0:00 Today is not a pronunciation lesson.
0:04 It's a pronunciation master class
0:07 and the focus is on one thing
0:10 and one thing only,
0:12 the modern RP accent, my accent.
0:16 I will teach you important techniques
0:19 and useful insights to help you speak more clearly
0:23 and confidently with natural British pronunciation.
0:28 We will cover everything from how to move
0:31 and position your mouth to how to pronounce common endings like e d
0:37 and e s as well
0:39 as suffixes connected speech
0:42 and natural rhythm.
0:44 This is a longer video but it will be hugely impactful.
0:47 To help you even further offering you my modern RP ebook for free just
0:54 in this lesson.
0:55 It contains everything we cover today,
0:58 plus lots of extra tips to really help the techniques stick.
1:03 To download the Modern RP ebook for free,
1:07 just click on the link in the description box
1:10 or scan that QR code there.
1:12 Join my mailing list
1:13 and I'll send you the ebook straight to your email inbox.
1:17 Let's begin with your Modern RP pronunciation masterass.
1:21 Okay, let's get started with technique number one.
1:25 Flex those facial muscles.
1:28 Speaking is a physical activity.
1:30 So, if we want to speak clearly and accurately,
1:34 we should warm up our muscles just like we would before doing exercise.
1:38 The jaw, the lips,
1:40 and the tongue all work together to make the vowel
1:44 and consonant sounds that form words.
1:47 English has many sounds
1:48 that require us to drop the jaw
1:51 and open our mouths up wide.
1:54 So, here are some exercises to get those muscles moving
1:57 and to keep them in shape.
1:59 Begin by simply massaging your jaw and cheeks.
2:03 Try to loosen your jaw.
2:04 Once your facial muscles feel relaxed and you can't feel any tension,
2:09 it's time to start moving.
2:10 Imagine that you have something like bubble gum in your mouth and start chewing.
2:15 Begin with small movements and then gradually open your jaw wider and wider like.
2:22 Then scrunch up your face as tightly as you can like this.
2:27 Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, and then release.
2:31 Repeat that as many times as you need.
2:33 Then we do the opposite.
2:34 Stretch out those muscles as wide as you can.
2:37 You'll be amazed at how wide I can open my mouth.
2:40 I like to do this before I record these videos
2:43 or if I'm giving a presentation.
2:45 It really helps me to speak more clearly.
2:47 Let's train our mouths to open up with some tongue twisters.
2:50 We'll begin with a simple R sound.
2:53 Repeat after me.
2:54 Arthur's father's aunt is calmer after an afternoon at the spa.
3:05 Good.
3:06 Now, let's add in two more vowel sounds
3:08 that also need an open jaw position.
3:12 O and a.
3:15 Listen and then repeat.
3:16 I'm glad I got Matt's hat back after it got robbed.
3:22 Your turn.
3:29 Okay, feeling flexible.
3:31 Let's move things up a notch
3:32 and practice some sounds
3:34 which blend two vowel sounds together.
3:37 O as in go and as in now.
3:42 My jaw moves as I blend the two vowel sounds together.
3:45 So this is a double workout for your muscles.
3:48 Repeat after me.
3:50 How about Joe goes down to the house without rose.
4:00 Great.
4:01 Now we've worked on our jaws.
4:02 It's time to move on to technique number two.
4:06 Train that tongue.
4:08 Our tongues play such an important role in forming sounds.
4:12 For example, to make the sound,
4:16 we need to push the front part of the tongue against the top of
4:20 the mouth just behind the teeth.
4:23 Other sounds such as T, D, and N also require this movement.
4:29 The tongue also works hard to make the sound
4:33 as we need to curl the tongue back in the mouth.
4:36 So it's really important
4:37 that the tongue is strong
4:38 so we can switch effortlessly between phone names.
4:42 How can we keep our tongues in shape?
4:44 Here are just a few ideas.
4:46 One, pretend your tongue is your toothbrush.
4:49 Make sure you use your own tongue and not somebody else's.
4:53 Rub the tip of your tongue alongside the outside
4:57 and inside of your top
4:59 and bottom teeth like this.
5:04 After a few laps, switch direction.
5:06 Number two, try to touch your nose with the tip of your tongue.
5:11 I can't really get anywhere near with this.
5:12 My mom and my husband can do this.
5:14 I cannot.
5:16 No, no, it's not going to work.
5:17 I can, however, fold my tongue in three.
5:21 That's one of just many party tricks.
5:23 Then imagine that you want to touch your left ear
5:26 and then your right ear.
5:28 Really stretch it out.
5:29 Three.
5:30 Can you roll your tongue?
5:31 If you can roll it and stick it out as far as you can,
5:35 hold it for a few seconds and then relax.
5:40 Now, let's practice some of the sounds
5:41 that are a great exercise for our tongues.
5:44 Repeat after me and really exaggerate the movement to give that tongue a workout.
5:49 Lily loves to take David and Daniel dancing noon and night.
6:00 Fabulous.
6:00 We'll do one more with the sounds ch and j.
6:04 George and Jane chose a giant chunk of cheese for a budget lunch.
6:17 Okay.
6:17 Can you guess what's coming next?
6:19 That's right.
6:19 It's time to loosen your lips.
6:22 Our lips play a vital role in forming sounds accurately.
6:26 In fact, we need one of these six lip positions to articulate different sounds.
6:31 If your lips are tight and can't move into the correct position,
6:35 this can have a negative effect on the quality of your speech.
6:38 Let's do some drills to help get your lips used to all of these
6:42 positions.
6:43 Watch my mouth and exaggerate the lip positions.
6:47 No one's watching you.
6:48 I hope.
6:49 Ready?
6:50 Ooh.
6:52 Ooh.
6:53 Round the lips and push them forward.
6:56 Repeat after me.
6:58 Who do you usually include?
7:06 Now, let's switch between e and ooh.
7:10 Smile and tense those facial muscles to make the e sound.
7:14 He needs deep sleep and you do too.
7:24 Now moving from relaxed to rounded.
7:28 ED Ned and Fred bought four more forks.
7:44 Now bring the lips together tightly for BP and M.
7:51 Bill picked me but Peter picked Mary.
8:02 Right, your muscles and articuls should be nice and warm by now.
8:07 Now let's work on fine-tuning some of those phonemes.
8:10 Are there some words
8:11 or maybe even individual sounds
8:14 that you still find challenging to pronounce?
8:16 Well, here's the secret.
8:18 It's all about repetition, repetition, repetition.
8:22 If you want speaking English to feel automatic and effortless,
8:26 then you need to repeat those sounds
8:28 and words so often
8:30 that you can make them without even having to concentrate.
