How to Sound like a Native Speaker and Improve Your Spoken American English (https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ESBx-NBXK0c)<\/a><\/noscript><\/div>\nVideo Transcript:<\/h2>\n
Happy Holidays! Let\u2019s study the American English pronunciation by looking at this scene from Friends from one of their holiday episodes.\u00a0 We\u2019re going to go in-depth with understanding the pronunciation. This is going to help you improve your listening comprehension and your spoken English skills. Let’s dive right in. First, the scene.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nBefore this scene, Ross has told Rachel all of the reasons why he\u2019s not interested in her romantically and they weren\u2019t flattering. So he is now telling her, you tell me what you don\u2019t like about me and her response is pretty great.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nHey Rach. You know what? I think, I think I know what will make you feel better.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nHow about you make a list about me?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWhat? Forget it, Ross, no.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nI\u2019m not going to stand here…\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nCome on!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAnd make a list of…okay. You\u2019re whiny, you are, you are obsessive, you are insecure, you\u2019re, you\u2019re gutless.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nYou know, you don\u2019t ever, you don\u2019t, just, sort of, seize the day, you know?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nYou liked me for, what? A year?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAnd you didn\u2019t do anything about it.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAnd, uh, uh. You wear too much of that gel in your hair.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nNow, let\u2019s do an in-depth analysis of everything we heard.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nHey, Rach.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nHey, Rach. Hey, hey, hey. Hey, a little bit flatter, less loud her name Rach. And he\u2019s shortening it using a nickname more familiar, Rach. Up down shape of stress, names and other proper nouns are pretty much always stressed, so there will be at least one stressed syllable there. Rach.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nHey, Rach.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nYou know what?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAll smoothly linked together, no breaks, so it feels just like one continuous line of sound, you know what? First going down and up. You know what? Notice there\u2019s no T release there at the end for that T. That\u2019s a stop T, and abrupt stop. What? What? And that\u2019s what signifies to us the T. The T is pronounced this way at the end of phrases or when the next sound is a consonant. You know what?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nYou know what?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nDo you notice how the word you is pronounced ye. It\u2019s not you know what? But he\u2019s reducing that, I would write that in IPA with the Y sound and the schwa, ya. Ya, ya, ya. You know what? You know what? Make that as smoothly as you can. Let me say that last thing again. Make that as smoothly as you can. You know what?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nYou know what?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nI think I know what will make you feel better?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nIf you love this kind of in-depth analysis of American English pronunciation, I really encourage you to check out my online courses at Rachelsenglishacademy.com. We have one on all sorts of different Hollywood scenes. There are over 50 there to choose from. From movies, from TVs, and in all of them we take a scene, we study it, we do that in-depth pronunciation analysis together. The best part though is each video comes with an audio soundboard so you can train the little mini phrases yourself and really get it into your voice.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nYou can see it.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAnd when you listen in slow motion it helps you really hear the rhythm, the stress and the linking. So be sure to check out Rachelsenglishacademy.com. Let\u2019s get back to our scene.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nYou know what?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nI think, I think I know what will make you feel better?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nI think, I think. He\u2019s going up here and it\u2019s very smooth, no break between I and think. I think. Then there\u2019s a tiny pause, maybe a little bit lift while he repeats himself. I think, I think.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nI think–<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nI think I know wheat will make you feel better?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nI think, I think I know. I think I know. Again, everything here is just linking together really smoothly and make sure for the th in think, that\u2019s an unvoiced th. Make sure that your tongue tip does come through that teeth for that really lightly. Think. I think, I think, I think.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nI think–\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nI think I know<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nIf you have a hard time with that sound, you\u2019ll want to slow it down to make sure you can focus in on that tongue movement. I think and just feel the lightness of the tongue through the teeth not stopping the air, just do that over and over until it starts to feel natural.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nI think, I think I know–\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nI think I know what will make you feel better.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nSo lots of stressed words there. I think I know what will. Both unstressed. What\u2019ll make you feel better. And maybe a little bit on better but coming down so think, know, feel. Verbs are almost always stressed in a sentence.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nI think I know what will make you feel better.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nBut let\u2019s just look at the first four words. Notice how I is less stressed. I think, I know. So I is I, I, I, I. Lower in pitch, less energy, linking together smoothly. I think I know. Try that with me. I think I know.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nI think I know–\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nI think I know what will make you feel better.