English Pronunciation in 1 hour: advanced pronunciation lesson

I'm sorry. What'd you say? Have you ever had  anyone ask you, "What'd you say," when you  

were speaking in English? Maybe this was because  your pronunciation was not clear or understandable  

enough. Well, I have some good news. In today's  English lesson, you are going to level up your  

English pronunciation skills in one hour. Amazing. Hi, I'm Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com.  

Today you are going to go through some of my top  most popular pronunciation lessons so that you  

can speak clearly and understandably  and like an American. Like always,  

I've created a free PDF worksheet for you,  which includes all of today's pronunciation,  

sample sentences and ideas to help you use  this. The next time that you have an English  

conversation and at the bottom of the worksheet,  you can answer Vanessa's challenge question. There  

is a link in the description. You can click on  that link to download the free PDF worksheet  

today. All right, let's start improving your  American English pronunciation now. Let's go. 

Have you ever watched an English TV show or movie  and thought, oh my goodness, they're speaking so  

fast. It's just one long word. Well, today I  have some good news for you. Today I'm going  

to be helping you with some common English phrases  and sentences and questions. How to combine them,  

how native English speakers make them quick and  fast so that you can pronounce them like this  

yourself if you feel like it. But also to help you  be able to understand fast English. You are going  

to be pronouncing these eight fast sentences in  English in no time. Let's get started. Our first  

five sentences include some kind of reduction  with the word you. Let's take a look at our first  

sentence. What do you think? But do you think that  we really say it this slowly? What do you think?  

Absolutely not. I just bought this new dress. What'd you think? What is happening in the  

middle of this question? Let's break it down.  There are a couple different ways that we can  

reduce this question. So let's talk about the  first one. What do you think? Wha da ya think?  

Here the final T on the question word what is  cutoff. We just say wha, and then instead of  

saying, do with a nice ooh sound, instead it  sounds like duh. Whada. And then the next word  

you is going to have a similar sound. Whadaya,  da ya think? What do you think? What do you,  

can you say that with me? What do you think? What  do you think? But would you imagine that we can  

reduce this even more? Yep. You will definitely  hear in English movies and TV shows people say,  

"I just bought this new dress. Wha'ya think?"  Wha'ya think? What is happening to the verb do? 

Listen carefully. I just bought this new dress.  Wha'ya think? Wha'ya think? Do is just gone.  

It's completely absent from this sentence. It's  off on vacation somewhere. So you can say wha ya  

think. Wha'ya think? Wha'ya think? Wha'ya think?  Our second question is where did you get it?  

But do you think we say it like this? Where  did you get it? No. If English speakers spoke  

like this, then you probably wouldn't be here  because you'd already be able to understand fast  

English because it would just be slow English.  So let's see how this is actually said. I love  

that dress. Where'd ya get it? Where'd ya get  it? Let's break this down. Where'd. Where'd.  

This is a contraction of where and did. Where'd  ya, this is you. Where'd ya. And then our final  

two words we're going to link together. Get, ged. Where's that D coming from? Ged,  

ged it. Well, in American English, when there  is a T between two vowels, we often change that  

T to a D sound. This is going to be extremely  common in American English and it's going to help  

you to pick up on fast words like sweater, water.  These are common examples of a T changing to a D.  

And finally in this question, there's  one more thing we need to mention.  

Listen to the final sound of the question.  Where'd ya get it? It. It. Do you hear it?  

Nope. Listen, one more time. Where'd ya get it?  Where'd ya get it? That final T is not really  

pronounced. Your tongue is going to be in the  same place as if you are going to make a T sound,  

but instead of letting that air flow out, your  tongue just stops on the top of your mouth. 

That's why we call this a stopped T. Can you say  those final two words with me? Get it, get it,  

get it. All right. Let's put it all together. And  I want you to say this out loud with me. Where'd  

you get it? Where do you get it? Where'd ya get  it? Now sometimes we reduce this a little bit  

further and the entire rest of the Senate sounds  the same except for the word you. Sometimes we  

say where ja. Where ja instead of where'd ya.  This is the difference between ya and ja. Where'd  

ja get it? Where'd ja get it? Where'd ja get  it? Oh, I like that dress. Where'd ja get it?  

Where ja? So that's the one main difference here  between these two different reductions and you're  

going to hear both of them. So now I hope that  you'll be able to understand them. Let's go to  

our next one sentence number three, or I guess  question number three is are you doing okay? 

This is a very kind question you can ask someone  who you feel like might be having a hard time in  

life. It's the year 2020. So a lot of people are  in this situation and it's a kind question you  

can ask and you will also hear other people  asking. But do they say, are you doing okay?  

