The Rules of Fast English- Linking

When we can understand the rules of how something works, we can learn it faster and easier. I hear from my students all the time that they spent years studying English textbooks only to discover later that they could not understand native speakers. I had the same experience when I studied in China. It can make you feel like you wasted a lot of time, energy, and money. But, I promise, you didn't.

This series of videos is going to help you understand how and when Americans link two words together. There are rules! We don't link every sound between words, but it probably feels like we do.

How will this help me?

Learning the rules of linking will help you understand native English speakers when they are speaking relaxed or fast English. You don't need to memorize these rules, but the more you can study and understand them, the easier it will be to break apart fast English in a conversation. For some students, sounding like a native speaker is their goal. For people with jobs that require a lot of public speaking or situations where your English needs to be extremely clear such as a pilot or a doctor, it can be important to get as close as possible to native-like speech. However, for most students the goal is clear and understandable English.

Rules of Fast English Part 1: Consonant to Consonant Linking

Let's imagine that you're at a baseball game and you order a hot dog. That's a very American acitivity! But you listen to the Americans around you at the baseball game order the same food, but you didn't understand what they said. They said "Ha-Dog!" You probably just think Americans hate the "T" sound and you're correct. We do, but the rule is much bigger. There are more words like this. I'm going to explain in this video when and why we delete sounds when we are linking. It's not just "t" sounds.

And what about words that end and begin in the same consonant sound? If I say the phrase "less serious," so I pause between the "s" sounds? Do I need to breathe between them. What do native speakers do in this situation. You will learn more.

Rules of Fast English Part 2: Consonant to Vowel Linking

This video explains some of the biggest causes for confusion when Americans reduce their speech. Imagine that you're in an airport and someone says, "I've lost my phone charger, can you help me find it?" And you hear, "Canya help me fin-dit?" You think to yourself, "What is "dit?" Maybe you smile and the person repeats the sentence and then you understand, but the fast English confused you because you don't know about linking.

This situation is very common because Americans link their speech in this way all the time. We can connect the final consonant to the vowel right next to it. This helps us speak much faster when we link sounds together.

Rules of Fast English Part 3: Linking in Prepositions

Prepositions are everywhere, but they are hard to hear. Why is that? Because prepositions are usually linked to the word next to them. Think of the most common prepositions: in, of, on, at, out, to, by, for, and off. These are very small words with only one syllable. These words in a sentence are used for grammar function. They can give specific location information, but prepositions are not the focus of the sentence. We reduce words that are not as important in a sentence, we say them fast, and we link them. But where and why? Does grammar have anything to do with it? Or do we just link with sounds?

Yes, grammar in this case is important. This video is going to take you through step by step about where to link and where to pause and what a native speaker would do if they were saying this in fast relaxed English.

Rules of Fast English Part 4: Linking with Palatalization

Have you ever heard a native speaker say "Did you" as "didja?" What is "didja?" There is no "j" sound in did + you, so what are Americans thinking? Well, when our tongue moves from the d sound to the y sound the built up air can make a "j" sound. This American accent pronunciation feature is really all about the movement in the mouth when you produce the sounds. Americans don't realize that they are doing this. You could ask 100 Americans and they would not know that this was a pronunciation rule, promise.

So, if Americans don't know the rules, why do you need them? Because even when native speakers don't understand the rules that exist, they follow them every time. This is just what sounds normal. When this sort of language starts to sound normal to your ears, then you won't need to remember the rules either, but this starts by first understanding what the rules are.

Rules of Fast English Part 5: Vowel to Vowel Linking

Vowel to vowel linking is the easy one! By inserting a /w/ or /y/ sound it becomes easier to link these words together. Americans really have no idea that they are doing this when they speak, but if students can anticipate it, it will improve understanding!

Looking for more practice for yourself or your students? Find a worksheet packet on this topic here

Have more questions? Leave a comment below or on YouTube

If you only had 2 hours to learn English pronunciation, what should you study?

