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Speaker 1: Hey, what you doing right now? It's time to turn

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up the volume and listen up to this podcast about

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linkin sounds in English.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from

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New York City. And here's your English teacher, Michael.

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Speaker 1: All right, thank you, John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael

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here from Happy English and I help people speak English better.

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And this is Happy English Podcast, Episode eight sixty five,

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Speaking Naturally Linking Sounds in English. Hello and welcome and

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thanks for joining me for another episode of the Happy

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English Podcast. Today we're continuing our series on how to

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speak more naturally in English, and this time we're talking

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about something that really helps you sound more fluent, and

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that's linking sounds. Your English teacher probably calls that liaison.

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This is one of those things that doesn't show up

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in textbooks, but you hear it all the time in conversations, movies,

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TV shows. Pretty much everywhere English is spoken. So if

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you've ever thought, like, wait, what did that person just say?

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Was that even English? It might be because of linking.

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Let's dive in what is linking. Linking happens when the

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end of one word connects to the beginning of the

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next word. Native speakers do this naturally and sometimes quickly,

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so the words blend together, and I mean they really

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blend together. Instead of saying turn it off, we say

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turn it off. It sounds like one big word, turn

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it off. Let's try a few more. Think about this sentence,

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can you turn it off? If you say each word

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clearly and separately, it sounds a little stiff. Can you

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turn it off? But you know, native speakers don't talk

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that way. We say can you turn it off? You

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hear that The you of can you becomes yup because basically,

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in spoken English we don't stress pronouns, so can you

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becomes CanYa, And then turn it off becomes turn it off.

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The end of turn connects with it, turn it becomes

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turn it, turn it. But then the t sound of

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it becomes a weak d sound when it connects with off,

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turn it off? Can you turn it off? It flows,

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it's smooth, it sounds natural. Can you turn it off?

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Can you turn it off? Another good example is see it.

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Let's say you're talking about a movie with a friend

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and you ask did you see it? We usually don't

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say did you see it? We say did you see it?

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All right, let's break that down, did you becomes digit

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when the final D of did blends with the why

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of you digya and we just learned that you often

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sounds like yeah, are you ready? Are you hungry? Digya? Didja?

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And then see it becomes see it, see it because

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the vowel sound at the end of C links with

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the vowel at the start of it, and a little

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why sound is formed see it, see see it? So

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did you see it becomes something that sounds like did

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you see it? Did you see it? This is the

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kind of stuff that can be so confusing when you're

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listening because it doesn't sound like what you read in book.

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And that's a key point about English. The way this

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language is written is quite often different from how it sounds.

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How about not at all. Here's a really fun one.

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Let's say someone says thanks again for your help, and

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you want to say, oh, not at all. Not at

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all is a casual way to say you're welcome now.

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If you say each word clearly not at all, that's okay,

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But in natural speech it blends into not at all,

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not at all. That T at the end of not

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becomes a weak D when it connects to the uh

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in at and yep, the t in at also becomes

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a weak D when it connects to all not at all, well,

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becomes not at all, not at all. That sounds totally different, right,

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not at all, But that's how we really speak. He

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thanks for your help, not at all. Why does this

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happen well, because Native speakers are trying to make the

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flow of speech smoother. It's kind of like when water

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moves through a pipe. It doesn't stop at each section,

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it just flows. We like when the flow of air

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coming out of our mouth as we speak doesn't stop either.

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So these linking sounds make speech faster and smoother, especially

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in casual conversation. So if you're learning English and thinking

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why do Native speakers sound so fast, part of the

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reason is linking. We don't pause between words. We connect them,

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and it's not that we speak quickly. We just connect

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the sounds and that gives the illusion that it's fast.

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Understanding this connection is the key to sounding and understanding

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natural English. Natural English. Now, when you're watching a movie

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or listening to a podcast or YouTube video, try really

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listening for how the words connect. You'll hear these little

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blends everywhere. Try repeating them out loud. Shadowing the speaker

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and focus on how the words connect. That's a great

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way to train your ear and improve your speaking rhythm. Okay,

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let's wrap it up. Today we talked about linking sounds,

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one of the biggest secrets to sounding natural in English.

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Try to remember these points in sentence. Pronouns are not stressed,

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You becomes yup? Are you ready? What are you doing?

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Who are you talking to? What time are you leaving

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the office. When you or yuh connects to other words,

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the why sound becomes like a J sound. Did you

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see it? Did you go there? Where'd you get that hat?

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What did you do last weekend? And then when a

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word ends in a consonant sound and the next word

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starts with a vowel sound, the consonant sound moves over

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and blends with the vowel sound. Turn it off sounds

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like turn it off, not at all becomes not at all.

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And finally, when the end of one word has a

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vowel sound like C and the next word starts with

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a vowel sound like it, there's a tiny why sound

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that happens when those words are spoken. So see it

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becomes see it, we are ready becomes we are ready?

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The more you listen for this kind of pronunciation, the

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more you'll notice it, and the easier it'll be to

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do it yourself. And of course, knowing how words connect

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will help you understand spoken English better. I remember asking

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someone once have you ever been to La? And he

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couldn't understand me because I said it like this, have

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you ever been to La? Have you ever been to La?

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That's how we speak, So go ahead, practice it out loud, repeat,

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eat some of the phrases I showed you in this lesson,

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and the next time someone says what you do when

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you'll get it. And remember, pronunciation is half listening and

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half doing, so listen to this podcast a few times

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to get these sounds of English in your ears. Thanks

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as always for listening, And if you want to feel

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better about your English and speak and listen with confidence,

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be sure to join my podcast Learner's Study Group, including

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weekly live English lessons with me, where we practice these

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podcast lessons together. There's a link right where you're listening

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to this podcast right now, and then to learn more,

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just visit Myhappy English dot com and choose podcast lesson

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eight sixty five. Remember, learning another language is not easy,

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but it's not impossible, and I'm here to help you

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on your journey.

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Speaker 2: This podcast is brought to you by Happy English. Please

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visit Myhappy english dot com. Show your support for Happy

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English by leaving us a review. Get English, Get happy,

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Happy English.