ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION AND ACCENT TRAINING: Detailed Analysis of American speech | Rachel’s English

504,116 views ・ 2018-12-04

Rachel's English


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Today, we're going to do one of the most effective exercises in improving your listening comprehension,
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which in turn, improves your pronunciation,
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your accent, and how natural you sound when speaking American English.
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We're going to do a Ben Franklin exercise.
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I've been doing these exercises for years with my students
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and i've seen that they are truly one of the best ways to understand how Americans really speak.
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So what we do is we take a bit of speech that a real American is speaking,
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and then we do a full analysis of the pronunciation.
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We'll look at the stress, we’ll look at reductions, we'll look at things like a flap T,
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so that you understand everything that's being said and how to say that yourself.
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First, the speech that we're going to analyze.
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I'm going to talk about a fall baking weekend that I had with my friend, Laura.
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This year, the fall baking weekend was a little bit different.
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because now we have not just one kid, not just two kids, but three kids, including a newborn.
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So everything was a little chaotic when my friend Laura and her family came to visit.
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We made a caramel custard tart.
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It was delicious.
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But most importantly, we had an amazing weekend spending time together with our families.
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And now, the analysis.
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This year, the fall baking weekend was a little bit different because—
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That was a long thought group.
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I didn't take a breath or make a longer break until after the word because, but I did put a little bit of a lift.
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Was a little bit different--
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This year, the fall baking weekend was a little bit different because —
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This year, the fall baking weekend was a little bit different because —
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This year, the fall baking weekend was a little bit different because—
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And by just putting a little lift, a little tiny break in the voice, it brings those out more of those words,
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it makes them more important.
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Also 'was' I made that pretty long, I drew out the vowel a little bit.
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Often, the word 'was' is reduced and then it's pronounced: wiz, wiz, said very quickly.
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But I didn't do that. I fully pronounced it. Did not reduce to the schwa.
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But I left the UH as in butter vowel.
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Was, was, was a little bit different.
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Was a little bit different
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Was a little bit different
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Was a little bit different
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Was a little bit different
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And we have flap T in the word ‘little’.
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That's always pronounced that way.
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Little, da-da-da-da.
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With the tongue flapping against the roof of the mouth.
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And then we have a stop T in ‘bit’.
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A little bit different, different.
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And also in different.
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the stop T in bit, followed by a consonant.
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same with the stop T in different.
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The NT ending, whether it's in a word like this, or where it's N apostrophe T,
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is often pronounced as a nasally stop T.
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So we have two stops here.
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A little bit different, nt-nt-nt-nt-nt--
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With that nasal N sound coming to an abrupt stop in the nose.
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A little bit different, a little bit different, a little bit different.
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Notice how I'm pronouncing the word ‘different’.
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This is a word that can be pronounced with three syllables, diff-er-ent or two, diff-rent,
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and I pronounce it as two. Its more common, it's easier.
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So go ahead and just think of it as two syllables with the first syllable being stressed.
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diff-rent, rent, rent, rent.
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And notice this is a schwa, not much of a vowel, and the second syllable said very quickly.
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Rent, diff-rent, different, different.
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different, different, different.
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What about the top line?
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All of those words said really quickly, but there are important words there.
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The fall baking weekend.
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I'm talking about an event.
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Why did I say these words so quickly?
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Listen to how quickly I said them.
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This year, the fall baking weekend--
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This year, the fall baking weekend--
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This year, the fall baking weekend--
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Well, I had already introduced the idea that I was going to be talking about the fall baking weekend,
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so that's why this second time, I said it more quickly.
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I'm not introducing the idea, i've already told you that's what I'm going to talk about.
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So what was the most important part about this sentence to me, was describing it, not introducing it.
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You already know I'm talking about the fall baking weekend, that's why that ended up sounding faster.
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That's why it was said more quickly.
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and the information about it that it was a little bit different is what was more stressed and more clear.
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This year, the fall baking weekend--
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This year, the fall baking weekend--
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This year, the fall baking weekend was a little bit different because--
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So then I say because, because.
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because, because, because.
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It's not reduced.
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Often this word is reduced, but I'm saying it more clearly here.
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Be-- unstressed syllable with the IH as in sit vowel, then a stressed syllable, UH as in butter vowel.
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Because, because.
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Because, because.
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Because now we have not just one kid--
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Now we have-- And I put a break, not just one kid.
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Now we have not just one kid--
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Now we have not just one kid--
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Now we have not just one kid--
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And I really stress the first word of each of those thought groups.
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Now we have not just one kid--
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Now we have not just one kid--
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Now we have not just one kid--
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Now we have not just one kid--
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And again, a stop T in ‘not’ because the next sound is a consonant.
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Not just one kid--
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What do you notice about the T in the word ‘just’?
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Not just one kid--
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Not just one kid--
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Not just one kid--
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It's actually dropped.
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I don't say it at all.
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Why?
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We often drop the T when it comes between two consonants.
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So when the ST cluster is followed by a word that begins with a consonant, we drop it.
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Now you're thinking, hold on, the letter O, that's a vowel.
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You're right.
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But the word ‘one’ is pronounced beginning with the W consonant.
