FAST ENGLISH: The #1 Secret is REDUCTIONS

120,626 views ・ 2020-02-25

Rachel's English


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

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How do Americans do it?
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How do they speak so quickly but still sound natural and are still easily understood by other native speakers?
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Well, it's because of something called reductions.
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American English is full of them, and today, we've invited standout Rachel's English teacher, Tom Kelly,
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to teach you and show you some reductions,
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and not just a single reduction, but several reductions in a row.
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For example, how does the phrase 'because it was a' become: because it was a--?
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How does it become that?
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How does that sound natural? How does that work in American English?
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That's what we're going to study today.
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Now first, I want to make sure you know this is not lazy English,
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this is not only conversational English,
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this is even English that you might use in a more formal setting.
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All of the examples that Tom is going to use today are from either a TED Talk or an interview.
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So a more formal situation, then just a conversation with a friend.
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We're going to have Tom take it over in just a second,
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but before we do, please subscribe with notifications if you haven't already.
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We make new videos on the English language every Tuesday and we love to see you back here again.
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Okay, Tom. Take it away.
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Hi! I'm Tom Kelly, a Rachel's English teacher with Rachel's English Academy.
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Here at Rachel's English, we talk about the rhythm and intonation of English all the time.
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We hope non-native speakers hear the music of English
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so they can speak the language with more accuracy and consistency,
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helping them sound more like native speakers of the language.
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If you're someone who wants to know how to speak faster English but still be understood
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and sound natural, this is a video for you.
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One aspect of creating the music of American English
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is making sure you have unstressed and stressed syllables in your speech
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and that there is a clear contrast between the two.
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The unstressed syllables will be short and quick and produced with less vocal energy,
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and the stressed syllables will be longer.
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They'll use the shape of stress and are produced with more vocal energy.
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One of the things that helps create better contrast
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between your stressed and unstressed syllables
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is using reductions.
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Now, Rachel has lots of videos on reduction.
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reduction is when we reduce the sounds of a function word, words like:
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the, of, for, your, and others, and don't say them fully.
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for example, 'the' is often pronounced as: the, the, as in: she's the best.
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the, the. she's the best.
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'Of' is pronounced: of-- or even just: uh, uh-- with a dropped V.
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here's a sentence with both of those reductions of the word 'of'.
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I'll take one of all of them.
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I'll take one of all of them.
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'For' and 'your', both reduced down to just an unstressed R vowel.
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For, your. This is for your birthday.
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This is for your birthday.
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For your, for your.
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What's amazing about reduction is that native speakers use it all the time.
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But if you ask them about it, they probably don't even know they're doing it.
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It is such a natural part of their speech they don't even recognize it.
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In fact, Rachel has received comments from native speakers on some of her reduction videos
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saying that she's teaching incorrect English, that reductions are only used in casual, lazy English.
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But we guarantee that any native speaker of English who does not use reductions
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will actually sound overly formal and may even be harder to understand.
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Today, I'm going to demonstrate how reductions are used in a variety of American English speech.
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Even in formal environments.
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We're going to take a look at a few common phrases and see how we reduce the function words
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in order to sound more natural and create the music of American English.
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So let's get started.
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First up, the phrase: for the, or: for the, for the.
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This two-word phrase, two function words, is very often pronounced as 'for the--'
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in both casual and more formal situations.
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Pronounced fully, these two words would sound like: for the-- for the-- but reduced, they become:
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for the-- F consonant, unstressed R vowel, voiced TH consonant and schwa.
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For the-- for the--
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Here are some examples from TED talks and speeches where the speakers use this reduction.
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We've got to keep fighting for the dignity of every veteran.
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Did you hear the reduction?
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For the-- fighting for the dignity of every veteran.
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Let's listen again.
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We've got to keep fighting for the dignity of every veteran.
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For the-- for the dignity of every veteran.
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We've got to keep fighting for the dignity of every veteran.
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And that's the President of the United States.
