Shadowing Practice: How to Connect Words in English - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Hey everybody welcome back to my YouTube channel.
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My name's Ariannita la Gringa.
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In today's video, I'm going to help you connect words in English.
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Hm... that didn't sound natural.
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Let's see if I can say that a little bit smoother.
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I'm going to help you connect words in English just like a native speaker would.
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Did you notice how I just connected those words in the intro?
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So what are connecting words?
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Connecting words sometimes called linking is basically joining the sounds of words together.
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Not necessarily speaking faster.
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It's about creating a smooth flow of speech.
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For example, listen to this.
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My car is red.
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Now listen to this.
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My car is red.
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My car is red. Hear the difference?
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Native speakers do this all the time without even realizing it.
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It's a natural part of spoken English.
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Let's look at another example.
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Hold on. Now...
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Hold on. Much smoother right?
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And every word either begins or ends with a vowel or consonant.
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Vowel sounds are open and flowing like a, e, i, o, u.
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And a consonant is a sound that stops like k, ch, r, th, y, w.
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All right so now that we know what connecting words are and that we know the difference between vowels and consonants let's see how all this stuff actually works.
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Let's start with rule number one consonant plus vowel.
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This is the most common type of linking.
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It's when a word ends in a consonant sound and the next word starts with a vowel sound.
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You simply join the sounds together and treat them like one word.
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For example, look at.
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Look at. Look at the bird.
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Look at. Hold on becomes hold on.
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Can you hold on a second?
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Hold on. Pick it up sounds like pick it up.
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Pick it up.
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A cup of tea sounds like a cup of tea.
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A cup of tea so this sounds more like "uhv" or even "uh".
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A cup of tea.
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A cup of tea.
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Turn on sounds like turn on.
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Turn on the light.
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Turn on. Hand it it over sounds like hand it over.
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Hand it over now.
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Hand it over.
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And the last example ran out sounds like ran out.
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I ran out of gas.
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Ran out. Now let's go to the next rule.
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The next rule is consonant plus consonant.
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When a word ends in a consonant sound and the next word begins with a consonant sound you often blend or slightly change the sounds.
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So let's check out the first example.
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This shop. This shop.
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So the s in this can sometimes change into a sh sound.
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So it almost sounds like this shop and it's something that happens naturally and most people don't even realize they're doing it.
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And another example is: is she.
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Is she. Is she.
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That can easily become is she where the 's' in 'is' turns into a 'sh' sound to match the 'sh' in she.
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So you want to keep the air flow going from the ending consonant sounds into the beginning of the next one.
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And why do we do this?
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Well, sometimes our mouths are lazy.
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It's easier to say two similar sounds together than to switch sounds quickly.
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So instead of saying feel like we say feel like.
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Feel like. I am connecting both consonants and it sounds like one long consonant.
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For example, gas station sounds like gas station.
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Gas station.
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It's almost like these two words are together and the 's' connects both words: gas station.
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Another thing that happens when we link consonants together is that sometimes a sound just disappears all together.
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For example, next door might sound like nex' door.
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Next door. The 't' is dropped.
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And old man might sound like ol' man.
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Ol' man. The 'd' is dropped.
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Best friend might sound like bes' friend.
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Bes' friend.
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The t is dropped here.
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And lastly just saying might sound like jus' saying.
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Jus' saying.
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The t is dropped here.
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Now let's move on to the third rule: vowel plus consonant.
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So what happens when a word ends with a vowel sound and the next word starts with a consonant sound?
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Well, the word ending with a vowel just connects right to the word starting with a consonant.
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It's really simple.
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Me too sounds like me too.
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Me too. As you can see there's not a big difference.
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Pay rent sounds like pay rent.
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Pay rent. Really nice sounds like really nice.
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Really nice.
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This is one of the easiest connecting rules because the key is to not pause between the words.
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There's not a huge difference between the sounds.
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Just let the sounds flow smoothly from one word to the next.
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Now the next rule is vowel-to-vowel linking.
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If a word ends with a rounded vowel sound like the "ooh" in do or the "oh" in go and the next word starts with a vowel you'll often hear a little "w" sound slip in to make it flow better.
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For example, go out can sound like go out.
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Go out. You're just adding a 'w' in there.
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Go on becomes go on.
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Go on. Do it becomes do it.
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Do it. Who is it becomes who is it.
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Who is it? Then if a word ends with a vowel sound like I, say, or see and the next word also starts with a vowel we usually add a little 'y' sound in between.
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For example, I am sounds like I am.
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I am. See it becomes see it.
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See it. Say it becomes say it.
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Say it. And finally, we are here becomes we are here.
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We are here.
