Will in connected speech
You need to train your ears to hear the word WILL when it’s contracted. When training your ears to listen out for the word WILL one thing to be aware of is how this contraction sounds when in a sentence surrounded by other words. When WILL is unstressed and is contracted the ‘LL sound will be linked to the other words in the sentence. This can mean that “LL is hard to recognise.
Sometimes ‘LL can connect with another word and the sounds that are heard by your ears can sound like another existing word in English.
There are some common sound combinations that can sound like other existing words.
I will
I will — contracted to I’ll sounds like Isle meaning an Island surrounded by water, and the word aisle meaning a row of shelves in a supermarket.
I’ll do it. I’ll go to the Isle of Sky, and when I’m there I’ll get some chocolate from the snacks aisle at the supermarket, and I’ll bring back some Scottish Whiskey if they have any in the Isle of Sky duty free aisle at the airport. I’ll see you soon, I’ll be back next week.
He will
He will contracts to he’ll and sounds identical to heel meaning the bottom part of a shoe.
He’ll do it. He’ll repair the heel on the shoe.
She will
She will contracts to she’ll and she’ll sounds similar to the shield used by knights to protect them in battles.
She’ll do it. She’ll buy a shield for the knights fancy dress costume.
It will
It will contracts to it’ll and this sounds very similar to the word little.
Little by little it’ll be finished.
We will
We will contracts to we’ll and sounds identical to the word wheel. Also we will when contracted to we’ll can sound identical to the word will on it’s own when the WE is weak and unstressed.
We’ll buy a new wheel for the car. We’ll buy it on the way home.
You will
You will contracts to you’ll and sounds like the word YULE.
You’ll buy a Yule log at Christmas.
They will
They will contracts to they’ll.
They’ll be back soon, they’ll return.
Extended listening Training
Has it stopped raining? Great then I’ll go to the shop in about half an hour. Can you make a list of what you’ll need. I’ll take your boots in as well and get the heel fixed. If he’s not busy he’ll do it while I wait. I’ll meet Jane for a coffee and she’ll probably want to show me all her photos from the Isle of Wight. We’ll probably spend a couple of hours in town so I’ll leave the car at the garage and ask them to look at the wheel. But I’ll ask them to phone you if they find anything as they’ll probably use all technical terms that’ll confuse me. Oh and while I’m out should I look at if they have any Yule logs in the bakers? or do you want me to leave it and you’ll look next week? OK so write down what you’ll want from the supermarket and we’ll go there after we’ve had coffee… but we’ll probably be hours as you know Jane, she likes looking in all the bargain middle aisles in Aldi.
Breakthrough the Listening Barrier Programme Discount Code
Do you want over 40 other lessons like this with short listening trainings?
Do you want longer length sound files of natural everyday English conversations, with transcripts and lists of colloquial expressions?
Breakthrough the Listening Barrier online programme starts in January 2019
I am offering the next five people to sign up to my new programme Breakthrough the Listening Barrier a £15 off discount code.
The code is HELLO
We hate SPAM and protect your data in accordance with our privacy policy.