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Www-uhh-nn.
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So whenever we're talking about rules with the T, we're talking about sounds, not letters.
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The sound T here comes between two consonant sounds, the consonant sound S
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and the consonant sound W.
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Now, even though this word is spelled with the letter O at the beginning, that doesn't matter.
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It still comes between two consonant sounds, and it's dropped.
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Just one, just one.
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T is dropped and the two words are linked together.
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Just one, just one, just one kid.
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Kid, this is a more casual way to say child, very common in English.
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Just one kid, just one kid.
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Just one kid, not just two kids.
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Not just two kids.
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Again, stressing not, and again, a stop T.
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Not just two kids.
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Now here, we have the T followed by a T.
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Ok, those just combine just to make one true T.
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because a T beginning a stressed word like ‘two’ will always be a true T.
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Not just two kids.
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So the S links right into that true T.
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Not just two kids, not just two kids.
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Not just two kids, but three kids.
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But three kids.
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So I'm stressing ‘three’.
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So I stressed not, not, and then three.
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I'm saying first of all, what we didn't have, one kid, two kids. That would have been simple.
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But we had three kids in the house.
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Three. This is a tricky word, isn't it?
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We have the unvoiced TH, thhh-- and then the R consonant, thr, thr.
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So the tongue tip must come through the teeth for that unvoiced TH, then the tip pulls back
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so it's not touching anything inside the mouth to make the R.
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Thr-, thr-, three.
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But three kids, but three kids, but three kids including a newborn.
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Including a newborn.
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So ‘include’, stress on the middle syllable there.
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A, a schwa just linking these two words together.
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Including a newborn.
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In the word newborn, the first syllable of stress but I make my pitch go up at the end
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to show that I'm not done talking about this.
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What about the fact that we had three kids? Well, I'm about to tell you that.
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Including a newborn, including a newborn, including a newborn.
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newborn, newborn.
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So the intonation goes up.
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Well, what about that?
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Well, that means everything was a little chaotic.
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A newborn, a newborn, a newborn, so everything was a little chaotic.
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So everything was a little chaotic.
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A little chaotic, chaotic.
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First syllable stress there, that's the most stressed word there, and we have a flap T.
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Did I say first syllable? definitely meant middle syllable.
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Cha-o-tic.
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chaotic with a flap T beginning the third syllable.
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Notice this CH here?
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not pronounced ch--, also not pronounced sh-, but instead pronounced kk- like the K sound.
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Chaotic, chaotic, chaotic.
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So everything was a little chaotic.
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So everything was a little chaotic.
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So everything was a little chaotic.
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A little chaotic.
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Again, the word ‘little’.
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T's there pronounced as a flap T.
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A little, a little, a little.
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And the letter A, the word ‘a’, just a quick schwa.
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A- a- A little, a little.
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A little chaotic, little chaotic.
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So everything was a little chaotic.
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Everything was a little chaotic.
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Ev-- First syllable stress, and also the word ‘was’ reduces here.
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On the first screen, we talked about how it wasn't introduced, it was pronounced was,
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but here, it's pronounced: was, was, was, said very quickly, linking into the next word.
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Was a, was a, was a, everything was a little chaotic.
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Ev-- and a, chao--, are the most stressed syllables there.
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The other syllables said pretty quickly, maybe a reduction, like in was: was a, was a.
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So everything was a little chaotic.
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So everything was a little chaotic.
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So everything was a little chaotic when my friend--
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When my friend--
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when my friend--
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when my friend--
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Okay the word ‘when’ definitely not pronounced.
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Whe-- with a full EH as in bed vowel that's really sounding reduced.
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When, when, when, when.
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I would write that with the W, the schwa, and the N.
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Also notice WH, that can be pronounced with a little escape of air.
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When.
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But I did not do that, and I don't do it, really.
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I find it a little old-fashioned and my mom does it.
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She's not old-fashioned, but she maybe talks that way sometimes,
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but most people, more modern is just to do a clean W sound with no escape of air beforehand.
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When my friend.
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When my friend, when my friend Laura.
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when my friend Laura--
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So I then say her name, I put a tiny lift between the words ‘friend’ and ‘Laura’.
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and if I hadn't, I probably would have dropped the D, my friend Laura, my friend Laura,
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because it's very common to drop the D between two consonants just like we did with the T in the words
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‘just one’.
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Just one, just one.
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Friend Laura.
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Would very often be pronounced: friend Laura, friend Laura, with no D,
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but I put a little tiny break before her name to emphasize it, and so I do give a light D at the end of the word ‘friend’.
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When my friend Laura, when my friend Laura.
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when my friend Laura and her family came to visit,
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Laura and her family came to visit.
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So what are the most stressed words there?
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The clearest, the longest?
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Laura and her family came to visit.
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Laura and her family came to visit.
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Laura and her family came to visit.
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Laura and her family came to visit.
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Two nouns and a verb.
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What about the other words?
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What about and and her?
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They get reduced. Let's listen.
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Laura and her family--
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Laura and her family--
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Laura and her family--
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Laura and her family--
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Laura and her family--
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And her, and her, and her, and her, and her.