No. This is often reduced in the couple different  ways within the sentence. So let's talk about it.  

Hey, I haven't seen you in a while. Are  you doing okay? Are ya doing okay? Here,  

we have kept the word R, but then you, listen  carefully. Are ya doing okay? Does that sound  

familiar? We already talked about how  sometimes you becomes ya, and this is  

extremely common as we are speaking quickly and  talking with people in a comfortable situation,  

are ya and then listen to our verb, doin' okay.  What's happening with the G at the end doing? 

It's gone. It is on vacation. So make sure that  we say, are ya doing okay? Are you doing okay? Are  

you doing okay? We can reduce this even further  by cutting off our first verb are. You doing okay?  

Ya doing okay? Say that with me. You doing okay?  I haven't seen you for a while. You doing okay?  

Ya doing okay? Fast sentence number four, did you  eat yet? Did you eat yet? But do you think we say  

it like this? Nope. Instead, we're going to reduce  this in a couple different ways. So you might say,  

when I visit my grandma's house, she always asks  me, "Did you eat yet?" But she doesn't say it like  

that. Instead, she says, "Did ya eat yet?" Did  ya eat yet? Hear the word you is being reduced  

to ya. Did ya eat yet? And also notice what's  happening with the two final words eat and yet. 

They both end in T. So think back to another  rule about T that we talked about. Eat, yet  

my tongue is stopped at the top of my mouth and  I'm not letting that air pass through. Listen to  

the full sentence. Did ye eat yet? Did yet eat  yet? Can you say that with me? Did ya eat yet?  

We can reduce this another time and say did ya.  Did ya eat yet? Say it with me. Did ya eat yet?  

Did ya eat yet? And then we can reduce this  one final time. And this is I think one of my  

favorites. Growing up, my family sometimes used  to laugh about this because it's reduced so much.  

It doesn't sound like any English word, but in the  right context you can totally understand it. What  

if I said to you, jeet yet? It sounds so weird.  Jeet yet? Jeet yet? This means did you eat yet? 

But we are reducing this again and again and  again. If you remember, we just talked about  

did ya, making you into ja ja sound. So that's  what's happening here, but we're dropping did  

and we're keeping ja and then eat, jeet yet.  Did you eat yet? Jeet yet? Jeet yet? Now,  

if you are uncomfortable using these extremely  reduced versions of English sentences yourself,  

that's no problem. One of the biggest benefits to  knowing these types of reductions is being able  

to understand other people when they use them. So  I want to give you these tools in your figurative  

English toolbox so that you can understand people.  If you're watching a movie and they say, jeet yet,  

before this lesson you would've thought,  what in the world did they say? But now  

you know that they're asking, did you  eat yet? So you have that tool in your  

toolbox to know how they're saying this, what  they're saying and how they're reducing it. 

Sentence number five is I'll text you later, I'll  text you later. We often use this if we just want  

to get in touch with a friend later. Maybe you  don't have the information they're asking about.  

You don't know if you're free on Saturday  to get together. So you're going to go home,  

look at your calendar and then you'll text  them later. So let's break down how we can  

say this sentence. I'll text ya later. I'll  text ya later. Did you notice what we're doing  

here? You is becoming, listen again. I'll text ya  later. It's becoming ya again. As you can tell,  

this is a very common reduction of the word you.  I'll text ya later. We have another reduction  

that's happening here. What is that first word?  I'll. This is simply a contraction of I plus will  

the future tense in English. I'll text you later. Listen to our final word. Later. Later there's  

a T, but it sounds like a D. Is this happening  again? Yes. Here we have a T between two vowels.  

And so the word later doesn't sound like tur,  later. Instead it's going to sound like lader.  

Lader. Can you say that full sentence with me?  I'll text ya later. I'll text ya later. We can  

even reduce this a little bit more, especially  in an informal situation and drop the subject all  

together. You might just say, text ya later. This  is kind of like when you say goodbye to someone  

and you say, see you later. You are dropping I'll  see you later. We just say, see you later. Talk  

to you later. This is the similar idea, but you  can say, text you later. Okay, text you later.  

I'll get back in touch with you, text ya later. For our final three fast sentences, we're going to  

be talking about reducing contractions even more  and sometimes cutting out verbs completely. Let's  

go to sentence number six. I don't get it. I don't  get it. This verb to get means to understand. And  

we often use this for jokes. So if someone tells  a joke, you might say, I don't get it. This means  

you don't understand why it's funny. So they might  have to explain it to you. And this is something  

that's common as you're learning another language,  there's probably a lot of twists of language or  

jokes and different things that people will say  that you won't understand why it's funny or why  

it was interesting or why it was sad. So you might  need to say this, "Hey, I'm sorry I don't get it.  

