How do Americans Speak so Fast? | English Conversation (https:\/\/youtu.be\/lbiHszkDcVA)<\/a><\/noscript><\/div><\/p>\nVideo Transcript:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nHow and why do Americans speak so quickly?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>And if you\u2019re studying English, how do you<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>keep up?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Today, we\u2019re studying English with TV, the\u00a0<\/span>series, \u2018Friends\u2019. It\u2019s a scene from<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>their New Year\u2019s Eve Party and we\u2019re going\u00a0<\/span>to talk about all the tricks of spoken English<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>that make up the music of English. The linking<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>between words, the stress and the melody.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>You\u2019ll understand how Americans speak so<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>fast, you\u2019ll improve your listening skills,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and you\u2019ll be able to sound more natural<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>speaking English. Here\u2019s the scene: Monica<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and Chandler are dating and Joey is the only<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>one that knows. This scene is about a minute<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>long and we\u2019re going to study everything\u00a0<\/span>about the pronunciation. Here\u2019s the full<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>scene<\/span><\/p>\nWhat\u2019s the matter?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWe wanted to kiss at midnight, but nobody else<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>is going to, so, you know.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAlright. I\u2019ll take care of it.<\/span><\/p>\nOh no.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nJoey!<\/span><\/p>\nHuh\u00a0muh\u00a0muh\u00a0muh…<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThirty-three, Thirty-two, Thirty-one<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nRoss, Ross\u00a0listen, who you kissing at midnight<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nhuh? Rachel or Phoebe?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWhat?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWell, you got to kiss someone. Can\u2019t kiss<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>your sister.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOh\u00a0who\u2019s going to kiss my sister?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nChandler.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOh man really?<\/span>
Dude, dude who would you rather kiss your<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>sister, me or Chandler?<\/span><\/p>\nThat’s a good point.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nYeah.<\/span>
\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWell, since I have that whole history with<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nRachel, I guess Phoebe.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOkay, great!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nRight.<\/span>
Phoebs!\u00a0Phoebs! Listen, Ross wants to kiss you<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nat midnight.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nIt’s so obvious. Why doesn’t he just ask.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nRach, Rach, listen, I\u2019m going to kiss you at midnight.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWhat?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWell, everyone\u2019s got to kiss someone, can\u2019t<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nkiss Ross, you got the history.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nSo?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nSo, who would you rather have kissing you, me or Chandler?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOh, good point.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nYeah.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThree! Two! One! Happy New Year!<\/span>
Happy New Year.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nHappy New Year.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nDid you catch how \u2018or\u2019 was pronounced<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u2018ur\u2019? There are lots of changes like that<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>in spoken English. Here\u2019s the full analysis.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWhat\u2019s the matter?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nSo\u00a0this first sentence isn\u2019t too clear,<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>is it? What\u2019s the matter? What\u2019s the matter?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>What\u2019s the said really quickly and everything<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>leads up to the stressed syllable \u2018ma\u2019,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWhat\u2019s the matter? And then comes down. So,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>very connected, very smooth, a little bit<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>breathy, \u2018What\u2019s the\u2019 becomes \u2018What\u2019s<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>the\u2019. What\u2019s\u00a0the, What\u2019s\u00a0the. Barely<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\na W sound at all. And this is\u00a0a\u00a0actually a<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>word that can be shortened to\u00a0ts. What\u2019s,\u00a0<\/span>it\u2019s, that\u2019s and let\u2019s are all sometimes<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>shortened to just the\u00a0ts\u00a0sound.\u00a0Ts\u2019the\u00a0matter?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWhat\u2019s the matter?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAnd he\u2019s kind of doing that here, maybe\u00a0<\/span>a little bit of schwa. What\u2019s the matter?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nHuh,huh,huh. What\u2019s the matter? But it\u2019s very<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>unclear\u00a0isn\u2019t it? Definitely not \u201cwhat\u2019s\u201d<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>fully pronounced.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe word \u2018the\u2019, this is unstressed word<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>that begins with the voiced\u00a0th\u00a0just like this<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>that, these, those, those kind of all be pronounced<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>with different kind of\u00a0th.\u00a0So, rather than<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nthe tongue tip coming through the teeth, the<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>tongue tip presses the backs of the teeth,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>uhuhuh, and then pulls away, very quickly<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>to make that schwa. The word \u2018the\u2019 is\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nthis: the,\u00a0the ,the, the. Said so quickly,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>low in pitch, low in volume, not too clear<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>because it\u2019s unstressed. Then our stressed<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>syllable with the \u00e6 vowel, ma, ma, has that<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nchange of direction, the pitch goes up then<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>down and then a flap t into the schwa sharp<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>r sound, (flap) on the way down. Ahu. All<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\none connected, utterance, it can actually just\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>feel like one word. No brakes, with the one<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>stressed syllable ma.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWhat\u2019s the matter?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWe wanted to kiss at midnight.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nSo\u00a0we have a couple of stressed syllables there that<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>are a little bit longer.\u00a0Ahuhauhhau, and that\u2019s<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>the way how American English works. We have<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>stressed syllables, they usually have a curve<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>up and curve down. <\/span><\/p>\nWe wanted to kiss at midnight.<\/span>