.

It's a trifle.

It's a trifle.

It's got all of these layers.

In this next sentence, what are the most stressed words?

The peak of stress, the peak of energy?

It's got all of these layers.

It's got all of these layers.

It's got all of these layers.

It's got all of these layers.

All and lay-- our two peaks of stress here.

It's and got, a little lower in pitch, flatter, quicker.

It's got-- its got all--

It's got all--

It's got all--

It's got all--

Often the T between two vowels will link two words like 'got all'

but actually, she makes a stop here and re-emphasizes the vowel.

It's got all-- that helps make the word 'all' feel more stressed.

It's got all-- its got all--

What about the word 'of'?

It's got all of these layers.

It's got all of these layers.

It's got all of these layers.

All of these layers.

It's said very quickly, and I do think I hear a very quick subtle V sound, but you could leave it out.

All of these layers.

You could make it just a schwa.

All of these layers.

All of these layers.

All of these layers.

The letter S in 'these' is a weak Z sound.

All of these-- all of these layers--

All of these layers.

All of these layers.

All of these layers.

Really think about the stress. Repeat this sentence out loud and think about the stress. Let's slow it down.

It's got all these layers.

Da-da-da-da.

Focusing on the stress, and maybe even exaggerating it a little bit,

will help you work on the rhythmic contrast which will help you sound more natural speaking English.

It's got all of these layers.

It's got all of these layers.

It's got all of these layers.

First, there's a layer of ladyfingers--

What are the most stressed words in this phrase?

First, there's a layer of ladyfingers--

First, there's a layer of ladyfingers--

First, there's a layer of ladyfingers--

First, there's a layer of ladyfingers--

Da da da da da da da da.

A little bit of stress on fingers, ladyfingers.

First, there's a layer of ladyfingers--

First, there's a layer of ladyfingers--

First, there's a layer of ladyfingers--

First, this is also that same R vowel consonant combination,

fer, so you don't need to try to make a vowel there.

F to R to S.

First, first there's--

Now the letter T.

It's actually dropped here because she links these two words together,

and when the T comes between two consonants it's often dropped.

First there's-- first there's--

right from S into the TH.

First, there's a layer of--

First, there's a layer of--

First, there's a layer of ladyfingers--

First, there's a layer of ladyfingers--

The letter A here is just a quick schwa linking the words together.

The word 'of', again, the V is very subtle, I actually don't think I really hear it.

Layer of ladyfingers.

You can definitely just say that as a quick schwa linking the words together.

First, there's a layer of ladyfingers--

First, there's a layer of ladyfingers--

First, there's a layer of ladyfingers--

Ladyfingers is this bottom layer here, a ladyfinger is a bit of sponge cake that is shaped like a finger, a big finger.

Ladyfingers, fingers, notice the pitch goes up that's because she's listing.

She's listing all the layers. And when we list things,

the intonation goes up for each item until we get to the end and then the intonation goes down.

A layer of ladyfingers--

A layer of ladyfingers--

A layer of ladyfingers--

A layer of ladyfingers, then a layer of jam--

Then a layer of jam--

Then, a little bit up, a little bit of stress, and a little bit up.

Then a layer of jam, jam, and again, it goes up because she is continuing her list.

Then a layer of jam--

Then a layer of jam--

Then a layer of jam--

Then a layer of jam--

A little lift after 'then', but everything else is really smoothly linked together.

A layer of jam.

And here, I do here more of a V sound.

A layer of jam.

A layer of jam--

A layer of jam--

A layer of jam--

Jam.

Let's talk about the sounds there, if you look that up, you'll see the AA as in bat vowel.

Jaa-- jam.

It's not pure, that would be AH. Jam.

So when AH is followed by M, it's not pure, we make more of an UH sound,

the back of the tongue relaxes before the M.

Jaaam. Jam. So that transition is important in this sound to make it sound natural.

Jam. Jam.

Jam, Jam, Jam, then custard--

Then custard, then custard, the peak of stress there is cus-- then custard.

Then custard--

Then custard--

Then custard, which I made from scratch.