Can you explain it to me?" That's perfectly fine.  But let's break down the pronunciation of how you  

can reduce I don't get it. Our first way is to  say, I don't get it. I don't. This is a negative  

contraction. Do not. And that T is just going to  be stopped at the top of your mouth. Don't. Don't. 

So you're making it slight end sound, but you  want to make sure that that T is stopped. Don't.  

I don't. And then we're going to link together.  Get it, get it. Do you notice here a T is between  

two vowels, even though they're different words,  it's okay. It's still between two vowels. We're  

going to link them together, not get it. But ged,  ged, ged it. What's happening with the word it?  

Here, that word it has a stopped T at the end. So  it's just it, it. My tongue is stopped at the top  

of my mouth. Do you think we can put all of this  together? I know it's a short sentence, but isn't  

it amazing how so many pronunciation tips can  be packed into one short sentence? All right,  

let's say it all together. I don't get it. I  don't get it. I don't get it. I don't get it. 

But you might have imagined we can reduce the  contraction don't even further. Listen to this.  

I don't get it. I don't get it. I don't get it.  I on't, on't. What's happening to the D here? I  

on't, on, on. It's just gone. Sometimes we just  cut it out when we're speaking really fast. So  

you might hear I on't, I on't, I on't. And that  is, I don't. I on't get it. I on't get it. The  

final part is the same as before. We're changing  the T to a D, ged, and then it is a stopped T. Ged  

it. But that first part with the vow, listen  again, I don't get it. I on't, I on't get it.  

I on't get it. I on't get it. So you're going to  hear people say this in movies and TV shows really  

fast. If someone says something funny and the  other person doesn't laugh, they might say, sorry,  

I don't get it. I on't, on't, I on't get it. Sentence number seven is I have got to go to  

someplace. The store, my friend's house work. But  do we say it like that? Oh, I bet you wish that we  

did, but unfortunately we reduced this many times.  So let's talk about it from the beginning. First,  

we're going to make a contraction with I have.  I've, I've. And then we have got to. Got to  

implies a necessity. I have to do something but  got to means something very similar. But we can  

reduce these words together. Instead of saying,  I've got to, we can say, gotta, got to. We often  

write this in a text message or in a quick email  as G-O-T-T-A, gotta, gotta. What's happening with  

the pronunciation? That T is changing to a D.  Say it with me. I've got to. I've gotta study  

English every day. I've gotta. The same thing  is going to happen with the next two verbs. 

Go to the store. Instead of go to, we're going to  say, I've gotta, goda. Goda. I've got to goda the  

store. I've got to goda. That T is changing  to a D. Say it with me. I've got to goda the  

store. I've got to go to the store. Now, just  to let you know, sometimes in American English,  

when there is a present perfect verb tense, I  have got to do something with the word have,  

sometimes we drop, have completely, especially  with got to, we might just say, I got to go to  

the store. I got to go to the store. Where are  you going? Oh, I got to go to work. I'm sorry I'm  

late. I gotta goda. Our final sentence number  eight is I'm about to, plus some kind of verb  

like I'm about to pass out, I'm so hungry or I'm  about to go to work, I'm about to do something. 

Let's reduce the beginning of this sentence. Our  first word is a contraction, I'm, which is I am,  

I'm. Our next word about. Sometimes we cut  off the first letter A and just say about  

bout. And then for the word to, sometimes  instead of saying to we say, ta,  

ta. You saw this previously with gata. Gota the  store here. It's the same thing. I'm bout ta, I'm  

bout ta pass out, I'm so hungry, I'm bout to go  to the store. I'm bout to go to work. I'm bout ta  

do something. But we have one more reduction that  we can have. Think about those two Ts at the end  

of the word about and at the beginning of the word  to. Those are two Ts together. And on either side  

of that, what do you see? Oh, is that a vowel?  That's right. There are Ts surrounded by vowels. 

So what happens? We can change them to a D sound.  And this is all going to link together in one fast  

word. I'm bouda. I'm bouda, I'm bouda. Here,  duh duh. This D sound is the T that's been  

changed into a D. Actually the two T's that have  been changed into Ds. Let's try to say this all  

together. I'm about to pass out. I'm so hungry.  I'm bouda, I'm about to pass out. I'm bouda.  

I'm about to pass out. I'm so hungry. Great work.  Practicing all eight of these shortened quick,  

reduced, fast sentences. I hope that this  helped you to be able to understand some  

principles of English pronunciation  and to level up your listening skills. 

