English Movie The 1 METHOD for Better Speaking

When my husband proposed to me, he got down on one 
knee in Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia on a  

beautiful September day. In today’s video, we’re 
taking a scene from a movie Welcome to Marwen and  

a marriage proposal is about to happen. We’ll use 
this scene to study English, specifically American  

English pronunciation. We’ll do an in-depth 
analysis like this, which greatly improves  

your listening comprehension when it comes to 
movies, TV, and English conversation. And the  

more you know about these pronunciation habits of 
native speakers, the easier it will be for others  

to understand you speaking English. As always, if 
you like this video or you learned something, new  

please give it a thumbs up and subscribe with 
notifications, I’d love to see you back here.

The premise of the movie is Mark suffered 
a violent crime. He was beat up very badly.  

Then he built this world of dolls in his 
backyard to help him cope. And in this world,  

there’s a doll of himself and a doll of a woman 
named Nicole. Mark wants to propose to Nicole.  

But first he has the doll version of himself do 
it. So in this clip, he is showing some scenes of  

that proposal to Nicole. Here’s the clip.

He built her a teahouse and then proposed  

to her in it?
Yes. That’s right. 

Wow.
That’s exactly what Nicole said. 

And then, he gave her a medal?
Well, he couldn’t find a ring. 

Remember there’s a war on.
Oh yeah, of course. 

And he got down on one knee and everything. 

Did you notice that the T was dropped in the 

word exactly? Did you notice how the H was 
dropped in the word ‘her’ in the phrase  

‘gave her a medal’? Let’s do an 
in-depth analysis of the scene now.

He built her a–
So she puts a pause here,  

while she’s considering what to say, and we have 
one stressed word in this first thought group.  

He built her a– and it’s the peak of stress. The 
word ‘he’ builds up to it. The words her and a,  

fall away from it, and it’s all very smooth.
He built her a– the true T here releases  

right into the H. He built her a– this is just 
the schwa. He built her a– he built her a–  

think of that as one word. Try to 
make it that smooth. He built her a–

He built her a–
 

tea house?

Tea house? Tea house? The intonation goes up, 
that’s a little bit questioning, clarifying,  

she’s not sure ,is it a tea house? Tea house? 
Tea house? We have another true T here,  

because it starts a stressed syllable.

Tea house?

Tea house. It’s a compound word, and with 
compound words like eyeball, basketball,  

stress is on the first word of the compound 
word. Tea house? Tea house? So this is house,  

house, unstressed. That’s different than house, 
house, how it would sound stressed. Tea house,  

house, tea house. Although he or she makes the 
intonation go up, so it’s tea house? Tea house?

Tea house? Tea house? Tea house 
and then proposed to her in it?

And then propose to her in it? And 
then propose to her in it? So posed,  

is the most stressed syllable here. And rather 
than drawing it like this with an up down shape,  

I’m gonna draw it going up, because her sentence 
goes up. Proposed to her in it? And it’s  

just all going up. So when we’re in a part of a 
phrase where the intonation is going up, this is a  

yes/no question, and those usually go up in pitch, 
when we have a stress syllable like that, rather  

than being up down, he built, it tends to scoop 
up. Propo, po, and then propose to her in it?

And then proposed to her in it?
 

And then, pronounced: and then, and then, and 
then, and then, and then, low in pitch, very flat,  

they’re unstressed words. The D is dropped. And 
then, and then, and then. This is a simplified  

voiced TH because it starts an unstressed 
syllable. So you don’t need to bring your tongue  

tip through. Then, then, and then, and then, 
and then, and then. The tongue moves forward,  

touches the backs of the teeth, and then pulls 
back. And then, and then, and then, and then.
 

And then

proposed to her in it?

Pro– the first syllable of this stressed word is 
unstressed, so it’s going to feel more like these  

words: and then pro, and then pro, and then pro–

And then pro

And then proposed to her in it?

And then propose–  

The S, the letter S here is a Z sound in 
this word, proposed. Proposed to her in it?

Proposed to her in it?