8:33 One of the best ways to do this is with tongue twisters,
8:35 which focus on the sounds you find challenging.
8:38 Okay, I'm going to need you to show me your tongue.
8:40 I want you to stick it out because we're going to practice.
8:44 F and VV.
8:47 The F sound is unvoiced,
8:49 which means you shouldn't feel any vibration when you put your hand here.
8:54 When we add vibration at the vocal cords,
8:57 F becomes VV and you should feel vibration here.
9:02 Watch my mouth.
9:03 Repeat after me.
9:04 This mother thought her thistle was thirsty, but thankfully it thrives in the earth.
9:11 That was tricky.
9:12 Now you try.
9:21 You can repeat that one a couple of times.
9:23 Start slowly and gradually build up speed as you gain confidence.
9:27 Let's try another two tricky phone names and to make the sound,
9:35 curl the tip of your tongue back,
9:37 but don't let it touch the top of your mouth.
9:39 To make the sound,
9:42 push the blade of the tongue against your gum ridge just behind your front
9:47 teeth.
9:48 Are you ready?
9:49 Let's go.
9:50 Lauren loves riding llamas through rolling hills and little remote valleys.
10:05 How did you do with that one?
10:06 Let me know what your favorite technique was in the comments below.
10:09 And I'd also like to hear about what you found most challenging.
10:13 Okay, first let's look at all of the vowels. how all of the vowels
10:18 are pronounced in modern received pronunciation.
10:21 Then I will pick out some of those problem vowel sounds
10:25 that often prevent students from sounding authentically British
10:29 when they speak.
10:30 Let's start with the monothongs over there.
10:32 These are vowel sounds with a single audiary quality in articulation.
10:37 Some are short, some are long.
10:40 The colon mark indicates that they are long.
10:43 We have e as in meet.
10:47 I in lip.
10:50 Uh in foot.
10:53 U in boot.
10:56 E in met.
11:00 Uh in better.
11:02 The last syllable of better.
11:06 In word.
11:09 O in more.
11:12 A in map.
11:16 A in love, R in bar, and O in hot.
11:26 Let's move on to the diff thongs.
11:28 These are vowel sounds which include a change in auditory quality and articulation.
11:34 These are the vowel sounds
11:35 that my students really seem to struggle with
11:38 as many of them are very different to the sounds in their own language.
11:42 We have ear in here.
11:47 A in face.
11:51 U in jury.
11:55 Oi in toy.
12:01 O as in no not no.
12:07 E in hair.
12:11 I in my and in now.
12:19 Okay, so that's all of the vowels.
12:21 We'll look at the consonants later.
12:23 I want to start with the schwa sound.
12:27 This sound once mastered will really make you sound like a Brit.
12:32 Look at these words.
12:33 We have behind, amaze, control, financial, suppose.
12:42 They all feature that schwa sound
12:44 and any of the vowel letters can spell it out.
12:47 A, e, i, o, u, and sometimes even y.
12:50 So, how do we make this sound?
12:52 The lips are relaxed.
12:54 The tongue is relaxed in the middle of the mouth.
12:57 Uh, uh, it's the most relaxed sound you'll ever make. attend fluent dialect.
13:07 Now, here's a really important part of British English pronunciation.
13:12 Some words that have the schwa sound at the end end with the letter
13:17 R.
13:18 This R is not pronounced better.
13:25 Pleasure.
13:25 Factor.
13:26 I know it's tempting to say better.
13:29 Pleasure.
13:30 Factor.
13:32 No better pleasure factor in modern RP in American English and other dialects.
13:40 Yes, the R is pronounced.
13:42 A huge mistake that students make is pronouncing the letters
13:45 that they see in a written word.
13:47 Okay.
13:47 Next, I want to look at two diff thongs.
13:50 Do you remember those are vowel sounds with a change in audiary quality?
13:56 Like two vowel sounds squished together.
13:58 The two I want to focus on are
14:01 as in here and e
14:04 as in hair.
14:06 Here hair.
14:08 Let's start with the air sound.
14:10 This sound is a diff thong.
14:12 But nowadays it's usually pronounced as a monothong.
14:17 Originally we would pronounce it with the e sound and then the h sound.
14:23 E.
14:25 One movement.
14:27 E E Nowadays we have a trick.
14:33 We usually pronounce it as a long E sound.
14:37 E.
14:38 You won't see it written like that,
14:39 but that could help you to understand how to form the sound.
14:43 Try practicing it in this sentence.
14:48 The millionaire had an affair with the air over there.
14:52 You try.
14:58 Now let's try ear.
15:02 We start with the I sound and move to thewire again.
15:06 U I I I ear.
15:14 It's almost almost not quite like we insert a little Y sound.
15:22 But very very soft ear.
15:24 Ear.
15:25 The important thing is that your tongue moves down.
15:29 Here near.
15:30 Try this sentence.
15:31 I fear that it appears you have some beer on your beard.
15:38 Now you might hear some native speakers saying fear appear beard.
15:45 This is very normal.
15:46 And if you find it easier to pronounce it that way, then please do.
15:51 But for me it's fear appear beer.
15:56 Beard.
15:56 Now a super difficult sound for so many students.
16:04 H the sound.
16:06 It's like an extended long schwa sound.
16:10 The lips, tongue, and jaw are relaxed.
16:16 H.
16:16 This sound is found in words like word. world.
16:22 Notice that the R is not pronounced there.
16:25 World.
16:28 Word.
16:28 Try it in this sentence.
16:30 It's certainly a learning journey.
16:34 It's certainly a learning journey.
16:37 Okay, let's move on to consonants.
16:40 Let's bring this chart up again and go through all of them.
16:44 We have P as in pen and B as in bit.
16:52 F as in fig and VV as in vase.
16:56 T as in tip and D as in done.
17:01 F as in thought and VV as in those.
17:08 Ch as in chip.
17:10 J as in jam.
17:13 S as in save.
17:16 Z as in zoo.
17:18 Sh as in shaw.
17:22 As in vision.
17:24 C as in cat.
17:27 G as in goat.
17:29 Did you notice in those two lines there,
17:31 the top line is unvoiced
17:34 and the second line is the voiced version of the one above.
17:39 It's exactly the same movement, but when you pronounce the top one,
17:43 P or T, there is no vibration.
17:46 And when you pronounce the second line, B duh, same mouth movement, vibration here.
17:53 Isn't that cool?
17:54 Let's go across the bottom line now.
17:56 H as in him.
17:59 M as in may as in no.
18:05 Right back there. as in sing.
18:09 As in reach, as in lie, W as in will,
18:16 and Y as in yet.
18:19 Okay.
18:20 Two sounds that I always hear students mispronounce.
18:26 The F sound and the VV sound.
18:30 Now, look at their placement in that chart again.
