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  • GNE 9: "A Secret Way How to Understand and Speak

  • English like an American" Gabby: Hey, guys! I'm Gabby Wallace and this

  • is a Go Natural English lesson. One of my viewers asked a question about American

  • English pronunciation. And I'm happy to answer. You know, English, and especially American

  • English, is really interesting. Because the way that we speak can be different than the

  • way you might think we're going to speak, based off of how you read the words or how

  • you learn how each sound sounds individually. But then, when we put sounds together, in

  • words, in phrases, they change a lot. So, in this video, you're going to understand,

  • finally, how to understand one specific sound and how to say or how to make one specific

  • sound, which is the "T" sound in English. Now, my viewer said, "I noticed that when

  • you have words with "T" in the middle, they change to a "D" sound. And that makes it really

  • difficult to understand." Movies, American movies or conversations with fluent English

  • speakers or American English speakers, it's true. Whenever you have a "T" in the middle

  • of a word surrounded by two nouns, it changes to a "D" sound.

  • Here are some examples: "I'd like a cup of water.", "I'd like a glass of water." Do you

  • notice that I don't say it "wa-ter"? I say "wa-der". Okay? If you're speaking with someone

  • who is from the UK or perhaps another English speaking country, they may say "wa-ter". But

  • Americans or North Americans, will say "wa-der". "Wa-der". Can you say it? (pause). Sounds

  • good. Alright. So, another example is "butter". "I'd like some butter on my toast." So, butter

  • has two "Ts" but it doesn't matter. It's between two vowels. So, those vowels soften that "T"

  • sound so it becomes "D". So, again, "butter". (pause) Alright. Nice.

  • Another word, another food word that you may hear at a restaurant or you may want to use

  • at a restaurant, it's a food I like very much is "tomato". Okay. If you're speaking with

  • someone from the UK, they may say "to-mah-to", but Americans will say "to-may-doh". Not only

  • is the "A" sound different, but that "T" sound in the middle is different, "to-may-doh",

  • "to-may-doh". Do you hear how soft that sound is? It's not "to-may-to", it's "to-may-doh".

  • Okay, so if you want to understand Americans, you have to understand that these sounds change.

  • Finally, another word that is not food related, but you'll hear quite often is "matter", or

  • "mat-ter". But that's not how we say it in North America. We say it "ma-der". "What's

  • the matter?" is "What's wrong?" So let me hear you say it, "What's the matter?" (pause).

  • Okay. Or "It doesn't matter", "It doesn't matter to me" means "I don't care", "It's

  • not important". So let me hear you say it, "It doesn't matter". (pause). All right, very

  • nice. So, these are just four examples of words

  • with "T" in the middle of two vowels. And the "T" changes into a "D" sound. So, again,

  • and you can repeat after me if you like: "water" (pause), "butter" (pause), "tomato" (pause),

  • "matter" (pause). All right, very nice. So, I hope that this helps your understanding

  • of American movies, American people, American conversations or North American, I should

  • say. I have to include Canadian friends. So, please remember this as you're listening and

  • you'll be able to understand a lot better with more confidence and understanding of

  • native fluent English speakers. Thanks so much for watching. If you come visit

  • me at gonaturalenglish.com, you can come get a free e-book that will help you to learn

  • more English. So, I hope to see you there.

  • Bye for now. ************************************************************************

  • Thank you for being a wonderful part of the Go Natural English community. Come back to

  • http://gonaturalenglish.com, share your comments, and find more English learning resources!

  • Go Natural English Your Notes: Gabby Wallace, M.Ed TESOL

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GNE 9: "A Secret Way How to Understand and Speak

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