So let’s talk about our sequence of sounds here. 
We have Z in proposed. The ED ending is just a D  

sound, so it’s not two sounds here, it’s just a 
single D sound: proposed to– and then we have a  

true T in the word ‘to’. When we have a D between 
two consonants, it’s not uncommon to drop it,  

or a T sound, so these ending, ED endings, can 
be dropped if the sound before is a consonant and  

the sound after is a consonant. So that might 
be confusing, you might be like, well, how do  

I know it’s past tense? And we know that because 
of the context. So we don’t actually hear the ED  

ending. We don’t actually hear the D sound. But we 
know it’s past tense because they’re talking about  

something that happened. He’s showing her pictures 
telling her a story. But if you’ve ever wondered  

what happens with ED endings sometimes? 
That’s what happens. When it’s a T or  

a D sound, and it comes between two other 
consonants, it’s pretty common to drop it.

Propose to—

So we go right from the Z sound into the true T.  

This is a schwa. It’s not to, it’s: to 
to to. Proposed to, proposed to, proposed  

to. Z to T with no D. Proposed to her in it.

Proposed to her in it.

To her in it. To her in  

it. She does a little tiny bit of a break 
here. To her in it. In it. In it. In it.

Again, pitch is on its way up 
and we have a stop T here. In it.  

In it. In it. Link these words together, 
it shouldn’t feel like two separate words.  

The N, you can feel like begins the next 
word. Nit nit nit, in it. In it. In it.

In it. In it. In it.

In it.

Yes.

Yes. Yes. Up down shape, statement, 
answering the question. Yes.

Yes.

That’s right.

Then a little two word thought group. That’s 
right. That’s right. Stress on right. It does  

end with a stop T. That’s right. That’s 
right. What happens to the word that’s?  

That’s, that’s, that, do you hear it?

That’s right.

No, not really. That’s, it’s, what’s, let’s, 
these can all be reduced to just TS. That’s right.

That’s right.

Now, I feel like I do hear a little sound 
before. It’s sort of like a super unclear TH  

schwa. That’s, that’s, that’s, that’s. But  

it’s very subtle and it would be common to 
even just drop that and just say: T’s right.  

T’s right. But I’m hearing something like: it’s 
right, just a little vocalization before the TS.  

That’s right. That’s right. That’s right.

That’s right.

Wow.

Wow. Wow. Up down shape. Wow. Lips around  

for the W constant at the beginning, and for 
the second half of the OW diphthong. Wow. Wow.

Wow.

That’s exactly what Nicole said.
 

Now he’s kind of whispering. He’s 
excited. That’s exactly what Nicole said.

That’s exactly what Nicole said.

Let’s make this a little bit more clear.

Exact– the stress is here on the second 
syllable. That’s exactly, that’s exactly,  

the TS cluster linking right into the vowel. 
That’s exactly. The letter X here, this has two  

pronunciations. This one is the GZ, it can either 
be GZ or KX. And here, it’s– sorry, GZ or KS.  

Here, it is GZ. Eg eg eg– exactly. Now do you 
notice, I’m dropping the T? That’s really common  

when the T comes between two other consonants. 
So if I was just saying the word without the LY  

ending, I would say you need to be exact. Exact. I 
would say the T if that was the end of my thought.  

You need to be exact. But because it’s got an 
LY ending, exactly, we now drop that, so it  

just goes right from the K sound to the L sound. 
I only know one person who pronounces that T.  

I have one friend who’s very particular, and 
she says: exactly, she is the only person I  

know who does that. So she’s dropping it 
here, I’m sorry, he is dropping it here,  

please also drop that T, it’s going to be 
more natural. That’s exactly. That’s exactly.

That’s exactly

what Nicole said. 

That’s exactly what Nicole said.
That’s exactly what Nicole said.

What Ni– what Ni– these are both going up 
towards that peak of stress. We have a stop T,  

what Nicole said. And then said is coming 
off of that peak of stress. What Nicole said.  

That’s exactly what Nicole said.

That’s exactly what Nicole said. 

