ESL Pronunciation Exercise Where I live Ben Franklin Exercise
In this American English pronunciation video,
we’re going to study American English by looking
at a short text. Topic: where I live.
I call this a Ben Franklin exercise. This
is when you take very good notes, very detailed
notes, on what you’re hearing. And then go
back and try to record yourself based on what
you’ve written down, the notes. Did you write
down a flap T, or the way two words link together?
After you’ve recorded yourself, compare it
to the original. Did you do everything that
you wanted to do? In this video, we’re going
to take notes together.
I live in New York City, in Manhattan, currently
in midtown. But I do move around a lot. I’ve
been in New York for about five years, and
I’ve already moved four times.
One if the first things I notice is how my
voice goes up at the end of the word ‘city’,
city, city. That’s because of the comma here,
and I’m not done, I’m going to keep going,
I’m going to say more about that.
I live in New York City. [2x]
I also notice how connected that first line
is. I live in New York City. There are no
breaks.
I live in New York City. [2x]
And I notice the ending consonant sound of
‘live’ links into the beginning of the next
word, live in, v-in, v-in, live in.
I live in New York City. [3x]
In Manhattan.
In Manhattan. Again, my voice went up at the
end. Again, there’s a comma here, and I’m
about to give more information about that.
New York City, Manhattan, more specifically
midtown. So, my voice is going up at the end
of each of these little phrases to signal
that there is more information yet to come
about this.
In Manhattan. [2x]
I notice that the stressed syllable of ‘Manhattan’
is the middle syllable. Manhattan. Also, I
hear that I’m not really pronouncing these
T’s as True T’s. That would be ‘Manhattan’,
-tan. But I’m saying Manhatt-an, with a little
break. That means these T’s are stop T’s.
In Manhattan. [2x]
Also, the last syllable, -an, is really just
the N sound. So the letter A there is representing
the schwa sound. Manhattan, Manhattan.
In Manhattan. [3x]
Currently in midtown.
Again, I did not hear the release of this
T. That would be currently, I heard ‘currently’,
with a stop, that’s a stop T. Currently, currently.
And, in this three-syllable word, I notice
that stress is on the first syllable. Curr-,
curr-, currently.
Currently in midtown. [2x]
Midtown. Stress on the first syllable here,
and that is a true T. Midtown. Currently in
midtown.
Currently in midtown. [3x]
But I do move around a lot.
The stressed syllables in that sentence are
do, round, and lot. But I do move around a lot.
But I do move around a lot. [2x]
Let’s talk about the T pronunciations here.
But I do, but I, but I. I’m hearing that as
a flap T, or a D sound. But I, but I. It’s
also very connected. But I do, but I do.
But I do move around a lot. [2x]
The final T, lot, I did release that and give
it a true T sound.
But I do move around a lot. [2x]
Again, this sentence was very linked together,
the ending V consonant here linking onto the
next vowel, move-a, move-a, va, va, va, move
around. But I do move around a lot.
But I do move around a lot. [3x]
I’ve been in New York for about five years,
The stressed words in this sentence fragment:
New, York, and Five, Years.
I’ve been in New York for about five years
[2x]
So how are the unstressed words pronounced?
The contraction I’ve, the word been, and in:
they’re all quite quick and linked together.
I’ve been in, I’ve been in, I’ve been in New
York. And the words ‘for’ and ‘about’: for
about five years. I notice I’m reducing this
to the schwa, for, for, for about five years,
for about five years. I’ve been in New York
for about five years. So, these three words,
I’ve been in, very quick. They’re unstressed.
New, York: the pace slows down a bit there,
so those words are longer because they’re
stressed. Then, for about. Those two words,
unstressed, are again quite quick. For about.
And then ‘five’ and ‘years’ are both given
more time because they are stressed.
I’ve been in New York for about five years,
[3x]
and I’ve already moved four times.
Here I’m hearing ‘al-’ and ‘moved’, ‘four’
and ‘times’ as being the most stressed syllables
in that sentence fragment. And I’ve already
moved four times.
And I’ve already moved four times. [2x]
I also notice I’m not really pronouncing the
L here. This syllable is coming out more as
the AW as in LAW, already, already.
And I’ve already moved four times. [2x]
Also, did you notice how I reduced the word
‘and’? And I’ve already moved. Nn, nn, nn,
the schwa N sound. And I’ve already moved.
And I’ve already moved four times. [3x]
So, just a few lines of speech, but there’s
really a lot to study about reductions and
stressed words, the way T is pronounced, and
how words link together.
I hope this has given you some ideas on how
to take notes and study the speech of native
speakers. Do this on your own. Take video
and audio clips that interest you, or that
have topics that are important to your field
of work. After you take good notes, record
the text yourself, and compare to the original
recording. What do you still need to work
on, or what did you do well? This is a great
way to improve your pronunciation.
That’s it, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s
English.