Name: FAST ENGLISH: 第一の秘訣はREDUCTIONSです。 (FAST ENGLISH: the #1 secret is REDUCTIONS)
Uploaded: 2021-01-14T08:57:25.000Z
Duration: 14 min 52 s
Description: VoiceTubeの動画で発音を聞きながら英語表現を覚えよう！学べる英語：

How do they speak so quickly but still sound natural and are still easily understood by other native speakers?

Well, it's because of something  called reductions.

American English is full of them, and today, we've invited standout Rachel's English teacher, Tom Kelly,

to teach you and show you some reductions,

and not just a single reduction, but  several reductions in a row.

For example, how does the phrase 'because it was a' become: because it was a--?

How does that sound natural? How does  that work in American English?

Now first, I want to make sure you know  this is not lazy English,

this is even English that you might use in  a more formal setting.

All of the examples that Tom is going to use today are from either a TED Talk or an interview.

So a more formal situation, then just a  conversation with a friend.

We're going to have Tom take it over in just a second,

but before we do, please subscribe with notifications if you haven't already.

We make new videos on the English language every Tuesday and we love to see you back here again.

Hi! I'm Tom Kelly, a Rachel's English teacher with Rachel's English Academy.

Here at Rachel's English, we talk about the rhythm and intonation of English all the time.

We hope non-native speakers hear the  music of English

so they can speak the language with  more accuracy and consistency,

helping them sound more like native speakers of the language.

If you're someone who wants to know how to speak faster English but still be understood

and sound natural, this is a video for you.

One aspect of creating the music of American English

is making sure you have unstressed and stressed syllables in your speech

and that there is a clear contrast  between the two.

The unstressed syllables will be short and quick and produced with less vocal energy,

and the stressed syllables will be longer.

They'll use the shape of stress and are produced with more vocal energy.

One of the things that helps create  better contrast

between your stressed and  unstressed syllables

Now, Rachel has lots of  videos on reduction.

reduction is when we reduce the sounds  of a function word, words like:

the, of, for, your, and others, and don't say them fully.

for example, 'the' is often pronounced as: the, the, as in: she's the best.

'Of' is pronounced: of-- or even just: uh,  uh-- with a dropped V.

here's a sentence with both of those  reductions of the word 'of'.

'For' and 'your', both reduced down to just  an unstressed R vowel.

What's amazing about reduction is that native speakers use it all the time.

But if you ask them about it, they probably  don't even know they're doing it.

It is such a natural part of their speech they don't even recognize it.

In fact, Rachel has received comments from native speakers on some of her reduction videos

saying that she's teaching incorrect English, that reductions are only used in casual, lazy English.

But we guarantee that any native speaker  of English who does not use reductions

will actually sound overly formal and may  even be harder to understand.

Today, I'm going to demonstrate how reductions are used in a variety of American English speech.

We're going to take a look at a few common phrases and see how we reduce the function words

in order to sound more natural and create the music of American English.

First up, the phrase: for the, or: for the, for the.

This two-word phrase, two function words, is very often pronounced as 'for the--'

in both casual and more formal situations.

Pronounced fully, these two words would sound like: for the-- for the-- but reduced, they become:

for the-- F consonant, unstressed R vowel, voiced TH consonant and schwa.

Here are some examples from TED talks and speeches where the speakers use this reduction.

We've got to keep fighting for the dignity of every veteran.

For the-- fighting for the dignity of every veteran.

For the--  for the dignity of every veteran.

And that's the President of the United States.

Or do you want me to hire the best person for the job?

Teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.

But a hundred and fifty, you can read over and over for the rest of your life.

They do fill certain gaps in skills and knowledge that are good for the overall economy.

So obviously, for the-- is used very commonly in formal speech as well as casual English.

Now, let's take a look at the three-word  phrase 'and in the'.

Pronounced fully, it would sound like this:  and in the-- and in the--

but it's almost never spoken like this in any circumstance.

Usually, all of these words are spoken quickly,

and, reduces to a schwa sound followed  by an N consonant, and, and.

The in, IN, becomes just a quick N consonant.

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FAST ENGLISH: 第一の秘訣はREDUCTIONSです。 (FAST ENGLISH: the #1 secret is REDUCTIONS)

incredibly

phrase

commitment

vast