So then she says, which, and puts a break, separates it into its own thought group,

it's got that shape of stress, which I made from scratch, then she emphasizes 'I',

she's pretty proud that she put all of this energy and effort into this dessert.

Which I made from scratch--

Which I made from scratch--

Which I made from scratch--

I made from scratch--

scratch-- Stress on that word as well.

She takes a little bit of the sound out of her voice, but it's still stressed.

Which I made from scratch.

The word 'from', that is reduced. It's not from, but it's, from, from, schwa M, M takes over the schwa,

so it's as if there's no vowel at all in that word.

From, from, from scratch.

From scratch-- from scratch-- from scratch-- Then beef, sautéed with peas and onions--

Okay, in this thought group, what are our most stressed words?

Then beef, sautéed with peas and onions--

Then beef, sautéed with peas and onions--

Then beef, sautéed with peas and onions--

Then beef, sautéed with peas and onions--

So our three nouns are our most stressed words there.

The other words are a little flatter, and said a little more quickly.

We even have a reduction, do you hear it?

Then beef, sautéed with peas and onions--

Then beef, sautéed with peas and onions--

Then beef, sautéed with peas and onions--

The word 'and' is reduced. And peas and onions-- peas and onions--

The word 'with' also said very quickly.

Sautéed with peas--

to the point where I don't think I really hear a TH sound.

With peas and onions--

So if you try imitating Rachel, I think you can leave off the TH here.

Just make wih-- and make it very, very fast, attached to the next word.

With peas, with peas and onions.

Sautéed with peas and onions.

Sautéed with peas and onions--

Sautéed with peas and onions--

Sautéed with peas and onions--

And actually, when I was writing my stress, I should have written that it goes up at the end

because again, she's still doing her list, she's not at the last item.

Sautéed with peas and onions--

Sautéed with peas and onions--

Sautéed with peas and onions--

And then a little bit more custard.

And then a little bit more custard.

She says this while people are laughing, so it's hard to hear,

but the stress would be: and then a little bit more custard,

'little' with a flap T,

another 'and' reduction, and a stop T at the end of bit,

and her intonation does go up at the end of custard, she's not done, she's got more layers.

And then a little bit more custard.

And then bananas, and then I just put some whipped cream on top!

I love this because she's really showing us the stress of lists.

And then bananas, and then pitch goes up,

and then I just put some whipped cream on top!

Cream on top,

and then that comes down because she's at the end of her list.

These are all of the layers of her trifle.

And then bananas, and then I just put some whipped cream on top!

And then bananas, and then I just put some whipped cream on top!

And then bananas, and then I just put some whipped cream on top!

And then bananas, banan-- second syllable stress.

The word 'and' reduced, no D sound.

And then bananas--

And then bananas--

And then bananas--

And then, And then, And then ba--

So these first three syllables, all flatter in pitch, and then bananas,

and then we really have that stress on 'nan'.

Actually, the stress is really more like this way:

bananas, because it's on its way up.

And then bananas--

And then bananas--

And then bananas--

And then bananas, and I just put some whipped cream on top.

And then I just put some whipped cream on top!

So it all Peaks out at the word 'cream' which is her most stressed syllable,

and all of the syllables before that lead up to that peak, and then after that, fall away from it.

The words 'and then I' really flat, low in pitch, a lot of reductions here. The word 'and' becomes 'an'.

It actually sounds like the word 'in'.

And, and, and then, and then, and then I, and then I, and then I, and then I, and then I.

And then I just--

And then I just--

And then I just--

And then I just put--

Notice here we have three consonants in a row, an ending T cluster followed by another consonant,

that T gets dropped.

Just put, just put, just put.

And then I just put--

And then I just put--

And then I just put--

A stop T at the end of put because the next word begins with a consonant,

and then I just put-- and then I just put some--

And then I just put some--

And then I just put some--

And then I just put some--

The word 'some', I wouldn't write that with the UH as in butter vowel, I don't think it's fully pronounced,

I would write that with the schwa.

Some, some, some, some whipped cream.

Some, some.

Some whipped cream--

Some whipped cream--

Some whipped cream--

We have a WH beginning here, which can be pronounced with a little escape of air before the W,

but Rachel doesn't do it, and that's not a very common pronunciation.

