So in this American English pronunciation video,
we're going to do a Ben Franklin Exercise where we take real American English conversation
and analyze the American accent to improve listening comprehension
First, let's listen to the whole conversation.
Let's see, it's 2:30 her time.
- Not much. How are you? - Pretty good.
- What are you doing? - Roberta and Ernie are here.
What would you say about the stress of those first two words?
To me, those sound like they're both stressed.
They both have huh--- huh--- a little bit of that up down stress in the voice.
It's hard to hear my mom's response because it's through the phone.
The TS connected to the UH vowel.
I made a Stop T at the end of 'not'.
We do this when the next word begins with a consonant.
How did I pronounce the word 'are'?
I reduced it to the schwa R sound.
Howwer-- howwer-- and connected it to the word before.
These phrases are typical of starting a phone conversation.
You ask a person how they are.
Generally, you give little generic responses.
I reduced it to the schwa R sound whatterr-- whatter---
So the T became a Flap T between vowels.
Whatter-- it sounds like one word, water. Water.
I dropped the G to make just an N sound instead of an NG sound.
The word 'and' was reduced to nn--
Again, R reduced to the schwa R sound Ernie -err-- Ernie -err--
How is the T pronounced in 'right'?
Oh, that's right! --that's right!
It was a Stop T. So we make a Stop T, unreleased, when the
next sound is a consonant or at the end of a sentence or thought.
Oh, that's right. That's right.
Alright, well have a good dinner tonight.
And now, phrases we use in getting off the phone as you wrap up a conversation.
Alright, well, have a good dinner tonight.
It's common for people to 'have fun' or 'have a good time' with what they're doing next.
Here, I'm commenting on their plans for dinner tonight.
Alright, well, have a good dinner tonight.
In order to make this first word very quickly, I dropped the L and make a Stop T.
Alright, well, have a good dinner tonight.
Arright-- arright-- arright-- I also don't put these commas in, do I?
Alright, well, have a good dinner tonight.
I go straight to them without a pause.
The first syllable of 'dinner' is stressed.
And it's the clearest syllable in that phrase.
Notice 'tonight' is pronounced with the schwa.
We want to do this all the time.
Tonight, tomorrow, in both of those words, the letter O makes the schwa sound.
How is the T pronounced?
Tonight-- Another Stop T at the end of a sentence.
Here again we're entering small talk to get off the phone.
I tell my mom to have a good time.
She responds 'okay, we'll have fun.'
Alright, well, have a good dinner tonight.
The intonation of 'okay' goes up.
It shows that she's not done talking yet.
She's gonna saw one more thing.
Okay.
The word 'fun' then goes down in pitch.
So I know it's the end of her thought.
Alright, well, talk to you guys soon.
My next phrase again starts with 'alright, well'
Alright, well, talk to you guys soon.
And again, to make that first word very fast, I drop the L and make a Stop T.
Alright well-- alright well-- Alright, well, talk to you guys soon!
Talk and soon, both stressed, both have the up-down shape.
Talk to you guys soon.Talk to you guys soon.
The less important words like 'too' are very fast.
I reduced the vowel into the schwa.
Te-- te-- talkte-- talkte-- talk to you guys soon.
Now, my mom is wishing me well and telling me to enjoy what I'm doing.
Alright, well, talk to you guys soon.
Enjoy, have fun, these are the kinds of phrases we say when ending a phone conversation.
Bye.
And I just respond generically with a confirmation 'I will.'
Bye.
My mom actually says b-bye, doesn't she?
Just another way to say 'bye'.
I must really like the word 'alright' at the end of the conversation because I say it one more time.
Again, dropping the L and making a Stop T. Bye.
Bye.
With the up-down shape of the voice.
Bye.
So in starting a phone conversation, we use small talk asking someone how they're doing
And in getting off the phone, we use small talk often telling someone to have fun with
what they're about to do and saying bye.
Let's listen again following along with our marked up text.
You'll hear two different speeds.
Alright, well, have a good dinner tonight.
Alright, well, talk to you guys soon.
Bye.
Alright, well, have a good dinner tonight.
Alright, well, talk to you guys soon.
You'll hear each sentence or sentence fragment three times.
Repeat exactly as you hear it.
Paying attention to intonation, sounds, and stress.
Alright, well, have a good dinner tonight.
Alright, well, talk to you guys soon.
Bye.
Now, the conversation one more time.
Alright, well, have a good dinner tonight.
Alright, well, talk to you guys soon.
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