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The word ‘and’ reduced to just schwa N: and, and, and.
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The word ‘her’ reduced to just schwa R.
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er, er, er.
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So I dropped the H, I dropped the D, I reduced the vowels: And her, and her, and her, and her.
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Laura and her family--
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And her, and her, and her.
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Said very quickly, very unclear, yet this is the pronunciation that Americans use
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And that is clear to Americans because it makes the stressed words, the more important words.
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stick out of the phrase more and be more clear.
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It's like giving the listener the most important words.
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So the contrast that we like in American English is only possible when we make some words less clear
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like ‘and’ and ‘her’.
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These are function words.
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Laura and her family.
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Laura and her family--
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Laura and her family--
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Laura and her family--
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Notice the word ‘family’.
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This could be a three-syllable word: fam-il-ly, family, family.
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Maybe that's how you say it.
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maybe that's how you learned it.
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but I recommend going with a two-syllable pronunciation instead: fam-ly.
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So the first syllable is stressed and the middle syllable is dropped.
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Family, family.
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That's more common and it's easier.
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So try it out.
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Family, family, family came to visit.
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came to visit, came to visit.
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So came, another verb, but less important than ‘visit’.
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It's not as clear, it's not as stressed, and the word ‘to’ reduced.
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we turn that into more of a flap sound.
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Came to, came to, came to visit, came to visit, came to visit.
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We're after the M, the tongue just bounces quickly against the roof of the mouth, and the vowel is reduced.
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Came to, came da-da-da.
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You could also think of this as a D, if that works better for you, a very light quick D.
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Came to visit.
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And a stop T because this T comes at the end of a thought group.
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Came to visit, Came to visit--
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Came to visit.
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We made a caramel custard tart--
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2600
15:52
We made a caramel custard tart.
270
952060
2660
15:54
We made, made, made.
271
954720
2480
15:57
I make the D sound here, I don't release it.
272
957200
2580
15:59
That would sound like this: made, made, but it's more of a stop: made, made.
273
959780
6100
16:05
Mmm-- Different from a stop T where I just stopped the air.
274
965880
4520
16:10
Here, I am actually making a little D sound with a vibration of the vocal cords.
275
970400
5100
16:15
Made.
276
975500
780
16:16
dddd-
277
976280
1980
16:18
That makes the D.
278
978260
1280
16:19
I don't need dda-- the release.
279
979540
2580
16:22
Made, made, made a caramel custard tart.
280
982120
4260
16:26
A-- The letter A, the word ‘a’, a quick schwa.
281
986380
4280
16:30
A caramel custard tart, caramel custard tart.
282
990660
6400
16:37
Each one of those words stressed, but the stress is less clear as we go on because
283
997060
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16:42
the general trend in sentences is the energy is less in the voice towards the end.
284
1002520
5720
16:48
We made a caramel custard tart.
285
1008240
2300
16:50
We made a caramel custard tart.
286
1010540
2260
16:52
We made a caramel custard tart.
287
1012800
2460
16:55
Caramel custard tart.
288
1015260
2960
16:58
So do you hear how the pitch is lower for each one of those?
289
1018220
3000
17:01
Car-- cus-- tart--
290
1021220
3080
17:04
Caramel custard tart.
291
1024300
1820
17:06
That's what feels natural in American English.
292
1026120
2740
17:08
The pitch goes down and the volume goes down towards the end of a sentence.
293
1028860
4840
17:13
Caramel custard tart.
294
1033700
2160
17:15
Caramel custard tart.
295
1035860
2000
17:17
Caramel custard tart.
296
1037860
1860
17:19
Did you hear I made a clear true T here at the end?
297
1039720
3560
17:23
Tart, tart.
298
1043280
2440
17:25
I wouldn't have had to, I could have said: tart, tart, tart, and made an abrupt stop there.
299
1045720
5840
17:31
but we do often make a clearer true T sound in a cluster like the RT cluster.
300
1051560
6840
17:38
Tart.
301
1058400
1300
17:39
Tart, tart, tart.
302
1059700
3300
17:43
It was delicious but--
303
1063000
1600
17:44
It was delicious.
304
1064600
1180
17:45
It was delicious.
305
1065780
2180
17:47
I'm noticing something interesting here. I drop the T in ‘it’.
306
1067960
4680
17:52
I don't even make a stop T. That would be: it was, it, it,
307
1072640
3960
17:56
but instead, I just make an IH vowel.
308
1076600
1700
17:58
It was delicious, it was delicious.
309
1078300
2240
18:00
There's no stop at all, and why is that?
310
1080540
4140
18:04
It's because it's a common two-word sequence.
311
1084680
3900
18:08
It was.
312
1088580
1520
18:10
It's not stressed, it doesn't have to be that clear.
313
1090100
2800
18:12
It was delicious.
314
1092900
1020
18:13
It was delicious.
315
1093920
1280
18:15
The important word there is the adjective.
316
1095200
3020
18:18
It was delicious.
317
1098220
1860
18:20
And here, my pitch goes up at the end.
318
1100080
1960
18:22
Delicious.
319
1102040
3560
18:25
Because again, I want to signify I'm not done talking.