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Now, here's another one.
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Or do you want me to hire the best person for the job?
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Best person for the job.
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For the-- for the--
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Or do you want me to hire the best person for the job?
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For the-- for the job?
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Or do you want me to hire the best person for the job?
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Okay, here are three more.
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Teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.
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For the-- for the vast and endless sea.
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Teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.
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But a hundred and fifty, you can read over and over for the rest of your life.
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For the-- for the rest of your life.
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But a hundred and fifty, you can read over and over for the rest of your life.
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They do fill certain gaps in skills and knowledge that are good for the overall economy.
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For the-- for the overall economy.
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They do fill certain gaps in skills and knowledge that are good for the overall economy.
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So obviously, for the-- is used very commonly in formal speech as well as casual English.
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Now, let's take a look at the three-word phrase 'and in the'.
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Pronounced fully, it would sound like this: and in the-- and in the--
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but it's almost never spoken like this in any circumstance.
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Usually, all of these words are spoken quickly,
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and, reduces to a schwa sound followed by an N consonant, and, and.
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The D is usually dropped.
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The in, IN, becomes just a quick N consonant.
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And in, and in, and in.
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Or unstressed IH as in sit vowel followed by an N consonant.
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And in, and in, and in.
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And 'the' reduces the same way, it reduces in 'for the'. The, the, and in the-- and in the-- and in the--
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Let's hear some examples of this reduction in more formal environments.
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Of what we have to do to meet this challenge.
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And in the years ahead we will need an all-out global commitment to clean air.
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And in the years ahead--
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and in the--
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Do you hear those three quick unstressed syllables?
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And in the-- and in the--
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And in the--
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and in the years ahead of what we have to do to meet this challenge.
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And in the years ahead we will need an all-out global commitment to clean air.
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Here's another one.
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You have to find the younger rocks of the Mesozoic. And in the case of dinosaurs, between 235
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and 66 million years ago.
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This one is very fast.
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And in the-- and in the--
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And in the--
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and in the case of dinosaurs between 235--
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You have to find the younger rocks of the Mesozoic.
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And in the case of dinosaurs, between 235 and 66 million years ago.
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Okay, here are a few more examples of 'and in the' reduction in formal speech.
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And in the fight against poverty, we're treating governments--
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And in the--- And in the fight against poverty--
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And in the fight against poverty, we're treating governments--
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So I was always gone a lot and in the book, I actually say that my youngest son drew me as a laptop.
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And in the--
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and in the book, I actually say that my youngest son drew me as a laptop.
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So I was always gone a lot and in the book, I actually say that my youngest son drew me as a laptop.
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And that is a really useful practice in small and in the big.
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And in the-- and in the big.
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And that is a really useful practice in small and in the big.
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Let's take a listen to a few commonly reduced and combined words.
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Very often, 'going to' reduces to: gonna, gonna.
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'Want to' reduces to: wanna, wanna.
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And 'got to' reduces to: gotta, gotta.
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This doesn't just happen in casual speech.
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Let's take a look at some examples from formal situations.
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Here is 'going to' pronounced as: gonna, gonna.
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Then they're probably not going to want to listen to me doing breathe.
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Notice in that one we actually have 'gonna' and 'wanna'.
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Then they're probably not going to want to listen to me doing breathe.
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Gonna--
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Wanna--
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Going to want to listen to me--
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Then they're probably not going to want to listen to me doing breathe.
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Now here's a few more.
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We're going to see more cancer.
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Gonna--
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we're going to see more cancer.
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That all of those people who had adored eat, pray, love,
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were going to be incredibly disappointed in whatever i wrote next.
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Gonna--
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were going to be incredibly disappointed in whatever i wrote next.
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That all of those people who had adored eat, pray, love,
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were going to be incredibly disappointed in whatever i wrote next.
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Now let's listen to examples of the reduction of 'want to', wanna.
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There are some in Washington who want to shut them down.
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Wanna-- wanna shut them down.
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There are some in Washington who want to shut them down.
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Connected to all the different places they want to be.
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Wanna-- want to be.
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Connected to all the different places they want to be.
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In order to live the lives that we say we want to live.
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Wanna-- wanna live.
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In order to live the lives that we say we want to live.
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And now 'got to' as 'gotta'.
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In this environment today, we've got to think of it all as one piece.
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Gotta-- gotta think of it all as one piece.
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In this environment today, we've got to think of it all as one piece.
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If you want exponential growth, then you've got to be able to experience exponential productivity.
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Gotta--got to be able to experience exponential productivity.
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If you want exponential growth, then you've got to be able to experience exponential productivity.
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And what can be accomplished in business, but we've got to have leadership.
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Gotta--
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And what can be accomplished in business, but we've got to have leadership.
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And what can be accomplished in business, but we've got to have leadership.
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Okay so hopefully by now it's clear that reductions are not just used in casual conversations.
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They're a part of the music of American English in all situations.
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From the boardroom, to interviews, to speeches, to offices, and on and on.
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They're a part of American English.
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Just for fun, here are a few more examples.
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Here's the phrase: because it was a. Or reduced: because it was a-- because it was a--
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And when I was in business school I'd asked my
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instructors because it was a big business school and there was, it was always about big business.
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Notice she reduces each of these function words and links them all together,
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saying them very quickly.
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Because it was a-- because it was a--
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Because it was a--
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because it was a big business school.
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And when I was in business school I'd asked my instructors because it was a big business school
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and there was, it was always about big business.
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Here's another example of: because it was a-- being reduced.
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Remember the TV show that was shot down by NBC because it was a show about nothing?
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Because it was a--
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because it was a a show about nothing?
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Remember the TV show that was shot down by NBC because it was a show about nothing?
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Here's one more and see if you can hear how this one reduces even further.
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But the reason she was unavailable to speak with me is that she was out for a hike
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because it was a beautiful spring morning.
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In this one, the word 'because' reduces all the way down to just: cuz, cuz-- The first syllable is completely dropped.
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And this is on stage, in front of an audience, and everyone still understands her.
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Because it was a-- because it was a--
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But the reason she was unavailable to speak with me is that she was out for a hike
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because it was a beautiful spring morning.
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Because it was a--
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because it was a beautiful spring morning.
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But the reason she was unavailable to speak with me is that she was out for a hike
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because it was a beautiful spring morning.
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Okay, this is actually very fun for me.
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I love reductions. Let's do a couple more.
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Here are examples of the phrase: that it was a--
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reduced down to: that it was a-- that it was a--
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And concluded that it was a match.
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That it was a-- that it was a match.
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And concluded that it was a match.
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Well, they explained to me that it was a new Department
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that had just been formed at Harvard where you could get a phd in the history of science.
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That it was a-- that it was a new Department--
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Well, they explained to me that it was a new Department
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that had just been formed at Harvard where you could get a phd in the history of science.
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You know the historians tell us that it was a uniquely American idea.
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That it was a-- that it was a uniquely American idea.
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You know the historians tell us that it was a uniquely American idea.
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This is incredible.
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We just heard so many examples of reductions and all of them were in more formal environments.
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It really does happen all the time in American English.
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Start listening for this in the English you hear around you.
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Listen for it in TV shows and movies and office meetings.
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The more you start hearing it,
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the more you'll be able to start using it
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in your own speech to enhance the musicality of your American English.
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I used Youglish.com to pull these clips that I used in this video.
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It's a great resource to use when practicing your pronunciation.
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Rachel actually made a video a while ago on how to use Youglish.com
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and I'm going to link to that video at the end of this video.
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That's it for now. Happy reducing!
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And thank you for using Rachel's English.
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Tom, thank you so much. Here's that video he mentioned on how to use Youglish
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Please subscribe if you haven't already.
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We make new videos on the English language every Tuesday, and we'd love to have you back.
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That's it and thanks so much for using Rachel's English.
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