English Conversation & Idioms -- Study American Pronunciation

>> Hey guys. It’s fall, and I’m here with my friend Laura.

>> Hey! >> You’ve probably seen some of our other

baking videos. Every fall, I come up to Massachusetts, where Laura lives, and we make a variety of

things. One year we made a pumpkin pie, which we’re making this year, but not in the video.

But this year, we’re going to focus on apple dumplings. Not apple fritters. So, if you

want to learn how to make apple dumplings, you should probably look it up because this

is not really a recipe video. But this is a real life English video where you get to

study English conversation happening as it actually does.

>> So, you’re going to do the apples? >> Yep.

>> Okay. I’ll make the pastry.

As always, there are lots of reductions to study in American English. Did you notice

‘gonna’? This is how Americans pronounce ‘going to’ much of the time. Listen again.

>> So, you’re going to do the apples? [3x] >> Yep.

>> Okay. I’ll make the pastry.

I used this reduction with another reduction, yer. The ‘you are’ contraction, you’re,

is reduced this way in a sentence. Yer. Yer gonna. Repeat that. Yer gonna, yer gonna.

Let’s hear it again.

>> So, you’re going to do the apples? [3x] >> Yep.

>> Okay. I’ll make the pastry.

The ‘I will’ contraction, I’ll, is often reduced. Then it sounds more like ‘all’,

all. I’ll make. Repeat that with me. I’ll, I’ll make. Listen again.

>> I’ll make the pastry. [3x]

>> Wait. Is this a cup? >> Yes. It is.

>> You sure? >> Yep.

>> Okay.

>> I’m using this one, just… >> Wait. Just let me see them.

A couple of things to notice about this sentence: The T in the word ‘just’ was dropped.

We often drop the T when it comes between two consonants, as it does here. Juss-let,

juss-let. Next, ‘let me’ became ‘lemme’. The T was totally dropped. The two words ‘let

me’ are often pronounced together this way. Lemme see, lemme try. Repeat that with me.

Lemme, lemme, lemme see. And finally, the reduction of ‘them’ to ‘um’. This

is another common reduction. Repeat that with me. Um, um. I have a video on this reduction.

See it by clicking here or in the description below. Let’s do the sentence slowly together:

Juss-lemme-see-um. [3x]. Listen again.

>> Just let me see them. [3x] >> Yeah, they’re the same.

The ‘they are’ contraction, they’re, can also be reduced. Rather than fully pronouncing

‘they’re’, it’s ‘thur’. The TH sound and the R sound. Thur. Try that. Thur,

they’re the same. Listen again.

>> Yeah, they’re the same. [3x] >> Okay?

>> I just feel more comfortable using the one that says it’s a cup.

>> Okay.

The word ‘comfortable’ looks like it should have four syllables, but most Americans pronounce

it with three. I pronounced it COMF-der-ble. I made a video on just this word already,

you can see it by clicking here or in the description below. COMF-der-ble. Listen again.

>> I just feel more comfortable [3x] using the one that says it’s a cup.

>> Okay.

>> Now Laura, for how many years did you train as a pastry chef?

>> Fifteen. >> Wow.

>> Yeah. >> That’s a lot of training.

>> Well, but, wait. Fifteen minus the fifteen years that I didn’t train.

>> Neither of us are professionals here. >> No.

>> I know it looks like we are with our methods.

Neither, neither, this word can be pronounced both ways. Sometimes people think one way

is British and one way is American, but either one sounds just fine in American English.

>> Okay. Where is the new flour? >> In the bag.

>> I had a fan write in and tell me that I don’t follow the rules for the pronunciation

of the word ‘the’. >> Oh really? What are the rules?

>> Well, and I noticed just then that I did not use it correctly.

The rule is, if the word after ‘the’ begins with a consonant sound, pronounce it ‘the’,

with the schwa vowel, uh, uh, the. If the word after ‘the’ begins with a vowel or

diphthong, then pronounce it ‘the’, with the EE as in SHE vowel, ee, ee, the.

>> Um, the. It should be a schwa before, before a consonant. So, I said, “where’s the

new”, but I said “where’s theeee new”, and I said ‘theee’, and you’re really

only supposed to do that before vowels. But, since that person pointed it out, I noticed

that I do that quite a bit. >> So it’s not like it would be strange.

>> It’s not strange. Because no one has ever said, Rachel, shouldn’t that be ‘the’.

Like, no native speaker has ever noticed. >> Right. And I didn’t even think about

it when you just said it. >> No. No one thinks about it.

