Shadowing Practice: Intro to Linking: American English Pronunciation - Learn English Speaking with Video

Creating lesson...
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Today I simply want to introduce the concept of linking.
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I've had my blog for almost two years now and have yet to explicitly mention this in a video as a topic.
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It's high time.
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If everything else is pronounced correctly, stress, the particular sounds of a word, but words are not linked together,
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it will still sound pretty strange to native speakers.
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It will sound very choppy.
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Let's take, for example, the sentence, he told her to go to the park today.
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He told her to go to the park today.
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He told her to go to the park today.
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That last time I said it, I tried to put a tiny pause between each word.
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He told her to go to the park today.
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He told her to go to the park today.
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Can you tell the difference?
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It's an important first step to be able to hear the difference.
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To native speakers, this tiny gap between each word sounds very choppy.
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He told her to go to the park today.
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To me, that is very smooth.
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Can you hear that difference?
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My students sometimes tell me that when they pronounce words and sentences that way, that it feels very sloppy.
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Well, that's okay.
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If If your native language is really different from English, then when you pronounce English correctly, it might feel very strange in your mouth.
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Don't be shy about that.
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Linking is related to reduction or reducing sounds.
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What is reduction?
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As you may already know from other videos, words in English will either be stressed or unstressed.
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Unstressed words and syllables may be reduced.
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This means that a sound is either left out or changes.
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For example, the word can has the a vowel sound, but it might reduce.
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I can be there, can, can.
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There are The word can is actually pronounced with the schwa sound, cn.
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So that is what I mean by reduction.
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I say that linking and reduction are related, and that is because if you're reducing something,
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you're either leaving off a sound or substituting a quicker vowel in order to make that word very short.
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If you're making it very short, you don't want to make your phrase longer by adding gaps.
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So linking is the idea that you will take all the words of a sentence
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and you won't put any gaps in between for a smooth and fluid sound.
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For example, in the sentence, I can be there by three, Ike, Ike.
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You can hear how the kuh sound of the second word is attached to the first word, Ike, Ike.
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There is no break between those words.
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I can be there by three.
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So keep this in mind as you listen to native speakers and do your best to imitate it.
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There will be videos in the future that will cover specific concepts in linking and reduction to help you practice this.
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That's it and thanks so much for using Rachel's English.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This video has 43 sentences and 497 words to shadow. The speech runs for 3:19. The speaker talks at a natural 150 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 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:

WordPronunciationMeaning
reduction noun/ɹɪˈdʌk.ʃən/The act, process, or result of reducing.
pronounce verb/pɹəˈnaʊns/To declare formally, officially or ceremoniously.
gap noun/ɡæp/An opening in anything, made by breaking or parting.
smooth adjective/smuːð/Having a texture that lacks friction. Not rough.
correctly adverb/kəˈɹɛk(t).li/In a correct manner.
topic noun/ˈtɑpɪk/A subject; a theme; a category or general area of interest.
introduce verb/ˌɪntɹəˈdus/To cause (someone) to be acquainted (with someone else).
phrase noun/ˈfɹeɪ̯z/A short written or spoken expression.
fluid noun/ˈflu.ɪd/Any substance which can flow with relative ease, tends to assume the shape of its container, and obeys Bernoulli's principle; a liquid, gas or plasma.
substitute noun/ˈsʌb.stɪ.tʃuːt/A replacement or stand-in for something that achieves a similar result or purpose.
pause noun/pɔːz/A temporary stop or rest; an intermission of action; interruption; suspension; cessation.
explicitly adverbIn an explicit manner.
distress noun/dɪˈstɹɛs/Physical or emotional discomfort, suffering, or alarm, particularly of a more acute nature.
attach verb/əˈtæt͡ʃ/To fasten, to join to (literally and figuratively).
sloppy adjective/ˈslɑ.pi/Composed of or covered in slop; very wet.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

WordMeaning
leave off verbTo omit.
leave out verbTo omit, to not include, to neglect to mention.

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 7 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, don't, I've. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

  • The “sh” and “zh” sounds: reduction /ɹɪˈdʌk.ʃən/, schwa /ʃwɑ/

How to practise with this video

  1. Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
  2. Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
  3. Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like reduction, pronounce, gap.

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.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →