Pratica di Shadowing: English Podcast - Pronunciation - Impara a parlare inglese con i video

Scegli una modalità di pratica

Ogni modalità apre una sala di pratica a schermo intero.

269 frasi

Se le frasi sono troppo corte o troppo lunghe, clicca su Edit per modificarle.

Welcome to the Listening Time Podcast.

Hey everybody, this is Connor and you're listening to episode 131 of the Listening Time Podcast.

Today we're going to talk about a topic that I love.

It's one of my favorite topics and I think that this episode is going to be very interesting for you.

We're going to talk about English pronunciation.

So this is a very relevant topic for all of you because if you're listening to me,

this means that you're learning English.

So pronunciation is probably the element of English that is talked about the least.

It's probably the element that is the least focused on when you learn English with a teacher or in school.

Pronunciation is a hard topic, especially English pronunciation, but I love it.

It's one of my favorite aspects of teaching English, as you can probably tell by now,

especially if you've joined my membership,

because you've seen that I do a lot of training and practice with the sounds of English.

So I really like this topic

and I want to talk about English pronunciation in general

and about the difficulties with pronunciation and about how you can improve your pronunciation.

So this should be a great topic for today.

Before we start, remember to join my U.S.

Conversations podcast if you want to start practicing with real conversations between me and other Americans.

This is what you need if you can already understand me pretty well

and you need to reach that next level where you can understand any native speaker

when they're talking to you or when they're talking to other people.

So if you want to join that, you can click on the link in the episode description below this episode.

That's patreon.com slash us conversations.

And don't forget to join my membership.

And specifically, if you become a listening time super member or any of the higher tiers,

then you'll get my pronunciation training.

You'll get my pronunciation seminars where I actually train you and help you with your pronunciation.

So you can go down and click on the link in the description below to sign up for that if you're interested.

That's patreon.com slash listening time.

And of course, if you like this podcast,

please give it a five-star rating and write a review and share it with anyone else you know who's learning English.

That really helps me out and it will help them out too.

All right, let's get started.

Are your ears ready?

You know what time it is.

It's listening time.

Okay, let's talk about pronunciation,

specifically English pronunciation, and even more specifically, American English pronunciation.

So English is one of the hardest languages to pronounce like a native speaker.

All languages have their challenges when it comes to pronunciation.

However, if you want to speak like an American, for example, and you didn't learn English as a child,

that is really, really, really hard.

I can't even emphasize enough how hard that is.

In my whole life, I don't think I've ever heard a person who learned English as an adult

speaks exactly the same way that an American speaks, for example.

I don't think I've ever seen that in my whole life.

I've seen a couple people who have gotten close, who've gotten very close, actually,

but I don't think I've ever seen or met a person who sounds exactly like a native speaker

if they learned as an adult.

Of course, if you learned as a kid or even as a teenager, yeah, you can achieve that level.

Many people achieve that level, especially if you learned as a kid.

Well, you can just become a native speaker, of course.

However, I'm talking to you guys who most of you are adults and you're learning English as a foreign language.

And so you have this unique challenge of learning English as an adult

and trying to improve the way that you speak and your pronunciation.

So that's the first thing that I wanted to mention

is that it's really hard to sound like a native speaker if you're learning as an adult.

So the first thing you need to do is lower your expectations, okay?

So why is English pronunciation so hard?

Well, the main reason is because in English, stress is everything.

Stress is king.

Okay?

English is what we call a stress-timed language.

Basically, what that means is that we have more or less the same amount of time between stressed syllables.

So even if you have a word

or a phrase where there is a stressed syllable and then three unstressed syllables and then another stressed syllable,

that time between the stressed syllables would be pretty much the same as

if you had another word or another phrase where it's one stressed syllable, one unstressed syllable, and one stressed syllable.

Let me give you an example.

So if I say the phrase, sadly, no. In that phrase, I have three syllables.

Sadly, no. So the way I would say that is I would stress the first syllable.

I would have emphasis on sad, not on-ly.

I don't say sadly, I say sadly, right?

So I stress that first syllable and I stress no. Sadly,

no. So stress and then not as much stress and then stress.

And so you can hear that pretty clearly, right?

However, if I say the phrase,

unfortunately, no. Now I have stress on for, unfortunately.

But then all of the next three syllables after it are all syllables that don't have a lot of stress.

And then the word no is stressed.

So listen again, unfortunately, no. So that amount of time between the for

and the no is pretty much the same as the amount of time in the phrase sadly no.