18:34 F is the unvoiced version of VV.
18:38 Let's start with making the F sound.
18:41 Lift your tongue so
18:42 that the tip makes gentle contact with underneath your upper front teeth.
18:48 Relax your tongue so that the sides touch the sides of your upper teeth.
18:53 F.
18:54 And breathe out.
18:55 F.
18:58 The VV sound is formed in exactly the same way but with voice.
19:04 V.
19:07 Try saying both and feel the difference.
19:10 F V F V V V V V V V V V V V
19:14 V V V V V V V V V.
19:14 Let's try some sentences.
19:16 We'll start with Try this one.
19:21 I think Bertha is going to turn 33 on Thursday.
19:27 Okay.
19:27 What about this with the vv sound?
19:32 Their mother was from the Netherlands where the weather is rather rainy.
19:38 Excellent job.
19:39 You're sounding British already.
19:41 One last point.
19:42 We're going to move on to connected speech.
19:45 And in particular, we're going to talk about
19:47 when two sounds come together
19:49 and mix to make a new sound.
19:51 And this is called assimilation.
19:53 And for me, it's magical.
19:56 I love teaching it.
19:58 So, assimilation.
19:59 When a word ending in T is followed by a word beginning with Y,
20:06 we usually combine the two consonant sounds to make.
20:09 Can you guess?
20:15 Cha.
20:15 Don't you becomes don't you.
20:19 Won't yet becomes won't yet.
20:22 So that's unvoiced.
20:24 Ch.
20:24 T and Y make ch.
20:27 What about voiced?
20:28 What about a voiced consonant like duh?
20:30 When a word ending in du is followed by a word beginning with y,
20:36 we usually combine the two consonant sounds together to make can you guess?
20:45 J.
20:45 Did you Did you send Yasmin?
20:50 Send Jasmine.
20:51 Don't you think that's fascinating?
20:53 How would you pronounce this university?
20:59 Harvard University.
21:01 Not Harvard University.
21:03 Although that's fine, but we would say speaking quickly, Harvard University.
21:08 Harvard University.
21:11 What about this sentence?
21:15 We would say nice to meet you.
21:18 Nice to meet you.
21:20 Right, let's get started.
21:21 The United Kingdom is packed full of an amazing variety of accents
21:26 and I love how diverse our speech is.
21:29 But as many of you already know, I speak with modern RP.
21:33 And so that's what I'm going to teach you how to recognize in just
21:36 10 words.
21:37 You're going to see how different modern RP is from other UK accents
21:42 and from a general American accent.
21:45 Ready?
21:46 Here's the first part of my story.
21:48 By the way, this would be a great opportunity to practice shadowing with me.
21:53 So, pause and rewind
21:54 as you need if you want to speak along with me.
21:58 One slow Tuesday afternoon, I was feeling a bit bored.
22:03 So, I decided to go online to make the time pass a bit faster.
22:07 I opened my computer thinking of doing some shopping.
22:11 Okay, we've all been there, haven't we?
22:13 Boredom shopping.
22:14 I do it a lot.
22:15 Anyway, there are four words in
22:17 that story that I think really showcase the modern RP accent.
22:22 First, Tuesday.
22:26 Tuesday.
22:26 I pronounce this like I'm saying the words choose and day.
22:34 Tuesday.
22:34 In more traditional RP, Tuesday is pronounced Tuesday.
22:41 Tuesday with the U sound.
22:44 Tuesday.
22:45 You'll still find this pronunciation in many dictionaries, but in modern RP,
22:51 we tend to say Tuesday.
22:54 T and Y come together to form CH.
22:58 Can you hear the difference?
23:00 Ch.
23:03 Chew.
23:04 T.
23:05 In American English, the pronunciation is different.
23:08 Again, you'll hear many Americans say Tuesday to Tuesday.
23:16 They drop the Y sound.
23:19 I'll speak a little bit more about this later.
23:22 First, here are some more words with the ch sound in modern RP compared
23:27 with a general American accent.
23:30 Listen and repeat if you'd like.
23:32 Tube.
23:40 Tube.
23:40 Tuna.
23:40 Tuna.
23:40 Tutor tutor.
23:41 I apologize for my attempt at an American accent.
23:44 It is not my forte.
23:45 I take inspiration from the Siri on my phone.
23:50 Tutor.
23:51 Can I help you with that?
23:52 Here is a recipe for tomato pasta.
23:55 The second word I want to focus on is afternoon.
24:00 Afternoon.
24:01 Now, one key feature of modern receive pronunciation is the use of a long
24:06 a sound here.
24:08 Afternoon.
24:10 It's that sound you make when you go to the dentist.
24:12 A a hopefully you say ah and not talk about that another time.
24:19 Now, many people in the north of England
24:21 and in North America use a short a sound here like the a in
24:28 apple.
24:31 Afternoon.
24:32 Afternoon.
24:32 Listen to them together.
24:36 Afternoon.
24:38 Afternoon in northern English.
24:41 Afternoon in American English.
24:41 There were two other words in the text
24:43 that are pronounced with the long R in modern RP.
24:48 And a short a in many other accents.
24:51 I say pass and faster, not pass and faster.
24:57 That sounds very very northern now.
25:00 Pass faster in American English.
25:03 Pass faster in northern English.
25:07 Pass faster received pronunciation or modern received pronunciation in my case.
25:12 The third one is a very common one.
25:14 Listen to my pronunciation.
25:16 Online.
25:18 Online.
25:19 Notice how I use a short vowel sound.
25:22 O.
25:23 O.
25:23 Now, this sound is really common in British English,
25:27 but you won't find it as much in North America.
25:31 Most people from the US lengthen the vowel sound to more of an a
25:35 sound.
25:37 Online online Can you hear the difference?
25:43 It's subtle, but it's there.
25:44 You also heard this short vowel sound in the word shopping. shopping,
25:49 which in a general American accent sounds like this.
25:53 Shopping.
25:54 Shopping.
25:56 Shopping.
25:57 Shopping.
25:58 Our final word from this section is computer.
26:03 Computer.
26:03 Listen to the sound at the end.
26:06 Computer.
26:07 I don't pronounce the letter R at the end of the word.
26:11 Instead, I use awah.
26:13 That's this funny looking upside down E symbol.
26:17 This symbol means that my mouth stays open
26:20 and relaxed at the end of the word uh uh computer.
26:25 In modern RP and in most British accents,
26:28 we don't pronounce the letter R unless it's followed by a vowel sound.
26:33 In North America, on the other hand, most speakers usually pronounce the letter R.
26:39 So computer sounds more like computer.
26:43 Computer with the at the end.
26:45 They do sound quite different, don't they?
26:47 Here are some more words
26:49 that end in e r
26:50 that you can hear this sound in.
26:52 Another another.
26:58 Discover.
26:59 Discover.
26:59 Summer.
27:01 Summer.
27:02 Tell you what, I do find it really hard to force
27:04 that R at the end.
27:05 It just doesn't come naturally to me.
27:09 Summer.
27:11 Summer.
27:11 I love the way it sounds though.
27:12 And I've got to give it to the Americans.
27:15 It does make more sense to pronounce it
27:16 if it's there and it does make it easier for learners of English.
27:20 Okay, here's the next part of my story.
27:22 First, I decided to scan some of the news sites
27:26 and one item caught my eye.
27:28 A major airline was giving away tickets to Japan.
27:32 You just had to go on their website and answer a couple of questions.
27:36 I had to take a look and try my luck.
27:39 Okay, I love traveling so much and free plane tickets are my dream.
27:44 But before I tell you what happened next,
27:46 there are three words
27:47 that I want to pick out of
27:49 that passage to demonstrate modern RP.
27:52 Number five, news.
27:55 News.
27:55 I pronounce the word news with a Y before the U.
28:01 News.
28:02 As we saw earlier, in many American accents, this Y sound isn't pronounced.
28:08 And this is called yoddropping.
28:11 And it can occur after several consonant sounds.
28:14 The difference is most obvious
28:16 when u follows n
28:19 as in news and after t
28:22 and du.
28:24 Here are some more examples with n. numerous numerous nutritious nutritious.
28:33 Let's move on to number six.
28:35 Giving. giving.
28:38 That strange looking N symbol at the end of the word is for the
28:43 sound.
28:44 This is the last sound of words that end in ing like walking, sleeping,
28:51 running.
28:52 That sound, it's nasal.
28:55 You block the air off so it comes out of your nose.
28:59 I usually keep this sound when I pronounce words ending in ing.
29:04 But in many other British accents and some accents in North America,
29:08 this sound is often dropped and replaced with N like the N.
29:18 The sound is produced further back in your mouth.
29:21 When you say GG-g, hold it there.
29:25 That's the sound.
29:27 N is produced just behind your teeth.
29:30 This process is called Gdropping.
29:32 So instead of giving, you will hear people say given.
29:37 Walking, walking, sleeping, sleeping, running, running.
29:44 This especially happens in fast informal speech.
29:47 And I must say, I sometimes do it too,
29:50 especially if I'm trying to be funny or dramatic.
29:52 I want to emphasize something.
29:54 That meal was banging.
29:56 Banging.
29:57 Banging means really good or really attractive. if someone is banging.
30:02 You will also hear this a lot in pop music lyrics like in Dolly
30:06 Parton's 9 to5 working 9 to what a way to make a living.
30:14 Bet you've never heard that song in a British accent before.
30:17 And in song titles like Rolling by Calvin Harris.
30:22 I've never felt less cool than I do right now.
30:24 Working 9 to5 rolling by Calvin Harris.
30:29 I'm not here to be cool.
30:30 I'm here to teach.
30:30 This is a completely accurate way of pronouncing ing words.
30:34 The final sentence in the passage contained the words look and luck.
30:40 I had to take a look and try my luck.
30:44 Look.
30:45 Luck.
30:46 The first word look is made with the short vowel uh.
30:50 It's the same sound we find in words like book, good, and foot.
30:55 You can make this sound with the lips relaxed
30:58 or rounded. and pushed forward just a little.
31:01 Book.
31:02 Good.
31:03 Uh uh.
31:05 I pronounce the word luck with a different sound.
31:09 Uh uh.
31:10 We make this sound with the lips relaxed, not rounded.
31:14 And my mouth opens wider.
31:16 My jaw opens wider.
31:18 H.
31:19 A.
31:20 Look.
31:21 Luck.
31:22 Look.
31:23 Luck.
31:24 In my accent, there is a clear difference between these two words.
31:28 But many people from the north of England don't use the H sound much,
31:34 if at all.
31:35 And these two words often sound exactly the same.
31:38 Look.
31:39 Look.
31:40 My wonderful pronunciation teacher Jane has a northern accent.
31:43 I wonder if she will give me a little recording of her version of
31:47 these two words.
31:49 >> Look.
31:50 Look.
31:51 >> See, fairly similar.
31:53 For some people, they are exactly the same.
31:55 Here are some more words
31:56 that I pronounce with the h sound
31:58 that some people from the north of England pronounce with the h sound.
32:03 I'll get Jane to join in on this one.
32:05 Up >> up >> country.
32:14 >> Country >> become >> become.
32:14 >> Right.
32:14 Are you ready to find out whether I got free tickets to Japan
32:18 or not?
32:18 Here's the final part of my story.
32:20 I got on their site and what do you know?
32:23 I was number 3,576 in the queue
32:29 and the waiting time seemed to be going up,
32:32 not down.
32:33 I was bored, but not that bored.
32:36 Better luck next time, I guess.
32:37 It inspired me to pick up some travel brochures about Japan the next time
32:41 I was in town,
32:42 though.
32:43 I'll make it there one day.
32:44 Yep.
32:45 So, I didn't get any free tickets,
32:46 but I do have three more words to demonstrate my modern RP accent.
32:52 The first one is no.
32:55 No.
32:55 I said I got on their site and what do you know?
32:59 No.
33:00 The key sound to focus on here is the O.
33:04 O.
33:05 It's a diff thong.
33:06 You heard it in the word going in the text
33:09 and it appears in other words like show
33:12 and home.
33:14 The sound in these words varies significantly across the UK.
33:18 If we take the phrase, I know I should go home,
33:22 the O can sound more like a long monothong in parts of Yorkshire.
33:27 >> I know should go home.
33:29 >> Did you hear the difference?
33:31 I know I should go home.
33:32 >> I should go home.
33:34 >> My next word is better.
33:37 Better.
33:38 Listen to how I pronounce it, focusing on the t sound.
33:43 Better.
33:44 Now listen to how it's pronounced in a general American accent.
33:49 >> Better.
33:50 >> I say better with a clear t sound.
33:52 In fast speech in American English,
33:55 the t is often closer to a really fast d sound.
34:01 Better.
34:02 Better.
34:03 This is called a t flap or a flap t.
34:06 Here are some other words that you can hear this sound in.
34:12 Water.
34:12 >> Water.
34:12 >> Little.
34:12 >> Little.
34:12 >> Bottle. bottle.
34:14 >> Notice the difference in vowel sound there.
34:16 My final word to help you recognize the RP accent is brocher.
34:22 Brocher.
34:23 How you pronounce this word can indicate
34:25 if you're speaking with a British
34:27 or American accent.
34:28 I say brocher.
