Speaker 1: Hey, what you doing right now? It's time to turn
up the volume and listen up to this podcast about
linkin sounds in English.
Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from
New York City. And here's your English teacher, Michael.
Speaker 1: All right, thank you, John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael
here from Happy English and I help people speak English better.
And this is Happy English Podcast, Episode eight sixty five,
Speaking Naturally Linking Sounds in English. Hello and welcome and
thanks for joining me for another episode of the Happy
English Podcast. Today we're continuing our series on how to
speak more naturally in English, and this time we're talking
about something that really helps you sound more fluent, and
that's linking sounds. Your English teacher probably calls that liaison.
This is one of those things that doesn't show up
in textbooks, but you hear it all the time in conversations, movies,
TV shows. Pretty much everywhere English is spoken. So if
you've ever thought, like, wait, what did that person just say?
Was that even English? It might be because of linking.
Let's dive in what is linking. Linking happens when the
end of one word connects to the beginning of the
next word. Native speakers do this naturally and sometimes quickly,
so the words blend together, and I mean they really
blend together. Instead of saying turn it off, we say
turn it off. It sounds like one big word, turn
it off. Let's try a few more. Think about this sentence,
can you turn it off? If you say each word
clearly and separately, it sounds a little stiff. Can you
turn it off? But you know, native speakers don't talk
that way. We say can you turn it off? You
hear that The you of can you becomes yup because basically,
in spoken English we don't stress pronouns, so can you
becomes CanYa, And then turn it off becomes turn it off.
The end of turn connects with it, turn it becomes
turn it, turn it. But then the t sound of
it becomes a weak d sound when it connects with off,
turn it off? Can you turn it off? It flows,
it's smooth, it sounds natural. Can you turn it off?
Can you turn it off? Another good example is see it.
Let's say you're talking about a movie with a friend
and you ask did you see it? We usually don't
say did you see it? We say did you see it?
All right, let's break that down, did you becomes digit
when the final D of did blends with the why
of you digya and we just learned that you often
sounds like yeah, are you ready? Are you hungry? Digya? Didja?
And then see it becomes see it, see it because
the vowel sound at the end of C links with
the vowel at the start of it, and a little
why sound is formed see it, see see it? So
did you see it becomes something that sounds like did
you see it? Did you see it? This is the
kind of stuff that can be so confusing when you're
listening because it doesn't sound like what you read in book.
And that's a key point about English. The way this
language is written is quite often different from how it sounds.
How about not at all. Here's a really fun one.
Let's say someone says thanks again for your help, and
you want to say, oh, not at all. Not at
all is a casual way to say you're welcome now.
If you say each word clearly not at all, that's okay,
But in natural speech it blends into not at all,
not at all. That T at the end of not
becomes a weak D when it connects to the uh
in at and yep, the t in at also becomes
a weak D when it connects to all not at all, well,
becomes not at all, not at all. That sounds totally different, right,
not at all, But that's how we really speak. He
thanks for your help, not at all. Why does this
happen well, because Native speakers are trying to make the
flow of speech smoother. It's kind of like when water
moves through a pipe. It doesn't stop at each section,
it just flows. We like when the flow of air
coming out of our mouth as we speak doesn't stop either.
So these linking sounds make speech faster and smoother, especially
in casual conversation. So if you're learning English and thinking
why do Native speakers sound so fast, part of the
reason is linking. We don't pause between words. We connect them,
and it's not that we speak quickly. We just connect
the sounds and that gives the illusion that it's fast.
Understanding this connection is the key to sounding and understanding
natural English. Natural English. Now, when you're watching a movie
or listening to a podcast or YouTube video, try really
listening for how the words connect. You'll hear these little
blends everywhere. Try repeating them out loud. Shadowing the speaker
and focus on how the words connect. That's a great
way to train your ear and improve your speaking rhythm. Okay,
let's wrap it up. Today we talked about linking sounds,
one of the biggest secrets to sounding natural in English.
Try to remember these points in sentence. Pronouns are not stressed,
You becomes yup? Are you ready? What are you doing?
Who are you talking to? What time are you leaving
the office. When you or yuh connects to other words,
the why sound becomes like a J sound. Did you
see it? Did you go there? Where'd you get that hat?
What did you do last weekend? And then when a
word ends in a consonant sound and the next word
starts with a vowel sound, the consonant sound moves over
and blends with the vowel sound. Turn it off sounds
like turn it off, not at all becomes not at all.
And finally, when the end of one word has a
vowel sound like C and the next word starts with
a vowel sound like it, there's a tiny why sound
that happens when those words are spoken. So see it
becomes see it, we are ready becomes we are ready?
The more you listen for this kind of pronunciation, the
more you'll notice it, and the easier it'll be to
do it yourself. And of course, knowing how words connect
will help you understand spoken English better. I remember asking
someone once have you ever been to La? And he
couldn't understand me because I said it like this, have
you ever been to La? Have you ever been to La?
That's how we speak, So go ahead, practice it out loud, repeat,
eat some of the phrases I showed you in this lesson,
and the next time someone says what you do when
you'll get it. And remember, pronunciation is half listening and
half doing, so listen to this podcast a few times
to get these sounds of English in your ears. Thanks
as always for listening, And if you want to feel
better about your English and speak and listen with confidence,
be sure to join my podcast Learner's Study Group, including
weekly live English lessons with me, where we practice these
podcast lessons together. There's a link right where you're listening
to this podcast right now, and then to learn more,
just visit Myhappy English dot com and choose podcast lesson
eight sixty five. Remember, learning another language is not easy,
but it's not impossible, and I'm here to help you
on your journey.
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