🗣Connected Speech | Core Training with Hadar

Foreign. Hello. Hello, everyone. Welcome to our English Pronunciation Made simple five day training. I am thrilled to be here with you today on day two. How are you doing today? Let me know in the chat, let me know how you're doing, what is up, what's going on? And yes, now you can see this. And I just wanted to say welcome again, welcome to our pronunciation training. And let me know, is this your first day? Were you able to watch day one? Let me know in the chat. So I know. So we get to know each other. And also I wanted to say a few things before we get started yesterday. We've been getting a lot of amazing comments about the training and how excited you were. We had 500 people in the pronunciation practice group with Jelena. We also had people, almost 300 people in the conversation group today, yesterday. And you guys are incredible. You are taking action. You are showing up, you. You're watching the videos. And I cannot tell you how much I appreciate you for that. I know of so many people who want change, who want to see different results, but they're not really taking clear action. They're not doing things. They feel like, you know, they. They have other things or maybe they just don't feel like it. But you guys are actually doing the work. You're showing up, you're getting, answering questions. You're asking incredible questions. And that is remarkable. I do not take it for granted. So I just wanted to say how grateful I am for you. And of that, however, we have seen some comments from people who joined the group and shared their struggles in their English journey and how they feel overwhelmed and they feel like they are stuck and they feel like they've been putting in so much more, so much work for years, and they feel a little discouraged. And they did join and they're doing the work, but they still feel like it's just too much to handle this whole thing of owning and mastering a second language. So I wanted to start by saying that I know that this is not necessarily easy. Learning a second language is not supposed to be hard. It takes here to acquire years to acquire your first language, let alone a second language. So give yourself grace. And even if you're not seeing the progress that you want to see or that you expect to see, don't be hard on yourself and believe that it is possible. A lot of times we're not seeing results, not because we're not talented in the language or we're not committed. Sometimes we just don't have the right plan, the right circumstances, the right environment to Help us do the work and show up and actually see progress. And I hope that in this training you are going to get clarity. You are going to get all the information that you need so you would be able to put it into action, put it into practice, and start seeing results. But like I said, this is a long process, and sometimes we see more progress, sometimes we see less progress because being suck is part of the journey. So don't feel or don't interpret it as if it's a sign that English is not meant for you and that you are not talented. Because this knowledge or these thoughts are not helping you get to where you want to get or achieve your goals. It's not helping you. It's just keeping you held up with your thoughts, with your negative thoughts, and it keeps you stuck. It keeps you feeling limited. It keeps you feeling like you're not good enough. And like I said, when this is the emotion that you're experiencing, it is very unlikely for you to be able to actually find the motivation, find the clarity, find the excitement and the joy of doing this type of work. So everything feels tedious. Everything feels like it's too much. So I want you to start changing how you think. And even when you rec like, and especially when you recognize thoughts like, oh, it's too overwhelming, or I will never be able to get it, or this is not for me, or it's too hard, then just catch it and say to yourself, I can do this. I can figure it out. I can do hard things. I've already learned one language. I can do it again. I just need clarity. I need focus. I need to spend time effectively, and I can figure it out. I want you to write in the comments, I can figure this out. Okay? So we all get into this mood of, you know, we can do this. We got this. All right, let me see it in the comments. Good. I can figure this out. Out. Nothing is too hard for you guys, okay? You can do this. And the purpose of this training is to really help you to simplify in your head all the things related to spoken English and in particular, pronunciation. So I want you to take the daily trainings. Everything that I share with you is. And follow it. Follow the workbook. Sometimes you might need to watch one training again, especially yesterday's training where you had a lot of information. If it feels overwhelming, just say to yourself, I can figure this out. I just need to watch it again. It's not that complicated. I'm capable of understanding difficult things. I've already learned one language. I can Learn another one. I can own and master another one. I can feel in English like I feel in my first language. I belong in English. Say it. I belong in English. And English belongs to you. You don't need permission from anyone to speak. You don't need to apologize. If you make mistakes, you deserve to communicate the way in the way you can communicate. And also remind yourself that you're always doing your best at any given moment. You never deliberately make mistakes. You never deliberately find it hard to understand something. You're always doing your best. And if that is the case, then you cannot be hard on yourself when things are challenging. You just need to create better circumstances. Need to create better circumstances and improve your environment to finally see the results that you're after. Okay, Good. Good for you. So now are you ready? Are you ready to talk about connected speech? Let's talk about connected speech. So here is what we're going to do today. We're going to talk about what connected speech is. You're going to get simple tips for using connected speech in English. We're going to talk about the benefits of practicing connected speech. We are going to practice connected speech. So make sure that you have your privacy, that you close the door, that you are turning on the volume and you're listening to this. So you can practice along with me. Practice listening to connected speech. This is something else that we're going to do. Okay? So first let's start with what is connected speech? Connected speech is the natural linking of words together in the same breath unit. I'm going to say it again. The natural linking of words together in the same breath unit. So let me give you an example. Say this out loud. When you connect words together, this is how it sounds.

So, can I get you anything? Can I get you anything else?

Can I get you anything to drink? You want to hear it again? Let's play it again.

Can I get you anything?

Can I get you anything else? Can I get you anything to drink? So basically, what we're hearing, we're not hearing separate words here, right? You're not hearing, can I get you anything? You're hearing almost as if it's one word. And that one word has a lot of different syllables, small units. Can I get you anything? Can I get you anything? And this is what it actually sounds like. Can I get you anything? Please say out loud with me what it is that you're seeing on the slides. Can I get you anything? Can I get you anything? What is the ch sound? This is what happens when you connect words together. When a T appears before a Y sound. Get you. Usually what happens when you connect words together? It becomes a new word. Can I get you anything? Let's look at another example. Say this out loud. Okay. Ready to listen to it.

