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Have you ever played the game Codenames?

Today you’re going to join me and my family

as we play this word game, and study real English conversation as we play.

You’ll see lots of reductions happening,

and you’ll learn some great vocabulary words and idioms

like ‘dominant’, ‘detract’, ‘neck and neck’, and ‘sore loser’.

The game is called Codenames and last night, we played

four rounds and Mom and I beat David and dad each time.

Did you hear how the word ‘and’ was used to connect two nouns?

This is a common way we use the word ‘and’.

Mom and I, David and Dad.

The word ‘and’ reduces so it just sounds like an N sound connecting the two words together.

Using reductions and linking can really smooth out your English

and help you sound more natural and native.

Try that now, Mom and I, Mom and I.

David and Dad,

David and Dad.

Listen again.

And Mom and I--

And Mom and I--

And Mom and I beat David and dad--

David and dad--

David and dad each time.

Mom, are you ready to crush David and

Dad again in the game?

I'm so ready to crush David and Dad again in the game.

My Mom had a really bad cold when we shot this video.

I apologize for her voice being a bit scratchy.

Did you notice the vocabulary we used here?

The word ‘crush’.

When you crush someone in a game, it means you beat them by a lot,

a very wide margin.

The game was not close.

Mom, are you ready to crush David and Dad again in the game?

We're going to be the clue givers first.

Alright.

Alright, you want to draw one?

Alright, it's red. That means ladies go first and we have to take the extra card.

Listen to the word ‘alright’.

You heard it three times in that clip.

Alright.

Alright, you want to draw one?

Alright, it's red.

Alright.

Alright, you want to draw one?

Alright, it's red.

Words with R’s and L’s tend to be extra tricky for non-native speakers.

But the L sound is very weak, and actually,

you can get by without saying it at all.

I didn’t really say it, and neither did my Dad.

Just a quick AH as in FATHER or AW as in LAW sound will be great.

Alright, alright.

This works with ‘already’ as well.

Already, already.

Alright. Listen again.

Alright.

Alright, you want to draw one?

Alright, it's red.

Okay, mom. My clue is 'rod for two'.

In this game, you have a grid of words in front of you.

Some of the words are for your team,

some are for the other team, and some are neutral.

You try to get your teammate to guess your words,

and you do this by grouping them together and saying a word

that you think your partner will associate with the two words you’ve chosen.

So I said ‘rod’ for two.

That means, there are two words on the board that I think have an association with the word ‘rod’,

and I hope she guesses them correctly.

Notice I said ‘rod’ really clearly.

It doesn’t have the context of a sentence around it,

so I want to be really clear.

But how did I pronounce the word ‘for’?

I reduced it, f-schwa-r. Fer, fer, fer two.

Okay, mom. My clue is 'rod for two'.

For two.

For two.

Okay, Rod king?

Rod fair?

She’s going through the words, trying to decide if any of them make sense with the word ‘rod’.

Rod king?

Rod fair?

Okay, Rod king?

Rod fair?

Probably cast.

Prob’ly ‘cast’. Did you notice how she pronounced the word ‘probably’?

She reduced it by dropping a syllable.

I would say native speakers do this at least half of the time.

It makes the pronunciation easier, and you can do it do.

Practice that with me.

Prob’ly,

prob’ly.

Probably cast.

Probably cast.

Probably cast.

She chose ‘cast’.

This word can have several different meanings.

For example, when you break your leg or arm,

you might wear a cast for several weeks while it heals.

Or, in a play or opera,

everyone who is on stage acting is part of the ‘cast’.

It can also mean to throw or fling,

and this is what you do with a fishing pole,

to get your hook out into the water.

It can also be called a fishing rod.

So I said ‘rod’, she saw ‘cast’

and made the association, and that was correct.

In English, we have so many words like ‘cast’ that can be used different ways.

Probably cast.

Are we stumped already?

David is having a hard time coming up with his clue,

and my Dad says, “are we stumped already?”

To be stumped means to have no idea.

For example, let’s say you’re trying to figure out a very difficult problem and

you cannot come up with the answer.

You might say, “I’m stumped.”

The –ed ending is pronounced as a T

because the sound before was unvoiced,

the P consonant. pt, pt, stumped.

Are we stumped already?

Are we getting off to a slow start?

Then Dad says, are we getting off to a slow start?

That phrase means you’re not making much progress at the beginning.

Getting off to a slow start.

But David thought of a clue, and he said ‘dominant’.

Are we stumped already?

Are we getting off to a slow start?

Dominant.

Do you know what ‘dominant’ means?

Ruling, controlling, commanding, main.

Dominant.

Dominant.

Dominant.

I'm gonna say superhero.

When Dad guesses, he says, “I’m ‘gonna’ say”,

reducing ‘going to’ to ‘gonna’.

I'm gonna.

I'm gonna say.

