The Secret To Understanding Fast Speech In Songs | Connected Speech

I want to tell you a story.

When I was learning Spanish, I used to listen to my favorite Hispanic band, Los Angeles

Azules almost every weekend, mainly just because I liked them.

However, after having listened to their music for about two or three months, I still didn't

know the lyrics.

And I thought to myself, why not?

Why not?

Well, After doing a quick Google search of the lyrics and listening to the songs and

reading the lyrics at the same time, I realized that the reason why I couldn't sing was that

their songs are full of connected speech.

Now, connected speech is the way fluent speakers link, cut, and join words together.

So instead of saying, how are you?

Saying each word separately.

I say, how are you?

When I realized this, I felt a little silly.

And I wonder if you have felt the same on your English journey too?

Well, whether you have or not, today's lesson will help your English a lot.

We are going to learn connected speech with the lyrics of three of my favorite songs,

New Rules by Dua Lipa, the Lazy song by Bruno Mars, and Halo by everyone's favorite Beyonce.

And in case we are meeting for the first time I'm Ollie, and we guide you beyond the classroom

to live and speak English in the real world.

So join our global growing community by hitting that subscribe button and the bell down below

so you don't miss any of our new lessons.

So let's get on with today's lesson.

What, the first question I want to ask you is what is connected speech?

You know, you might be thinking, oh Ollie, what is connected speech?

Well, I kind of alluded.

I kind of said it in the intro, but it's the way that we link cut and join our words together.

We don't say word for word.

You know, one word here, one word here, one word here.

We always bring them together to make it a lot easier to say.

To get the most out of this lesson, I advise that you listen to the part of the song that

I'm going to teach you first.

I'm going to tell you the time of the song.

So don't worry then after you listen, come back and you're going to learn with me.

I'm going to teach you how to say the words correctly, because the way they are written

is completely different to the way they sound.

And that's what confuses a of learners.

That's what confused me with Spanish.

Then you are going to really listen to the song and you're going to sing with the song

because you're going to know how to, uh, you're going to know how to connect the words.

I chose these three artists not only because I love them, but because we also have lessons

with them on our Learn English with TV Series page, and I have linked the links to those

lessons in the description below.

So you should listen to them after that.

So let's have a look, uh, as I said, these are the songs that we are listening with,

and these are the lyrics that I'm going to teach you, okay?

So let's get on to Dua Lipa.

Now, Dua Lipa, New Rules.

You want to listen to 41 seconds to 58 seconds.

Not a lot of time.

So go and pause this lesson now and go and listen to this part.

And as I said, these are the lyrics that you will want to look at when you listen to that

part of the song.

Okay?

All right.

The first line is One: don't pick up the phone.

If you listen to this, you would realize that we don't actually say, One: don't pick up

the phone.

You know, it's not how it sounds.

We actually say, let's have a look how we connect it first.

You'll notice that NT contractions.

Okay.

We don't say one.

Don't you'll notice that it's one don't and the T has dropped completely, almost all NT

contractions it'll drop.

And you'll notice this a lot in today's lesson.

Now you'll notice that pick up is an action.

It's to forget when my phone is, to answer the phone.

Okay.

So to answer the phone and because pickup is an action.

Up the preposition, which is normally not stressed is stressed.

And also if the final sound is a consonant and the next letter starts with a vowel, then

the consonant sound links across.

So instead of saying, pick up it's pick up, pick up.

So repeat after me the sentence: One: don't pick up the phone.

One: don't pick up the phone.

Yes.

I said to myself, I wasn't going to sing, sing, but maybe I will sing.

The next sentence.

You know he's only callin' 'cause he's drunk and alone.

Again, if you listen to the song, it actually doesn't sound like that.

So let's have a look at some features of connected speech here.

First of all, we have the reduction of th H in the pronoun, he, and Dua Lipa loves to

do this.

So instead of saying, you know he's, she says, you know he's, you know he's.

And the w links over to the E sound.

Right?

'Cause he sounds like an E, the vowel sound, okay?

So, you know, he's, he he's ends with an S he is.

And the next letter O only will now link because you have a consonant and you have a vowel.

So instead of saying, you know he's only it's, you know he's only, you know he's only, you

know he's only, okay?