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I just taught you the four ways to link words in English.
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But I want to make something really clear.
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Linking words does not mean speaking faster.
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Many learners think they have to speed up their speech to connect words and that's simply not true.
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Linking is about smoothness, not speed.
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It's about avoiding choppy, abrupt speech.
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All right time for a bonus round!
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This one's still about connecting consonants, but it's a little trickier.
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Sometimes when you connect certain consonants they actually turn into a completely new sound.
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The first common one is when a word ends with a 't' and the next word starts with a 'y'.
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These two blend together to create a 'ch' sound.
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For example, can't you often sounds like can't you.
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Can't you see I'm busy!
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Can't you see I'm busy!
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Get your sounds more like get your.
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Get your coat it's cold outside.
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Get your coat it's cold outside.
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Won't you sounds like won't you.
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Won't you please come in?
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Won't you please come in?
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Don't you sounds like don't you.
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Don't you remember me?
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Don't you remember me?
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Got you sounds like gotcha.
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Gotcha I win!
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Gotcha I win!
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Or you can also say I gotcha a present.
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I gotcha a present.
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You can say each word separately like can't you, but blending them together is very common.
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Now something similar happens when a word ends in 'd' and the next word starts with 'y'.
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In that case, the 'd' and 'y' combined to make a 'ju' sound.
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For example, did you becomes did you.
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Did you. Now it's totally fine to say did you, but you can say did you.
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Did you. Did you see that movie?
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Did you see that movie?
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Or you can also say: "Did you know about the surprise party?" Did you know about the surprise party?
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Another example is could you this becomes could you.
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Could you. Could you help me with this?
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Could you help me with this?
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Or you can say could you please turn down the music?
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Could you please turn down the music?
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Hide your becomes hide your.
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Hide your. Hide your wallet there are pickpockets around.
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Hide your wallet there are pickpockets around.
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Okay, everybody! I hope you found this lesson on connecting words super helpful.
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The more you listen to and try to connect toward yourself the more natural it will become.
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Let me know down below in the comments what your favorite part of the video was.
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If you enjoyed this video give me a like and subscribe and I'll see you guys next week.
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Bye.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 150 sentences and 1388 words to shadow. The speech runs for 12:29. The speaker talks at a steady 111 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 85% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| connect verb | /kəˈnɛkt/ | To join (to another object): to attach, or to be intended to attach or capable of attaching, to another object. |
| smooth adjective | /smuːð/ | Having a texture that lacks friction. Not rough. |
| blend verb | /blɛnd/ | To mingle; to mix; to unite intimately; to pass or shade insensibly into each other. |
| coat noun | /ˈkoʊ̯t/ | An outer garment covering the upper torso and arms. |
| wallet noun | /ˈwɑl.ət/ | A small case, often flat and often made of leather, for keeping money (especially paper money), credit cards, etc. |
| naturally adverb | /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/ | In a natural manner. |
| necessarily adverb | /ˌnɛs.əˈsɛɹ.ə.li/ | Inevitably; of necessity. |
| lesson noun | /ˈlɛs.ən/ | A section of learning or teaching into which a wider learning content is divided. |
| bonus noun | /ˈbəʊ.nəs/ | Something extra that is good; an added benefit. |
| helpful adjective | /ˈhɛlp.fl̩/ | Furnishing help; giving aid; useful. |
| slip verb | /ˈslɪp/ | To lose one’s traction on a slippery surface; to slide due to a lack of friction. |
| lazy adjective | /ˈleɪ̯zi(ː)/ | Unwilling to do work or make an effort; disinclined to exertion. |
| combine verb | /kəmˈbaɪn/ | To bring (two or more things or activities) together; to unite. |
| disappear verb | /dɪsəˈpɪɹ/ | To vanish. |
| separately adverb | /ˈsɛp.ɹət.li/ | In a separate manner; not together; apart. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| go out verb | To leave, especially a building. | |
| run out verb | To use up or consume all | |
| turn down verb | To refuse, decline, or deny. | |
| check out verb | To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.). | |
| speed up verb | /spiːdˈʌp/ | To accelerate; to increase speed. |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 23 contractions and reduced forms, such as can't, don't, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: smooth /smuːð/, smoothly /ˈsmuːðli/
- Long words — get the stress right: naturally /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/, necessarily /ˌnɛs.əˈsɛɹ.ə.li/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like connect, smooth, blend.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | is dropped |
| Possibility with “might / may” might/may + verb — something that is possible but not certain | might sound |
| Superlatives the -est / the most … — the top or bottom of a group | the most common · the easiest |
| Future with “will” will + verb — a decision, promise or prediction | you'll often hear · Won't you · will become |
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.