320
1105600
3300
18:28
I'm going to talk more about how that weekend was.
321
1108900
3720
18:32
It was delicious.
322
1112620
1380
18:34
It was delicious.
323
1114000
1460
18:35
It was delicious.
324
1115460
1700
18:37
The word ‘was’ here, reduced.
325
1117160
2360
18:39
Was, was.
326
1119520
1460
18:40
How quickly can you say that word?
327
1120980
1720
18:42
Was, was.
328
1122700
1080
18:43
It was, it was, it was, it was.
329
1123780
2200
18:45
This little two-word phrase not very clear on its own but in the context of the whole sentence.
330
1125980
5800
18:51
It was delicious.
331
1131780
1640
18:53
It's very clear to native speakers.
332
1133420
1940
18:55
It was, it was, it was, it was.
333
1135360
1720
18:57
It was, it was, it was delicious but most importantly--
334
1137080
4900
19:01
But most importantly.
335
1141980
2400
19:04
The word ‘but’, it's own little thought group, stop T.
336
1144380
3120
19:07
But, but, but.
337
1147500
2320
19:09
but, but most importantly--
338
1149820
3900
19:13
most importantly.
339
1153720
1340
19:15
Okay, ST cluster.
340
1155060
2140
19:17
Now you learned that we will very often drop that T if it's followed by a consonant.
341
1157200
4480
19:21
Here, it's followed by a vowel.
342
1161680
1740
19:23
The IH as in sit vowel.
343
1163420
2240
19:25
but you know what?
344
1165660
1000
19:26
I still drop it.
345
1166660
1320
19:27
Most importantly, most importantly.
346
1167980
2880
19:30
Why? It doesn't really follow a rule.
347
1170860
2880
19:33
I'm doing it because it's so clear what I'm saying, most importantly, most importantly,
348
1173740
6920
19:40
that I don't feel like I need the T sound.
349
1180660
2860
19:43
Of course, I didn't think this but as I said, it, this is what came out.
350
1183520
4640
19:48
Most importantly, most importantly.
351
1188160
4100
19:52
Just connecting the S sound into the next word.
352
1192260
3640
19:55
Most importantly, most importantly, most importantly.
353
1195900
4860
20:00
importantly importantly.
354
1200760
2180
20:02
Stressed syllable there. The second syllable, import, stop T, nntt-- stop T, ly.
355
1202940
9060
20:12
So the two stop T's, we have a sequence here.
356
1212000
2620
20:14
T schwa N, and whenever we have that sequence of T schwa N, it's a stop T,
357
1214620
8100
20:22
that's the most common pronunciation.
358
1222720
2200
20:24
Important, importantly.
359
1224920
2900
20:27
Mountain, sentence.
360
1227820
2400
20:30
All of these words have the T schwa N.
361
1230220
2100
20:32
kitten, mitten.
362
1232320
1900
20:34
and we make that a stop sound followed by N.
363
1234220
2680
20:36
Mitt-nn.
364
1236900
1460
20:38
import-nnt-ly.
365
1238360
3260
20:41
This one's interesting because it's two stop T's in a row.
366
1241620
2840
20:44
Impor-nnnt-ly.
367
1244460
2980
20:47
So you put your tongue up into position for the T, import--, you stop the air, then you make an N sound,
368
1247440
7520
20:54
stop the air, and make the ‘ly’ ending.
369
1254960
2900
20:57
Importantly, importantly, importantly.
370
1257860
6680
21:04
Importantly, importantly, importantly, we had an amazing weekend spending time together with our families.
371
1264540
7540
21:12
We had an amazing weekend--
372
1272080
2500
21:14
Amazing weekend--
373
1274580
2640
21:17
Really stressing the stressed syllable there.
374
1277220
2760
21:19
It was amazing.
375
1279980
2360
21:22
with a word like this that has some drama and some intensity in it, we tend to really stress them.
376
1282340
5880
21:28
We had an amazing weekend spending time together, also stressed, with our families, also stressed.
377
1288220
8560
21:36
And notice fam-lies, just like fam-ly, I'm dropping the middle syllable.
378
1296780
7380
21:44
Fam-lies.
379
1304160
1960
21:46
So first syllable stress, fam-lies, fam-lies.
380
1306120
6400
21:52
We had an amazing weekend spending time together with our families.
381
1312520
4420
21:56
We had an amazing weekend spending time together with our families.
382
1316940
4480
22:01
We had an amazing weekend spending time together with our families.
383
1321420
4280
22:05
Let's look at the other words.
384
1325700
1400
22:07
We have a couple unstressed words here in a row.
385
1327100
2820
22:09
We had an, we had an, we had an.
386
1329920
1960
22:11
Lower in pitch, flatter in pitch, a little less clear.
387
1331880
4060
22:15
The word ‘an’, that's just schwa N said really quickly.
388
1335940
3940
22:19
We had an, we had an.
389
1339880
1940
22:21
D links into the schwa, and N links into the next vowel.
390
1341820
4440
22:26
Had an amazing.
391
1346260
2040
22:28
We had an amazing
392
1348300
1580
22:29
We had an amazing
393
1349880
1520
22:31
We had an amazing
394
1351400
1400
22:32
we had an amazing, we had an amazing.