Never really thought about it. What's going on here?

Never really thought about it. Never really thought about it. Let's play it again.

I never really thought about it. What's going on here?

I never really thought about it. Really thought about it. Okay. I never really thought about it. Let's say it together. Try to connect it together. I never really thought about it. I never really thought about it. Maybe what would stick out here is the D sound, the letter D that represents the T and thought. Because when we connect words together, sounds change. For example, the T becomes a flap T. Because now it appears between two vowel sounds. I never really thought about it. I never really thought about it. Let's try another one. Say this one out loud. Dana.

I don't think that's such a good idea.

I think that's such a good idea. I don't think that's such a good idea, man. Let's listen to it again. Dana.

I don't think that's such a good idea.

I don't think that's such a good idea. I don't think that's such a good idea, man. What have you noticed here? That such. That's such. That's such a good idea. See how everything's connected when we don't think about connected speech. When we don't think in connected speech. Speech, we want to feel as if we were thinking of each word separately. Because most of you started learning English through reading and writing. So the way you perceive the language is through the written word. And yes, we expect to hear every word separately, but that is not the case. And then we discover sounds that we're not expecting. Like that D in thought about it or the ch in the get you. Or we don't hear the ts. And that's such a good idea because everything's connected. And then you're like, wait a minute. What is it that I'm hearing right? I don't think that's such a good idea. I don't think that's such a good idea. Read it to yourself slowly. I don't think that's such a good idea. Now remember, we are currently breaking it down. You're not supposed to speak that way. Definitely not as slowly as I did it. And I'm going to give you four exercises to improve your connected speech. But if we break it down, which I find it really helpful, sometimes we start noticing things that we don't usually notice. Okay, so let's talk about the benefits of pro practicing connected speech. First of all, I believe that connected speech is important because it will help you sound clearer, as connected speech is expected by the listener sometimes, and this is the biggest struggle of non native speakers, we want to sound clearer. We feel like we're going to be unclear if we connect the words together or speak fast. And sometimes it is true, but for the most part, by trying to be clearer, what you're actually doing is becoming less clear because you're separating the words. And this is not how people expect to hear the language. So instead of hearing an idea or a thought, which is how we're used to listening to English, all of a sudden we hear separate words. And the brain has to work harder to analyze what it is that it's hearing. Now, another element of connected speech, another thing that. Another benefit actually is that speaking English will become more effortless. Sometimes by trying to be clear or by separating the words, you put in more effort than when you connect words together. When you connect words together, some things need to happen. For example, you can't stress every word the same. You need to get you use less breath. And as a result, you will speak more effortlessly. You will feel it. I talk a lot about learning pronunciation so that you won't feel so much tension when speaking. You won't feel like you are tired after an hour of conversation. So connected speech is definitely going to help you with that, and also you will understand other speakers better. One of the biggest challenges and fears of speakers of English as a second language is not being able to understand the other person. And, and that could already be your experience when watching TV and movies, but also maybe when you're speaking to other people. So understanding connected speech will, will help you. Practicing connected speech will help you understand how people do it in where to focus. When you are listening, you'll start recognizing all those new sounds that come up, that show up when you are connecting words together. And you'll start understanding subconsciously and consciously that words are not separate. And words, the way we know them, are not always what we actually hear when other people speak. So let's talk about simple tips for using connected speech in English. The first tip that I have for you. Ready? But before that, I have a question. Put on a scale of 1 to 10, how easy is connected speech each for you? So one is really hard and wait, what should we do? One is really easy. Okay. No issues. You connect words together all the time. Maybe you've already practiced it. And 10 is so difficult. I don't know how to do this or in my native language. We never connect words together. And this is why it's so hard for me, because of course it has to do with your first language, not just you being you trying to be clear. Sometimes it's also because remember what we talked about yesterday? Sometimes you bring on some habits from your first language onto English. So eight is. 10 is really, really challenging. And one is really, really easy. Okay, let me see. So we have a lot of fives and sixes. Twos. Great. Nine. Don't worry. I hope this session is going to help you. We have 4, 7, 8. A wide spectrum here. Okay. From pretty much 2 to 9. Okay. We have some tens. Okay. So according to these numbers and knowing how important connected speech is, I think this session is going to be very valuable and helpful for you to speak English with clarity and to understand people better. So the first tip I have for you, it might sound simple, but it's not as simple. And we need to really think about it, is basically to keep the words connected. You just need to keep your voice and breath going without within a thought group. So let's practice something before we look at examples. I want you to just release a sound. Do it with me. Let's do it together. So one sustained sound. When we release a sound, what happens is that the breath comes out. Okay. And on the breath, we vibrate the vocal cords, right? And the voice kind of like rides on the breath. So we're releasing breath with sound. Tomorrow we're going to talk about pitch, and then we're going to talk about the highness and lowness of the sound. But for now, we're just talking about a sound, any sound. So that is a straight sound. Now we're going to stop it several times. So imagine like, you have instead of one line, we're gonna have, like, separate lines. So let's do it again. One breath. Good. So basically, we want to keep our voice going no matter what until we finish the breath group. Now you're probably asking yourself, hadar, what is a thought group or a breath group or an intonational unit? It's a group of words that form a meaning together. For example, this is a breath group. Let me think about it. Let me. Let me. Let me think about it. Let me think about it. It's a pleasure to meet you. It's a pleasure to meet you. That's one unit. I'M not separating. It's an idea. It doesn't make it any sense for me to say, it's a pleasure to meet you. Right. I cannot break down the phrase like that. I don't need to put a comma anywhere. It's a pleasure to meet you. Right, good. Let's look at a larger phrase. And now I'm going to make it a little bigger so you can see it. The museum was very busy yesterday, and I had to wait in line for about 40 minutes, so I decided to go visit the local coffee shop instead. That was a little hard to understand because I didn't take any pauses, I didn't break it anywhere. And I do want to break it into smaller units so I can deliver a clearer message. Just like we do with punctuation. Thought groups are just like commas and columns and semicolons and full stops. So basically our intonation and our phrasing, how we decide to take a sentence and break it into smaller groups is just like punctuation, audible punctuation. And just like you wouldn't want to get an email or to read an article with no punctuation whatsoever, you also don't want to hear someone or to speak without any breaks, without phrasing, and