That le in the word sad

has pretty much the same amount of time that we use to say it as the last three syllables of unfortunately.

So because of that rule,

there are many times when syllables are said really fast and really short.

So listen to the two one more time.

Sadly, no. Unfortunately, no. So you can hear how fast and how short those syllables are on the word unfortunately.

Right?

So that's an example of what a stress-timed language is.

So the opposite of a stress-timed language would be a syllable-timed language.

So if If you speak Spanish, for example, you speak a syllable-timed language.

So each syllable has a pretty similar amount of time that it takes to pronounce that syllable.

You don't have these big differences in the length of syllables.

In English, an unstressed syllable might be one-third or sometimes one-fourth the length of a stressed syllable.

That's a huge difference.

However, in a syllable-timed language like Spanish, you don't have that difference, right?

syllables and unstressed syllables don't have a big difference in how long it takes to say them.

100

So that's why if you're a Spanish speaker,

101

for example, and you are trying to speak English like a native,

102

it can be very hard to replicate this stress timing because you're not accustomed

103

to reducing and shortening all of these unstressed syllables.

104

That's not something that you do in Spanish.

105

So that's the difference between a stress-timed and a syllable-timed language.

106

And so in a stress-timed language, when a syllable is not stressed, it can often become reduced.

107

So, for example, the word F-O-R is usually not stressed in English,

108

so we don't pronounce that as for.

109

We say for, right?

110

I say for example.

111

I don't say for example.

112

You hear that?

113

There's a difference.

114

So that's an example of how an unstressed syllable or word becomes reduced.

115

And that happens all the time in English.

116

That happens in virtually every sentence that we say.

117

These words or syllables that aren't stressed can often become reduced.

118

Their pronunciation changes because the vowel is shortened.

119

Okay?

120

So that's stress in summary, in a nutshell.

121

Okay?

122

That can make English a very, very difficult language to pronounce like a native speaker.

123

And besides stress, there's also the issue of sounds,

124

individual sounds, that can be hard because they're different in English than they are in your language.

125

We have different sounds in English than the sounds in Spanish, for example.

126

So besides stress, you also have to deal with these new sounds that are unfamiliar to you.

127

It's not natural for you to make these sounds.

128

So there are other things that are difficult,

129

but really the two main things that make English so hard to pronounce is the stress,

130

number one, and number two, some of the sounds might be hard.

131

So those are the biggest challenges that you will face.

132

So how do you improve your pronunciation?

133

I just talked about pronunciation and about the difficulties with English pronunciation,

134

but now the question is how do you actually improve in this area of your English learning?

135

Well, it's important to note that pronunciation doesn't improve the same way as fluency or listening or vocabulary,

136

those things improve in a more natural way.

137

And if you've been listening to me for a long time,

138

you probably know by now that I'm an advocate of allowing yourself to acquire the language in a natural way.

139

By the way, when we say that you're an advocate of something,

140

we're saying that you support some idea or something.

141

So I'm an advocate of allowing yourself to acquire the language naturally,

142

mainly through listening, but also reading.

143

So when you listen and you read, you acquire listening skills and reading skills, of course.

144

You acquire vocabulary and you even acquire fluency because you have full phrases

145

and collocations in your brain that you can reproduce once you've heard them enough.

146

Okay, so those things improve naturally.

147

However, pronunciation doesn't improve as naturally as these other elements.

148

Okay, so pronunciation requires a more concentrated effort in order to improve it.

149

Listening will improve your pronunciation, that's for sure.

150

If you listen a and if you listen very intently,

151

that will help you improve your pronunciation, no doubt.

152

However, beyond that, if you want to actually have a big improvement in your pronunciation and improve it faster,

153

then the key to this is that you need to notice your mistakes.

154

You need to notice the real sounds of English.

155

You need to notice how native speakers say something versus how you are expecting them to say it.

156

And once you begin to notice these things,

157

you start to shift your understanding and your expectation of what things are supposed to sound like.

158

Okay?

159

By the way, the word shift just means that you change.

160

Okay?

161

So when you start to notice these things,

162

then your whole perception of sounds and this whole element of English will change.

163

You'll start to be able to identify the difference between how you say something and how a native speaker says something.

164

Okay?

165

So noticing is key.

166

And how do you notice?

167

Well, this is also something that doesn't come naturally most of the time.

168

It does to an extent,

169

but something that comes more with practice and training actually.