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWhat will. That gets reduced. What apostrophe ll. What\u2019ll, what\u2019ll. So by making this an apostrophe we\u2019re just adding schwa l at the end, what\u2019ll, what\u2019ll. That\u2019s going to turn this T into a flap T which can sound like a d between vowels in American English, what\u2019ll, what\u2019ll, what\u2019ll, what\u2019ll. Not will but what\u2019ll, know what\u2019ll, know what\u2019ll, know what\u2019ll.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nI know what will–\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nI know what will make you feel better.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWhat will make you feel better.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nMake you. Do you feel how make is higher than <\/span> you. This change of pitch is part of natural American English. Some of my students don\u2019t have enough distance between their highs of their stressed syllables and their lows of their unstressed syllables and that makes them a little bit harder to understand. So make sure you\u2019re matching that pitch so that you\u2019re feeling the pitch difference. Make you feel better.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nMake you feel better.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nFeel better. And he brings his pitch up a little bit at the end. This shows that he\u2019s going to go on. His idea continues. Feel better. A couple things about sounds here. The double T here is again a flap T. A T is almost always a flap T when it comes between vowel or diphthong sounds like it does here. It comes between e and the schwa, better, better. Now, the L here is a dark L. L\u2019s are dark L\u2019s if they come after the vowel or diphthong in the syllable. So here it\u2019s the end of the word so we know it\u2019s a dark L. So we make that sound with the back of the tongue. Feel. Pressing down and back a little bit, the tip of the tongue doesn\u2019t lift, it doesn\u2019t have to lift. So, see if you can do that . Feel better. Without lifting your tongue tip for the L, it will probably make the dark sound a little bit more clear. Feel better.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nFeel better.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nHow about you make a list about me?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nSo now he really stresses you and me because he made a list about her so how about you, how about you. Lots of\u00a0 stress there. It\u2019s longer, lots of up down shape.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nHow about you–<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nHow about<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nHow about you. So how and about are bot a little faster, less important here because he\u2019s using you. So how about. He drops the first syllable there. So it becomes how about, how about, how about, how about. Said quickly, said simply with a stop T at the end. How about, how about you.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nHow about you–<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nMake a list.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nBreaks it up here a little bit. The more you break something up, the more dramatic it is. How about you make a list. List, the noun the most stressed word here. So our most stressed words are usually, verbs, nouns, adverbs and adjectives but not all of them are always going to be stressed. For example here the verb \u2018make\u2019 is less stressed than the noun list. Make a list. Make a, do you hear that, it all links together smoothly, the K releases into the schwa which goes right into the L. This one is a light L because it begins the word. You do lift your tongue tip. Make a list.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nMake a list–\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe T here in list, we do hear that released, tt, tt, list, list. That\u2019s because it\u2019s a part of a cluster. I said before like in the word about. If a T ends a word that it will often be a stop T not if it\u2019s part of a cluster. If it\u2019s part of a cluster, it\u2019s going to be a light true T unless it links into a consonant then it might be dropped. I know the T rules are so confusing.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nMake a list–\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAbout me.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nSo really stressing me , here he doesn\u2019t drop the first syllable of about, we do hear that it\u2019s a schwa, about me and stress on me, stop T there. About, about, about me.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAbout me.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWhat?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nSuper high. Try to match that pitch. What? What? Goes up a little bit, cut off abruptly for that stop T.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWhat?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nForget it Ross.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nForget it. Forget it Ross. So, the phrase forget it, three syllables, the middle one is stressed. Forget it. And it links together really smoothly. The T links into the vowel that turns that into a flap T to link. I love linking with the flap T, it\u2019s so smooth. In American English, we really value smoothness, forget it, forget it. And a stop T, the T is not released. Now, look here the word looks like it might be pronounced for but it\u2019s for, for, forget it. Just don\u2019t worry about the vowel there at all. For, for, for, forget it.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nForget it–\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nRoss no,\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nForget it Ross. She goes down, it\u2019s a statement, she doesn\u2019t want to do it. Ross, no. Again, a statement, very clear, I don\u2019t want to do that.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nForget it Ross, no.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nI\u2019m not going to stand here–<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nSo everything is said pretty quickly, I am not going to becomes I\u2019m not gonna, I\u2019m not gonna.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nI\u2019m not going to–<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nI\u2019m not going to stand here–<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWhich really brings emphasis on the word stand. I don\u2019t want to do that. I won\u2019t, don\u2019t wanna be here doing that. So I\u2019m not going to becomes I\u2019m not gonna, I\u2019m not gonna. Said quickly, stop T here, abrupt stop of air. I\u2019m not gonna.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nI\u2019m not going to–<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nI\u2019m not going to stand here–<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nGoing to becomes gonna and everything links together smoothly, I\u2019m not gonna stand. <\/span> \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nI\u2019m not going to stand–\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n