395
1352800
2760
22:35
By linking the ending consonant of a word into the beginning vowel of the next word,
396
1355560
5160
22:40
that helps us link things together smoothly.
397
1360720
2940
22:43
It helps everything sound nice and smooth, and in American English, we really like smooth speech.
398
1363660
6020
22:49
We had an amazing--
399
1369680
2260
22:51
We had an amazing--
400
1371940
1560
22:53
We had an amazing--
401
1373500
1600
22:55
We had an amazing weekend spending time together.
402
1375100
3220
22:58
We had an amazing weekend--
403
1378320
1860
23:00
Very, very light D there.
404
1380180
2460
23:02
Spending time together.
405
1382640
2920
23:05
Crisp true T here, time, time.
406
1385560
4180
23:09
That's because it's a stressed word and it begins with the T, so that's gonna be a true T.
407
1389740
5420
23:15
We had an amazing weekend spending time together.
408
1395160
3300
23:18
We had an amazing weekend spending time together.
409
1398460
3280
23:21
We had an amazing weekend spending time together.
410
1401740
3020
23:24
Time together--
411
1404760
1100
23:25
And I did also a true T to begin ‘together’.
412
1405860
3840
23:29
Time together, together, together.
413
1409700
2840
23:32
Notice it looks like the word ‘to’.
414
1412540
1960
23:34
We don't pronounce it too, we pronounce it: te, te, te, together.
415
1414500
5840
23:40
Stress on the second syllable.
416
1420340
1860
23:42
Together, time together.
417
1422200
3100
23:45
time together, time together, time together with our families.
418
1425300
4880
23:50
With our families, with our families.
419
1430180
2100
23:52
With and our, a little bit less important, said a little bit more quickly.
420
1432280
4400
23:56
With our, with our, with our, with our, with our.
421
1436680
2220
23:58
with our families, with our families, with our families.
422
1438900
4940
24:03
The word 'our' were sounds like the word ‘are’.
423
1443840
4420
24:08
With our, with our, with our, with our, with our, with our.
424
1448260
2720
24:10
And you can think of it as being AH, R or or even you can make it the schwa R,
425
1450980
6640
24:17
with our families, when you're pronouncing it extra quickly.
426
1457620
3460
24:21
With our families, with our families.
427
1461080
3380
24:24
with our families, with our families, with our families.
428
1464460
5200
24:29
Let's listen to the whole speech one more time.
429
1469660
3180
24:32
This year, the fall baking weekend was a little bit different because
430
1472840
4080
24:36
now we have not just one kid, not just two kids, but three kids, including a newborn.
431
1476920
5940
24:42
So everything was a little chaotic when my friend Laura and her family came to visit.
432
1482860
4520
24:47
We made a caramel custard tart.
433
1487380
2320
24:49
It was delicious.
434
1489700
1100
24:50
But most importantly, we had an amazing weekend, spending time together with our families.
435
1490800
5740
24:56
Now as a bonus, I'm going to put in a video that I made last year with Laura at our fall baking weekend
436
1496540
6080
25:02
and you're going to learn some interesting things about American English pronunciation,
437
1502620
4500
25:07
phrasal verbs, idioms, and more.
438
1507120
3580
25:10
In this American English pronunciation video,
439
1510700
3120
25:13
we're going to study real-life English while I make an apple pie with my dear friend Laura.
440
1513820
5720
25:19
Okay, time to eat the caramel sauce.
441
1519540
2520
25:22
Caramel. Caramel. Caramel.
442
1522060
3100
25:25
They're all okay.
443
1525160
780
25:25
They're all okay.
444
1525940
1420
25:27
Okay.
445
1527360
500
25:27
Hmm…
446
1527860
880
25:28
this tasty word can be pronounced three ways.
447
1528740
3500
25:32
Caramel. Caramel.
448
1532240
2660
25:34
Or caramel.
449
1534900
2220
25:37
Each pronunciation is accepted and you will find all three of these pronunciations listed in the dictionary.
450
1537120
6680
25:43
Here's what it says.
451
1543800
2200
25:46
Whisk in a medium saucepan.
452
1546000
2900
25:48
Now it doesn't say over medium-low heat.
453
1548900
3160
25:52
K.
454
1552060
740
25:52
Mkay.
455
1552800
780
25:53
>> I'll do that. >> Okay.
456
1553580
1520
25:55
Notice how we respond to each other.
457
1555100
2160
25:57
K and mkay.
458
1557260
2060
25:59
These are both common variants of the word ‘okay’.
459
1559320
3360
26:02
This word is used a lot in conversational English.
460
1562680
3300
26:05
It can be used to say ‘I understand, I'm listening’ which is how Laura and I both use it here.
461
1565980
6400
26:12
Over medium-low heat.
462
1572380
1700
26:14
K.
463
1574080
660
26:14
Mkay.
464
1574740
1020
26:15
I've read a part of the recipe and we're both saying I understand that.
465
1575760
4100
26:19
Then she offers to take care of it and I say ‘mkay’ again here meaning I understand.
466
1579860
6240
26:26
-I'll do that. -Okay.