170

So for example my English pronunciation seminars

171

and my listening practice seminars are a great way to start to notice things

172

because I focused the whole seminar on showing you

173

different patterns that you need to notice and I help you change your perception of what things are supposed to sound like.

174

So for example, my seminars could be a great way for you to start to notice these things

175

and you get those if you join my membership, of course.

176

And just being with a teacher and working with a teacher who is trained to help you with your pronunciation

177

is another way to start to notice these things.

178

A teacher can point these things out to you and help you notice them.

179

By the way, when we say that you point something out,

180

we're saying that you indicate or identify it so that the other person notices it.

181

So a teacher can help you do that.

182

My seminars can help you do that.

183

And then once you've been trained a little bit, then you can start to do this on your own.

184

And you can start to notice more things by yourself.

185

you won't notice everything, but you'll start to notice more.

186

So it's good to get this type of training to start noticing on your own.

187

And when it comes to noticing and focusing on mistakes,

188

I want to point out that there are two categories of pronunciation mistakes.

189

So there are mistakes that are easily noticeable and fixable and then there are mistakes that aren't.

190

So let me explain this.

191

So a lot of mistakes can be categorized as mistakes

192

that you can easily notice and fix if someone points them out to you.

193

You probably won't notice them on your own, but a teacher or my seminar,

194

for example, might point it out and then you can fix it.

195

So, for example, things that are related to stress are actually pretty fixable.

196

For example, within one word, you might be stressing the wrong syllable.

197

For example, the country Japan, in this word, the second syllable is stressed.

198

Japan.

199

However, many English learners stress the wrong syllable.

200

They say Japan, and that's wrong.

201

But it's very easy to notice if a teacher points that out to you, and it's very easy to fix.

202

You just stress the other syllable.

203

Instead of Japan, you say Japan, right?

204

It's not hard.

205

So that's an example.

206

And stress within a sentence.

207

For example, instead of saying, I want it, what we would say is, I want it, in most cases.

208

So instead of stressing the I, we would stress the want.

209

I want it, not I want it, right?

210

if someone points that out to you, that you're stressing the wrong word,

211

it's pretty easy to notice that and then to say it correctly.

212

That doesn't mean that you'll say it correctly next time,

213

but in this moment, you can say it correctly and start to register that in your brain.

214

You can register that error there and maybe notice it a little bit more in the future.

215

Also with skipped syllables, for example, in the word family, the I is silent.

216

We don't say family, we say family.

217

That's something that a teacher can point out to you, and it's pretty easy to fix.

218

Just don't say the middle syllable.

219

It's just family.

220

Like it's not several, it's several.

221

You just skip the syllable.

222

So if someone points that out to you, it's pretty easy to fix.

223

Also certain letter combinations, like the T-U,

224

can be pronounced CHU sometimes, like situation.

225

And D-U can be

226

with a j sound like graduate okay

227

or sometimes you're just saying the wrong vowel instead of saying priority maybe you say priority

228

and you just need to change the pre to pry or maybe you say notice but the correct pronunciation is notice.

229

You just need to change the AH to an OH.

230

Notice, right?

231

So those are examples of fixable errors that are very easy to identify

232

if you're a trained teacher who can actually teach pronunciation, of course.

233

So in my seminars, for example, I point these things out,

234

or other teachers who teach pronunciation can easily identify this and you can fix it, right?

235

However, there are other pronunciation mistakes that are much harder to identify and fix and these have to do with your accent.

236

So your accent refers to the way that you pronounce English sounds based on the sounds in your own language.

237

So for example, there are certain vowel sounds in English that you don't have in Spanish, for example.

238

So like in the different vowels in the words hit and heat,

239

that might be hard for you to even hear the difference, right?

240

Or laugh versus love, or food versus foot.

241

Those different vowel sounds in those words might be really hard for you to identify

242

and pronounce differently because some of these are sounds that you don't have in your language.

243

So because of that, it's harder to hear them and harder to fix them.

244

So there are many other examples that I could give, but I think you get the point, right?

245

There are some errors that are not easy for you to hear, and they're not easy for you to fix,

246

and you have to accept the fact that you're not going to get rid of your accent very quickly.

247

That's going to stay for a long time, and usually it stays forever, but you can reduce it over time,

248

but it takes a long time, okay?

249

So when it comes to improving your pronunciation,

250

I would say that you should focus mostly on the fixable errors, okay?

251

The ones that are very easy to notice and fix, and if you fix those errors,

252

your pronunciation will improve a lot because there are a lot of fixable errors.