If you ever say ‘thuh’ instead of ‘thee’, people probably won’t notice. Also, make

sure to always keep this word short, whether it’s with the schwa or the EE vowel, the, the.

>> This is a very large bag of flour. Okay. Now, I’m just curious, how much of it can

I spill. I’m guessing quite a bit. >> We have a vacuum.

>> Okay. Oh, crap.

Crap. This is a word you can use when you mess something up. To mess something up is

an idiom meaning, to do something the wrong way, or to cause an outcome other than what

you intended. I turned left instead of right --- I messed up. ‘Crap’ is like a cuss

word, but less offensive. Still, you don’t want to use it in a professional setting,

and some people might be offended by it. I think it’s fine to use in a casual setting

among friends. Crap, crap. This is the less offensive version of the word ‘shit’.

>> Oh, crap. [3x]

>> What was the article in that Mark was reading about trans fats?

>> I don’t know. >> The Atlantic?

>> I don’t think so. He’s been on this kick for a while, so.

>> Oh, okay.

Let’s go back and study the phrase “I don’t know.” Notice how Laura dropped

the T altogether: I don’t know. I don’t know. In the phrase ‘I don’t think so’,

there was a little break in the sound before ‘think’, I don’t think so, the sign

of a Stop T. But in ‘I don’t know’, there was no stop, no T at all. This is a

common pronunciation of this phrase. I don’t know. I don’t know. Listen again.

>> I don’t know [3x]. >> The Atlantic?

>> I don’t think so. He’s been on this kick for a while, so.

>> Oh, okay. >> I like how you just used the idiom ‘to

be on a kick’.

The idiom to be on a kick means to be enthusiastic about something for a period of time. "I’m

on a yoga kick" means, I don’t typically do a lot of yoga, but recently I’ve

done it a lot and enjoy it. Or you could say, I’m on a salad kick. I’ve been eating

a lot of salad lately. Here, Mark is on a trans fat kick. He’s careful not to eat

trans fats. Listen again.

>> He’s been on this kick for a while, so. [3x]

>> Oh, okay.

>> Oh, whoops.

Before, I said ‘crap’ when I messed up. Here, I said ‘whoops’ , which, just like

‘oops’, is an exclamation for recognizing a mistake. This term is not offensive in any

way, and can be used in any context. Oh, whoops, with the same vowel as ‘book’ or ‘could’.

Whoops, whoops. Listen again.

>> Oh, whoops. [3x]

>> How’s it going, Laur? >> It’s going. Last half.

>> Nice.

>> And we’re done. Look at those beauties.

>> So Laura, you’re working on the sauce?

Another ‘you are’ yer reduction. I dropped the NG sound and made an N sound on the end

of ‘working’.

>> So Laura, you’re working on the sauce? [3x]

Workin, working. Native speakers do this quite a bit, especially with the most common ING

verbs, but I do caution my students against overuse. Pronounce ING words with the NG sound

most of the time.

>> So Laura, you’re working on the sauce? >> Yeah. It’s a syrup for the top of the

dumplings. >> Syrup.

>> A little butter in there. A lot of sugar.

>> So I’m rolling the pastry. And then we’ll put an apple inside.

Another reduction of a contraction, we well. We’ll. Pronounce this as ‘wul’ in a

sentence. It’s faster than ‘we’ll’. And we want an unstressed word like this to

be very fast, wul. Repeat that with me, wul, wul.

>> And then we’ll put an apple [3x] inside. I’m … they’re not as pretty as they’re

supposed to be. But, I think the flavor will be just as good.

As you listen to the next section, listen for all the reductions ‘and’ to ‘nn’

or ‘an’. No D sound. This is how we usually say this word in a sentence.

>> Cinnamon and sugar. Then an apple half. And then more cinnamon and sugar. And then

fold it up. It’s a little sticky.

>> It’s been a half hour.

‘It has’ reduces to ‘it’s’. How was it pronounced in that sentence?

>> It’s been a half hour. [3x]

Simply the TS cluster. Ts been, ts been. Repeat that with me. Ts been. Ts been a half hour.

It’s, that’s, and what’s, all reduce to the TS cluster. Check out the video I made

on this topic by clicking here or in the description below.

>> It’s been a half hour. Oh wow! >> Bubbling.

>> Oh my god. Those look good! I’ve never made this before. Wow. Yummy.

>> For real.

>> Sure smells good. Mm. It tastes just like apple pie.

>> Mm-hmm. >> Really good. Thanks guys. Alright, Laura!

Thank you so much for helping me make this video.

>> You’re welcome. >> And, until next year, with Laura, at our

baking weekend, that’s it guys, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.