Fast English How Americans say A LOT OF SHORTS

How do Americans speak English 
so fast? Let’s study this phrase. 

A lot of becomes ‘A lotta’. ‘A’ and 
‘of’ have the same pronunciation, ə. 

And notice that t turns into 
a flap, a d, ə’lod_ə, ə’lod_ə. 

I have a lot of work to do today.
They need a lot of help. 

There are a lot of reasons why I like you.