When you’re imitating the audio here, try to match 
his vocal quality, his whisper quality as well.  

Not just the pitch and the rhythm, but 
try to match everything about the voice.  

Pretend that you’re him when 
you’re working with this audio.

That’s exactly what Nicole said.

And then he gave her a medal?

And then, and then, and then, a little break 
here, breaking it up into two thought groups.  

And then, then, is definitely the stressed word,  

the word ‘and’ just comes on the way up, 
and it’s reduced, it’s not and, what is it?

And then—

And then, and then, i would just write 
that schwa N. And then, and then.

And then—

And then, and then, and then. For this 
TH, you don’t need to make too much of it,  

she’s not saying and then, 
and then, and then. She’s  

sort of leaving it out, not really, I 
mean her tongue tip is probably coming out  

for the N. You can make the N with your tongue 
tip actually out of your mouth. Nnn– nnn–
 

And so that’s probably what’s happening, we 
do these shortcuts without thinking of them.

And then—

And then, and then. And so then it’s 
just right there to immediately pull back  

for the EH vowel in then. So listen again, she’s 
not saying and then, and then, and then, tthhh–  

it’s more subtle, more quiet than that,

And then—

gave her a medal?

He gave her a medal? He gave her– up down 
shape of stress there. A medal? And then here,  

it’s going up because it’s a yes/no question. 
He gave her, he gave her, linking together  

really smoothly. EE vowel right into G. V 
sound right into schwa R. She drops the H here,  

that’s a common reduction. He gave her a– 
er and a– unstressed, flatter in pitch.  

He gave her a medal. And then we have the scoop up 
for this stressed syllable. He gave her a medal?

He gave her a medal?

The L in medal is a dark L, it comes at 
the end of that word. You don’t need to  

lift your tongue tip, it’s at 
the end of the thought group.  

And so we would just say: medal uhl uhl with 
that dark sound, and then we would be done.  

We don’t lift the tongue tip. We make the 
dark sound with the back of the tongue,  

while the tip is down. The back of the tongue 
presses down and back. Uhl uhl. Medal? Medal?

This is a little bit tricky because we have 
a flap, flap your tongue here for the D,  

it’s not medal, dull, it’s not 
a full D. Medal? Medal? Medal?

But you flap your tongue against the 
roof of the mouth, then let it down,  

make the dark sound with the back of your 
tongue, and you’re done. Medal? Medal?

Medal?

Well, he couldn’t find a ring.

Well, well, going up, well, 
when he makes the pitch go up,  

that shows that he’s going to continue 
talking. Well, he couldn’t find a ring.

Well, he couldn’t find a ring.

He couldn’t, he couldn’t 
find a ring. Do you feel that  

up down shape of stress on those words? 
He find a– both flatter in pitch.

He couldn’t find a ring.

He couldn’t find a ring. He couldn’t find, 
couldn’t. In this N apostrophe T contraction,  

i don’t really hear the T. I don’t hear a 
stop, so I’m going to write that as dropped.  

He couldn’t. Couldn’t find. So the L in this 
word is always silent. Couldn’t find. Right  

from N into F. Couldn’t find. He couldn’t find, 
he couldn’t, find he couldn’t find a ring. Very  

light D. Couldn’t find a ring. Linking into the 
schwa, couldn’t find a ring, couldn’t find a ring.

Couldn’t find a ring.

Remember, there’s a war on.

Remember, okay little pause, except 
bring it into its own thought group.  

Three syllable word, listen to it. 
Tell me which syllable is stressed.

Remember—

Remember, it’s the middle syllable. So it’s 
not remember, it’s ruh ruh, make that a schwa,  

make it fast. Ruh ruh ruh ruh remember. Remember.

Remember,

there’s a war on.

There’s a war on. There’s– so she’s sort 
of saying the word oh, while he’s talking.  

There’s, there’s, there’s. This word, I 
would say reduced, I’m not hearing there’s.  

There’s. There’s. There’s. There’s. And 
even though this would normally be a Z,  

I hear it as a very weak S. 
There’s. There’s. There’s. There’s.