Well, today I would like to help you with five  common American English phrases that include key  

American English sounds. This lesson will help you  to level up your vocabulary and also level up your  

pronunciation and understanding skills. So the  next time that you hear these phrases and you hear  

American English speakers, you will know exactly  what they're saying. And of course, like always,  

I have created a free PDF worksheet to go with  today's lesson. You can download this worksheet  

and learn all of the pronunciation points, all of  the sample sentences, all of the ideas. And at the  

bottom of the worksheet you can answer Vanessa's  challenge question so that you never forget what  

you've learned. You can click on the link in the  description to download that free PDF worksheet  

today. All right, let's get started with our first  American English phrase and pronunciation point. 

Have you ever been looking at social media and  you thought, "Ah, the grass is always greener on  

the other side," and then you realized maybe  the grass isn't always greener on the other  

side. There's probably some hidden costs to all of  these wonderful things that you're seeing online,  

and that's really the truth. Social  media's not real. So this common phrase,  

the grass isn't always greener on the other side  means that the other person's life or something  

that you're not experiencing always looks better  than what you currently have. But in reality,  

that's not really true. If you get to that  other place, if you do that other thing,  

it's not always the paradise that you expect.  So let's break down this pronunciation so that  

you can use this phrase and say it clearly. The  grass isn't always greener on the other side.  

Do you hear the sound that I emphasized? This is  the R sound or in American English we often call  

this the colored R because it's very strong.  Listen to it when I say the word grass, grass,  

does this remind you of an angry dog? Grr, Grr. And this is a way to have the American English R  

sound. Can you say it with me? The grass. The  grass. Let's add the rest of this phrase. The  

grass isn't always greener on the other side.  So don't forget that hard R sound in the word  

greener at the end and also in the word other.  Having that strong colored R sound at the end of  

the word is essential in American English. Let's  say this full phrase one more time and I want you  

to try to say it with me. Are you ready? The grass  isn't always greener on the other side. All right,  

let's go on to our second phrase and also our  second American English pronunciation point.  

Are you someone who is always late? Well, it  might be useful for you to use this phrase  

better late than never. Better late than never.  Unfortunately, I have had to use this many times. 

I am often late, hopefully just by a few minutes.  But it's still nice to apologize and you can use  

this lovely phrase. Sorry I'm a few minutes  late, better late than never. You could say  

it with a little joke in your voice, but let's  break down this pronunciation. Better late than  

never. Listen to that word better. Is there a  D in this word better? Are we talking about a  

bed that you go to sleep in? Nope. In American  English, a T that is surrounded by vowels or  

vowel sounds will change to a D. Better. This is  common in the word water or maybe you're wearing  

a sweater. This is typical of American English.  So when you use this phrase, make sure that you  

pronounce it like this better late than never.  Our third American English phrase and American  

English pronunciation is included in this phrase. Don't get bent out of shape over it. Don't get  

bent out of shape over it. What's happening  here? Well, there's one concept that we just  

talked about. Listen to the middle of this phrase.  Out of shape. Here, this T is changing to a D,  

but we've already talked about that. Don't get  bent out of shape. So what else are we adding  

here? Listen carefully for another T sounds. A lot  of these words end in T, but as I say this phrase,  

I want you to listen to see if you can hear any of  them. Do you hear T when I say this phrase? Don't  

get bent out of shape over it. The sad news is  no. All of these Ts are what we call stopped Ts.  

So it's not wrong to say don't get bent, but when  you hear fast American English speakers, you're  

going to hear them stop the T in their mouth. So let's take a look at this common contraction.  

Do not becomes don't, but when we pronounce it in  a fast sentence, you're more likely to hear don't,  

don't. My tongue is at the top of my mouth, like  it's going to make that T shape, but I just don't  

let the air come out. Don't get. My tongue is  stopped at the top of my mouth. I did not say get  

instead, I said get. And then the next word  bent becomes bent. Don't get bent. And our  

next word is the linking with a D sound.  Oudda shape over it. And that final word,  

it also has a stopped tea. So that tea is  going to be at the top of my mouth. It, it. 

This is a lot. Let me give you the context and  what this means and then we'll say it together.  

Let's imagine that your friend's boss gives  her some, we'll say constructive criticism,  

some feedback that maybe didn't feel too great  to get. You might say, "Hey, your boss was just  

trying to help. Don't get Ben out of shape over  it. She was just trying to give you some advice.  

It might not sound kind and it's certainly not  something you really wanted to hear, but don't  

get bent out of shape over it. You're not going  to get fired. It's going to be okay." This means  

don't take something too seriously. So can you say  this phrase with me? Yes. Let's say it together.  

Don't get bent out of shape over it. Don't  get bent out of shape over it. Don't get  

bent out of shape over it. It'll be okay. Our fourth American English phrase and  

American English pronunciation is included in  this phrase. What goes around comes around.  

