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ESSENTIAL TIPS FOR

UNDERSTANDING
ADVANCED SPEAKERS
PRONUNCIATION LESSON
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Understanding advanced English speakers is one of

the most common goals of English learners. Though,
it is not always an easy task to accomplish. This
lesson will teach you five essential tips to remember
when working to improve your listening skills, but
these skills will help you far beyond simply listening.

UNDERSTAND THAT YOU WON'T

UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING: CONTEXT
The first and most important tip is that you need to
understand that you won’t understand every single word
you hear, especially as a beginner.

Focus on what you understand, not what you don't!

You don’t need to understand every part of a sentence to
figure out its meaning. It’s all about context.

Context is the situation in which something

happens, and that helps you to understand it.

Example:
You’re at a cafe with your friend. You were both given your
coffees, and your friend asks you:

“Can you sugar?

What do you think she wants?

Think about the context:

you are in a cafe
you were just served your coffees
you understood the word 'sugar'

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"Can you please pass me the sugar?"

She wants you to give her the sugar. You don’t need to
understand the other words to figure out the meaning. It is
about using context. This is an important aspect of
understanding advanced speakers.

FIND A LANGUAGE PARTNER

If you really want to take your English listening and speaking

to the next level, you should find a language partner.

Ideally, a language partner is a native or advanced-level

English speaker who can help you practice all aspects of

learning English in a highly interactive way. Additionally,

finding a language tutor can help expand your English

knowledge even further.

A language tutor is someone who can help correct grammar

and pronunciation mistakes, and they help continue the

development of your English skills in a comfortable

environment.

You need someone who can:

help you with conversation
correct your mistakes
guide you in a direction
teach you what you need to learn

With an online platform like LanguaTalk, you will have the

ability to speak freely, ask questions and learn the
subtleties of English with a highly qualified English tutor
from the comfort of your own home.

CONTRACTIONS

Now, let’s move on to some of the mechanics of speaking

and listening.

Practise reading these sentences:

She will go to work later.

I am from Canada.

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How do you pronounce these sentences?

Most advanced speakers will probably use contractions in

these sentences:
She’ll go to work later.
I'm from Canada.

It is extremely important to understand how to use

contractions because they are so widely used in spoken
English. If you aren’t using contractions in your speaking, it
might be a good time to start because it will help to improve
your listening and speaking skills at the same time.

Here are some examples of contractions you can practise

using today:

Uncontracted Form Contracted Form

I am I'm

he is he's

you are you're

she is she's

it is it's

are not aren't

did not didn't

can not (cannot) can't

WEAK FORMS

Many words in English typically have a strong and a weak

form. When a word is in its weak form, it is unstressed; it has
a softer pronunciation.

Many function words in English typically have a strong and a

weak form. When a word is in its weak form, it is unstressed;

it has a softer pronunciation.

When advanced English speakers converse naturally, they

use a mix of strong and weak-form words in their sentences.

This is because English is a stress-timed language, which is

a language where the stressed syllables (strong form) are

said at regular times, and unstressed syllables (weak form)

shorten to fit the rhythm of speech.

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Practise these examples in their strong and weak forms:

Word Strong Weak

at /æt/ /ət/

for /fɔː(r)/ /fə(r)/

but /bʌt/ /bət/

was /wɒz/ /wəz/

you /juː/ /jə/

Non-content words, such as auxiliary verbs, pronouns,

conjunctions, articles, and prepositions, are often
pronounced in their weak form.

Sentence practice:

Strong:
She /wɒz/ waiting /fɔː/ /juː/.

Weak:
She /wəz/ waiting /fə/ /jə/.

CONNECTED SPEECH

Advanced English speakers love to squish their words and

sentences together and get what they are trying to say out
as quickly as possible, but it becomes difficult for English
learners to understand. Let's look at four key points to help
breakdown connected speech.

CATENATION

Catenation is the process of joining a consonant sound at

the end of a word with a vowel sound at the beginning of
the next word. It is also called linking.

Examples:

an apple = anapple

Put on a jumper before you run away.

Puton a jumper before you runaway.

Stop it! I’m not messing around.

Stopit! I'm not messing around.

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INTRUSION
Intrusion is when an extra sound is added between two
words to help with the fluidity of the ending vowel sound of
one word and the beginning vowel sound of the other. These
intrusive sounds are very soft; they are only used to help
connect the words in a way that is more comfortable for the
speaker.

The three most common sounds are /j/, /w/ and /r/.
/j/ often comes after words that end in /iː/ /eɪ/ /aɪ/ /ɔɪ/

Examples:
we ate = we /j/ ate
my office = my /j/ office

/w/ often comes after words that end in /ʊ/ /u:/ /aʊ/ /əʊ/

Examples:
go up = go /w/ up
show it = show /w/ it
blue umbrella = blue /w/ umbrella

Practice Sentence:
We will have tea and biscuits today at 4 in the new office.
We will have tea /j/ and biscuits today /j/ at 4 in the new
/w/ office.