467
1586100
1740
26:27
We also use it for ‘yes’.
468
1587840
1780
26:29
Will you add the sugar?
469
1589620
1600
26:31
Okay.
470
1591220
860
26:32
Over a medium low heat.
471
1592080
1680
26:33
K.
472
1593760
500
26:34
Mkay.
473
1594260
800
26:35
>> I'll do that. >> Okay.
474
1595060
1660
26:36
Here's what it says.
475
1596720
3020
26:39
So we do this until the sugar is dissolved then we add the butter which I put out on the counter
476
1599740
4480
26:44
with a stick.
477
1604220
1820
26:46
>> Just light on the butter. >> Yeah.
478
1606040
1700
26:47
You know, it's not… this, this pie is not very high in calories
479
1607740
3300
26:51
so that's false.
480
1611040
2040
26:53
False.
481
1613080
1300
26:54
I've said something here that's not true.
482
1614380
2480
26:56
It's false.
483
1616860
1140
26:58
I'm not being serious.
484
1618000
2480
27:00
The pie is very high in calories.
485
1620480
2680
27:03
Listen to the different ways you can say I'm not being serious.
486
1623160
4720
27:07
False. Oh I'm joking. I'm being facetious.
487
1627880
2880
27:10
I'm just kidding.
488
1630760
1720
27:12
- How else could you say that? - She's joking.
489
1632480
3000
27:15
You already say that?
490
1635480
960
27:16
- I did say that. I'm pulling my leg. -You’re pulling your leg.
491
1636440
1860
27:18
Yeah, I'm pulling your leg.
492
1638300
1200
27:19
It's a high in calorie pie.
493
1639500
2060
27:21
Okay so um...
494
1641560
1920
27:23
- Just joshing… - I'm just joshing you.
495
1643480
3720
27:27
Where does that one come from?
496
1647200
3520
27:30
I'm just Joshin.
497
1650720
1120
27:31
You could say that. I'm just joshing.
498
1651840
1760
27:33
Hey, don't get upset. I'm just Joshin.
499
1653600
3560
27:37
I'm joking.
500
1657160
1400
27:38
I'm being facetious.
501
1658560
1540
27:40
I'm just kidding.
502
1660100
1260
27:41
I'm pulling your leg.
503
1661360
1400
27:42
I'm just joshing.
504
1662760
2520
27:45
All of these things mean what I'm saying should not be taken seriously or literally.
505
1665280
5560
27:50
I could have also said I'm just playing or I'm playing.
506
1670840
3980
27:54
The word ‘just’ in all of these phrases can be used but doesn't have to be used.
507
1674820
5100
27:59
A note on the pronunciation of the word ‘just’, if it's followed by a word that begins with the consonant,
508
1679920
6020
28:05
the T will usually be dropped.
509
1685940
2020
28:07
For example, I'm just kidding.
510
1687960
2700
28:10
Just kidding.
511
1690660
2220
28:12
Straight from the S sound into the K with no T.
512
1692880
4840
28:17
False. I'm joking.
513
1697720
1160
28:18
I'm being facetious.
514
1698880
1760
28:20
I'm just kidding. I'm pulling your leg. It's a high in calorie pie. I'm just joshing you.
515
1700640
6140
28:26
Where does that one come from?
516
1706780
2800
28:29
>> You want to grab the stick of butter? >> Yeah.
517
1709580
3020
28:32
So every fall, for what, how many years have you been doing this?
518
1712600
4160
28:36
Well we've lived here since 2010.
519
1716760
2320
28:39
- Here? No way. - And it probably started...
520
1719080
1240
28:40
No way.
521
1720320
1400
28:41
Here no way.
522
1721720
1620
28:43
What does that mean?
523
1723340
1600
28:44
That means I can't believe what she's saying.
524
1724940
2560
28:47
I don't think it's true and it turns out I misunderstood.
525
1727500
4720
28:52
I thought she meant she had been living in that house since 2010
526
1732220
4260
28:56
but she meant she'd been living in the town since then.
527
1736480
4020
29:00
Well we've lived here since 2010.
528
1740500
2380
29:02
- Here? No way. - And it probably started…
529
1742880
1280
29:04
- No. No. No. In North Hampton. - Oh, you mean North Hampton.
530
1744160
2160
29:06
-Seven-ish. -6 or 7 years. Yeah.
531
1746320
2100
29:08
I said seven-ish years while Laura said six or seven years.
532
1748420
4800
29:13
‘Ish’ is something you might hear put at the end of a word to show approximation.
533
1753220
5540
29:18
-Seven-ish. -6 or 7 years. Yeah.
534
1758760
2040
29:20
Every fall I come up to Laura's house and we have a fall baking weekend
535
1760800
4560
29:25
and actually we've made lots of videos from the fall baking weekend so I’ll put a link to that playlist
536
1765360
5400
29:30
in the comments below.
537
1770760
1120
29:31
Also right here, just click the I.
538
1771880
2940
29:34
They're really fun.
539
1774820
1060
29:35
They are.
540
1775880
720
29:36
At least we have fun.
541
1776600
880
29:37
We have fun.
542
1777480
720
29:38
We keep on working on the sauce for that pie adding butter and then adding cream.
543
1778200
5820
29:44
Okay, are you ready to whisk?
544
1784020
1020
29:45
- I think I’m supposed to add this really slowly. - Slowly.
545
1785040
3540
29:48
Am I supposed to keep on whisking or stirring?
546
1788580
2440
29:51
There we're both unsure of what the recipe says.
547
1791020
2940
29:53
We both used the phrase ‘supposed to’.
548
1793960
3900
29:57
We both reduce this phrase to: spose ta.
549
1797860
3760
30:01
We reduced it from three syllables to two.
550
1801620
2780
30:04
This is really common.
551
1804400
1780
30:06
The S and T can either be pronounced: sposta, or ZD, spose ta.
552
1806180
8980
30:15
- I think I’m supposed to add this really slowly. - Slowly.
553
1815160
2260
30:17
Am I supposed to keep on whisking or stirring?
554
1817420
2960
30:20
Alright. Here we go.
555
1820380
3560
30:23
>> Woah! >> Woah! Steam bomb! The camera!
556
1823940
4000
30:27
Ok, so now we're slicing the apples.
557
1827940
2620
30:30
We're using machine to make it a little easier.
558
1830560
2620
30:33
You can put them in here then.
559
1833180
1660
30:34
Yeah.
560
1834840
500
30:35
Okay.
561
1835340
540
30:35
There are always lots of reductions in American English.
562
1835880
3380
30:39
Let's look at the ones I just used.
563
1839260
2620
30:41
‘We are’ contracts to ‘we're’ and is often pronounced ‘were’ in conversation.
564
1841880
6440
30:48
It's really fast and it sounds just like this word: were.
565
1848320
4200
30:52
I use that contraction twice here.
566
1852520
2160
30:54
So now we're slicing the apples.
567
1854680
1540
30:56
We're using a machine to make it a little easier.
568
1856220
2620
30:58
You can put them in here then.
569
1858840
1680
31:00
Yeah.
570
1860520
500
31:01
Okay.
571
1861020
580
31:01
You're going to put them in here then.
572
1861600
1500
31:03
Some more reductions.
573
1863100
1540
31:04
The word are at the beginning was dropped.
574
1864640
2980
31:07
We need that word to be grammatically correct but it is sometimes dropped in spoken English.
575
1867620
5960
31:13
‘Going to’ became ‘gonna’ and the TH was dropped in them.
576
1873580
5740
31:19
‘Put them’ becomes: put ‘em— put ‘em— No TH and a flap T to connect the two words.
577
1879320
7800
31:27
Put ‘em— put ‘em—
578
1887120
2020
31:29
You can put them in here then.
579
1889140
1800
31:30
Yeah. Okay.
580
1890940
940
31:31
Right. Watch this do its magic.
581
1891880
3740
31:35
Love it. They come out at the bottom. Totally thin slice.
582
1895620
3500
31:39
Let's put the lemon juice in.
583
1899120
1560
31:40
Let's put the lemon juice in.
584
1900680
2120
31:42
The word ‘let's’ is really unclear.
585
1902800
2920
31:45
It's very common to drop the beginning and basically just make the TS sound.
586
1905720
4800
31:50
Let's put the lemon juice in. Ts- ts- ts-
587
1910520
3060
31:53
That's, its, and what can also make this reduction.
588
1913580
4620
31:58
We're just putting the TS sound in front of the next word.
589
1918200
4040
32:02
See this video for further examples and explanation.
590
1922240
4280
32:06
Let's put the lemon juice in.
591
1926520
3420
32:09
And the baby’s up. Let me go get him.
592
1929940
3800
32:13
Let me go get him.
593
1933740
2540
32:16
A couple reductions here.
594
1936280
1780
32:18
Let me becomes lemme, and the H is dropped in ‘him’.
595
1938060
4960
32:23
Dropping the H in this word is a really common reduction.
596
1943020
3660
32:26
When we do this, it sounds just like when we dropped the TH in them.
597
1946680
4800
32:31
‘Get him’ becomes ‘get um’.
598
1951480
3380
32:34
Just like ‘put them’ was ‘put em’.
599
1954860
3300
32:38
The flap T links the words and the reduction of ‘them’ and ‘him’ are the exact same sounds, schwa and M.
600
1958160
8600
32:46
Get em— put em—
601
1966760
2260
32:49
Let me go get him.
602
1969020
2020
32:51
Can you look right there?
603
1971040
1840
32:52
Say ‘Hi! I just had a nice nap!’
604
1972880
3220
32:56
Can you say ‘Hey everybody!’
605
1976100
2420
32:58
Can you try that?
606
1978520
2180
33:00
‘Hey everybody!’
607
1980700
2200
33:02
You want to try?
608
1982900
1860
33:04
No. Okay.
609
1984760
1380
33:06
Can I go ahead and put the apples in there?
610
1986140
1380
33:07
Yeah, dump them in.
611
1987520
1120
33:08
Dump them in.
612
1988640
2240
33:10
‘Them’ is reduced again.
613
1990880
1700
33:12
Dump em— dump em—
614
1992580
2080
33:14
Yeah, dump em in.
615
1994660
1460
33:16
I'm going to take you down to daddy.
616
1996120
2660
33:18
I'm going to take you down to daddy.
617
1998780
3320
33:22
'I'm going to' got reduced.
618
2002100
3400
33:25
With our most common words and phrases, we tend to do the most dramatic reductions.
619
2005500
5500
33:31
I’m gonna-- There's almost an idea of I in front of it but not really.
620
2011000
5400
33:36
I’m gonna-- I’m gonna-- I’m gonna--
621
2016400
3140
33:39
I'm gonna take you down to daddy.
622
2019540
2120
33:41
I made a video where I go over this reduction and more examples.
623
2021660
4600
33:46
Click here or in the description below to see that video.
624
2026260
3560
33:49
I'm going to take you down to daddy.
625
2029820
3520
33:53
Alright.
626
2033340
1380
33:54
- All of them? - Let me read ahead.
627
2034720
1320
33:56
Yeah, all of them.
628
2036040
960
33:57
I love how when you start paying attention to a particular reduction, you constantly hear it.
629
2037000
5840
34:02
Did you catch the reductions of ‘them’ here?
630
2042840
3180
34:06
We're talking about the apple slices.
631
2046020
2140
34:08
- All of them? - Let me read ahead.
632
2048160
1240
34:09
Yeah, all of them.
633
2049400
2340
34:11
All of them. Nice ‘them’ reduction, Laura.
634
2051740
2460
34:14
-All of them? -Mm-hmm.
635
2054200
2420
34:16
I like it. Linking with the V.
636
2056620
2200
34:18
Okay.
637
2058820
1060
34:19
Then we mixed the apples in with the other dry ingredients.
638
2059880
3700
34:23
We packed the apples into our pie shell and drizzled on the caramel sauce which got too thick as it cooled.
639
2063580
6260
34:29
We overcooked it and finally we make the lattice top for the pie.
640
2069840
4800
34:34
I had some problems and I kept messing it up.
641
2074640
3480
34:38
I couldn’t-- What is wrong with me?
642
2078120
3500
34:41
I’m like really screwing up.
643
2081620
2980
34:44
Really screwing up.
644
2084600
1580
34:46
Screw up is a phrasal verb which means to do something the wrong way
645
2086180
4480
34:50
or to do a bad job with something.
646
2090660
2380
34:53
I screwed up the pie crust.
647
2093040
2220
34:55
You could also say mess up.
648
2095260
2060
34:57
I messed up the pie crust.
649
2097320
2340
34:59
I’m really screwing up.
650
2099660
1820
35:01
I have to wipe that off.
651
2101480
1700
35:03
Oh darn.
652
2103180
2560
35:05
I beat that caramel sauce.
653
2105740
2380
35:08
This is weird, Laura. Last time I made this, it seeped in much more.
654
2108120
3960
35:12
So when... because look when I'm doing the lattice now, when I pull it up, it's like bringing up all this goo.
655
2112080
3980
35:16
- It’s thicker. - It's weird.
656
2116060
2620
35:18
I gotta say right now I'm like, I'm feeling embarrassed about how this is turning out.
657
2118680
5120
35:23
Turn out.
658
2123800
1100
35:24
Another phrasal verb.
659
2124900
1620
35:26
As I'm using it here, it means how something develops or ends.
660
2126520
4620
35:31
I'm not happy with how it's going, I'm embarrassed with the end result of my pie.
661
2131140
5520
35:36
I got to say, right now, I'm like, I'm feeling embarrassed about how this is turning out.
662
2136660
4940
35:41
I finished making the top and we put it in the oven and the final scene of course needs to be trying the pie.
663
2141600
7140
35:48
It’s out of the oven, looking good.
664
2148740
2000
35:50
Laura, how are you feeling about it?
665
2150740
1320
35:52
I’m feeling great!
666
2152060
960
35:53
Oh, also we made a pumpkin pie.
667
2153020
2240
35:55
I’m also feeling great about that.
668
2155260
1140
35:56
From scratch with a pumpkin.
669
2156400
1620
35:58
We made whipped cream.
670
2158020
2640
36:00
Big deal.
671
2160660
1560
36:02
And Dana made chocolate-dipped macaroons.
672
2162220
2840
36:05
Macaroon or Macaron?
673
2165060
1520
36:06
To clarify, this is a macaroon and this is a macaron.
674
2166580
4060
36:10
Which is also pronounced ‘macaroon’.
675
2170640
2760
36:13
I don’t know, I’ll look it up and I’ll let everyone know.
676
2173400
1880
36:15
Okay, let’s cut this pie.
677
2175280
1020
36:16
Who wants a little bit of apple?
678
2176300
1280
36:17
If you'd like to recreate this pie, it really is amazingly delicious.
679
2177580
4580
36:22
Please see the link in the video description below.
680
2182160
2880
36:25
It's from my favorite pie book, the Four and Twenty Blackbirds book.
681
2185040
4040
36:29
I’m going to have a caramely taste.
682
2189080
7360
36:36
It turned out well.
683
2196440
2280
36:38
That’s it guys, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English!
684
2198720
6800
36:45
685
2205520
8640
About this website

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