WHY you can't understand native speakers

Good morning and welcome back to The English Breakfast. Your weekly, Sunday morning collection of business English tips and tricks to make you look awesome in the office this week.

Back to the office

If you started work again this week, I hope it wasn’t too traumatic for you after the Christmas break.

But to continue with the back-to-the-office theme, here’s a vocabulary quiz.

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I can’t understand native speakers

If you’ve been learning English for a while now but you still find it difficult to understand people in conversation or have trouble following films in English, first of all, don’t worry! It’s completely normal, and today I’m going to tell you WHY this is a common experience and HOW to fix it.

Before we go any further, if you want to improve your English quickly, I’m available for private online sessions. I have very limited availability so if this is something that interests you, click on the link below to see my courses or simply reply to this email with the word “course” and I’ll contact you, senza impegno (as you say in Italian) 😄 

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Click here to listen to this edition 🎧️ 

Have you ever listened to a native speaker and heard nothing but a mushy mess of sounds that barely resemble words? Fear not! It’s because they were probably using connected speech, and it’s the secret sauce that makes English flow smoothly.

So, what exactly is connected speech?

If you think about it, spoken English is really just a collection of different ideas. “I need a coffee” is one distinct idea. “Where is my passport?” is another, and  “I’m going on holiday for 6 weeks” is another great idea!

We don’t deliver these ideas focusing on the individual words, but instead the idea, or phrase as a whole. 

Enter connected speech. All the words in these “thought units” stick together like magnets leaving no space, or silence between one word and the next. Vowels and consonants huddle together, and some sounds disappear entirely. It's what makes natural English sound so, well, natural.

Building blocks 

Before we go any further, let’s do a quick refresher on our building blocks: vowels (the sounds you make with an open mouth, A E I O U) and consonants (any sound that isn’t a vowel. These sounds involve some kind of blockage or interference from the lips, tongue and mouth, like "b" or "t" “s” “v”).

Let's explore the different ways these sounds interact with each other.

Vowel to Vowel

Ever wonder why "I’m so excited" sometimes sounds like /I’m sowexcited/? Here, a little friend called a "glide" (think of it as a handshake) pops in between the vowels to make the transition smoother.

Glide can be heard as a /w/ /r/ or /y/ sound.

She is a really great CEO - /She(y)is a really great CEO/

You are late again - /You(w)are late again/

I saw a movie last night - /I saw(r)a movie last night/

As always in English, we would naturally use contractions where possible, so she’s and you’re would be more common, but, hey, I needed some examples.

Say these phrases again slowly and focus on the last sound before the connection. Can you feel the position of your mouth? Can you feel the vowel sound?

• Linking the eee sound at the end of she is easier with the /y/ sound - /She(y)is a really great CEO/

• The ooo sound of you requires the w connection - /You(w)are late again/

• The open ooorrr sound at the end of saw needs an /r/ to easily link to the next vowel sound. - /I saw(r)a movie last night/

Try to really internalise how these vowels feel in your mouth because other words ending in similar sounds will follow the same rule.

How would the vowel sounds below link together? 

The⤳only thing they⤳are worried about is having to speak English through⤳out the whole of the⤳afternoon meeting. How will they do⤳it!? 

Consonant to Consonant

Imagine "a team building weekend" turning into "ateambuildingweekend." This happens because consonants run together to avoid making speech sound choppy. 

Notice how there’s no space between these words:

team⤳building, a group⤳text, a message⤳board, a meeting⤳room

Words that end in a /t/ or a /d/ sound don’t connect well with consonants. Like think though or used to, they feel uncomfortable and awkward. So guess what we do? We just leave them out. It’s all about making speech as smooth and efficient as possible because…yes, English speakers are lazy.

I thought⤳through the offer

I worked⤳last⤳weekend

We did⤳nothing all day

I used⤳to work for a different company

Notice that the spelling of the word doesn’t necessarily need to end in /t/ or /d/. It’s the /t/ or /d/ sound that’s important. e.g. I worked⤳last⤳weekend

Consonant to Vowel

Consonants find vowels incredibly attractive. There are the Romeo and Juliets of pronunciation because they just can’t bear to be apart. We never leave space between consonants and vowels.

They’ve got⤳a⤳board meeting this⤳afternoon

We need⤳a longer lunch break

Do you prefer cats⤳or dogs? …cats?! You’re fired!

The Great Sound Meltdown

Sometimes, sounds get fused together in unexpected ways. The fancy name for this is assimilation (that’s not really important, what’s important is that you know how to use it) and it’s the reason a phrase like…

Did you tell them you’re going to move to France? sounds like /Didjya tell’em you’re gonna move to France?/ 

I know. Crazy, right? If you’re not aware of this phenomenon, it can make it very difficult to understand speech. 

Let’s have a look at some common examples. Listen carefully to the pronunciation and try to make your speech sound the same.

Do and you together make a /jya/ sound - Do you need a hand? - /jya need a hand?/ 

Did and you sounds like /didjya/ - Did you eat my sandwich? - /Didjya eat my sandwich?/

Going to is a classic example of this! If you didn’t know this before you heard it, you’d have a really hard time understanding what this person is saying. - I’m going to ask for a pay rise! - /I’m gonna ask for a pay rise/

Want to sounds like /wanna/ and that /uh/ at the end is the schwa sound we saw last week - Do you want to get a drink later? - /dya wanna get a drink later?/

In should have, would have and could have. The have is just the schwa sound again. Also, remember that the L🔕 is silent in these words too!

I should have called to say I was going to be late - /I shoulda called to say I was gonna be late/

You could have told me the truth. That would have been better. - /You coulda told me the truth. That woulda been better./

If you haven’t understood already, connected speech is key to having natural-sounding English pronunciation, and being aware of this will also help your listening immensely! So, the next time you’re in the office and you hear a colleague say "I’m gonna grab a coffee. Do you want to come?" don't panic – remember, it’s just connected speech.

All right, that’s it for today’s edition. What did you think? Reply to this email and let me know 📧 

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Ciao for now,

Dan

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