FAST ENGLISH: Native Speakers CAN\u2019T Understand! (https:\/\/youtu.be\/WxmEQsI_epM)<\/a><\/noscript><\/div><\/p>\nVideo Transcript:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nSince I\u2019ve been teaching American English pronunciation, I have developed a theory that if you take certain words in a sentence and a native speaker hears just those words, they\u2019ll have no idea what they\u2019re hearing. Even though it was spoken by a native speaker so I tested it and I was right. Even native speakers can\u2019t understand this I mean can you understand this? Or this? We\u2019ll figure out what\u2019s going on in this video.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nIn every sentence we speak in English, we have words that are\u00a0more clear\u00a0and words that are less clear. Even they are more clear, less clear these words were clearer but and words that are wasn\u2019t so clear. I said it like this: and words that are, and words that are, and words that are. In every sentence we speak in English, we have words that are\u00a0more clear\u00a0and words that are less clear. That\u2019s natural English. and words that are, and words that are. And when I\u2019m teaching this to my students sometimes, they think no, no way, that\u2019s to unclear that can\u2019t be right. But in fact, it\u2019s so unclear that even native speakers\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0understand it and it is right! What? How is this possible? One word, context. In a whole sentence we understand every word, the clear words and the unclear words. But if I chop up a sentence and play just the unclear words, even native speakers don\u2019t always know what they\u2019re hearing. Isn\u2019t that incredible? With the context of a sentence, no problem, hear it once they get it. But the words alone, no idea. We\u2019re going to test some native speakers in a second and all you native speakers out there watching, I want to know if you pass or fail. Do you understand or not? But first, I just want to point out from my non-native viewers, people who are trying to learn to speak natural English, this is a lesson in simplifying and speeding through certain words to get that contrast of long and short which is important in natural, easy to understand English. So, here we are at my parent\u2019s house out on the back deck. I\u2019m playing part of a sentence. A couple of unclear, unstressed words in a row. Let\u2019s see if my friends and family can guess what I\u2019m playing. This is the clip they\u2019re going to hear: Do you know what\u2019s being said?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nPut your guess in the comments right now what is being said.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nLet\u2019s see if my parents and my friends could figure it out.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThis first one I think is a little bit easier but I\u2019m not sure.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOkay.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOkay, here it is.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nHear it again?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nNo.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOkay, hey this is what I was hoping would happen\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nIt sounds like\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nCan you guys tell what it is? Should I turn it up?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nYeah.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOkay, I\u2019m going to turn the volume all the way.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nJonathan.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nYou think it\u2019s Jonathan? What do you think?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nHit me.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nDon\u2019t know. Something, don\u2019t know.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nYou think don\u2019t know, you think anything, you think Jonathan.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nCome again.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOkay, here\u2019s the last time.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nJonathan!\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nTheir guess is\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAnything<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nJonathan<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nNot a thing<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nDon\u2019t know<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nNone of those are right.\u00a0Really\u00a0they have no idea what this native speaker is saying. And I played it for then several times. Now I\u2019m going to play them the whole sentence.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nYou don\u2019t have to face the horrible pressures of this holiday.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nYou don\u2019t have to.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nDo you totally understand it without\u00a0hesitation when you hear it in a sentence?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nRight, yeah.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u2018Cause it puts it in context.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAnd they get it right away. No problem. I\u2019ll play the whole sentence for you. This is a clip form Friends.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nYou don\u2019t have to face the horrible pressures of this holiday.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nSo\u00a0let\u2019s think about this. Natural spoken English involves some words being so unclear that native speakers can\u2019t understand them alone, out of context. You\u2019re going to have to really simplify your mouth movements to make your unstressed words fast enough. When we have more than one unstressed or reduced word in a row, I like to call this a reduction string. A reduction is when we change a sound or drop a sound. For\u00a0example\u00a0the word \u201cto\u201d. We usually pronounce that [<\/span>t\u0259] with the schwa said quickly that\u2019s a reduction. Example sentence: I\u2019m about to leave. To, to.