Full video

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in this American English pronunciation

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exercise we're going to study some

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conversation today it's going to be a

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Ben Franklin exercise where we analyze

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the speech together today's topic what

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did you do today

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great let's get started song what did

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you do today Tom what did you do today

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lots of interesting things happening

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here I noticed first of all that I've

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dropped the T here wedid what did what

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did you do

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I'm also noticing I'm getting more of a

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J sound here jew-jew what did you did

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jus so the D and the Y here are

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combining to make the J sound so we have

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one day jus what did you what did you

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what did you Tom what did you do today

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the other thing I noticed is that the T

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here is really more of a flap sound a

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dee doo de doo de doo today

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this is most definitely a schwa so we're

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reducing this unstressed syllable to be

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the schwa today today do today do today

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Tom what did you do today it's on what

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did you do today today today today I

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woke up now here we have today three

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times always the first syllable is

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reduced to the schwa sound but I'm

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noticing that these T's are all true T's

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and not flap T's that's because they're

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beginning sentences so we're not going

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to reduce that to a flap T in the case

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up here do today it came the T in today

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came between a vowel do the vowel and

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the schwa sound and that's why we made

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this a flap sound but here we're

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beginning a sentence so we're gonna go

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ahead and give it the true T sound

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though we will most definitely reduce to

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the schwa today today today today today

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today today Tom what did you do today

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today today today I woke up everything

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was very connected there and I know that

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when we have something ending in a vowel

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or diphthong sound and the next word

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beginning in a vowel or diphthong sound

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that we want that to really glide

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together today I today I today I and any

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time we have a word that begins with a

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vowel we want to say hmm does the word

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before end in

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consonant sound it does it ends in the K

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consonant sound woke up woke up so to

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help us link we can almost think of it

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as beginning the next word whoa Cup woke

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up today I woke up today today today I

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woke up and I went for a run and I went

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for a run

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Tom dropped the D here connected this

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word and to I and I and I and I

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this was the schwa sound so he's reduced

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and in I and I and I went for a run

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forever ah Tom reduced the vowel in the

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word for to the schwa and we've

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connected these two function words

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together for a furro furro this is also

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a schwa for a furrow for a run for a run

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and I went for a run

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can you pick out the two stressed words

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here when run those are the two words

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that have the most shape in the voice

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the most length and I went for a run and

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I went for a run again he's got the

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intonation going up here at the end

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because comma he's giving us a list here

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and there's more information about to

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come today I woke up and I went for a

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run and I went for a run and I went for

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a run and then I just worked and now

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here Tom did pronounce the D he linked

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it to the next word beginning with a

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vowel which is just this thought word

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that we say when we're thinking and and

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again the intonation of the voice is

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going up at the end and signaling comma

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not a period more information coming and

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and and that I just worked worked worked

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then I just worked here finally we have

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the intonation of the voice going down

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at the end so we know period end of the

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sentence end of the thought then I he

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connected this ending consonant to the

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beginning vowel the diphthong

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i I

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to smooth that out then I then I that I

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just worked

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did you notice Tom dropped the tea here

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we did not get just worked just worked

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he didn't release it this happens often

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when we have a word that ends in a

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cluster with a tea when the next word

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also begins with a consonant in these

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cases often the tea will get dropped I

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just worked I just worked I just worked

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do you notice that the Eadie ending here

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is pronounced as a tea sound that's

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because the sound before the K is

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unvoiced so this ending will also be

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unvoiced worked worked and I went for a

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run and then I just worked and then I

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just worked and that I just worked so

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where do you run so where do you run now

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this is a question but did you notice

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the intonation went down at the end run

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run

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that's because it's a question that

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cannot be answered with just yes or no

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yes/no questions go up and pitch at the

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end all other questions tend to go down

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in pitch at the end where do you run do

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you hear the stressed words in that

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question where run so where do you run

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longer words more up-down shape of the

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voice where run so where do you run so

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where do you run so where do you run so

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where do you run I run in Fort Greene

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Park what do you hear as being the

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stressed syllables there I run in Fort

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Greene Park I run in Fort Greene Park I

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run in Fort Greene Park I run in Fort

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Greene Park

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I hear Dada Dada Dada

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definitely I hear Fort Greene & Park all

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being longer all having that shape in

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the voice I run in Fort Greene Park also

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I is a little bit more stressed than

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running I I dadada dadada i runnin i

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runnin runnin runnin so those two words

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are really

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together because we have an ending

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consonant and a beginning vowel runnin

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runnin I run in I run in Fort Greene

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Park I run in Fort Greene Park I run in

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Fort Greene Park I run in Fort Greene

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Park in Brooklyn in Brooklyn Brooklyn a

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two-syllable word one of the syllables

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will be stressed what do you hear as

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being stressed Brooklyn Brooklyn

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definitely it's that first syllable

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Brooke Brooke Brooklyn Brooklyn in

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Brooklyn in Brooklyn in Brooklyn so what

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are you doing after this so what are you

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doing after this how was I able to say

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so many words quickly but still be clear

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first of all I'm dramatically reducing

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the word our to the schwa our sound or

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that means the T here is now coming

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between two vowel sounds and I'm making

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that a flap T sound which sounds like

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the D between vowels water water water

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also the word U is unstressed so it's

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going to be in that same line what are

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you what are you what are you what are

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you very fast quite flat lower in volume

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what are you doing now here we have a

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stressed word do doing doing what are

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you doing do you hear how this syllable

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do six out of that phrase more than

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anything else what are you doing what

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are you doing after this another

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stressed word here so what are you doing

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after this

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so what are you doing after this so what

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are you doing after this what are you

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doing after this what are you doing

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after this after this nothing Tom's

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speaking a little bit more slowly than I

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am here after this nothing we have two

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two syllable words here which syllable

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is stressed let's take first the word

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after if you think you hear the first

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syllable as being stressed you're right

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F after director the second syllable

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very low in pitch flat and quick half

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what about the word nothing again it's

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the first syllable

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ing endings even though this isn't an

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ING verb will be unstressed nothing nah

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nah nothing

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after this nothing after this nothing

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after this nothing no plans no plans

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nothing reduces in this phrase I'm

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really hearing this as two different

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stressed words they're both one syllable

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no plans no plans no plans no plans no

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plans no plans no plans no plans should

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we get dinner

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yeah should we get dinner one of the

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things I noticed is I'm dropping the D

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sound should we should we should we get

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should we get should we get that's

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helping me say this less important word

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even faster should we get dinner should

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we get dinner should we get dinner

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should we get dinner I noticed that the

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T here is a stop T I don't release it

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it's not get dinner it's get get get get

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dinner get dinner should we get dinner

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should we get dinner should we get

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dinner should we get dinner do you

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notice in this question my voice does go

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up and pitch at the end dinner dinner

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that's because this is a yes/no question

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pitch goes up should we get dinner

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should we get dinner yeah as you

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probably know a more casual way to say

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yes should we get dinner yeah should we

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get dinner yeah

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working this way with any video or audio

10:53

clip can help improve your listening

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comprehension and your pronunciation

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that's it and thanks so much for using

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