without thought groups. Now, taking a break after every word is not any better. And this is why we need to group ideas together so it's easier to understand. Okay. We group idea to get ideas together in thought groups. So going back to this example, how would you break it down into smaller thought groups? This is how I would do it. The museum was very busy yesterday. That is one thought group. We even have a comma at the end. So obviously that we know that there is a stop there. So everything within that first breath unit is connected or thought group. The museum was very busy yesterday. Try to connect it together. The next phrase. And I had to wait in line for about 40 minutes. Take a deep breath and let's do it again. And I had to wait in line for about 40 minutes. So you want to keep your voice going. And I had to wait in line for about 40 minutes without stopping your voice. So I decided to go visit the local coffee shop instead. So I decided that's an entire thought group and we want to keep our voice going until the end. So I decided to go visit the local coffee shop instead. And if it's hard for you because you run out of breath, then take a deep breath and practice it. Expand your breath. This is a good practice to expand your breath as well. Let's look at an oh. And another. Here is something else you can do. You can break the second phrase into two. Right? Could be two thought groups. The museum was very busy yesterday, and I had to wait in line for about 40 minutes. Still makes sense. What wouldn't make sense is the museum was very busy yesterday and I had to wait in line for about 40 minutes. So. Right. So it's very clear. If you know any language, you would know where to put the mini pause. And if you know where it should go, then everything within that thought group, within that unit should be connected. You should keep your voice going as you read the words from the beginning until the end. And if you're just starting out and if connected speech is challenging for you, then work on smaller breath groups. That's okay. Let's look at another example. My Internet connection has been really slow lately, but my neighbor was kind enough and let me use his to finish my work. We got to take a break somewhere. We also don't want to do this. My Internet connection. Right? That is the opposite of connected speech. So let's all try to do it on one breath. Okay. Take a deep breath. My Internet connection has been really slow lately, but my neighbor was kind enough and let me use his to finish my work. Okay. But it doesn't work. We don't want very long thought groups, so let's break it down into smaller units. My Internet connection. That's a thought group. And then everything is connected within it. Keep your voice going without stopping. My Internet connection. Ah. My Internet connection has been really slow lately. Has been really slow lately. But my neighbor was kind enough. This is easier to connect together. Right. We can pull it off in one breath. But my neighbor was kind enough and let me use his and let me use his to finish my work. To finish my work. Everything's connected. Good. Any questions so far about keeping your voice going between the words and understanding how to separate it into thought groups? Yes. Camilla says thought groups are essential for understanding the speech. Absolutely understanding others and also speaking clearly, being understood. Good. Clear question. If you cannot remember the word, great question. So this is a different conversation about fluency, about what to do when you get stuck and you can't come up with a word. And then you can absolutely take a break, think of the word and then speak again. Or when you remember the word, just start again from the beginning of the thought group. So, for example, if you want to say something like, yesterday I went to the grocery store, right? You forgot the word grocery store. So you would say, yesterday I Went to the. You're thinking about it and then you remember the word grocery store. You can just continue, of course, and that's fine. And you can start over. Yesterday I went to the grocery store. And so you don't have to have perfect speech. You don't have to be absolutely fluent to. And you know, to be able to apply connected speech, because there are phrases that are going to be easier for you. Right. Yesterday I called my mom. Maybe here you don't have challenging words that you need to retrieve from the back of your brain. So it would be easier for you to say it in connected speech. And some phrases are going to be harder. And then you're going to get stuck and it's perfectly fine. And then obviously you won't be able to connect it, but it doesn't matter, like, as long as you. And tomorrow we're going to talk about how to deliver a clear message using pitch and intonation. So you can absolutely compensate for that and still sound clear even if you don't connect the words together. If you know how to stress it, which we're going to talk about next week. I mean, tomorrow, not next week, feels like every day feels like a week. Okay, so another tip that I have for you is focus on pronunciation. I'm going to give you some pronunciation hacks to help you intentionally connect sounds together. This is really good for practice. So when you do the work, when you practice, when you do the work with a workbook, you can absolutely use this. But it's not something that you can intuitively use when you're speaking spontaneously to someone, because this helps you kind of like dismantle the speech. But the first tip is going to help you when you are speaking on the spot, because this is all about just, you know, pushing your voice out. Okay, so we said that in a thought group, we have a bunch of words and then we want to connect the words together. And the way to connect the words together is basically to connect sounds together. The sound of the last of the last sound of one word with the first sound of the next word. That's how we connect words together. And since we only have consonants and vowels, we want to look at all the different combinations and see how we connect words sounds together. Some are going to be a lot easier than others. For example, when we connect a vowel to a consonant, it's pretty easy. You just drag the vowel. A vowel is sound with air until you stop it with a consonant. For example, you should go. You should, you should, you should. That's probably the One combination that is the easiest to connect. She's done a great job so far. So far. The O connects to the F. So I'm just not stopping the. Okay, so far. Not so far. But so as if I'm about to say sofa, right? That's easy there, because you're thinking about it as one word. It shouldn't be any harder when it's between two words. Just imagine that this whole phrase is one long word. She's done a great job so far. That's what happens when we connect a vowel to a consonant. What happens when we connect a consonant to a vowel? This is where it gets really interesting, and I actually really love this combination because this is a trick that is going to help you connect words quickly. When we have this phrase, for example, come over here. Come over here, what happens is that the sound of the first word, the consonant, becomes the beginning of the next word. Not come over here, but k. Mo ver here. Can you see it? K Over, over. C Mover. Come over here. Just let it go. How would you connect it? Let it, let it, let it. Just let it. So here we have the flap T again, it changes when it. When you connect it. Okay, because the word let is pronounced like this or. Or even let with a puff. But when you connect it to another word that starts with a vowel, the T becomes a flap T and it sounds like a D. Let it. Just let it go. Just let it go. Okay, you have to speak up. How would you connect the. Speak up. Speak up. Speak up. You'll have to speak up. You'll have to speak up. That little trick kind of forces you to connect the words together. So you're just moving the consonant to the next word. Now, what happens when we connect two vowels together? The chicken laid two eggs. So I'm curious to see what happens between the word two and the word eggs. Two eggs. Two eggs. When you connect a vowel that is in the back, like an oo sound, with another vowel that is in the front, there's actually a sound intruding or basically