34:30 Brocher with the main stress on the first syllable.
34:34 I pronounce bro more loudly.
34:36 In an American accent, the stress is usually placed on the second syllable.
34:42 Brochure.
34:43 Brochure.
34:44 Here are a few more words
34:46 that can be stressed differently in modern RP versus general American.
34:50 Let's get Joel in to help with this one.
34:52 Again, I say an address.
34:55 Joel says >> an address.
34:57 An address.
35:00 >> Vaccine.
35:00 >> Vaccine.
35:00 >> And garage.
35:02 >> Garage.
35:03 Garage.
35:04 >> Note that in British English there are several ways to pronounce garage.
35:08 I say garage.
35:09 You can also say garage.
35:12 Garage.
35:12 No matter the pronunciation,
35:14 the stress is usually on the first syllable in British English.
35:18 All right, those were our 10 words.
35:19 Something I want to bring up is
35:20 that one of the best ways to get the accent
35:23 that you want is to copy
35:25 or mimic speakers you want to sound like.
35:28 To help guide you through the key features of my accent,
35:32 we are going to prepare a simple pizza.
35:36 Let's begin with our base ingredient, the schwa.
35:40 Now, this sound is very relaxed and requires very little effort to make.
35:45 Here are some common foods that all have the schwa sound.
35:50 Listen and repeat.
36:13 Butter, pepper, vinegar, pasta. onion, carrot, yogurt, and lemon.
36:17 Did you identify the sound?
36:19 Okay, here are the pizza base instructions.
36:23 Pause the video now and read it out loud.
36:26 How many schwas do you use?
36:30 Uh uh is the schwa sound.
36:39 Okay, now read out loud along with me.
36:43 I will mark the schwars to help.
36:45 Combine lukewarm water, a pinch of sugar
36:50 and yeast and leave for about 5 minutes.
36:54 Add the mixture to the flour along with a pinch of salt
36:59 and olive oil.
37:01 Knead thoroughly until a smooth elastic dough forms.
37:07 Now, can you believe that I used 21 schwas in such a short text?
37:14 Did you notice that I pronounced the article a with awah uh instead of
37:20 a.
37:21 I also used the weak forms
37:24 and of and to instead of
37:28 and of and to.
37:30 Using these pronunciations here can help you maintain a good rhythm in English.
37:35 Let's move on to our next key ingredient, the O vowel as in do.
37:42 This vowel sound can sound very different depending on where you're from.
37:48 In my modern RP accent,
37:50 I begin with the schwa and then glide to the uh u o.
37:59 This is also the sound I make when I'm surprised or confused.
38:04 O.
38:05 Let's practice with some common food words.
38:07 Listen and repeat.
38:09 Oats.
38:19 Toast.
38:19 Cocoa.
38:19 Roast potatoes.
38:22 Are you gliding smoothly between the two vowel sounds?
38:25 We generally give more energy to the first sound.
38:30 And make sure you only round the lips at the end of the sound,
38:34 not the beginning.
38:35 O.
38:38 So, let's look at the next part of the recipe.
38:41 Try it yourself first and then you can compare it with my version.
38:46 Pause the video now.
38:54 Now speak along with me.
38:56 Take the dough from the bowl
38:59 and roll it on a lightly fled pizza stone.
39:03 Open a jar of homemade tomato sauce
39:08 and mix in some oregano
39:10 or pesto if that floats your boat.
39:15 Okay, now it's time for our third key ingredient,
39:19 the O vowel sound as in topping.
39:24 Now, in my accent, modern RP,
39:27 this vowel sound is short
39:30 and is made with an open mouth
39:32 and rounded lips.
39:34 O Let's practice.
39:37 Listen and repeat.
39:59 Olive.
39:59 Orange stock chocolate sausage popcorn.
39:59 Okay, ready for the next stage of the recipe?
40:02 Speak along with me now.
40:04 I like a lot of toppings on my pizza.
40:08 Obviously, cheese is a must.
40:12 You can opt for mozzarella, ricotta, provalone, or whatever you've got in the fridge.
40:21 Our final vowel sound is the long a sound.
40:26 Why is this sound important?
40:28 Well, in my British English accent, I use it a lot.
40:32 But in many North American accents and some other British accents,
40:37 it's sometimes shortened to an A.
40:40 With the R sound, open your mouth nice and wide.
40:45 A a R a.
40:48 Listen and repeat.
41:10 Almond.
41:10 Artichoke.
41:10 Garlic, marmalade, banana, avocado.
41:10 Is your jaw open and your mouth wide?
41:14 Try pulling the tongue a little back in the mouth, too.
41:19 A a Let's read the next part of the recipe.
41:23 Shadow me again.
41:25 Speak along with me.
41:26 After you've artfully arranged your chosen toppings,
41:31 garnish the pizza crust with a little grated parmesan
41:36 and marvel at the masterpiece you've crafted.
41:39 Here the words with the R sound
41:42 that are not spelled a R after masterpiece
41:49 and crafted.
41:51 They can all be pronounced with the short a sound in many North American
41:56 accents and some British accents.
41:59 Would you say after masterpiece
42:03 and crafted like me
42:05 or after masterpiece and crafted with the short a whatever feels best for you?
42:13 Let's move on now to consonant sounds.
42:16 One of the most noticeable features of my accent is how I pronounce t.
42:22 I usually annunciate this sound very clearly and expel quite a lot of air.
42:29 T.
42:31 Let's practice.
42:32 Listen and repeat.
42:34 Tofu.
42:50 Butter.
42:50 Risotto.
42:50 Latte. coconut.
42:50 In North American English,
42:52 this t sound sometimes becomes a very soft d sound called the flap t.
43:00 So, a word like lettuce can sound more like lettuce.
43:05 Are you ready to practice those lovely crisp te's with me?
43:09 Now, speak along with me.
43:11 Shadow me.
43:12 Put the pizza in a preheated oven at a temperature of around 210°.
43:21 Set a timer for 10 minutes.
43:24 Wait until the crust turns crispy.
43:28 Take it out of the oven and let it sit to cool slightly.
43:32 Now, I have a couple of top tips for you here.
43:36 One, when you have a t- sound at the end of a word
43:40 and the next word begins with a vowel sound,
43:44 move the t to the beginning of the following word.
43:48 For example, at a temperature, set a timer.
43:53 Wait until.
43:55 Now, top tip number two.
43:57 That's a mini tongue twister for you there.
44:00 When you have two T sounds together, twin the T's.
44:05 There is no need to pronounce both.
44:08 Just one is enough.
44:10 For example, cross turns.
44:14 Sit to.
44:16 Okay.
44:16 Now for our last consonant sound, the sound.