Whipped. Just a pure W sound.

Some whipped cream--

Some whipped cream--

Some whipped cream--

So if I was gonna write this word in IPA, I would write W and then the vowel P, and then the ED ending here is a T.

The ED ending is a T if the sound before is unvoiced.

Whipped cream.

So now, we have P, T, C, R, we have four consonants in a row.

What do you think happens to this T?

Some whipped cream--

Some whipped cream--

Some whipped cream--

If you guessed that it was dropped, you're right. It is 100% dropped.

Whipped cream.

Whipped cream on top.

Some whipped cream on top!

Some whipped cream on top!

Some whipped cream on top!

Also, she does a really clear example of skipping the release of a stop consonant at the end of a thought.

So for the P, she says top, and her lips come together making the P,

but she doesn't release,

and this is something that we do with stop consonants at the end of a thought group.

So watch her do this, watch her lips come together, and they don't part, there's no release.

Some whipped cream on top!

Some whipped cream on top!

Some whipped cream on top!

What, what was the one right before bananas?

Okay, so Ross is a little worried about what she's just described.

What, what.

He says the word the word 'what' twice. Again, the H kind of escape of air is not there,

it's just a clean W sound.

What, what--

and that's not much of a vowel, I would definitely write that as a schwa, and it's followed by a stop T.

What, what was--

What, what was--

What, what was--

What, what was the one--

What was the one-- what was the one--

So even though there's not much of a vowel here,

what was the one--,

there's still a little bit of a feeling of stress there.

What was the one--

we actually have three W sounds here.

What was one.

Even though the word is written with a letter O,

it is the W sound, one, the word was, is not was, it's was, its reduced, it's said very quickly.

What was, what was, what was the, what was the, what was the, what was the one.

What was the one--

What was the one--

What was the one right before bananas?

Right before bananas?

Right before bananas?

Stress on 'right' and 'nan' and he does make his intonation go up here.

Bananas?

So I would write the scoop, the shape upside down here, as it's going up, bananas?

Right before bananas?

Right before bananas?

Right before bananas?

Right before bananas? Right, Stop T, not released.

That's because the next word begins with a consonant.

Right before bananas?

You know?

I want to talk about the pronunciation of bananas, this is the second time that we're seeing it here,

I didn't describe it the first time.

But in the stressed syllable, we have AH, bananas.

AH followed by N, and just like with the word Jam, M makes AH not pure.

N does the same thing.

So it's more like an AH-UH transition combo,

banan-- it's not banan-- it's not a pure AH, banan-- bananas, bananas.

This word is confusing, it's got three letters A, the first and the last are a schwa.

Ba-nan-a. Banana. Bananas.

And then the middle one is this impure AH. Bananas.

Bananas?

Bananas?

Bananas?

The beef?

She says: The beef?

The beef?

Her stress, her intonation, her melody goes up.

The beef? The beef?

The two words linked together. The word 'the' said very quickly, it's got a schwa.

The beef? The beef? The beef?

So she says it with her intonation going up because she's just confirming. She's asking.

Is this what you mean? The beef? Aahh? That upward intonation shows a question.

The beef? The beef? The beef?

Yeah. That was weird to me, too.

Yeah. Yeah. Up-down shape of stress.

Yeah.

That was weird to me, too. But then--

That was weird to me, too.

Weird and to, the two most stressed words there.

That was weird to me, too.

That was weird to me, too.

That was weird to me, too.

That and was, that was, that was, that was, we have a stop T after that.

The word was, isn't really that long, again, I would write that with a schwa.

That was, was, was, that was weird.

That was weird--

That was weird to me, too.

The word 'to' here, pronounced with a True T and a schwa.

So this word, to, is almost always pronounced with the schwa.

Never a full vowel.

This word too, is never reduced, always pronounced with the OO vowel.

To, too. To me, too.

...to me, too.

...to me, too.

...to me, too. But then, you know, I, I thought, well, there's--

But then-- But then--

Quick little phrase here, stop T. But then, she's gonna keep going, that's why her intonation goes up.