Let's say you only have 2 hours to learn the most important elements of English pronunciation. What should you study? What should you spend your time and energy on? It's a very difficult question because the internet and YouTube are full of ideas for what you need to pay attention to.

And when you get overwhelmed with too many teachers telling you to do different things, you start to feel a little helpless. You start to feel overwhelmed or like you want to give up.

And I don't want you to feel that way. Not one bit.

So I created this YouTube playlist with some of the most important elements that you should pay attention to if you are looking to improve your English pronunciation.

The Secret to FAST English- Should, Would, and Could

What will I learn?

In this video, you are going to hear the secrets to fast American speech. How do Americans connect sounds? You'll understand a little bit more at the end of the video. You will learn about "should have, would have, and could have" and how these common grammar components turn into "shoulda, woulda, and coulda."

So what's the secret?

Here it is. In common grammar combinations like should have, we always reduce the words that have only a little meaning. These grammar words get reduced. So even if I’m speaking slow- I shoulda called my mom. I’m not speaking fast, but I’m still reducing because “have” is a grammar word, not a word with a lot of meaning. We do this all the time.

We don't say grammar words clearly. Almost never.

Easy Way to Sound More Native- Question Intonation

What will I learn?

This video is going to talk about intonation. In English, our range of intonation is sometimes more dramatic than other languages, so if you goal is to sound like a native speaker, then intonation is important to learn. Clearer pronunciation helps listeners understand you better. When you are understood, you feel more confident. When you're confident, you feel energized to speak English. Use this video to improve your question intonation. I want you to be clearly understood. I want you to feel confident in your ability to speak English.

How and When Native Speakers Pause- THOUGHT GROUPING

What will I learn?

Thought grouping is so natural to American speech, most Americans will not even recognize that they are doing it. We are taught where to pause when we read out loud as children. You were probably taught this in your own language as a child. The grammar will lead us to pause in the right places. We will never pause in the middle of a prepositional phrase, but we will always pause at a conjunction!

Why do we need to learn this?

When non-native speakers pause in the wrong place, it can sometimes become more work to listen and understand what they are saying. My students are brilliant people, and I want you to look as brilliant as you are, so you can share your brilliant ideas with the world. If you want people to really hear and follow you, then you should learn to pause in the right places, so your listener will have an easier time understanding you.

Help Native Speakers Understand you Better- Prominence and Emphasis in English Pronunciation

What will I learn?

What's one small change you can make in your speaking that will actually make a big difference? Prominence. AKA: Emphasis or sentence stress. Native speakers make the important words sound clearer and longer than other words in the sentence. It helps the listener understand the speaker easier. This is not the case in many languages, but in English all words in a sentence are NOT created equal.

Think about a time when you didn't know much English, you said sentences like "Go friend house." And people understood you!! Your grammar was incorrect, but people got your message. These are the important words in a sentence. Prominence teaches us that these words will be louder, clearer, and longer than the grammar or function words in a sentence. The sentence will sound like: "I will GO to my FRIEND's HOUSE."

Pronunciation Rules in English- The Two Vowel Rule

What will I learn?

There aren't a lot of good rules in English, but this one can get you 70-80% there. As a language learner, I think you deserve any short cut I can give you! The two vowel rule is going to explain a way for you to guess the correct pronunciation of words that you don't know. If there are two vowels in a word, the first one is going to sound like the alphabet name: A, E, I, O, U. For example the words: remain, tea, lie, soapy, and blue. Also, words that end in a silent "e" will also follow this rule: cake, cede, arrive, cone, and excuse.

Does it always work?

No, unfortunately it doesn't always work. English borrows and steals vocabulary words from other languages and the spelling rules do not always transfer correctly. Also, some of the oldest words in English don't follow the rules.

Simplify Final Consonant Sounds in English

What will I learn?