44:20 Now, this is a bit of a trick really
44:22 because one of the key features of my accent is
44:25 that we don't pronounce the letter R unless it's followed by a vowel sound.
44:31 Listen and repeat.
44:33 I've marked the silent Rs in red. rice, curry, red pepper, strawberry, mustard.
44:50 Okay, speak along with me again.
44:53 Transfer your pizza onto a cutting board and slice it into eight portions.
44:59 Add salt and pepper to taste.
45:02 Will likes to open a jar of strong mustard to dip his crusts in,
45:08 but I prefer some garlic mayonnaise.
45:11 Controversial, I know.
45:13 The hard work is over.
45:15 It's time to settle on the sofa and tuck in.
45:18 Now, did you notice an extra couple of R sounds appeared in there?
45:24 I added an R sound between pizza and soferand.
45:32 Amazing job if you spotted that intrusive R.
45:36 Many speakers of modern RP do this
45:38 when a word ends with a schwah
45:41 and the next word starts with a vowel sound.
45:44 As I've shown you,
45:44 we sometimes do it even when the word doesn't end in an R.
45:49 It's just awah.
45:50 Okay, the pizzeria is nearly closed.
45:53 I just wanted to share one final tip for speaking English with a modern
45:57 RP accent and it has nothing to do with pronunciation.
46:02 You don't have to use the intrusive R,
46:04 but I think it's cool that you know about it.
46:07 The final key ingredient is to make sure you're using the British English word,
46:12 not the North American equivalent.
46:15 So many different words and phrases are used on both sides of the Atlantic.
46:20 I wanted to end with a little vocabulary quiz.
46:24 Can you identify the British English words in these pairs of food words?
46:31 Pause the lesson now and have a think.
46:42 Ready for the answers?
46:43 So I'd use corette, oergene, rocket, porridge, and minced beef.
46:52 In North American English, they tend to use zucchini, eggplant, arugula, oatmeal,
47:00 and ground beef.
47:02 I really hope you enjoyed it.
47:04 Why not repeat this video and record yourself reading the words and recipe instructions?
47:10 Listening to yourself can help you notice things you don't always hear
47:13 as you're speaking.
47:14 Okay, let's get started.
47:16 First mini lesson we're going to focus on ed endings.
47:21 I like to teach through stories.
47:23 So, I'm going to tell you about a trip I took to Bangkok last
47:28 year.
47:28 Listen and shadow me to practice if you like doing that.
47:32 Pay special attention to words ending in ed.
47:36 Last year, I visited Bangkok for the first time.
47:40 I'd always wanted to visit Thailand and was delighted when the opportunity finally occurred.
47:47 I asked friends who'd traveled there what I needed to take.
47:52 I went totally over the top,
47:55 and Will watched in horror as I packed half my wardrobe.
48:00 We laughed out loud when Diego jumped in my suitcase, too,
48:05 adding to the chaos.
48:06 I continued getting ready and then we carried our cases downstairs,
48:12 ready for the morning.
48:13 If you were shadowing with me there, feel free to replay and try again.
48:17 Let's take a closer look at those ed endings.
48:20 One of the most common pronunciation mistakes I hear is
48:23 when students try to pronounce the e at the end of the word
48:27 and end up saying asked
48:29 or traveled.
48:30 They should be asked, traveled.
48:33 We only add on an extra syllable
48:36 when the infinitive of the word ends in a t
48:40 or d.
48:41 So words which end in the letters D, D, D, D, E, T, T,
48:47 or T, add an extra syllable with the sound it.
48:52 Here are the examples from the text.
48:55 Visit, want, and delight all end in the consonant sound T.
49:00 Notice how the letters e d add that extra syllable.
49:04 Visit has two syllables.
49:06 Visited has three.
49:08 Want has just one syllable in the present but two in the past.
49:13 Wanted.
49:14 Delight similarly becomes delighted.
49:17 Verbs ending in duh behave in the same way.
49:21 Need, needed.
49:22 But, and this is a big butt
49:24 and we like big butts
49:25 and we cannot lie.
49:27 Most ed endings aren't pronounced this way.
49:30 In most ed words,
49:32 the e is silent
49:34 and the letter d is pronounced with a t
49:37 or d sound.
49:38 How do you know which?
49:40 Well, it depends on whether the word ends in a voiced
49:43 or an unvoiced sound.
49:44 If it's easier to think about it in this way,
49:47 it's like the letters e d are just represented by either t or d.
49:52 One of the easiest ways to find out
49:54 if a sound is voiced
49:55 or unvoiced is to place your fingers on your throat
49:59 and check for any vibration
50:02 when you say it.
50:03 If you can feel a vibration, the sound is voiced.
50:05 If there's no vibration, it's unvoiced.
50:08 Let's give it a go.
50:10 T D T T T T T T T T T T T T
50:12 T T T T T T T T D D D D D D
50:13 D D D D D D D D D D D D D D
50:13 D I can feel the vibration with D,
50:16 but nothing for T.
50:18 What about vowel sounds?
50:20 All vowel sounds are voiced.
50:22 Let's put the rest of the ed words from my story on screen.
50:26 In most British English accents, the word occur ends in a vowel sound.
50:32 Uh occur.
50:34 The letter R isn't pronounced.
50:36 We match voiced with voiced,
50:38 so we add the voiced consonant D to the end and occur becomes occurred.
50:45 Ask ends in the unvoiced consonant C.
50:50 We match unvoiced with unvoiced.
50:52 So we add the unvoiced T.
50:55 Asked.
50:56 That's quite a hard consonant cluster there. asked.
51:00 In fast spoken English,
51:02 we often get rid of the C sound and say asked.
51:07 I asked him a question.
51:08 Remember, we don't pronounce the letter E.
51:10 We don't add an extra syllable.
51:12 Let's practice blending those sounds together.
51:15 Repeat after me to practice.
51:18 Occur.
51:21 Occurred.
51:21 Carry.
51:23 Carried.
51:25 Some unvoiced ones.
51:27 Let's try and pronounce all of the consonants together.
51:30 Ask asked.
51:34 Watch.
51:36 Watched.
51:39 Pack.
51:40 Packed.
51:43 Laugh. laughed and jump jumped.
51:51 Okay, first mini lesson done.
51:54 Let's move on to words ending in s or e s.
51:58 We add s e s
52:00 or apostrophe s to a noun to form the plural
52:03 or possessive or to a verb to form the third person singular in the
52:09 present simple.
52:10 As you listen to the next part of the story,
52:12 try and notice the different ways I pronounce the S at the end of
52:16 the words in bold.
52:17 Again, this is another shadowing opportunity.
52:20 Let's begin.
52:21 We spent our first few days in Bangkok going for walks along busy streets,
52:28 immersing ourselves in new sights and noises.