But then--

But then--

you know, I, I thought, well, there's--

You know, I, I thought--

Quickly strung together, she's thinking of what to say, flatter, low in pitch, and there's not much stress here.

Not much of that up-down shape of stress.

Stop T, though T in thought is not released.

You know, I, I thought--

You know, I, I thought--

You know, I, I thought, well, there's mincemeat pie.

Well, there's mincemeat pie.

She really stresses the M. Mincemeat pie.

And she does up-down shape of stress there. Pie as well.

Well and there's, flatter and pitch, less clear, just like this whole phrase.

Well, there's mincemeat pie.

Well, there's mincemeat pie.

Well, there's mincemeat pie.

Mincemeat pie. Mincemeat pie.

Do you notice that break there?

The T is not released. It's a stop T. We stop the air and that signifies the T, rather than the actual T sound.

T just like P is a stop consonant.

Mincemeat pie.

Mincemeat pie.

Mincemeat pie. I mean, that's an English dessert.

I mean, that's an English dessert.

I mean, that's an English dessert.

All of this is a little bit less clear. There's less vocal energy, and the pitch is lower.

I mean, that's an English dessert.

That's, probably has the most stress there.

But it's all a little bit lower in energy.

It's like an add on to the thought she just said.

It's not given the full voice.

I mean, that's an English dessert.

I mean, that's an English dessert.

I mean, that's an English dessert.

I mean, that's an English dessert.

I mean, that's an English dessert.

You're gonna have to really simplify to imitate this.

I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean.

And to say it more quickly, you don't need to drop your jaw as much, try to form sounds as much,

you simplify your mouth movements.

I mean, I mean, I mean, that's an English dessert.

I mean, that's an English dessert.

See if you can work on that simplifying your mouth movements.

And note again, that the SS is a Z sound here, and that's pronounced as a stop T.

I mean, that's an English dessert.

I mean, that's an English dessert.

These people just put very strange things in their food.

Now here, the pitch is a little bit higher, the volume and vocal energy, a little bit higher.

These people just put very--

lots of stress there, some stress on these and pe--

These people just put very strange things in their food.

Strange and food, all of those are a little bit more stressed.

These people just put very strange things in their food.

These people just put very strange things in their food.

These people just put very strange things in their food.

Her pitch is really high at the beginning. It's showing a little bit of surprise.

She can't figure out why there's meat in the dessert, but she's going with it.

Now, we have an ST cluster followed by a consonant, what do you think happens to this T?

These people just put very strange--

These people just put very strange--

These people just put very strange--

It's dropped. Just put, just put, just put, just put very, just put very.

This T is a stop T, the next sound is a consonant sound.

These people just put very.

People, I know that can be a tricky word.

The stressed syllable has the EE vowel, peo-ple, ple.

And the unstressed syllable has schwa L.

This is going to be a dark L, don't try to make a schwa vowel.

Just make the dark sound where the back of the tongue pulls back a little bit.

Ple, ple, ple.

Ple just, ple just. Do not lift your tongue tip here.

You don't have to, to make a dark sound, it will probably make it sound like a light L and we don't want that.

And I can promise you, she's not lifting her tongue tip.

You don't need it for the L sound when it's a dark L.

These people just-- It doesn't lift until it's making the J sound.

These people just. These people just.

These people just put very strange things in their food.

These people just put very strange things in their food.

These people just put very strange things in their food.

These people just put very strange things in their food.

Very strange things in their food.

I would say 'things' also has some stress. And then 'in their' less stress.

Things in their food.

So these two words falling in pitch after the stress of things.

Things in their food. And then another little up-down shape of stress on food.

Very strange things in their food.

Very strange things in their food.

Very strange things in their food. You know?

You know? You know?

It's hard to hear over the laughter, but she does do a reduction of the word you.

It becomes ye.

You know?

And the pitch goes right up, smoothly connected, this is a common way to pronounce this common phrase.

Ye, instead of you.

You know?

Oh, by the way--

Oh-- up-down shape, very fast. Oh, Oh, by the way, by the way, by the way.

The words by and the, unstressed, leading up to the stress of way. By the way. Oh, by the way.