helping you shift from the back to the front. Yesterday we talked about back vowels and front vowels, so I hope you already understand what that means. But this is where the sound resonates. Two eggs. Now, I separated it. When I connect it, I keep my voice going. See what happens. Two eggs. Two eggs. Two eggs. The chicken laid two eggs. What happens when we have a front vowel shifting to the back? We'll see on Sunday. We'll see on Sunday. See on. See on. See on. Can you hear that Y sound? Adding sometimes the Y sound or the W sound helps you group words together. Now, we do have it in single words as well. Chaos, right? We don't say K os, we say chaos. It feels like there is a Y sound. So this is a sound you entered at 3 o' clock in the morning. You wentered at 3 o'. Clock. You wentered 3 o'. Clock. Okay, good. That's what happens when we connect vowels to a vowel to a vowel. Sometimes we don't have those intrusive sounds. I see it. Or for example, they are. Actually, we still have the Y sound. Put the sofa on the rug. Put the sofa on the rug here. Sofa on. We don't have a Y or a W sound. Okay. So it's not always. Always the case where we. Oops, sorry. I want to make myself bigger. It's not always the case where we add a Y sound or a W sound. Only if the. The first vowel is a back vowel or a front vowel. Okay. Moving to consonant. To consonant. For some people, this is going to be easy. For other people, this is going to be challenging. If you don't have a lot of clusters in your language, you. This might be a little bit more challenging. I'm going to move this. I drank tea. Sometimes we can pronounce a held K sound. Drank tea. I drank tea. So for some of you, it's like, easy. For others, you might drop sounds. So when you connect words together, you want to make sure that you're not dropping any sounds. It's better to separate the words drink tea than to drop sounds. Okay, Speaking of priorities, Next one. Best friend. Best friend. And here's a little tip. When the T appears between two consonants, when we connect words together, the T often drops. Best friends. We're best friends. Real life. The ending L and the beginning L merge into one longer L and gas station. Same thing. I'm just saying that I'm going to the gas station. Just saying I dropped the T. Gas station. Good. Let's practice this technique with the following sentences. So remember, we want to connect the words together. Home is where the heart is. Notice the T in hard is. The T becomes the beginning of the word is. Home is where the heart is. I just live around the corner. So you can either keep your voice going or pay attention to how you connect sounds between words. Whatever works for you. From the two tips that I've given you here. I live just. Just around the corner. We don't drop the T here because the next sound is a vowel. Just around the corner. I live just around the corner. You can kind of drop the D in around. Around the. And connect the end to the th if it's easier for you. I live just around the corner. Good. Any questions before we go to tip number three? Okay, I hear some. I read. I'm reading some great comments here. Valerie says what helped me with connecting speech is putting less tension in my mouth. Kind of let it flow from one sound to another sound. This is an excellent tip, Valerie. Great. So definitely. And I actually didn't add it, but it's something that I always say. Make sure that your consonants are very soft because then it's hard to shift from one to another. And in general, like Valerie says, I'm going to highlight your comment here. Put less effort. It's a lot easier because when you put a lot of tension in general, it's not good for our speech. But also, there is a lot of friction and it's hard to move from one word or from one sound to. To another. So thank you for this insightful comment. Okay. Another tip that I usually use with my students to teach them about connected speech is to sing it and more particularly to think about it as legato versus staccato. Who here knows these terms? Who here studied piano or guitar or singing when they were younger or still sing it? Legato versus staccato. Legato is a long held note, and in legato, there are no stops between notes. And staccato is a short, punchy note. In staccato, there is a break between notes. And I have an example. That's legato. That's legato. That's more staccato. Well, true, staccato would be really short, but I'm not connecting it. Okay, let's do it again. Listen to the difference. It's like what I talked about, keeping your voice going. That's legato. That's more staccato. Okay, so let's see how that looks like when it comes to speaking. I don't really know what to do with you. Staccato. Right. Ah, ah, ah. I don't really know what to do with you. Staccato. Legato. I really don't know what to do with you. I messed up the sentence a little bit, but I really don't know. I really don't know. Now I really like using the example of a song that we all know, which is Happy Birthday. So usually we sing Happy birthday to you. Right? And that is legato. Happy birthday to you. We're connecting the words. What would it sound like in staccato? Try it with me. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Now, I'm sure you can do it in singing. And if you can do it in singing, you can do it in speaking. Let's say this sentence. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. We know how to use our breath. We know how to use our voice. We just need to understand that it should not be separate. Let's look at a few more examples. That was a piece of cake. Let's do it in staccato. That was a piece of cake. That was a piece of. Of cake. Put in the rhythm. That was a piece of cake. That was a piece of cake. That's staccato. That was a piece of cake. That was a piece of cake. That was a piece of cake. Legato. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. I want you to deliberately do it like this. Staccato. So you feel. You can feel how you use your voice to change the meaning in a way or to change the outcome. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Someone said staccato is like AI talking. Maybe AI in the 90s. Speech to text, where it just started. Right. That's exactly how it sounded like. Now they're doing a much better job. I have to say it's a little scary. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Legato. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Good. Could you repeat that? There was a funny video about. About Irish people getting into an elevator with an American AI system that you need to ask for the floor. Do you guys know it? And they're asking for floor 11. And it doesn't detect it. And the voice keeps saying, could you repeat that? And it's definitely staccato there. Could you repeat that? Let's do it. Legato. Could you repeat that? Good. All right, great. Let's see. Any questions? It's a great video. All right, let me know if you have any questions. I'm going to share the link to that video. It's so funny because they get stuck in the elevator because the elevator doesn't understand them, and then they end up fighting with the elevator. Okay. Should we. Should we be mindful of our articulation while we are connecting speech? Absolutely. This is a great question. So let me get on the big screen here. We always need to balance the articulation. Right. When we talk about into speech in general. We have two big elements. Pronunciation, which is the building blocks and prosody, which is intonation, rhythm, stress, pitch, connected speech, phrasing, all of that good stuff. So it's just like notes and then the rest of the things that happen in any work of music. Piece of music. Work. Yeah, music piece. Musical piece. That's what I wanted to say. So, of course we don't want to compromise the sounds to connect the words together. Sometimes we will, and sometimes it's okay. Sometimes we deliberately reduce sounds. Okay? So as you'll see soon in the next tip, sometimes to connect words together, we want to eliminate sounds, but that's deliberate. However, we don't want it to compromise our clarity. So always remember, clarity is more important than accuracy. So if you feel that connecting words together messes up your pronunciation completely and you become less clear, which I doubt, it will happen, then of course, make sure that you are first clear. Okay? That's