Let's talk about this pronunciation really  quick. What goes around comes around. Here,  

we have two instances where the S at the  end of goes is followed by a vowel. So that  

S is going to sound like a Z in American  English. What goes around comes around,  

and this phrase has to do with your behavior.  If it's good or bad, like karma will hopefully  

happen to you again too. Usually we use this  in a negative sense to make ourselves feel a  

little bit better. So for example, if someone  is not a nice person, you might say, "Well,  

what goes around comes around. Someday someone is  going to be mean to him too." Or if one of your  

coworkers gets fired because they're always  late, you might say, "Well, what goes around  

comes around. He didn't respect his job and  this business, he was always late. So he got  

fired. His own actions ended up affecting him." You can use this with positive things like,  

I'm always nice to my friends and when  I need them, they also care for me.  

We could say what goes around comes around because  your behavior is coming back to you, but it's more  

likely used in a negative situation. Bad behavior  will come back to haunt you someday. So let's try  

to say this phrase together with the S changing to  a Z so that you can use it clearly and accurately  

in conversations. Are you ready? What goes  around comes around. What goes around comes  

around. Great work. Our final American English  phrase and American English pronunciation point is  

this phrase, we'll cross that bridge when we get  there. We'll cross that bridge when we get there. 

Does this phrase exist in your language? I feel  like this is kind of an international idea that  

you're dealing with a problem and you know that  some other problems might come in the future,  

but you don't want to think about them now. We'll  cross that bridge when we get there. Let's focus  

on our current problems instead. Well, let's take  a look at this pronunciation, especially that  

first word. We'll cross that bridge when we get  there. You can say this contraction very clearly,  

we'll. We plus will is we'll. But in fast American  English, we often reduce this in a relaxed way  

and we say wool, wool. This is similar to these  other contractions as well like you'll, you'll. 

Instead of saying you will we say  you'll, you'll. And same as we will,  

wool. So could you say this with me? We'll cross  that bridge when we get there. For my family,  

we raised seven baby chicks and we knew that  having adult chickens would be a lot of work,  

but we kind of just said, "We'll cross that bridge  when we get there. Let's enjoy these baby chicks  

while we have them." We'll cross that bridge  when we get there. Let's say it all together.  

We'll cross that bridge when we get there. We'll  cross that bridge when we get there. Great work. 

All right, are you ready to get started with the  first secret of American English pronunciation?  

Let's start. Have you heard this phrase before?  The early bird catches the worm. This means that  

if you wake up early or you get started now,  well you will succeed. Only the birds that wake  

up early in the morning get the best worms. If you  wait, if you procrastinate, well too bad for you,  

you won't be able to succeed. But this  wonderful phrase uses an important American  

English pronunciation point. There are three  words, early bird and worm that use a colored  

R. So in American English, this R is a strong  hard sound. Early bird word. Do you see how  

that's almost like an angry dog? Worm bird early.  Make sure that when you're using American English  

pronunciation, this colored R sound is hard. Phrase number two that uses key American  

English pronunciation is this one. Have  you ever heard someone say, your guess is  

as good as mine? Your guess is as good as mine.  This means that the other person has no clue.  

Maybe you could say, "I don't know how to get to  the beach. Your guess is as good as mine." But  

there is something important happening with the  pronunciation of this phrase. At the end of the  

word guess, and at the end of the word is there  is an S. But in American English pronunciation,  

we often link the S with the vowel next to  make a Z sound. So listen carefully when I  

say this phrase, your guess is as good as mine,  it sounds a lot like Z, Z, Z, and that's what's  

happening here. We are linking together the  S plus a vowel from the next word. Try to say  

it with me. Your guess is as good as mine. I  have no clue. Your guess is as good as mine. 

Key phrase number three that uses American English  pronunciation is this fun one. Don't bite the hand  

that feeds you. Have you ever been trying to help  someone and then they complain about how you're  

helping them. You can use this phrase and say,  "Hey, don't bite the hand that feeds you. I'm  

just trying to help you." Well, it's the same  idea. If you argue with your boss, if you yell  

at your boss, ugh, he's the one that gives you  your paycheck. So don't bite the hand that feeds  

you. But there is an important American English  pronunciation here that happens three times. Don't  

bite, and then a little later in the sentence is  the word that. What is similar between all three  

of these words? It's the letter T. Listen, when  I say this contraction, don't. Don't. Do you hear  

don't with that puff of air coming out? Nope. In American English, oftentimes a T at the end  

of words will be cut off. We call this a stopped  T because your mouth is making that shape. Don't.  