Complicated, right?

Repeat after me, you know he's only, you know he's only, you got it.

Okay.

Callin' we know callin' ING is often reduced in a lot of songs and you'll see that in the

next song as well.

'Cause he's drunk and alone.

Again, we don't say it like this.

You can see that he's again, Dua I has reduced the pronoun.

He is, to not sound like anything, um, the H disappears.

And because 'cause sounds with, uh, with a Z, a consonant sound, we Le we then link the

consonant sound on 'cause with the pronoun he, because the H drops.

So it links again.

It's kind of like what happened in, you know he's.

So instead we say, 'cause he's drunk and alone.

'Cause he's drunk and alone, okay?

And again, the K links with the A, because we have the consonant vowel sound and because,

and is a function word.

It means a function word is like, and uh, you have your verbs that help can, be, things

like that.

And prepositions, they are normally reduced a lot, okay?

So instead of saying drunk and alone, we say drunk and alone, drunk and alone, drunk and

alone.

All right.

Are you ready to say this sentence after me?

All right.

Let's do it.

You know he's only callin' 'cause he's drunk and alone.

I'll say, I'll say it one more time.

You know he's only callin' 'cause he's drunk and alone.

Can you say it?

Aww yeah!

Very, very good, nice job.

Okay.

And here we see again, the NT and you'll notice that let him in.

She reduces him, the pronoun him.

Okay.

And because we have a T with the vowel sound IM, IM the T is a flap T. So in American English,

the flap T becomes a D sound.

So you'll hear, instead of hearing, don't let him in.

You'll hear, don't let him in.

Don't let him in.

Don't let him in.

Okay, fantastic.

So you can repeat that.

Don't let him in, don't let him in.

All right.

The second half of this song is also quite cool.

You, you have to kick him out again.

Okay.

So she totally reduces lots and lots of things in this sentence.

So she says you have to kick him out again, you have to kick him out again.

Have to normally is pronounced with H, but she's reduced it even more; have to, you have

to kick him out again.

All right.

And you'll notice again, she reduces him.

No H and because we have a consonant and vowel sound, the K comes over, kick him, kick him

out again, out again.

And that T in out becomes a flap D sound.

Okay.

Flap T, excuse me.

A flap T. Which in American English sounds like a D out again, out again, out again,

okay?

You have to kick him out again.

Repeat.

Awesome job.

Let's move on.

Again, you'll see the NT contraction here and his, the H has been reduced again.

So instead of be his it's be his, don't be his friend.

Don't be his friend.

Can you say that?

Don't be his friend.

Aww yeah!

Let's continue on.

You know you're going wake up in his bed in the morning.

So this basically sounds like two words.

I know that there's like five or ten.

Five words there or a bit more, but it sounds like, uh, one word wake up in his bed in the

morning.

So wake up again.

We have a phrasal verb stress is on up the action.

If it ends in a consonant sound, it comes over.

Wake up, wake up.

Wake up in his, wake up in his.

And because up ends in a P consonant sound, in starts with an I, the P links with in,

okay?

And because the H in his has reduced the N from in links to the next word, wake up in

his, wake cup in his, wake up in his.

Complicated, right?

Bed in the morning, okay.

Again, we see the D has connected to in, because we have the consonant and the I sound.

So can you repeat the second half of this sentence?

Wake up in his bed in the morning, wake up in his bed in the morning...

Wake up in his bed in the morning.

Yeah.

I think you got it!

Awesome.

And if you're under him, you ain't gettin' over him.

I said to myself, I wouldn't sing.

Okay.

In fact, we just made a lesson on connected speech, Andrea and Ethan made a podcast lesson.

And you can listen to that episode on the RealLife App.

Now on the RealLife App that you can listen to episodes with the transcript.

So you can read along.

And you can also connect with learners around the world when we host our special speaking

events.

It's a good way to practice your speaking, because I hear a lot of people say to me,

teacher, teacher Ollie uh, I think my English is improving, but I have no one to speak to.

Well, now you can practice on the RealLife English App.

You can download it at RealLifeGlobal.com/App, or download it from the Google Play store

or the Apple App store.