There’s—

a war on.

There’s, There’s

A war on. A war on. A war on. Linking together, 
very smoothly. The letter A is a schwa, a war  

on. And then the R links right into 
the vowel. This can be either AW or  

AH as in father. War on. A war on.

A war on.

The word war, a little tricky it’s W consonant, 
then it’s got the AW as in law vowel, followed  

by R. This combination changes this vowel. So 
this vowel is LA AH, but it’s not wa wa war war.  

It’s woh oh ohr. A different vowel sound, so 
what happens is the R makes the AW a little more  

closed. Woh oh oh. Your lips are more round, your 
mouth isn’t as open, and the tongue pulls back a  

little bit. Woh woh war. This is the same sound 
in core. Or quarter. Oh oh oh war war. A war on.

A war on.

A little note about linking. So we have a word in 
American Englis, moron. You would call someone a  

moron who you think is dumb, makes bad decisions. 
He’s a complete moron. Moron. So this has the  

same sounds. It’s AW as in law, R, and then the 
same ending. So the M is different than the W.  

But moron sounds just like war on but with a 
different beginning sound. So that just is a  

way to illustrate how important linking is. 
Linking makes two words sound just like one.  

The only difference between war on and moron 
is the beginning consonant. There’s no break or  

anything like that to show that one of them is two 
words. Moron. War on. We just love to link words  

together in a thought group in American English. 
It starts to feel like one long word. A war on.

A war on.

Oh yeah, of course.

Oh yeah, of course. Oh yeah, of course. 
She really whispers it very quiet.  

Oh yeah, of course. Oh yeah, of course.

Oh yeah, of course.

And he got down on one knee and everything.

And he got down. Phrasal verb. Both are stressed. 
Got down on one knee and everything. Everything.

And he got down on one knee and everything.

And he got down on one knee and everything.

Got down, one knee, and EH are our most stressed 
syllables, the first syllable of everything.  

And he. How are those two words pronounced?

And he.

And he. And he. And he. And he.

The D is dropped, the H is dropped. AA 
vowel N, EE vowel. And he. And he. And he.

You know, this is just like the name Annie, 
only Annie, the name, would be stressed.

And he—

Except Annie, since it’s a name, would probably 
never be pronounced unstressed. Annie, Annie,  

Annie, Annie. It would always have a stressed 
syllable. Annie. Annie. The first syllable  

of that is stressed. Annie. Annie. But here, 
and he. And he. And he. It’s the same sounds,  

only they both have an unstressed feel. 
And he. And he. And he. And he got down.

And he got down–

on one knee and everything.

Got down on, got, got, got. Stop T. Got down on.  

Linking together N into the 
vowel for on. Down on one knee.

Got down on one knee and–

One knee, one knee, do you notice those two words? 
We’re just linking them together with a single  

N sound. So the letter K is silent, 
and of course there’s no sound for this  

EE. One knee. I’m not gonna actually show that 
blocked off, because then it looks like the word  

on, but we don’t pronounce that letter 
as its own sound. One knee. One knee.

One knee and—-

everything.

And everything. And everything. Now here, the word 
and sounds like the word in. I would say, i would  

write it in IPA with schwa and even though this 
word, I would write with IH, N. But it’s reduced:  

and, and, and, and everything. D is dropped. And 
everything. And this ending N links right into  

the vowel of EH, the stressed syllable. And 
everything. And everything. And everything.

And everything.

Awkwardly, later on in the scene,  

he gets down on one knee to propose to her, and 
she is not interested. Okay, let’s listen to this  

whole conversation one more time.

He built her a teahouse and then  

proposed to her in it?
Yes. That’s right. 

Wow.
That’s exactly what Nicole said. 

And then, he gave her a medal?
Well, he couldn’t find a ring. 

Remember there’s a war on.
Oh yeah, of course. 

And he got down on one knee and everything.

If you love studying scenes like this,  

check out my Learn English With Movies and Learn 
English With TV playlists. If you watch all those,  

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