one thing. But another thing is that when you work on your pronunciation along with working on connected speech, you. You create strong habits that won't shift the way you pronounce a sound even if you connect it. Remember, the connected speech does not mean to go faster. It does not mean that now you need to, you know, kind of like squeeze everything together. You can connect words together and still speak slowly. Like I'm speaking in this training, right. Sometimes they speak faster and sometimes I speak slower. I still connect the words together. My voice is still going between the thought group groups that I'm sharing. Unless I get stuck or I have to think about a word and then I pause or sometimes I pause deliberately. Right? That's a deliberate pause. But in general, yes, you. You always want to be aware of your pronunciation. But the. The nice thing about sounds, pronunciation of sounds, or clear pronunciation of sounds is that when you do the work separately, it's there for you. For the most part. If you follow the five steps that I taught you yesterday, the pronunciation confidence method, you are likely to be very stable or consistent with the sounds that you're making and anything else that you're adding, like pitch or, you know, changing the rhythm a little bit and connecting the words together should not affect it. But it's a good question because it's kind of like, how do we balance it all. Now, connected speech tip number four is to actually reduce common function words in a phrase. We'll talk more about function words tomorrow. But function words are the small words that connect content words. It's all the, on and at, could, would, should, M is are all those small words that connect words together. Now for now, if this is the first time you come across this idea of reductions, I want you to focus on those four, on the common function words like and, or of. Okay, these three. Let's start with these three. So whenever you say these function words, these prepositions, you reduce it. Not all of them are prepositions, right? But you reduce the vowel there to be a schwa. So for example, you don't want to say rock and roll. Generally, the word and has the a sound which shifts a little bit before an n. But here, when it's in a phrase, especially when there are two words around it, you reduce it to n. Now here's something interesting that happens. When you reduce it, you will automatically feel like you have to connect it because it just doesn't make sense to say rock roll. It won't feel natural to you. So when you practice reducing it, the byproduct is that you will be connecting everything together. Rock and roll. Rock and roll. Rock and roll. Now, in terms of stress, we'll talk more about it in the next few days, but da da da, da da da. And everything's connected. Rock and roll. Back and forth. And yeah, we drop the D when we connect words together. We drop the D in the word and. And we drop the A sound to an. Back and forth. Now, you guys, I want you to write in the comments as many phrases as you can can possibly come up with with three words. The middle one is going to be a function word that can be reduced. I can already see some examples here, right? Wine and dine, for example. Back and forth, back and forth. Or reduces to er. And then when I put it between words, I'm going to have to connect it all together. This or that. This or that. You have to choose this or that. What can I tell you? Now, if you want to emphasize every word, it's okay to separate it. This or that. You can't have both. You got to decide this or that. We separate words when we want to emphasize something. And this is why we don't generally want to emphasize to separate the words because it sounds like we're emphasizing every single word. Heads or tails. How would you connect it? Headser. Headser. Headser. Heads or tails. Right. And everything connects headser. Tails, heads or tails. Matter of fact, Fact. Matter of fact, Matter of fact. And the truth is that with the word of, sometimes it just reduces to an matter of fact. Matter of, matter of fact. Try saying this out loud. Bottle of water. So the AV turns into bottle of, bottle of, bottle of. And you can even drop the v buttle of bottle of, bottle of, bottle of wine, bottle of water, bottle of juice, bottle of something. Bottle of water, bottle of, bottle of, bottle of. Right. By reducing the of, we're kind of like unintentionally connecting words together. And there you go. You just use connected speech. Let's look at some of your example now. Were never great. Red and blue. More and more out of place. Beautiful guys. Out of place. Let's look at a few more examples. Z here and there, here and there. So look at the comments. Look at all the beautiful comments and just practice it with me here and there. Piece of cake. Easy or hard. Bed and breakfast, Wake and bake. Cats and dogs. It's pouring cats and dogs in and out. Wait. These and those. Big and small. Like it or not. Up and down, up and up and up and down. Day and day and night. Okay, so if you just. Sometimes just starting with these phrases, you can make a list of all these different phrases you can copy. Paste all the examples here in the comments and just practice that and you'll see how you can start connecting words together. Are you ready to practice using connected speech? Are you ready to do some listening and practicing? All right, let's do it here and there. Read the following sentences and link the words together. Okay, so take all the different things that we talked about today, the different tips, reducing the function words, connecting the sounds, keeping your voice going. Legato versus staccato. And say this slowly. We met a blue eyed boy. Now let's say it a little faster. I'm going to make it bigger so you can see it. You don't have to see me all the time. We met a blue eyed boy. We met a blue eyed boy. All right, say this. Now. Let's practice it together. She's gonna do it on her own. She's gonna do it on her own. She's gonna do it on her own. She's gonna do it on her own. She's gonna do it on her own. She's gonna do it on her own. She's gonna do it on her own. Now you. I didn't want you to tell everyone. Want you. Get you get you. Want you. You hear that ch sound? I didn't want you to tell everyone. I didn't want you to tell everyone. I didn't want you to tell everyone. You can even reduce the you to y. I didn't want you to tell everyone. Staccato. I didn't want you to tell everyone. Legato. I didn't want you to tell everyone. A sound that you stop, sound that you keep, that you sustain. I didn't want you to tell everyone. Keep your voice going. Good. Now we're going to do something fun. Going to play a clip and then we're going to analyze it. So before I show you, here's what we're going to do. I'm going to play a clip and then you're going to write in the comments what it is that you're hearing. Okay. Now, it takes me a second to see your comments, so it's going to. You're going to see me waiting a little bit for your responses, so be patient. I'm gonna play it a few times. Okay, first clip. I love this space. How did you find it? I love this space. How did you find it? So write it down in the chat. What are you hearing? I love this space. How did you find it? I'm gonna keep playing it until I see the first comment. I love this space. Space. How did you find it? Good. I see. How did you find it? But what about the first sentence? Good, I'm going to play it again. I love this space. How did you find it? Good. So here's what we're hearing. I love this, this space. Now, someone wrote I love this place. And I can absolutely understand why it sounds like it, the space, because it's like, it's kind of like you missed the L, but you, you, you assume that there was an L because it makes total sense to say, I love this place. I love this space. When we connect words together, different words may sound the same. So we have, I love this space. How did you. How did you find it? You guys really got that one quickly. I think it's a very common connection. How did you. And reduction. So you were all very, very trained to recognize it, but it was a little more challenging at the beginning. I love this space. How did you find it? I love this space. How did you or how did you find it? She actually doesn't reduce the you here. Let's do the next part.