Final consonant sounds do not have to be perfect, but they do need to fall into two main categories: stop and go. If you can improve this part of your English pronunciation, your speech will become more clear. People will understand you easier. When people understand you, your confidence builds. When your confidence increases, you're more likely to take risks speaking to strangers or classmates. Getting to your English goals help you get to your real life goals. And that's what we are here to do, get you to your goals. English is going to help us get there!!

Now there are some stop sounds in English P, B, T, D, K, G. All of these sounds stop the airflow from your lungs out your mouth. Some stop the air with your lips and some with your tongue, but they are going to sound different at the end of a word. The other 18 consonant sounds can be called “go” sounds, but the English teacher name is continuants.

Okay, so in English we put a lot of grammar information at the end of a word. We have past tense endings, contractions, plural words and on and on. But when an American speaks, we don’t always say the endings clearly.

So how do we know? It's as easy as STOP and GO!

Find out more on my YouTube Channel

Are you a teacher?

Find worksheets about thought grouping here

What are Stressed Syllables? A Guide for Students

Different languages have different pronunciation norms. Many languages do not have stressed syllables, so it is important to understand what a stressed syllable is and why you need it in English. You can improve your pronunciation if you understand the rules of American English.

Stressed Syllables with woman being stressed

Stressing the right syllables can help people to easily understand your English. You don't have to sound like a native speaker, but if that is your goal, then you 100% need to pay attention to these videos.

Remember, you don't have to sound like me to be a very advanced English speaker, but if that is your goal, I will help you get there.

Remember learning a language is like learning music, you have to practice, a lot!

1. What are stressed syllables?

In every English word there are syllables. Stressed syllables are louder, longer, and can have a higher pitch. Think of the word information. The stress is on the syllable before -tion. "InforMAtion"

You can find examples of native speakers saying the word information in these videos. See if you can hear the stress!

Every word in English has stress, so what about words with only 1 syllable?

Words with only one syllable are "stressed," so don't worry about those.

This video should really give you a basic understanding of stress in English.

2. How do I know where the stress goes?

You can actually find this information in the dictionary!

If we look up the word "engineer," we can find the IPA spelling for the word. IPA spells a word based on how it sounds. It's OK if you don't know how to use IPA. It is not necessary to learn.

The word engineer is stressed at the end: engiNEER

This is uncommon in English! Why? Because we took this word from French and we follow the stress pattern originally found in French. Sometimes the history of the word influences where we put the stress in English. English is notorious for taking words from other languages and using them in English. Notorious means that someone or something is well known or popular for doing something bad.

3. Are there any stress rules? YES

Two syllable words are stressed on the first syllable 90% of the time.

Words that end in -tion or -cian have the stress right before that ending.

Compound nouns are always stressed on the first syllable.

There's a better explanation in this video:

4. Does grammar change stress? YES

There are some words in English that are spelled the same as a noun and a verb, but the stress is different. This causes a lot of confusion for English learners. The pronunciation is different, so how do we know which one to choose?

I could write the answer for you here, but this video is going to make it a lot easier to understand

5. What about compound words? Wait, what is a compound word?

Don't stress! You can learn the rules of compound word stress! English has many compound words. Just look around your house. You will find a bookshelf, bedroom, sunglasses, bathtub, and more! These are all compound words. They happen when two words come together. Compound words are when you take two words and put them together to make a single word. Think book + shelf = bookshelf! Or bed + room = bedroom!

6. Does stress really matter? What if I get it wrong?

Misunderstandings can happen if you do not stress the right syllable. Researchers found that when the stress is placed on the wrong syllable that intelligibility is most impaired. Intelligibility is the ability of someone to understand what you are saying.

If you don't stress a syllable, your speech might sound a bit robotic. By using the correct stress, your English will sound more natural. We stress syllables as a method of speaking more efficiently. It gives our words a focus, but if your first language is syllable-timed, this might be a difficult to get right. If you speak Italian, Spanish, Chinese, or Korean, this part of English might need some extra practice.

7. What if I have more questions?

You can always send questions my way. Comment on a video or find me on instagram. But if you need more help with this concept, you can sign up for a class here

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