253

However, when it comes to your accent, you need to have more realistic expectations.

254

You can also take classes with an accent coach, a professional who can help you with this,

255

but this is a very specialized field, of course.

256

So that's pretty much what I wanted to talk about today.

257

I hope this gave you a good idea of why pronunciation is difficult in English and how you can improve it.

258

And of course, remember to sign up for my membership if you want my pronunciation training.

259

Specifically, if you become a super member or anything higher than that, then you get my pronunciation seminars.

260

And even just with the listening practice seminars, this will also help you with your pronunciation.

261

So if you want my training, make sure to sign up.

262

The link is in the description below this episode.

263

That's patreon.com slash listening time.

264

And of course, sign up for my new podcast as well.

265

If you want to practice listening with real conversations.

266

That's patreon.com slash us conversations.

267

The link is down below.

268

And if you like this podcast, please give it a five-star rating and write a review and share it with anyone you know who's learning English.

269

All right, thank you for listening to this episode, and I'll talk to you on the next episode of Listening Time.

Scarica l'app

Tutto ciò che serve per parlare fluentemente

Pronuncia con IAVoto per ogni frase

Pratica IPAPadroneggia ogni suono

VocabolarioCostruisci il tuo lessico

Gioco di vocabolarioImpara giocando

Scansiona QR

Download on theApp Store Get it onGoogle Play

📺 Stesso Canale

602

✨ Video consigliato

266 frasi

English Listening Practice - Patience

Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students

160 frasi

Pronunciation – The Definitive Guide to the Top 100 Words in American English | Rachel’s English

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

149 frasi

Listen and Repeat: SPEAK with me in English

Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students

272 frasi

English Listening Practice Podcast - Who is American?

Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults

552 frasi

Shadowing to Improve Pronunciation + Growing Up in the UK | ETJ English Podcast

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

377 frasi

Speak Like an American: Accent & Pronunciation Training 🇺🇸

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

47 frasi

001 Speak English Now Podcast with teacher Georgiana episode 1

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

386 frasi

Communicate Better at Work in English | English podcast

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

172 frasi

Bước Tiến Mới Giúp Bạn Học Tiếng Anh Giao Tiếp Hiệu Quả Hơn | Podcast Chậm Rãi | Tập 29

Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students

220 frasi

Pronunciation Training: 3 Ways to speak English MUCH more clearly!

Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students

329 frasi

LET’S PRACTICE YOUR ENGLISH?

Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

66 frasi

Hear it & Say it - REPEAT AFTER ME English Speaking Practice

Business EnglishDaily ConversationHigh School Students

Prime impressioni: perché questo video è ottimo per la pronuncia

Questo video sul podcast di Connor è un materiale fantastico per migliorare la pronuncia inglese, soprattutto per chi vuole approfondire l'americana. La chiave è la sua naturalezza: Connor parla come un madrelingua, con pause, intonazione e ritmo reali, senza overo o artificialità. Ascoltare e ripetere questo tipo di contenuto aiuta a internalizzare non solo i suoni, ma anche il "flusso" della lingua, fondamentale per sembrare fluido. Ecco perché è perfetto per esercizi di shadowspeak!

Analizziamolo: frasi naturali e come imitarle

Facciamo un po' di "scomposizione" per capire cosa rende le frasi di Connor autentiche:

"Hey everybody, this is Connor and you're listening to episode 131...": La pronuncia di "everybody" con la "v" soft e la "y" leggera, e la pausa dopo "Hey" creano un tono amichevole. Ripetila lentamente, focalizzando la connessione tra "this is" (non "this is" separati, ma "thisiz").
"Pronunciation is a hard topic, especially English pronunciation...": La ripetizione di "pronunciation" non è noiosa, ma naturale. Nota come "especially" si dice con la "e" aperta e la "ly" veloce. Prova a non enfatizzare troppo la "c" di "topic" – in inglese americano è spesso più soft.
"I don't think I've ever heard a person who learned English as an adult...": La contrazione "I don't think I've ever" è tipica del parlato spontaneo. Impara a unire "don't think" in "donthink" e "ever heard" in "everd". Questo è il segreto per non sembrare "robottico".

Una routine di pratica: repeat-and-record per il shadowing

Per sfruttare al massimo il video, prova questa semplice routine:

Ascolta un frammento di 5-10 secondi, poi metti in pausa.
Ripetilo immediatamente, imitando il tono, la velocità e le pause di Connor – questo è il shadowspeak! Non ti preoccupare se sbagli: l'importante è il tentativo.
Registra la tua versione e confrontala con l'originale. Nota le differenze: per esempio, se la "t" in "topic" è troppo forte o la "a" in "hard" è troppo corta.
Ripeti il processo per lo stesso frammento 3-4 volte, finché non senti che il flusso è più naturale.