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nLet\u2019s look at the sentence from Friends.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nYou don\u2019t have to face the horrible pressures of this holiday. Chandler said the first four words like this:\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nYou don\u2019t have to—<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nLet\u2019s slow that down.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nYou don\u2019t have to—<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nYou.\u00a0 Very unclear. Don\u2019t have. I don\u2019t hear a T in don\u2019t and I don\u2019t hear an H in have. Both dropped. These are both known reductions, I\u2019ve done videos on both of these. The V sound changes to an F because it\u2019s followed by a T. I also have a video on that. Have to becomes\u00a0hafto,\u00a0hafto.\u00a0 You don\u2019t have to becomes you don\u2019t have\u00a0to,\u00a0you don\u2019t have to. Listen again in slow motion then we\u2019ll repeat it. We\u2019ll do this twice.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nYou\u2019ve got to say it out loud to get used to this way of speaking.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nNow, speed it up. I\u2019ll play it 8 times in a row with a pause each time. You hear it, you say it eight times over. As you do this, you\u2019ll make minor adjustments and be able to simplify your mouth movements more. Just go with the flow. It\u2019s not clear and it\u2019s not supposed to be.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nHow did you do? I know my students often can\u2019t believe just how quickly and unclearly they should be making some words. Here\u2019s another one. Can you understand what\u2019s being said?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nPretty tough right? Let\u2019s see what my family thought.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nIt was gonna.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nI was\u00a0gonna.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nYou think I wasn\u2019t\u00a0gonna?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nI wasn\u2019t\u00a0gonna.\u00a0<\/span>is what I thought.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWe want to hear it again.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nNo idea.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nI don\u2019t know.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nGinny had a good guess. She guessed \u201cIwas going to\u201d or \u201cI was\u00a0gonna\u201d.\u00a0 I was\u00a0gonna. I played them the full clip.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOkay, let\u2019s listen to the sentence and see if it becomes clear.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nI knew it wasn\u2019t gonna work out the moment that I —<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWasn’t\u00a0gonna\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nI knew it wasn\u2019t gonna\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nYeah<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nIt wasn\u2019t gonna\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nI knew it wasn\u2019t\u00a0gonna. That\u2019s funny.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nBecause it doesn\u2019t really\u00a0ch\u00a0like that.\u00a0 It can go either way in that sentence.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nBut when you hear the whole sentence you totally get it.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nYou slow them<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nRight away. They don\u2019t even need to hear the full sentence. They understood that \u201cIt wasn\u2019t going to\u201d.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOne other thing I notice when doing this with my family is they keep asking me to turn it up. It\u2019s too quiet. That\u2019s another quality of unstressed syllables. They\u2019re not just faster, they\u2019re quieter. Just another way they contrast with\u00a0stressted\u00a0syllables which are louder. Let\u2019s listen to that reduction string in slow motion.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nI wasn\u2019t gonna–<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nNow that you know it, do you hear it better? I don\u2019t hear either T.\u00a0Iwasn\u2019t\u00a0gonna. And\u00a0gonna\u00a0is so unclear\u00a0I don\u2019t hear a very good n.\u00a0Gonna,\u00a0gonna, it wasn\u2019t\u00a0gonna, it wasn\u2019t\u00a0gonna. Listen in slow motion and repeat it twice, make sure your lips are moving as little as possible.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAnd now, play it say it at regular pace eight times. Focus on relaxation.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nNow try to put that in the whole sentence. Listen repeat five times.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nNow, jump to my niece and sister-in-law. I played them this.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nCan you tell what you\u2019re hearing?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThis is just a. (laughing)\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nYeah.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThis is just a, your guess?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThis is just a.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOkay.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nNow let\u2019s play the whole sentence.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nMaybe it\u2019s just a kidney stone.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nMaybe it\u2019s just a kidney stone.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n