Can I just ask you really quickly because I actually think you're like the perfect person to ask.

Okay, a lot of sentences, so write it down.

Can I just ask you really quickly because I actually think you're like the perfect person to ask. Can I just ask you really quickly because I actually think you're like, the perfect person to ask.

I'm going to play it again.

Can I just ask you really quickly because I actually think you're like the.

Perfect person to ask Any guesses? What is he saying? He's definitely connecting some words here. Okay, so we have. Can I just ask you very quickly? Can I just ask you really quickly? We have some guesses. Because I actually think you're, like, the perfect person to ask. Good. Can I just ask you very quickly? Good. So I see. Very. And really. So some of you heard something, and let's see who's right. It's very fast. It is. It's also fast, and there are a lot of reductions. Can I just ask you really quickly? So the first phrase is. Can I just ask you really quickly? So some of you thought it was very. Because it was all connected and kind of like fast, which is fine. It actually doesn't change the meaning. So the fact that you didn't get the exact word doesn't make any difference. Sometimes we do fill in the gaps. We hear the keywords, and then we fill in the gaps based on context. We do it in our first language as well. So don't feel bad if you didn't get it right. As long as you know you got the main message. Because I actually think you're, like, the perfect person to ask. Because I actually think you're, like, the perfect person to ask. Say it on one breath. Because I actually think you're, like, the perfect person to ask. You can play with a pitch as well, even though it's tomorrow's topic, but we can give it a shot. Because I actually think you're, like, the perfect person to ask. Because I actually think you're, like, the perfect person to ask. Notice that the word to is pronounced as oo before a vowel. To ask. And then the W enters there between the to and the ask. To ask. To ask. Usually, if the to appears before a consonant, the to will become T. To go. To think, to play. To ask, to understand. Okay, next. Are you ready? Sharpen your ears. Let's go.