Se vuoi approfondire, cerca un shadowing site che ti permetta di sincronizzare la tua registrazione con il video – è un modo eccellente per vedere i progressi. Ricorda: la pratica giornaliera, anche di 10 minuti, è meglio di ore sporadiche. Imparare l'inglese con i video e il shadowing non è solo efficace, ma anche divertente: ogni ripetizione ti avvicina di più a un accento più naturale. Continua così, e soon you'll see the difference! (Ora, ripeti questa frase con l'intonazione giusta!)

La grammatica di questo video

Le strutture che chi parla usa di più, con le parole esatte del video:

Struttura	Nel video
Present perfect have/has + participio passato — un’azione passata che conta ancora adesso	you've joined · you've seen · I've ever heard
Forma passiva be + participio passato — conta ciò che accade, non chi lo fa	is talked · are said · is shortened
Frasi relative who / which + frase — un’informazione in più su una persona o una cosa	person who learned · people who have · person who sounds
Possibilità con “might / may” might/may + verbo — qualcosa di possibile ma non certo	might be · might point

Cos'è la tecnica dello Shadowing?

Shadowing è una tecnica di apprendimento delle lingue supportata da studi scientifici, originariamente sviluppata per la formazione dei traduttori professionisti e resa popolare dal poliglotta Dr. Alexander Arguelles. Il metodo è semplice ma potente: ascolti un audio in inglese di madrelingua e lo ripeti immediatamente ad alta voce — come un'ombra che segue il parlante con un ritardo di solo 1–2 secondi. A differenza dell'ascolto passivo o degli esercizi di grammatica, lo shadowing costringe il tuo cervello e i muscoli della bocca a elaborare e riprodurre simultaneamente i modelli di discorso reale. La ricerca dimostra che migliora significativamente la precisione della pronuncia, l'intonazione, il ritmo, il discorso connesso, la comprensione dell'ascolto e la fluidità del parlato — rendendolo uno dei metodi più efficaci per la preparazione alla prova di speaking dell'IELTS e per la comunicazione reale in inglese.

Tecnica dello shadowing: leggi la guida completa passo dopo passo →

Pratica di Shadowing: English Podcast - Pronunciation - Impara a parlare inglese con i video

Scegli una modalità di pratica

Scarica l'app

A1 English Listening Practice - Transportation

A1 English Listening Practice - Language Learning

A1 English Listening Practice - Money

B1 English Listening Practice - Immigration

A1 English Listening Practice - Cooking

A1 English Listening Practice - Supermarket

A1 English Listening Practice - Daily Routine

A2 English Listening Practice - Travel

B2 English Listening Practice - Living Abroad

B2 English Listening Practice - Airplanes and Flying

B1 English Listening Practice - Adulthood

A1 English Listening Practice - Soccer

A2 English Listening Practice - Learning

A1 English Listening Practice - Productivity

A2 English Listening Practice - Names

A2 English Listening Practice - Emotions

A1 English Listening Practice - Technology

B1 English Listening Practice - American Culture

B2 English Listening Practice - Extreme Sports

A1 English Listening Practice - The English Language

English Listening Practice - Patience

Pronunciation – The Definitive Guide to the Top 100 Words in American English | Rachel’s English

Listen and Repeat: SPEAK with me in English

English Listening Practice Podcast - Who is American?

Shadowing to Improve Pronunciation + Growing Up in the UK | ETJ English Podcast

Speak Like an American: Accent & Pronunciation Training 🇺🇸

001 Speak English Now Podcast with teacher Georgiana episode 1

Communicate Better at Work in English | English podcast

Bước Tiến Mới Giúp Bạn Học Tiếng Anh Giao Tiếp Hiệu Quả Hơn | Podcast Chậm Rãi | Tập 29

Pronunciation Training: 3 Ways to speak English MUCH more clearly!

LET’S PRACTICE YOUR ENGLISH?

Hear it & Say it - REPEAT AFTER ME English Speaking Practice

Prime impressioni: perché questo video è ottimo per la pronuncia

Analizziamolo: frasi naturali e come imitarle

Una routine di pratica: repeat-and-record per il shadowing

La grammatica di questo video

Cos'è la tecnica dello Shadowing?