Oh, by the way--

Oh, by the way--

can I borrow some rum from your place?

Can I borrow some rum from your place?

Bor-- rum, place, longer, more stressed,

the other words said more quickly, and we have some reductions too.

Can becomes kin, kin, just a K sound and an N sound, don't need to try to make a schwa.

Can, can, can I, can I, can I. Say that. Can i. How fast can you do it?

It's definitely not can I, but, can I, can I, can I borrow.

Can I borrow--

some rum from your place?

Can I borrow some rum--

What about the word some?

Not stressed, not fully pronounced, I would write that with the schwa.

Some, some, some rum.

Some rum,

from your place?

From your becomes from yer, from yer, from yer. They both reduce, they both have the schwa.

From your.

In all of these words, some, from, and your, you can just drop the vowel.

Some, from, your.

Some rum, some rum from your place.

From your, from your, from your, from your place.

This is how we speak English.

We put in all of these words that reduce, and that gives good contrast to the content words,

the more important words, for the meaning.

All Americans speak this way, it's natural English, it's good English.

Sometimes, students think: well, that's sloppy, that's lazy, but actually, that's just conversational English.

Contrast is really important in American English.

And this is how we achieve it.

Some rum from your place?

Some rum from your place?

Some rum from your place?

Rum from your place? I should have written this: rum from your place?

With the stress going up because that's a yes/no question.

Some rum from your place?

Some rum from your place?

Some rum from your place?

Yeah, sure, yeah.

Yeah, sure, yeah. A little bit of a mumbled response.

Yeah, sure, yeah.

All have an up-down shape, that is the shape of stress.

Yeah, sure, yeah.

Yeah, sure, yeah.

Yeah, sure, yeah.

Sure, sure, sure.

There are a couple different ways you can pronounce this word.

Sure, sure, sure.

His way sounds sort of like this word 'shore'. Sure.

Yeah, sure, yeah.

Yeah, sure, yeah.

Yeah, sure, yeah.

And while I'm gone, don't you boys sneak a taste!

And while I'm gone-- And while i'm, all reaching up for that peak of stress.

And while I'm gone--

And while I'm gone--

And while I'm gone--

And while I'm gone--

And while i'm-- No D in 'and'.

We very rarely pronounce that. And while I'm gone, all smoothly connected.

And while I'm gone--

And while I'm gone--

And while I'm gone, don't you boys sneak a taste!

Don't you boys sneak a taste!

Again, all of the energy is leading up to that peak on the word 'taste'.

Don't you boys sneak a taste.

Taste, where we have that up-down shape.

Don't you boys sneak a taste!

Don't you boys sneak a taste!

Don't you boys sneak a taste!

Don't you boys-- don't-- Stop sound and apostrophe T can be pronounced a couple of different ways.

She pronounces it as a stop here, don't you boys sneak a taste!

These two words linking together with the unstressed word, the article 'a'.

Sneak a-- sneak a taste!

Don't you boys sneak a taste!

Don't you boys sneak a taste!

Don't you boys sneak a taste!

Here, she actually does do a very light release of a true T at the end.

So you can, it's just not as common as a stop T.

Sneak a taste.

Sneak a taste.

Sneak a taste.

Sneak a taste.

Okay.

And they laugh as they say 'okay'.

Okay, second syllable stress, okay.

I'm pretty sure they don't have any plans on sneaking a taste.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Let's listen to the whole conversation one more time.

Rach, you killing us here. Will you serve the dessert already?

What is it?

It's a trifle. It's got all of these layers.

First, there's a layer of ladyfingers, then a layer of jam, then custard,

which I made from scratch, then beef sautéed with peas and onions,

and then a little bit more custard,

and then bananas, and then I just put some whipped cream on top!

What, what was the one right before bananas?

The beef?

Yeah. That was weird to me, too. But then, you know, I, I thought, well, there's mincemeat pie.

I mean, that's an English dessert. These people just put very strange things in their food.

You know?

Oh, by the way, can I borrow some rum from your place?

Yeah, sure, yeah.

And while I'm gone, don't you boys sneak a taste!

Okay.

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