Shadowing Practice: American English Connected Reading (Part One) | Daily English Topic: Wanting to get the car fixed - Learn English Speaking with Video

Creating lesson...
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Hey, what's up?
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It's Alex.
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Today, I'd like to talk about the connected sounds in a
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short piece where somebody is talking about wanting to get their car fixed.
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Let's take a look.
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Hi, I wanna, I wanna.
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So remember, want to turns into wanna.
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Hi, I wanna make an appointment.
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Make an appointment.
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We want to link all these sounds together.
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Make an appointment.
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Make an appointment.
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The T in the middle of appointment turns into a glottal stop.
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Appointment.
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And the end, the last T in appointment, connects to the next word.
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It connects to to.
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Appointment to bring my car in.
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It's a 2013 forward focus.
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2013. 2020.
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There's no T there.
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2020. It's a 2013 forward focus.
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When I get on the highway, connect when I together.
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When I get on, get on, that turns into a tap.
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Get on, that T in get.
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Get on the highway, on the, connect the N and TH together on the highway,
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you can hear can turns into can.
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You can hear kind of a, kind of a, connect these sounds together too, kind of a loud noise.
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Loud noise.
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So the D and N in loud noise connect.
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Your tongue gets ready to say D, but the air comes out of your nose.
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You start saying N before you finish saying D.
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Loud noise.
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Loud noise.
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Kind of a loud noise coming from the back half of the car.
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Half of the.
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The of turns into just a.
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Half of the car.
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From the back half of the car.
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Like a rumbling.
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Loud enough.
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Loud enough.
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So the in enough or the sound gets reduced to nothing.
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It just starts with loud enough.
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And we have the same nasal release for
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that sound loud enough to hear it from the inside loud enough to loud enough to hear it from.
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So it turns into it.
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It's just a glottal stop instead of a T.
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To hear it from the inside.
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Connect the inside with a sound.
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From the inside.
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It's weird because I just had it looked at a few months ago.
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just had it just had it the t in just disappears
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just had it looked at had it had it had it
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looked at the t in it turns into a glottal stop
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and the d kind of turns into a tap it's a very weak d
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if I separate that you can hear a glottal stop looked at a few months ago
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but when I speak it quickly looked at a.. it's a tap.
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Looked at a few months ago.
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Finally, months turns into months.
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It's a very easy trick here.
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The TH disappears.
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I just had it looked at a few months ago.
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I'm not sure what's going on with it.
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I'm not sure.
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Not sure.
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There's a glottal stop there.
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Not sure.
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Actually, if I speak really quickly, I'm not sure.
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Before the S or before the SH sound, the T will actually disappear.
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Not sure.
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But only if you're speaking really fast.
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If you're speaking at a normal, relaxed speed, then it's not sure.
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I'm not sure.
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I'm not sure.
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That has a glottal stop.
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Not sure.
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What's going on with it?
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going on going on with it going on with it the
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T at the end of the sentence with it turns into
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a glottal stop going on with it with it do you have any open slots this week do you
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so instead of do you you relax both of those vowels
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and you say do you have any open slots this week
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hi I'm gonna make an appointment to bring my car in it's a 2013 Ford Focus
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when I get on the highway you can hear kind of a loud noise coming from the back half of the car.
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Like a rumbling, loud enough to hear it from the inside.
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It's weird because I just had it looked at a few months ago.
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I'm not sure what's going on with it.
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Do you have any open slots this week?

About This Lesson

In this lesson, you will enhance your English speaking practice through the connected sounds and phrases used in everyday conversation about car maintenance. You’ll learn how native speakers link words and phrases, making speech smoother and more natural. This lesson highlights the importance of aspects like glottal stops and reductions, which are common in spoken American English. By focusing on phrases from a real-life context, you'll gain practical skills to improve your speaking fluency and comprehension.

Key Vocabulary & Phrases

  • wanna - a contraction of "want to" often used in informal speech
  • make an appointment - to schedule a time to receive a service
  • get on the highway - to enter a major road for driving
  • kind of - a phrase used to express something that is not exact but close
  • loud noise - a significant sound that can catch someone's attention
  • half of the car - referring to a specific part or section of a vehicle
  • glottal stop - a type of consonant sound made by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract
  • shadowing technique - a method where learners mimic a speaker's speech in real-time

Practice Tips

To effectively utilize the shadowing technique with this video, follow these tips:

  • Listen & Repeat: Play the video segment slowly. Pause after every sentence and try to repeat it immediately. This reinforces your English speaking practice.
  • Focus on Connected Speech: Pay attention to how sounds blend together. For example, “want to” becomes “wanna,” and “make an appointment” flows together. Immitating these connections will enhance your fluency.
  • Utilize Shadow Speech: While listening to the native speaker, try to speak along with them. Make sure to match their tone and speed to feel more confident with expressions like “loud enough to hear it from” or “when I get on the highway.”
  • Record Yourself: After practicing shadowing, record yourself speaking the same phrases. Compare your pronunciation and intonation to the original video to identify areas for improvement.
  • Repetition is Key: Don’t hesitate to go over the same phrases multiple times. Consistency is vital in mastering the nuances of spoken English, especially when learning to learn English with YouTube.

Using these strategies, you can significantly enhance your ability to understand and respond in real-life conversations, making strides toward natural, fluent English communication.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.