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.  When we do this it makes the individual words hard to hear and sometimes it sounds like we are saying a completely different word.

Let’s look at a few examples.

If one word ends in   r  and the following word starts with a vowel, the r sound usually connects the two words.  

Did you hear the R at the end of hear?     What  happens to this R?

Say the sentence out loud.   Repeat it faster and faster.   When you say it quickly the R at the end of hear links up with the next word all.   

Can you hear any other words linking up?

I wanna hear⤻all about⤻it.

A previous blog post discussed how “I want to”  changes to “wanna’

The t at the end of about links up with it.   This means you can hear another word  in the sentence which might confuse people as it is not a word you expected to hear.

Here is another sentence from the phone call:

Say the sentence out loud, say it faster.

What word do you think will link up?

Let’s meet⤻up  for⤻a drink⤻on Friday or Saturday?

Any questions?   Let me know in the comments.

So back to the story:

The Valentine’s Surprise Part 4

If this is your first time listening to this story then you might want to go back and find out what happened in the Listening Exercise on Valentine’s day.

As usual, you are waiting on the platform on your way home from work and the woman sitting next to you is making another 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 from the train platform as well.

Remember – this is natural conversational speed English.  You will not hear all the words, as I don’t say them all fully.

If you can’t hear all the words, then listen again, at least 4 or 5 times before reading the transcript.  If you want more help with listening then let me know which words you can not hear.

So, listen to the phone call and listen out for the connected speech.

Is there anything else you want me to explain?  Let me know.