Let's get on to the next song, Bruno Mars, The Lazy Song.

So it's the first 23 seconds of the song.

And this is pretty simple.

Okay.

You can see the NT reduc.. reduction again, instead of saying, doing, doing, it's kind

of like funny that it's called The Lazy Song and he doesn't pronounce words correctly.

Wanna = want to, we know that.

Again, we see the NT contraction.

Don't feel like picking up my phone.

So leave a, okay.

Leave.

You have the constant sound.

A, an a has been reduced to, instead of saying, leave a message, leave a, a leave a, leave

a.

So leave a message at the tone 'cause today I swear I'm not doing anything.

So The Lazy Song, instead of like having so much, you know, linking as Dua Lipa's song

had, it's more of like the contraction of, of longer words as well.

But it's a nice one to practice because he sings a little bit slower than Dua Lipa.

Okay.

My second favorite, 'cause I love Dua Lipa is Beyonce.

And the part you need to listen to is from 25 seconds to 46 seconds.

Okay.

I wonder if anybody knows what the, uh, how, how we would make this connected here.

Walls I, walls I, walls I, pretty easy, right?

Okay.

We have that.

The, the consonant with S and then we have I, which is a vowel.

Walls I, and it links over, walls I. Walls I. Fantastic.

So remember those walls I built, well baby they ain't trumbl...

Baby they're tumbling down.

Tumbling means to fall.

Tumbling.

So you might see that some songs in the lyrics, they have the ING, but listen for the contraction,

right?!

Tumbling down.

And they didn't even put up a fight.

Oh, I'm now I'm singing.

Okay.

So N apostrophe T again, we have that contraction and the N links over to even, ,cause even

starts with a vowel.

So didn't even, didn't even.

Okay.

And if we go on to put up a fight, this is kind of like put up a, is like one word, instead

of saying, put up a, listen, put up a, put up a, put up a fight, put up a fight.

Okay.

T on put, becomes a flap T, D sound, right?

'Cause we have a vowel U, up.

Again, up ends in a P consonant and therefore it links to up, put up a, put up a, okay?

'Cause it's a vowel sound.

You'll see these features a lot.

And if you can recognize that that's a great thing, because it's really going to take your

English to the next level.

So this sentence would be, and they didn't even put up a fight, and they didn't even

put up a fight.

Your turn.

Sorry for my singing!

Awesome.

Love it.

Okay.

And the next part of this song, they didn't even make a sound.

Again, we've seen this in this, in this lesson, didn't even links together, reduction of the

T with an NT and it links to even 'cause of the E again, make a, we have a make, make

ends in a K sound, consonant, links with the a, which is reduced, make a.

Make a sound, make a sound.

Can you say that?

Make a sound awesome.

They didn't even make a sound.

I found a way to let you in.

Did you notice, let you, let you?

In American English and Australian English, we have T plus Y is a CH.

Let you, let you in, let you in.

Okay.

I found a way to let you in let you win, but I never really have a doubt.

Standing in the light of your halo.

Light of your.

Light of your halo.

I didn't say it light of your, I said light of your, light of your halo.

Light of your halo.

Okay.

So light sounds like li of is duh 'cause we have the T the flap T becomes a D sound and

it's a consonant.

So it links over to of, which is a preposition.

And because a preposition is normally not stressed, it becomes reduced light of, light

of, and she even reduces your as well.

Yuh, yuh..

Light of your halo.

So can you say that?

Light of your halo, light of your halo.

Standing in the light of your halo.

I've got my angle now.

Okay.

So they were the three songs that I wanted you to learn with today.

And we have seen a couple of features of connected speech that will help you to understand English

songs a lot better.

What next?

If you don't feel that confident after watching this lesson, you can watch it again and you

can slow it down, listen back to the songs and do all that.

After this, watch the lessons that we made with these artists over on the Learn English

with TV Aeries.

And in fact, Ethan and Andrea have just released a new episode, which goes into more detail

about connected speech, uh, on the RealLife app, the newest podcast.

Okay.

I think it's episode two 38.

So make sure you check out that when we finish and if you are still watching and haven't

subscribed or liked the video, make sure you do so to stay updated with all of our new

lessons here at real life English.

Aww yeah!