My tongue is at the top of my mouth trying  to make that T shape, but there's no puff of  

air that comes out. Listen carefully as I say  this and I want you to hear that stopped tea.  

Don't bite the hand that feeds you. You think  you can say that with me? You can do it. Let's  

say this phrase together. Don't bite the hand that  feeds you. All right, let's go to our next phrase. 

Has this ever happened to you before? You invite  a lot of people over to your house and you think  

it's going to be a fun party, it's great. And  then it just becomes so many people in your house,  

so much chaos and you have to say this, "Oh  no, I think it's going to get out of hand."  

This doesn't mean that anything is really in your  hand and it's getting out of your hand. Instead,  

this means it's getting out of control. But  this phrase get out of hand uses an important  

American English pronunciation tip, which is  that the T at the end of words, another T tip,  

that has a vowel next often changes to a D sound. So listen, when I say this, the party will ged  

oudda hand. The word get is surrounded by  vowels. There's a vowel on either side,  

G-E-T, and then the next word starts with  an O. So that T is surrounded by vowels  

and that means that it's going to change  to a D sound. Get out and then it's going  

to happen without and of. Oudda, in fact,  the word of changes to just a. Get out of  

hand. Can you say it with me?  The party will get out of hand,  

the party will get out of hand if you invite 50  people over to your house. All right, let's go to  

our last American English pronunciation tip. Has it ever happened to you that you travel  

abroad and then you realize that you're  just meeting people from your own home  

country? It's like you're magnetic towards  each other? Well, we could use this phrase,  

birds of a feather flock together, and this  means that common things are attracted to each  

other for better or for worse. So there is a key  American English pronunciation point we can talk  

about with this phrase. We already talked about  the word bird and how it uses that colored R,  

that hard R sound. Bird. And there is another R  tip in this phrase as well. Look at the end of the  

word feather and together. Here is an er and it's  going to be a strong R sound. Feather together. 

Again, pretend that you are an angry dog and try  to make that hard R sound. Feather together. Can  

you say this wonderful idiom with me? Birds of  a feather flock together. Wonderful. So if you  

can use all five of these American English  pronunciation points, you will sound more  

American. And it will also help you to understand  American English speakers when they're talking,  

which is wonderful when you're watching a movie  or TV show. So I guarantee the next time you  

hear these wonderful idioms, you will think,  "Oh, I learned that in Vanessa's lesson. Yes,  

now I understand it and I know how they're  pronouncing it and I can do it too." 

Do you have good pronunciation? How  do you know? The best way to test your  

pronunciation is to speak with someone else  and see if they can understand you because  

understanding is the purpose of pronunciation and  of speaking. But unfortunately here on YouTube,  

I can't listen to you. Maybe YouTube will create  that technology someday in the future. So for now,  

I'd like to give you a different type of  pronunciation test. The next best way to  

test your pronunciation is to shadow or imitate  exactly after a native speaker so that you can  

see if your pronunciation is similar to mine. Is  it different? What are the specific areas that  

are difficult for you? I'm going to be testing  your pronunciation on 16 challenging words. But  

the best way to test your pronunciation is  not with individual words, but with a whole  

sentence. So this is what we're going to do. I'm going to show you a challenge sentence  

that uses four difficult words. And this is what  I want you to do. I want you to say that sentence  

out loud before I talk about anything. This is  your original pronunciation. I want you to hear  

your original pronunciation and then I'm going to  read that sentence, but I'm going to mispronounce  

one word. I want you to guess which word is  mispronounced. There are sometimes multiple  

ways to pronounce each word, but I want you to  be listening for what is the most natural way to  

pronounce each word in fast English. And finally,  I'm going to be saying the sentence correctly and  

I want you to be able to say it with me. So I want  you to repeat the correct sentence with me. Are  

you ready to get started with sentence number one?  Let's do it. This is sentence number one. I want  

you to say the sentence all by yourself. Test your  original pronunciation. Go ahead, say it out loud. 

Okay, now I'm going to say the sentence and  I'm going to mispronounce one word. Can you  

guess which word I mispronounce? I  buy clothes through the internet.  

I buy clothes through the internet.  Which word did I say incorrectly?  

Did you hear clothes or clothes? You heard  the second one, but really that's not correct.  

Instead, when we speak in fast English, we often  pronounce clothes a lot like close the door.  

I buy clothes through the internet. All right,  let's go through each of these challenging words  

and I want to help you say them correctly. That  first word. Buy, buy. It sounds exactly like bye,  

see you later. Buy. And then we have clothes,  which I just mentioned sounds a lot like close  

the door. Close the door. When native speakers are  speaking a little bit slower, they might add a TH  

sound. Clothes. Clothes. You see how my tongue  comes out a little bit for that TH? Clothes. 

But really when we're speaking quickly, it just  sounds like close. Close. And then we have the  

word through. Oh, this word is lovely. We have  a TH followed by an R. Let's practice it slowly.  

Your tongue is coming out between your teeth and  there's some air. That's a wonderful TH sound.  

Through. It sounds like I threw the ball.  This is the past tense of throw. I threw  

the ball. So let's try to say this. Through,  through. And then we have our final word,  

internet. What's happening to that middle T?  Internet? You can say internet with a clear T  

if you're speaking a little bit slower. But  when native speakers are speaking quickly,  

we're going to cut out that T completely  and just say inner net. Inner net. 

Let's go back and try to say this full sentence  clearly and naturally together. Are you ready?  

I buy clothes through the internet. I buy clothes  through the internet. Were you repeating with  

me? I hope so, because we've got three more  challenge sentences and I want you to test  

your pronunciation. Let's go to number two. Here's  sentence number two. I'm going to pause and I want  

you to try to say this sentence all by yourself.  Test your original pronunciation. Go ahead. 

Okay, now I'm going to say it, but  I'm going to mispronounce one word.  

Can you guess which word is incorrect? A  little girl took the recept to the bus.  

The little girl took the recept to the bus. Which  word is wrong? Did you hear receipt or recept?  

You heard number two, but that's not correct.  Instead, the P is silent. So you're going to say  

receipt. Receipt. Just completely forget about  that P in there. All right, let's go through  

each of these challenging words because I want to  make sure that you can pronounce them correctly.  

The first one is little. Little. Do you see  there's two Ts in the middle of this word,  

but really in American English, those teas are  going to become D sounds. So it's going to sound  

like lid el. Little. Like a lid that you put on a  container. Little. And then we have girl. A lot of  

these words, girl world, early. Those words can be  a little bit tricky, so let's break this one down. 

Ger ol. Ger ol. When you want to talk  about the sound that an angry dog makes,  

you could say grr, grr. And then we're going  to add ol at the end. Girl, girl, girl. Notice  

that my mouth isn't really moving here.  It's all inside my mouth and in my throat.  

Girl. Girl. And with the L, my tongue is  coming beside my teeth. Girl, it's right there,  

girl. Girl. All right. And the next word is  receipt. Receipt. Re ceet. receipt. This is  

the piece of paper that you get after you make  a purchase. The cashier will give you a receipt. 

And then our final word is bus. Sometimes this  short you sound can be a little bit tricky,  

so I want to make sure you're not saying bus.  Bus. Boss. Make sure you say bus, bus, bus.  

All right, let's go back and say this full  sentence together. The little girl took  

the receipt to the bus. The little  girl took the receipt to the bus.  

Did you say that with me? Let's say it one more  time. The little girl took the receipt to the bus.  

Great work. Let's go on to the next challenge  sentence. All right, here's sentence number three.  

I want you to say it all by yourself. Are you  ready? Test your original pronunciation. Go ahead. 

Okay, now it's my turn. I'm going to mispronounce  one word. Listen carefully. In the early winter,  

I didn't miss the warm weather in the early  winter. I didn't miss the warm weather  

in the early winter, I didn't miss the warm  weather. Which one of these challenge words did I  

mispronounce? Did you hear warm or warm? You heard  that second one, but that's not correct. Instead,  

the word warm has just one syllable, not warm.  Instead, warm. Warm. Notice how my lips are in  

an O shape. Warm. Warm with a clear R. Warm. All  right, let's go through each of these challenge  

words so that you can say them correctly. The  first one is early. This is similar to what  

we talked about with girl. Ur le. Let's break it  into two sections, er, er. And then le, le. Early. 

Make sure that when you say the L, your tongue  is touching the back of your teeth. Le, early.  

Early. Don't add another sound in there. I often  hear English learners say early, but that uh in  

the middle isn't natural. So let's make sure  you say early and put it together, early.  

Next we say winter. What is happening to the  T? In the middle of this word, you might hear  

native speakers say winter with a clear T if  they're annunciating clearly and maybe speaking  

a little slowly, it's fine to do that. But when  native speakers speak fast, you're going to hear  

winner. Winner. When's the Winter Olympics?  Winter. This is the same as a winner and a loser.  

It's the same pronunciation, so make sure that  the context helps you to know which word it is. 

Does this sound familiar? Internet?  Winner? Yeah, we're cutting out that T,  

especially when there's an NT in the  middle of a word. Internet. Inner net,  

winter, winner. You're going to hear that a lot  in fast English. Next we have the word, didn't.  