52:33 We spent ages admiring the styles of clothes in the shops
52:38 and devoured delicious dishes for our lunches.
52:43 Will took hundreds of photographs.
52:45 It's one of his strengths of the incredible places, flower markets,
52:52 and rows of colorful spices.
52:55 He wishes we could go back tomorrow.
52:58 I have to admit that was a tongue twister for me.
53:02 You might not know this about me,
53:04 but growing up I was unable to properly make the S sound.
53:09 I had what we call a lisp,
53:11 which is when your tongue sticks out a little bit too far.
53:15 I would call myself luthy instead of Lucy.
53:18 It was only as I matured that it it sort of went away.
53:21 Unless I'm cold, then it comes out.
53:22 Back to the pronunciation lesson.
53:24 We pronounce s and e s endings in three different ways.
53:30 With s, with z, or with is.
53:36 The last sound is adds an extra syllable to the base form of the
53:41 word.
53:42 But, and this is where it gets a little bit more complicated.
53:46 We only add is
53:48 when a word ends in s z. ch
53:58 or spice ends in s.
54:01 So in the plural form we add an extra syllable.
54:05 Spice spices.
54:07 Then we have noiseises and dish dishes.
54:12 Remember these rules also apply to the third person singular form of the verb.
54:18 So the base form wish becomes he wishes.
54:22 Words which end with the sounds ch and j also add an extra syllable.
54:28 For example, watch watches and charge charges.
54:33 Very few words end with.
54:35 But there are some like massage massages.
54:39 Okay, so that covers when we add is.
54:42 But how do we choose between the remaining two sounds s or z?
54:47 Well, it's the same rule that we saw with the ed endings.
54:51 We match voiced with voiced and unvoiced with unvoiced.
54:54 Here are the words from my story which end with voiced sounds.
54:59 So need to be matched with Z.
55:01 Remember there is no extra syllable.
55:03 We just blend the sounds together.
55:05 Repeat the plural forms after me now to practice.
55:09 Ready?
55:24 Hundreds. ourselves, clothes, styles, days, and rose.
55:26 The remaining unvoiced consonant sounds p- f and f add s.
55:35 What about connected speech for both the s
55:38 and e s endings
55:39 and e d endings?
55:40 When we add s, z, t, and d to the end of a word,
55:45 we often end up with many consonant sounds together.
55:49 These consonant clusters can be really tricky to pronounce clearly.
55:52 Let me give you a couple of tips
55:54 which are pretty much guaranteed to help you articulate these sounds like a pro.
56:00 Tip number one, when the word after sz
56:04 or du begins with a vowel sound,
56:07 try to attach the consonant sound to the vowel sound.
56:10 For example, instead of saying we laughed out loud,
56:15 break up the consonant cluster by saying we laughed out loud.
56:19 Here are some more examples from my stories.
56:22 Listen and repeat.
56:23 Will watched in horror.
56:28 Diego jumped in my suitcase.
56:34 Going for walks along.
56:39 Immersing ourselves in.
56:42 Tip number two.
56:43 When the word is followed by the same consonant sound,
56:47 join the two consonant sounds together.
56:50 Repeat after me.
56:50 They watch television.
56:54 We enjoyed dancing.
56:58 He walks slowly.
57:01 And now time for our final mini lesson.
57:03 Once you manage to articulate this next sound correctly,
57:07 your pronunciation is going to be so much clearer.
57:10 For the final story, focus your attention on the highlighted word endings.
57:15 Again, this is another opportunity for shadowing.
57:18 When we got back home, friends and family quizzed us about our trip.
57:23 Was the hotel in a nice location?
57:26 Was the weather pleasant?
57:29 What was your most memorable moment?
57:32 Well, the delicious food was a highlight.
57:35 It was incredible.
57:37 Learning about the culture was important, too.
57:41 But there were so many special moments.
57:44 I don't think I could pick just one.
57:46 Okay.
57:47 In bold, we can see some common suffixes.
57:51 A suffix is a letter
57:53 or letters that we add to the end of a word to make a
57:57 new word.
57:58 All of these suffixes have something in common.
58:02 They contain the schwa.
58:04 That's the sound at the beginning of the word about
58:07 and at the end of the word computer.
58:10 We make this schwa sound by relaxing the mouth and the tongue.
58:14 My jaw opens a little, but it's not wide.
58:17 Uh uh.
58:19 It's the most common sound in English and it never appears in stress syllables.
58:25 Why is this sound so important for suffixes?
58:28 Well, most suffixes in English are not stressed.
58:32 Let's take this word from the story as an example.
58:35 Memorable.
58:38 Memorable.
58:38 The main stress is on the first syllable.
58:40 Me.
58:41 The suffix isn't stressed and the letter a is pronounced as awah.
58:46 One of the biggest pronunciation errors I hear learners make is
58:50 when they try to pronounce full strong vowels in unstressed suffixes.
58:55 Knowing that many suffixes are pronounced with the schwah can massively improve the accuracy
59:00 of your pronunciation.
59:01 It's not always the case, but it will help.
59:03 Let's take a look at some more examples from the story.
59:06 I'll pronounce the suffix and then one of the example words.
59:10 Listen and repeat after me.
59:11 Us.
59:13 Delicious.
59:20 Memorable again.
59:21 Incredible.
59:31 Special pleasant shun location.
59:35 Please let me know
59:35 which pronunciation tip you found the most helpful
59:39 and how you're going to apply it to your English learning journey.
59:43 Okay, let's get started with today's lesson.
59:45 The key to rhythm is the way we switch between stressed
59:50 and unstressed syllables in a sentence.
59:53 And let's just check that you know what a syllable is.
59:57 It's a unit of speech with a single vowel sound usually.
60:03 Cat, dog, fish, frog all have one syllable.
60:08 And see how we have a vowel sound surrounded by consonant sounds.
60:13 Each syllable is like one beat.
60:15 Tiger, donkey, hamster, camel all have two syllables or two beats.
60:23 But in English, not all syllables are created equally.
60:28 Some syllables are given more energy.
60:31 They're often pronounced louder and longer.
60:35 Did you notice how I emphasized the first syllable in all of these words?
60:41 Tiger, donkey, hamster, camel.
60:44 The first syllable is the stressed syllable.
60:47 And what happens to the second unstressed syllable?
60:51 Well, I pronounced it more quickly and quietly.
60:56 Many unstressed syllables contain weak vowels.
61:00 And the most famous of all is the schwa.
61:04 That's the very lazy uh uh sound at the beginning of about
61:11 and at the end of tiger
61:14 and hamster.
61:15 I'm going to say some more animals now.
61:18 And before I do, try and identify the stressed syllable in each word.
