Author Archives: Helen Cunningham

We’re listening to contractions in Spoken English

When you listen to spoken informal English you will hear that we use contractions all the time in informal conversations. You're, we're, they're. Can you recognise these contractions when you hear them? You are, we are, they are.  These are rarely pronounced in this full form and are usually contracted. This often makes them hard to hear in spoken English as when contracted they sound very similar to other English words.

Connected speech and linking R – listening exercise.

In spoken English, we don't have big spaces between the words.  We blend sounds together to move from one word to another quickly.  This allows us to keep to the rhythm of English sentence stress.    This linking of words happens most often when one word ends in a consonant and the next starts with a vowel and we connect these words together. 

Listening exercise -elision of /t/

It's Valentine's Day, you are on the train on your way home from work and the women sitting opposite you is making a phone call. Can you work out what the phone call is about? You can only hear one-side of the phone call and there is background noise of the train as well.