(English) English Conversation (DownSub - Com)
(English) English Conversation (DownSub - Com)
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The sauce is on the table. So we’ve got eggs and the rice.
And usually the som tum would, would have sticky rice with it,
but I couldn’t quite imagine eating this, with, without this kind of rice.
The sauce is on the table. So we’ve got eggs and the rice.
What do you think are the two most stressed words there?
The sauce is on the table. The sauce is on the table. The sauce is on the table.
The other word just said very quickly. The word 'the' pronounced with the schwa:
Said really quickly, low in pitch, less clear. It's not ‘the’ but: the— the— the—
which we want to be clear and longer and have an up-down shape of stress intonation
in the voice.
The sauce is on the table. The sauce is on the table. The sauce is on the table.
These three words linked together very quickly.
and again the word ‘the’ pronounced with the schwa very quickly.
So it's not: is on the— all of those are stressed and that's not right,
A little mumbled, a little bit less clear, because they are function words.
And all of the words and all of the sounds flow together smoothly with no jumps and
pitch and no choppiness.
The sauce is on the table. The sauce is on the table. The sauce is on the table.
The vowel here is almost dropped, it's almost like we're just linking the S sound
in.
That helps to say this word more quickly in this string of words that are said so
quickly.
with a true T, but we say: got the— got the— got the—
The rule is that if the next word begins with a vowel sound, like this word,
that the E in 'the' is pronounced as the EE as in She sound. The— the— the—
But I’ve noticed that this is not a rule that Americans necessarily follow all the
time.
‘And’ and ‘the’ between the two content words, we have two more function words
which will be said more quickly.
The word ‘and’ is reduced: and the— and the— and the—
Eggs and the— eggs and— eggs and— eggs and the rice— and the rice—
And the— and the— and the— and the— and the—
eggs and the rice— eggs and the rice— eggs and the rice—
Making this reduction helps us say this word really quickly and we want to do that
because it's not
where we take a little bit more time and we have the up-down shape of stress.
And usually the som tum would, would have sticky rice with it.
And usually— So here, she doesn't reduce the vowel. She keeps the full vowel but
she does drop the D.
We almost never say the D unless we’re thinking or holding out the word 'and' for
some reason.
Usually— us—
And usually—
Usually-- yoo--
so I suggest that you practice it this way and use this pronunciation: usually—
usually— usually— usually the som tum would have sticky rice with it.
then we have a couple words that are a little bit more stressed.
Of course this is not English, this is Thai, she's making a Thai dessert, I'm sorry
a Thai salad here.
Usually the som tum would have sticky rice with it—
So ‘stick’ the most stressed syllable there. Again, there's no L sound in the word
‘would’.
Would have— would have— would have sticky rice with it—
Would have— would have— would have sticky rice with it—
She could have dropped to the H but she didn't. Would have— would have—
the EE vowel right into the R, the S sound right next to the W.
And the ending TH links right into the beginning vowel IH: with it— with it— with
it—
would have a sticky rice with it— would have a sticky rice with it— would have a
sticky rice with it—
If she didn't, she would have flapped the T: but I couldn't— but I— but I couldn't—
Since she doesn't, she puts a break separating these into two thought groups. We
have a stop T: but I couldn't—
but I couldn't—
but I couldn't— but I couldn't— but I couldn’t quite imagine eating this
You can link the ending N right into the K sound while dropping the T. Couldn't
quite— couldn't quite—
Or you can make a little stop in your throat: couldn't quite— couldn't quite— to
signify the T there.
Either one is okay, and just like with ‘would’, the L in ‘could’ is silent.
and because the sound before the T was also a vowel or diphthong, it becomes a flap
Quite imagine— quite— The tongue just flaps once against the roof of the mouth:
Quite imagine—
Another flap T here, because it comes between two vowel sounds. Eating— eating
this--
Quite imagine eating this— Quite imagine eating this— Quite imagine eating this—
with, without--
she starts the word without, she pauses while she's thinking, then she says the
full word: without— without—
Stop T at the end because the next word begins with a consonant.
Because it's the word that we're using to compare: this, that, those, these.
The word ‘of’ often pronounced without a consonant but I do hear a light V sound
here.
However, the word is said quickly: kind of rice— of- of- of- of-
It's a function word, it's not as important as the content words like ‘this’ and
‘rice’.
Kind of rice.
Rice. Rice. Her intonation goes up a little bit at the end because she's going to
keep going.
Making the intonation of her voice go up is a signal to us that she's not finished
her sentence yet.
So why-- she changes her mind, decides to say something different, we just went
with it.
This is the end of her thought and at the end of her thought, her voice trails off
a little bit
So the last word sounds like this: went with it-- went with it--
We just went with it. We just went with it. We just went with it.
This is called a popcorn quality and it comes in a lot at the ends of phrases in
American English.
Let's talk about the pronunciation of ‘we just went with it’.
So instead of: just went— It's: just went— just went— just went—
We just went with it. We just went with it. We just went with it.
Stop sound, we have a nasal N sound which we stopped in the throat: went. Went.
Went.
That signifies the stop T. With it.
Everything links together. T links into the IH vowel and we have another stop T
because it's a T at the end of a phrase.
We just went with it. We just went with it. We just went with it.
The phrase ‘to go with something’ means to go ahead with something, with an idea,
or with the situation,
So she's saying this is not the kind of rice she would usually imagine with this
dish,
It shows flexibility, being able to 'go with the flow', to use another idiom.
but you move forward anyway, then you can say: you know what? I'm just going to go
with it.
We just went with it. We just went with it. Fluffy jasmine.
Fluffy jasmine.
Now, someone else is talking in the background. It's a little hard to hear, but
these are two two-syllable words
Fluffy jasmine.
All linked together, all part of the same thought group where we have one steady
line of intonation, of pitch.
Fluffy jasmine.
So I drop the T, linked the vowel into the D of ‘do’. Wha dya—
And I've reduced the vowel here to the schwa in all three of these words: what do
ya—
Function words like these need to be lower in pitch, less clear, simplified mouth
movements.
It is this difference, this contrast between the stressed words which are longer,
clearer, louder, higher in pitch,
‘Of’ and ‘the’, two more function words together, said very quickly,
Most stressed words there, the word ‘it's’ is reduced, he doesn't really say a
vowel,
It's common to do this with the word: it's, that's, what's, and let's.
We just make the TS sound and attach it to the beginning of the next word.
It's definitely—
On point. And he doesn't really release the T. It's certainly not a true T.
The sauce is on the table. So we’ve got eggs and the rice.
And usually the som tum would, would have sticky rice with it,
but I couldn’t quite imagine eating this, with, without this kind of rice.
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