Didn't. But this is the clear pronunciation.  When native speakers are speaking quickly,  

we do not say didn't. With each sound pronounced  instead, you're going to hear didn't. Didn't. 

It's a lot going on here in your throat. Didn't,  didn't. So that final D is cut short, and the  

final T as well is cut. So it's really going to  be just your throat. Can you say that with me?  

Didn't, didn't, didn't, didn't. If you have  trouble pronouncing or a hearing or understanding  

contractions, it's probably because we cut off  a lot of those sounds, we reduced them. That's  

something that's natural in English. I made  a video about how to pronounce 81 different  

contractions. You can check it out here because  this happens to a lot of different contractions,  

and I want to make sure you can pronounce them,  but also you can understand them. The difference  

between a positive word did and didn't is very  important when you're having a conversation. 

All right, let's go to the last word. Warm.  Warm, warm. Make sure that this is one syllable.  

Warm. Warm. Do you think you could put all of  these words together? You got it. Let's say it  

together. In the early winter, I didn't miss the  warm weather. In the early winter, I didn't miss  

the warm weather. In the early winter, I didn't  miss the warm weather. In the early winter,  

I didn't miss the warm weather. Great work. All  right, let's go to the final challenge sentence.  

Here's our final challenge sentence. Can  you say this all by yourself? Go ahead. 

Now it's my turn. I'm going to  mispronounce one word. I want  

you to guess which one it is. I definitely  sought the water at the beach was salty.  

I definitely sought the water at the beach was  salty. Which word is incorrect? Did you hear,  

thought or sought? You heard the second one  sought, but does this word start with an S?  

No. Instead, it starts with a TH. So you need to  make sure that your tongue is between your teeth  

and there's that stream of air coming through.  Through, we already talked about that word. 

Thought. Thought. All right. Let's go through  each of these challenge words so that you can  

pronounce them correctly. What's happening with  this word definitely? Definitely. I feel like  

words like definitely, certainly, probably, those  words can be a little bit tricky. I talked about  

some of those in this pronunciation lesson up  here, but the word definitely we use a lot,  

and you probably would like to use a lot,  but you need to pronounce it correctly. So  

let's break it down. Def in it le. Def in  it le. Definitely, definitely, definitely,  

definitely, definitely. It's definitely a  beautiful day. This is definitely a helpful  

lesson. I hope so. The next word is that lovely  word we just talked about. Thought. Thought. 

Make sure that your tongue is between your teeth.  I often hear English learners switching an S and a  

TH sound sought instead of thought. And in some  situations this could be a little bit difficult  

for other English speakers to understand you,  so make sure that you say this correctly.  

Thought. Thought. And then we have the word  water. Water. What's the sound that you hear  

in the middle of this word? Water. Water. Well,  it's not a T. Sound water instead it's a D. Here  

we have again, the T is changing to a D. This  is typical in American English. Water, water.  

I want you to say that with me. Water. Water.  And finally we have the word beach. Beach. A  

lot of you are concerned that you might say a rude  word instead. So let's practice that vow sound. It  

needs to be a long E beach, beach, beach. And really the context here is going to  

help you a lot. So when we're talking  about the water at the beach is salty,  

you're most likely talking about the ocean,  the sea. You're not talking about a rude word,  

so I think the context is going to help you a  lot, but make sure that when you pronounce it,  

you say E, beach. All right, let's go back and say  that full sentence. I definitely thought the water  

at the beach was salty. I definitely thought the  water at the beach was salty. I definitely thought  

the water at the beach was salty. Great work. I  hope that you had a chance to say that sentence  

out loud with me and test your pronunciation. Are  you ready for a final challenge? We're going to go  

back and say all four of those sentences,  and I want you to say them out loud with me. 

I'm going to say them two times so that you  can listen and then you can also repeat. Are  

you ready? Let's say them together. I buy clothes  through the internet. I buy clothes through the  

internet. The little girl took the receipt to the  bus. The little girl took the receipt to the bus.  

In the early winter, I didn't miss the warm  weather. In the early winter, I didn't miss  

the warm weather. I definitely thought the  water at the beach was salty. I definitely  

thought the water at the beach was salty. Congratulations. In one hour, you have improved.  

You have leveled up your American English  pronunciation skills. Don't forget to download  

the free PDF worksheet, which includes all of  today's pronunciation tips, sample sentences and  

ideas so that you can use them in the real world.  Click on the link in the description to download  

that free PDF worksheet today, and I'll see you  again next Friday for a new lesson here on my  

YouTube channel. Bye. But wait, do you want more?  I recommend watching this video next. You will  

join over four million English learners around the  world who have improved their pronunciation skills  

by imitating the top 10 sentences in English. You  don't want to miss it, and I'll see you there.