61:23 Here we are.
61:24 Pause the video if you need a bit more time.
61:27 If not, let's check together.
61:30 Elephant and crocodile have three syllables and are both stressed on the first syllable.
61:39 Elephant.
61:40 Crocodile.
61:44 Chimpanzee has three syllables but is stressed on the last syllable.
61:49 Chimpanzee.
61:50 There are four vowel sounds in alligator.
61:54 So that's four syllables and the main stress is on the first syllable.
61:59 And finally, we have gorilla with three syllables stressed on the second syllable.
62:07 Got it?
62:08 Okay.
62:09 So, now we know the difference between stressed and unstressed syllables.
62:13 Let's get back to rhythm.
62:15 Rhythm in music is the regular repetition of a pattern over a period of
62:21 time.
62:21 In language, rhythm is the regular repetition of stressed syllables.
62:27 What does that sound like?
62:28 Repeat after me as I read these sentences.
62:32 I want to have a drink.
62:38 She went to see her friend.
62:43 We need to call our boss.
62:49 They liked the gift I bought.
62:54 Okay, not too difficult, I hope.
62:57 In a sentence, we usually stress the words that carry meaning,
63:02 like verbs and nouns.
63:05 In the first sentence, want, have, and drink was stressed.
63:10 We don't generally stress pronouns like I, she, we, and they,
63:17 or other often short grammar words.
63:20 In these examples, the stressed syllables occur at regular intervals. one stressed syllable
63:27 and one unstressed syllable.
63:30 Let's see what that sounds like with some longer words.
63:33 Repeat after me again.
63:35 The song you heard on Monday made you smile.
63:43 That meal you cooked last Friday tasted yummy.
63:52 The email sent this morning never reached you.
64:02 Don't forget to close the door behind you.
64:10 And the last one, can't they fix the problems any faster?
64:20 Okay.
64:21 So, notice how we have this regular alternation between stressed and unstressed syllables.
64:29 Now, in English, we absolutely love this steady rhythm we get by switching from
64:37 stress to unstressed syllables.
64:39 But there's a problem which you may have already noticed.
64:45 Not many sentences follow this precise pattern of one stressed syllable
64:51 and one unstressed syllable.
64:54 Take a look at this sentence
64:55 that I said to my husband Will earlier today.
64:59 Well, I say this to Will most days to be honest.
65:02 Do you think we should take Diego for a walk before it starts to
65:08 rain?
65:08 It rains a lot in England.
65:11 Between each stressed syllable, we have one, two, or three unstressed syllables.
65:17 It's all over the place.
65:19 So, what do we do to try and keep the rhythm?
65:23 Simple.
65:24 We just say the unstressed syllables more quickly to squeeze them in.
65:29 Listen and repeat.
65:31 Do you think we should take Diego for a walk before it starts to
65:36 rain?
65:39 What do you notice about those unstressed syllables?
65:42 Do you think we should take Diego for a walk before it starts to
65:46 rain?
65:47 That's right.
65:48 Most of them are pronounced with the schwah.
65:50 Do you becomes d or j for a becomes fur and to becomes t.
66:00 Now, we wouldn't be able to keep the English rhythm
66:03 if I pronounce these full strong versions of these short grammar words.
66:08 Listen to what happens when I try to do this.
66:11 Do you think we should take Diego for a walk before it starts to
66:17 rain?
66:18 It's very hard for me to do this.
66:19 It doesn't feel natural.
66:21 I naturally want to follow that English rhythm.
66:24 And that was in the English rhythm as well.
66:26 So, contractions and weak forms with the schwa are key to English rhythm.
66:32 Let's practice squeezing those unstressed syllables in between the stressed ones.
66:37 Now, I'll start with the content words, which will be the main beat.
66:42 Then, I'll gradually add in more function words.
66:46 They'll squeeze in between the content words.
66:50 Are you ready?
66:51 Make dinner.
66:53 Now I'll make dinner.
66:57 Now I'll make some dinner.
67:00 Now I'll make some for dinner right now.
67:04 We followed the beat.
67:06 It was the same speed, but we fitted the function or grammar words in.
67:11 Let's try another.
67:12 Live, house, road.
67:15 He lives in a house down the road.
67:19 He's living in a house down the road.
67:22 He's been living in a house down the road from me.
67:26 So here we can see
67:27 that in English the length of time it takes to say something often depends
67:32 on the number of stressed syllables rather than the total number of syllables.
67:38 Isn't that cool?
67:39 Should we try a few more?
67:40 See if you can shadow me and speak along with me.
67:44 Okay.
67:45 Send text home.
67:49 Send a text when you're home.
67:52 Send me a text when you're home.
67:55 Can you send me a text when you're home?
67:58 Okay, last one.
68:00 Let's do it.
68:01 Try and shadow me now.
68:03 Order pizza go.
68:06 Order a pizza to go.
68:09 Could you order a pizza to go?
68:13 I'll be ordering that pizza to go.
68:16 Someone should make a remix out of that.
68:18 Uh now obviously we don't always speak like this.
68:22 It's not always going to be possible
68:24 or particularly comfortable to keep this steady rhythm.
68:30 But I encourage you to try
68:32 and notice the rhythm of common phrases you hear
68:35 and copy it to sound more natural.
68:38 Let's practice that now.
68:39 I've marked the stressed syllables.
68:42 Try to speak along with me.
68:44 I haven't seen you for ages.
68:48 Do you fancy a quick coffee?
68:51 Shall we head to that place on the corner?
68:54 I went there last week and it was great.
68:57 Put your phone away.
68:59 It's my turn to pay.
69:01 Other great ways to pick up and practice English rhythm are, of course,
69:05 through songs and poems.
69:08 And in fact, I'd like to end today's lesson with a limmerick.
69:12 Limmericks are short, usually funny poems of five lines in total.
69:17 Lines 1, 2, and five usually have three stressed syllables.
69:23 And lines three, and four usually have two.
69:27 Here's an example.
69:28 Shadow me if you can.
69:30 There once was a teacher named Lucy who taught with a sense of duty.
69:36 Her grammar was slick, her accent did click,
69:40 and her lessons were simply a beauty.
69:43 I would love to see your very own examples of limmericks in the comments.
69:48 Bonus points if the last words in lines one, two, and five rhyme.
69:54 Have a go.
69:55 I really look forward to reading through them.
69:57 Okay, that brings us to the end of today's lesson.
70:00 I hope you enjoyed it.
70:01 And remember, the rhythm of speech is the key to sounding more fluid.
70:07 You see, with stress and the schwah, you'll go very far.
70:12 Now use it to sound more RP.
70:15 I very much enjoyed that lesson.
70:17 I hope you did too.
70:19 I will see you soon for another one.
