Another week, another episode of Everyday English with E2! Each week we focus on English grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and spelling. This week we are practising our pronunciation by using an amazing resource known as ‘Linking’ or ‘Connected Speech’.

Everyday English with E2 Episode 21.

Transcription

Hi there, it’s Mark here. Welcome to Everyday English with E2. Each week, we focus on English grammar, vocabulary, spelling and pronunciation. This week we’re focusing on a super important part of pronunciation called ‘linking or connected speech’, which has a big impact on how easily you are understood. And that’s your aim – to be EASILY understood. 

But before we understand linking, let me quickly remind you that you can take awesome English pronunciation courses at www.e2english.com. Sign up for free now!

Okay, so what is linking? Well, the easiest way to explain this is by getting you to listen to this short phrase. I’m going to say it, however, in three different ways by changing the link. Ready? Tell me which one you think is correct:

  1. When I was young
  2. When_I_was_young
  3. When I was young

One more time:

  1. When I was young
  2. When_I_was_young
  3. When I was young

The correct answer is: When_I_was_young

It sounds weird and incorrect to say: When I was young without linking the words together. It sounds a bit robotic and unnatural.

So what is linking? Well, it’s about how words in English link together when we speak. Sometimes students tell me that they really struggle to understand people when they’re speaking English, particularly native speakers OR people with very high levels of English.

Usually LINKING is one of the main things my students need to really pay attention to when listening AND when speaking.

Being able to LINK words and short phrases will allow you to speak faster AND slower and maintain intelligibility. So if I talk really fast I can still speak clearly and with specific meaning. But if I talk a bit slower, you can still understand me. And in both of these cases, my pronunciation remains clear. On an English test, I can speak both slowly and thoughtfully like this, or fast like this with energy and excitement, and get the same score in terms of pronunciation. 

So relax. Don’t think that you have to speak FAST in English. There’s nothing wrong with slowing down and letting the words link nicely like this.

The only hard part with linking is that… sometimes you don’t know what word you’re going to say next. Well, the good news is that you don’t need to. A good place to focus is on those common groups of words: the ones we love to call ‘chunks’ or ‘collocations’. Chunks or collocations are words that often come together, as my teacher trainer loved to call them: “Words with Friends”.

Remember how I started this episode: “When I was young”. That’s a very common and very useful ‘chunk’. Whether in a conversation with a new friend, or you’re halfway through your IELTS test, this chunk allows us to talk about important experiences we’ve had. 

Check it out: “When I was young, on weekends, I loved to ride my bike through the forest.” 

Let’s break that down a bit.

First, there’s ‘When I was young,’ so, you’ll notice that /n/ and /i/ come together: ‘when_i’ then the /i/ and /w/ come together. i-was . and finally, the /s/ and /y/ come together: ‘was_young’

So, I encourage you to repeat that with me: ‘when I was young’ x3

Now, there’s plenty we could look at in this phrase, but I want to focus on TWO very common things you’ll hear in English. First, how we shorten the /o/ sound in ‘to’. Listen up: “I loved to ride” t’ride, t’ride. Say that after me: “t’ride’ ‘t’ride’. Notice it’s not ‘to ride’. The /o/ kind of disappears. It’s not WRONG to say ‘to ride’, but the next time you’re listening to people speak in English, you’ll hear that ‘t’ sound a lot with the word to: t’go, t’think, t’dream. Try it with me:  t’go, t’think, t’dream

And finally, that last part of the sentence was ‘through the forest’. Listen to that: “th’forsest”. The /e/ sound in ‘the’ almost disappears. Repeat it with me: “the forest x3

I personally think that linking is more important than pronunciation when it comes to being understood easily. If I’m talking to a student and the student mispronounces a word… let’s say, the student says “wiolin” instead of “violin”, I can understand pretty easily what the student meant, and the conversation can continue along. 

But if a student speaks without linking and has pauses after every other word, I really have to listen carefully. 

Now of course, if you’re an English beginner then that’s fine, but if you’ve been learning English for a while, or maybe you’ve got a test or a presentation coming soon, then linking is going to really help you express your ideas more clearly. 

So, how do you improve your linking? Well, you listen, you pay attention to how people link words together, and then you practise it when you speak! It’s that easy; and it’s that hard. When I’m learning a language, I love to listen to podcasts in that language, and imitate some of the ways they link words together, and I give myself lots of time. You might improve your linking in a few days, but you’ll definitely improve it in a few weeks and absolutely in a few months.

Discuss how speakers from certain linguistic backgrounds may struggle with this. But just because you are from a linguistic background does not mean it will be easy…

Remember that if you need help with your English pronunciation, then check out E2 English’s pronunciation courses by going to www.e2english.com. These courses will take you through all of the individual and cluster sounds of English so that you sound perfectly natural when you speak English. Check them out today!

Just before we move on and do some practice, I just want to make you aware of another really important reason why you need to practise linking. Listen to these chunks. These are common expressions you might use with a new English speaking friend or maybe even in your IELTS or TOEFL test!

  1. Most of the time Leave a few seconds for the SS to listen and repeat
  2. On the other hand
  3. He’s my best friend
  4. She’s my best friend
  5. I never saw it
  6. If I were you
  7. Can I get a glass of water
  8. It’s to the left
  9. It’s to the right
  10. It’s not the same.

Alright. How did you go? Could you hear the ways these words linked? If you found it challenging, don’t worry. Practise makes perfect, and you can practise any time you’re listening to the radio or watching for favourite English language tv show. Let’s try our phrases again.

  1. Most of the time Leave a few seconds for the SS to listen and repeat
  2. On the other hand
  3. He’s my best friend
  4. She’s my best friend
  5. I never saw it
  6. If I were you
  7. Can I get a glass of water
  8. It’s to the left
  9. It’s to the right
  10. It’s not the same.

Awesome! Well done! We just learned lots about linking and why it’s so important that you work on it. Remember that if you need more practice then head over to www.e2english.com for all of your English language needs.

My name is Mark and I’ll see you soon.