I'm gonna say superhero.

I'm gonna say king.

Okay mom, my hint is tent for two.

I give Mom a clue again, tent for two.

Did you hear how I reduced ‘for’ again? Fer, fer.

Tent for two.

For two.

For two.

Okay, pole is probably one cause we always have a tent pole.

Although we haven't always... had them when we went camping.

We had to resort to string and trees.

A ladder and crossed two by fours like that.

Have you ever forgotten the tent poles when you went camping? 1

I can’t quite imagine how you could leave that out,

but my parents managed to once a long time ago,

and they had to use a ladder inside their tent to hold it up.

That's when I would have gone home.

“That’s when I ‘would-a’ gone home.”

Did you hear how I pronounced the phrase ‘would have’?

I reduced the word ‘have’ to just the schwa.

Would-a, would-a,

that’s when I would-a gone home.

This is a common reduction with ‘would’, ‘should’, and ‘could’.

Would-a, should-a, could-a.

That's when I would have

That's when I would have

That's when I would have gone home.

You weren't around yet.

I know, I'm just saying in my, in my world, camping is no longer fun when you didn't bring the poles.

It did detract a bit.

My Dad used the word ‘detract’.

A great vocabulary word.

This means to take a way from the quality of something.

Camping, without a proper tent, made the experience less fun.

It did detract a bit.

Uhm, okay I'll say rainforest for two.

David is giving the clue now, and he said ‘Rainforest for two’.

Did you see how he reduced the word ‘for’? Fer, fer.

We almost always pronounce it this way.

Rainforest for two. For two. For two.

So I will say Amazon for one of those.

Amazon for one of those –

another ‘for’ reduction.

Fer one, fer one,

Amazon for one of those.

My Dad also reduced the word ‘of’ to just the schwa – one of, one of.

Amazon for one of those.

So I will say Amazon for one of those.

Amazon for one of those.

Amazon for one of those.

Is it illegal for me to remove this?

Yes.

You're gonna try to jog your memory?

Is it illegal for me to remove this?

You're trying to jog your memory about what the previous clue was?

Yeah.

Once a correct word is chosen, you cover it with a card that’s the color for your team.

Because my dad can’t remember the clue, he wants to uncover the word to see if that will help him remember.

Did you notice the phrase I used for this?

Jog your memory.

Something ‘jogs your memory’ if it helps you remember something.

You're trying to jog your memory about what the previous clue was?

Yeah.

Thanks for asking!

He also said 'no' though.

He said probably not.

Prob’ly not.

Another example of dropping that middle syllable in ‘probably’.

Probably. Prob’ly not.

Dad said: He said probably not.

He said probably not.

He said probably not.

We'll I'm going to take a chance and say they are crickets in the rainforest.

Well, I’m going to take a chance… The word ‘well’ was pretty unclear.

This can happen with this word as it’s a filler word,

it doesn’t have any special meaning here.

It’s just a quick W and dark L. Well. well. well.

Well I’m gonna-- Well I’m going to take a chance.

And another ‘gonna’ reduction.

Well, I’m going to take a chance…

Well, I’m going to take a chance

Well, I’m going to take a chance

We'll I'm going to take a chance and say they are crickets in the rainforest.

Alright!

My dad celebrated with ‘alright!

And again, there was clearly no L sound in this word.

Alright.

Alright.

Alright.

Alright.

Okay, I'm gonna say shatter for two.

Shatter.

Another great vocabulary word.

This means to break into pieces.

A glass would shatter if it hit the floor.

Shatter.

Notice the double T is the Flap T here,

because the T sound comes between two vowels.

Shatter.

Okay, I'm gonna say shatter for two.

And of course, another ‘for’ reduction. Fer two, fer two.

Shatter. For two. For two. For two.

I'm gonna go with glass.

I’m going to go with.

This means you choose.

My mom is choosing ‘glass’ as her answer.

You could also say this at a restaurant as you’re ordering.

“I’m going to go with the fish special.”

That means that's the dish that I choose to eat.

That I choose to order.

I'm gonna go with glass.

Now, Washington was the leader.

- She touched it. - Yeah, you're not supposed to touch it

until...it's okay, I know you weren't doing your final but...

My Dad is really watching my Mom, who is on the opposite team.

In this game you’re not supposed to touch a card until you’re making that your official guess.

Listen to what I say to my Mom about this.

Yeah, you're not supposed to touch it until...it's okay,

I know you weren't doing your final but...FYI.

I said, I knew you weren’t doing your final guess, but FYI.

That means, ‘for your information’.

It’s like saying, just so you know.

I was letting her know, that is the rule officially,

so she should probably not do it.

FYI.

Yeah, you're not supposed to touch it until...it's okay,

I know you weren't doing your final but...FYI

We don't know that.

Just kidding.

Don't pay attention to him.

I'm gonna go with Washington.