ELISION
Elision refers to the omission, or leaving out, of syllables,
sounds, or words when speaking. Typically, the /t/ or the
/d/ sounds. We do this as a way to speak more quickly and
with better flow.
Examples:
late night = late night
left before = left before
did now = did now

When a word ends with the /t/ or /d/ sound and is followed
by another word beginning with a consonant sound, we
typically do not pronounce the /t/ or /d/ sounds.

sat by

Keep in mind that this is typically only true when a word

that ends in /t/ or /d/ is followed by a word that starts with
a consonant; we do not drop these sounds if the following
word begins with a vowel sound.

baked another

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ASSIMILATION
Assimilation is when two sounds combine to make a new
sound.

When a word ends in /t/ and is followed by a word that

begins with /j/, we often combine these two consonant
sounds to form /tʃ/.

Examples:
won’t you = /ˈwəʊntʃuː/
can’t yet = /ˈkɑːn’tʃet/

We also do something similar with words that end in /d/. If

it is followed by a word beginning with /j/, we often
combine the two sounds to make /dʒ/.

Examples:
would you = /wʊˈdʒuː/
did yesterday = /dɪˈdʒestədeɪ/

Now you can put

it all together!
Practise these sentences using what you just learned:

1. Do you think he’d like a ticket to the football

match?

2. I went on a trip with my friends last week.

3. Their meeting in April was on a Tuesday at 2

pm.

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VOCABULARY BANK
context n - the situation in which something happens, like the
setting in which a statement is made, that helps you better
understand it.
I know this doesn’t make sense now, but in context, it was really
funny.

language partner n - an advanced level speaker who speaks one’s

target language to aid in learning that language
My German language partner lives in Berlin, but we chat online.

language tutor n - a private language teacher who helps students

individually or in small groups
We are looking for a Spanish language tutor for my son.

contraction n - words that combine two or more words into a

shortened form, usually by removing letters and replacing them
with an apostrophe
They always have trouble pronouncing contractions correctly.

weak form n - words that are pronounced with unstressed syllables,

often the schwa /ə/, often used in connected speech
The weak form is often used with non-content words.

non-content word n - also known as a ‘function word’ adds little

meaning but is important in grammar and sentence structure
You can probably get by using only content words, but using non-
content words will help you sound more natural.

strong form n - words that are stressed and emphasised as they

provide information in a sentence
It’s rare to hear advanced English learners speak with only words in
their strong form.

stress-timed language n - a language that is spoken with stressed

and unstressed syllables and words at regular times
German, Thai and Danish are examples of stress-timed languages.

regular time n - occurring at a specific point that can be anticipated

or expected
We always try to eat at regular times.

shorten to fit phrase - to make something smaller so that it

becomes the right size
The tube we had was too long, so it had to shorten to fit in the hole.

connected speech n - continuous spoken language heard in

everyday conversation
I thought I understood English until I heard all of the connected
speech used in the UK.

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catenation n - the process of joining a consonant sound at the end

of a word with a vowel sound at the beginning of the following word
Understanding how catenation works will help to understand English
as a whole.

intrusion n - adding an extra sound between two words when they

are said together to make the words easier to say
I thought you were adding letters between your words, but then I
realised it was just an intrusion.

elision n - the leaving out of certain sounds in a word or phrase

Contractions and elisions are often confused, but they are not the
same thing.

omission n - something or someone being left out

The omission of his speech at the event left everyone in shock.

assimilation n - a sound change by which certain consonant or

vowels change their sounds to be more similar to those around
them
Assimilation often occurs between two words, but it can also happen
within a word!

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QUIZ!
Choose the correct answer for each question.

1) It is common for advanced English speakers to use

contractions in normal conversation.

a. True
b. False

2) Elisions and contractions are the same.

a. True
b. False

3) What sound would you put between these two words

when speaking with intrusion?

they ought

a. /j/
b. /w/
c. /r/

4) Choose the weak form of ‘for’.

a. /fɔː(r)/
b. /fɑː(r)/
c. /fə(r)/

5) A language partner is someone learning your target

language.

a. True
b. False

6) Which is not an example of a non-content word?

a. prepositions
b. articles
c. main verbs

7) Use ________ to help you better understand a situation

to understand the meaning of what has been said.

a. context
b. contacts
c. contents

8) With elision, we do not drop these sounds if the

following word begins with a vowel sound.

a. True
b. False

The End!
1) a 2) b 3) a 4) c 5) b 6) c 7) a 8) a