I'm so sorry about this. I'm terribly embarrassed. Please let me. Let me start again.

Okay, let's do it again.

I'm so sorry about this. I'm terribly embarrassed. Please let me. Let me start again. I'm so sorry about this. I'm terribly embarrassed. Please let me start again. I'm so sorry about this. I'm terribly embarrassed. Please let me. Let me start again.

Okay, good. So we have one guess. I'm so sorry about this. Or that. I'm gonna play it again.

Sorry about this. I'm terribly embarrassed. Please let me. Let me start again.

Okay, so what. What is that last phrase you Guessed some of it. Very good.

I'm so sorry about this. I'm terribly embarrassed. Please let me. Let me start again.

What is that last phrase that he's saying? Very good, you guys.

I'm so sorry about this. I'm terribly embarrassed. Please let me. Let me start again.

Put me in the comments. If this was hard for you and you're not participating because you're not sure, let me know in the chat. Okay? So. I'm so sorry about this. I'm so sorry about this. I'm terribly embarrassed. Embarrassed. I'm terribly embarrassed. Please let me start again. I'm so sorry about this. I'm terribly embarrassed. Please let me start again. Now let's say the whole thing together. I'm so sorry about this. I'm terribly embarrassed. Please let me start again. I'm so sorry about this. I'm terribly embarrassed. Please let me start again. Good. All right, you guys, we did it. It's the end of the hour, and we have completed day two. You guys are amazing. Thank you for your participation. Today we learned what connected speech is. We talked about simple tips that are going to for using connected speech. We talked about the benefits of practicing connected speech. We said it creates effortlessness, it reduces tension. It helps you understand others. It helps you deliver a clear message because people expect it and makes you feel more in control of the language. It allows you to capture the rhythm of English. We talked about how to practice connected speech and how to practice listening to connected speech. So to practice connected speech, you can just read anything. An email that you get, a book, an article, and just use one of the tips that I shared with you today. Just a little recap. We said, keep your voice going. We talked about connecting intentionally the words by connecting the sounds. We talked about legato versus takato, and we talked about reducing common function words because it forces you to connect. So use any one of those tips while reading out loud, just like we did here. Or look for it when you're listening to clips of people speaking. Okay. Like we did right here at the end. And I want you to answer, not day three. I changed it last minute, and now I'm like, why did I change it to day three? Answer day two questions in the workbook for today. And tomorrow we're going to talk about pitch and intonation. So today we talked about connecting words together. And tomorrow we'll talk about what to do with our voice as we are keeping it going on one breath. All right? Any questions for me or for the world? Any questions about connected speech? Any questions about the training? Any questions about life? Let's see what's going by really quickly. Let's see, let's see. Okay, so there is a question. What websites can we use to improve our speech to become connected speech? Any. Any video you don't like, you just need to enjoy it. Any book, any. Any article, any TV show, any YouTuber that you like, any podcast that you like, you just plug and play. Okay? You just take a sentence or you listen to a clip and then you do the work. Connected speech is all the time, everywhere, anywhere. Like, you don't have to look for it. It's not like a grammar exercise where you're like, oh, I have to find places where they use the perfect tense. No, Connected speech is. Exists when people speak. And this is why I'm saying, like, people are. Are used to hearing the language connected, and this is why it's so important. And I do think people don't talk about it enough when teaching English. And I think it's a great tool for us to have. And I do. You know, I told that story before, but I'm going to tell it again. When I. Last October, I was in New York City and I did this, a corporate workshop in one of the. In a global organization. And there were people from all around the world working there. And there was this one guy who immigrated to the U.S. years, years ago, right? He's been living in the U.S. his pronunciation was impeccable. Like, all the sounds, spot on, but there was still something there. And he said, like, people on my team struggle to understand me. Now, the people on the team, on his team were actually in the same room because I was giving them like a. A training and they were all in the same room. And the. The only thing that was happening when he spoke was the fact that he wasn't using connected speech. He was separating the words. In hindsight, he told us that it was because he was afraid. When he just arrived to the US he was afraid of not being understood. He was originally from China, so he was afraid that he would not be understood. And he got into the habit of separating. Even though he practiced his pronunciation, he mastered all the sounds. He had beautiful grasp of the rhythm, but something about connecting the words were just like, he did pull it together. So I gave him the tip of keeping his voice going as he was speaking, and I was coaching him as he was doing it. And in one second, he started speaking and he just kept his voice going. And when he stopped, he was like, I've never hurt myself. Like that I really feel the difference. And his team members said, this is the first time that I heard you speak like that. That is amazing. Like, the impact was instantaneous. Now, again, he had a lot of experience, but just that one element changed a lot for him. And this is why I think it's incredibly important sometimes, like, for some of you, it might be premature if you're just starting out and you still want to learn the sounds of English. And then I would recommend for you to practice connected speech just to improve your listening so you are more confident. And maybe later on, as you're open to it, because you know what that is, you'll be able to apply it. You know where you're at, you know your limitation, you know what's possible for you. So do the work in the workbook. There are a few exercises and I'm sure you'll find a way to make it easy, to make it simple and to start thinking about it or to become a bit more conscious of it. Okay. Okay. Nelson is asking, is there an exercise to improve the flexibility of the tongue and mouth and muscle memory? So, actually, yes, I have several of those on my YouTube channel. I recommend the first. It's called Morning Pronunciation Practice. Just go to my YouTube channel, AccentsWay English, with Hadar Search in the search bar for Morning Pronunciation Practice. It has, I think, over 2 million views. People actually do it daily. And it's designed to help you gain flexibility, strengthen the tongue muscles and the articulation organs. But also you can search for my sprints. You have a lot of free sprints on my YouTube channel. So you could definitely. And these are again, exercises, 10 minute intense pronunciation exercises designed to boost your grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation and confidence. And you will also see a link there to a free product that I have called the Sprint Rookie, where you get three free sprints available to you. So if you want to improve your flexibility, your pronunciation, strengthen your tongue, I recommend those resources. Okay. Yeah, I've been getting like, I see more questions about, about this, Fellow speech club members, if they miss this amazing vocabulary classes. Oh, cool. Someone wants to share it with their friends. Well, this is going to be available until September 18th. All the content that I'm sharing in this training is available for you to watch until September 18th so it can come and visit it again. Okay. Can we transition words when we forget to say it? Transition the words? Rhys, do you mean that change the word? Yes. Like, let's say if you want to say something and then you forget a word, I think what you mean is like, can I switch it? Absolutely. If you forget a word, I actually recommend not to try and force yourself to recall it, but just let go of it and use the next best word that is available or start over or change the direction so that you feel confident communicating or ask for help. Be like, what is that word that means shopping? I don't know what word that is, by the way. Okay, what about shadowing? Shadowing is a great exercise for everything, so it depends on what you're focusing on. I just released a video, a shadowing video on my YouTube channel earlier today, and we did it with a monologue from Barbie the movie. So if you watch Barbie, I think you're going to love it. It's a great monologue by America Ferreira. So just so you know, you have that available. And when you shadow. When you do any shadowing exercise, which is, you know, you play an audio and then you repeat it on top of it or. Or you pause and repeat any type of shadowing exercise, you need to be intentional about what you're practicing. If you're practicing sounds, then decide what sounds you're focusing on, if it's the R or the th. So make sure that when you do the shadowing, you pay close attention to those sounds. Now, anyway, you will naturally imitate other things, but you need to know what you're focusing on to know if you're progressing, to be able to actually change things. Because if you just imitate without thinking about it, then you know, you might be going back to old habits. So if you want to practice and practice connected speech using shadowing, absolutely. You just focus on shadowing. And for some of you, it's going to be easy simply imitating. And for others, you might need to use some of the techniques that I shared with you today as you are shadowing. Okay. Ooh, a lot of comments. Okay, so later on today, you are going to have a practice group with Christina. So that is coming up in an hour. So if you're available in an hour, you can join the zoom call with coach Christina, and she will practice with you. Connected speech, everything we talked about, she will put it into practice, and we will also have conversation groups. So check your calendar to see all the dates and all the times and everything. Now, a quick recap of how this works. You have. Because we've been getting a lot of questions. Where can I find the zoom links? Where can I find everything? If you're new to this challenge, go to day zero. Day zero is on the website. If you're watching this on my channel on YouTube. Then you can click the link to join. Officially join the pronunciation training. So you can get email updates and access to the calendar. It's all free. You can get access to the Facebook group as well. So when you have. When you officially join the pronunciation training, you get emails from us. Everything you need is inside the emails there you'll also find a link to the. To the pronunciation training main portal where you'll find everything, the replays, the recordings of all the different sessions. You'll find the calendar, you'll find the workbook. Everything is there. Also, we broadcast the sessions there. So if you're not on Facebook, you can watch it there. So this is where what you need access to to make sure that you are doing well. Now, the zoom links are either on the website or inside the calendar. So inside the calendar, when you click on the event, you will find the zoom link. So go to the website, sync the calendar with your own calendar so you have easy access to it. And this is where you're going to find the zoom links. You'll also find it in your email that you got from us today. That is it. Good. If you cannot join the practice group, it's going to be recorded and uploaded. You can also watch the practice group from yesterday with coach Jelena. So it's already on the replays page on the website. Should we post a video every day of this course? If you are inside the Facebook group 100%. So using videos and posting your own videos, making videos, going live is crucial for, you know, getting out of your comfort zone. Not crucial because you can still succeed without it, but it's really important and really helpful when it comes to building confidence and building fluency. So if you are part of the Facebook group, then you know, yes, by all means. I recommend for you to post your practice post. A reflection. Anything can go in the Facebook group. A quick reminder. Inside the Facebook group, we connect with each other. No private messages, no friends requests. We respect other people's privacy. If you send private messages, we will remove you from the Facebook group. So please, please stick to the rules. We are very, very unforgiving when it comes to breaking the rules. Okay? Respect, support, empowerment. No feedback on each other's English. No corrections. We don't need critics in the group. This is not the purpose. The purpose is learning together and supporting each other. And if you are not trained to give feedback inside this training, then please don't get feedback. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow at the same time. Minus 1 hour and 12 minutes. You guys are beautiful. You guys are amazing. I'm very, very happy to be teaching you here today. I'll see you tomorrow, you guys. Bye.