I’m going to go with.

There’s that phrase again, to mean “I choose”.

I'm gonna go with Washington.

Actually, you're doing really well.

Yeah, you guys were neck and neck.

We're doing better. We're doing better.

We're neck and neck.

Here, we’re discussing the score.

We were tied, so I said, “we’re neck and neck”.

This means very close or tied, in a race or game.

Did you notice the AND reduction?

Neck and neck.

Just the schwa and N,

neck and—neck and neck--

and the N in 'and' blends into the beginning N for ‘neck’.

Neck and neck.

We're neck and neck.

So a historical figure is a proper noun?

Rosie the riveter for two.

Rosie the riveter for two. Wow.

For the win!

Two more ‘for’ reductions.

For two, and ‘for the win’.

The more you pay attention to and listen for reductions,

the more you start to notice they are used all the time in American English.

They are part of what makes up good, clear English.

Rosie the riveter for two. Wow.

For the win!

I can't think of one that fits Rosie the Riveter

right off the top of my head.

Dad can’t think of an answer off the top of his head.

What does this phrase mean?

It means immediately,

without having to try or think.

He can’t think of one off the top of his head,

this means, he’s going to have to sit there and really think about it to try to come up with an answer.

I can't think of one that fits Rosie the Riveter right off the top of my head.

I'm gonna say washer for one.

Maybe... probably you file things down when you're riveting.

I'm gonna say file for two.

You almost had it, Dad. You did say it once as being the most obvious.

You said washer and queen seemed to be the 2 best fits.

We've just played the best 3 of 5.

4 out of 7.

4 out of 7.

We played the best of 5 which means one team has to win 3

before a winner can be declared and Mom and I won 3 in a row. The first 3.

So we're the champions.

Great job, Mom!

Yay!

Boo!

Oh, don't be a sore loser!

A sore loser is someone who is upset or angry when they lose a game or a competition.

Of course you don’t have to be happy when you lose,

but to be clearly upset, annoyed, or angry at a loss is to be a sore loser.

Oh, don't be a sore loser!

That's it guys, and thanks so much for using Rachel's English!

My parents were pretty great for being in this video with me.

It reminds me of a video we made a long time ago

where I introduced my parents on Rachel’s English for the first time.

Did you see it?

I’ll play it here for you right now.

Now, I’ve been spending a lot of time teaching you English, and I thought it would be fun to show you

who taught me English.

These are my parents Rita and Stan.

Rita.

Notice we have a Flap T there,

because the T is coming between two vowel sounds.

-ta, -ta,Rita.

Stan.

Now here we have the AA as in BAT vowel

followed by the N consonant.

When this vowel is followed by the N or the M consonant,

we get an extra sound. Aa-uu, uu, an uh-like sound before the nasal consonant.

Staaaaaan

Stan, Stan.

These are my parents Rita and Stan.

Hello.

So guys, do you remember what my first word was?

I remember your brother’s first word.

Ok. So, I’m the youngest of two.

Clearly I’m not a memorable child because the first one is the more interesting one.

His first word was ‘hi’.

Hi.

And, I don’t remember Rachel’s first word,

but once she started speaking, she never stopped.

That’s true.

So you don’t remember my first word either?

It was probably ‘mama’.

But you don’t actually know.

I don’t actually know.

Ok.

The pronunciation of this word is four syllables,

and with the CH consonant sound.

Actually.

But I notice both my Mom and I here pronounced it actually.

We’re reducing the word by substituting the CH with a SH sound,

that has no stop; we’re making it a little bit smoother.

And we’re dropping the schwa syllable altogether.

Actually.

Actually.

But you don’t actually know.

I don’t actually know.

Ok.

They’re trying to think of something cute that I might have said to tell you guys. But my Mom said:

I can think of something cute your brother said.

Yeah. See? It’s terrible.

Well, I remember doing lots of things with you.

Right. No, it’s fine.

I remember riding you to school on the handlebars of my bike.

Yeah. That hurt. I always wished that he would buy an actual seat to put on the bike.

One thing I remember is sending off a card three days before she left for summer camp

so she would receive a card on the first day of summer camp.

Yeah. That was nice. I used to go away for two weeks,

and Mom was very good about sending cards and also treats.

Well, thanks Mom and Dad so much for being willing to meet my Rachel’s English audience.

One last thing I want to say about them is tomorrow is their 45th wedding anniversary.

So, happy anniversary, guys!

Thank you!

Are you ok?

Yeah.

This is my favorite uncle John.

This is my dad’s older brother. Isn’t he cute?

John, this is Rachel’s English.

Hi Rachel’s English. How are you?

Rachel comes from a very talkative family.

Yeah. We, we all talk a lot.

- Yeah. - It makes sense that I’m doing what I’m doing.

- Right.

- I’m the quietest one I think. - Yeah, probably.

And he’s not that quiet.