today we're going to talk about music
the music of language of English and how
native speakers listen to it the stress
the up-down shape is the anchor for me
when I'm listening and it gives me that
familiar structure everything that I
hear fits within this structure of
stress Tom's going to teach you how to
identify what native speakers identify
it when they're listening to English and
how to use that to your advantage to be
more easily understood when you're
speaking English who's Tom he's a
standout teacher in Rachel's English
Academy he coaches students every day
and I have seen and heard the amazing
progress that students can make when
working with him first he's going to
talk about the music of English and then
he's going to use some clips from movies
to illustrate what he's teaching you you
know I know I know
hi I'm Tom Kelly a Rachel's English
teacher with Rachel's English Academy I
work with students all over the world
and there's one thing that I think
really helps students speak more like
native speakers and it has nothing to do
with actually speaking it comes before
speaking and it's all about listening in
order to speak like a native speaker you
really want to be able to listen like a
native speaker and that's what this
video is all about let's get started so
what does it mean to listen like a
native speaker well the first thing we
want to think about is the fact that
English is a stress timed language so
what does that mean it means that our
syllables are going to be different
lengths from one another now we're gonna
have stressed syllables which are the
longer syllables and we're going to have
unstressed syllables which are shorter
I'm going to pop in for a minute to try
something new we have a sponsor for this
video the good people at Skillshare now
I know you already do
a lot of online learning and you know
that the Internet can connect you to
experts in any field anywhere in the
world I myself do a lot of learning
online Skillshare is a site where you
can take classes and anything from
writing to photography to building a
business you can learn with our website
or use their app I myself am really
interested in growing food so that's the
first thing I searched for and I found
some great classes yeah I'm probably
going to take that gelato making class
too
follow this link or the link in the
video description for your own code to
get two months free check them out let's
thank them for supporting this channel
if you find a course you like let me
know in the video comments below okay
let's get back to the lesson here's how
I like to think about stressed and
unstressed syllables unstressed
syllables are quicker they're flatter in
vocal pitch they use less energy often
that means they don't use as much
movement from your articulate errs your
jaw your tongue your lips and they can
be just a little less clear often than
stressed syllables alright so that
leaves stressed syllables what are they
they're longer they have more energy
they use more movement from the
articulator z' they're clearer and I
think probably the most
Fortin part of a stressed syllable is
the curve in the pitch of the voice
Rachel calls this the shape of stress
it's an up and down musical curve in the
voice that happens on stressed syllables
in American English
so those stressed syllables with that
up-down shape
those are my anchors and that's what
gives me a familiar structure when I'm
listening to English so great we know
that stress syllables are longer they
have this musical element with this
up-and-down curve and the voice and that
unstressed syllables are quicker and
flatter and vocal pitch now what well
now I have to tell you that syllables
are more important than words when it
comes to spoken American English now
what does that mean when you are reading
English and you're looking at all the
words on a page the words are very
important it's the words that are giving
you that information and you need them
to be spaced out in order to read more
easily well when we speak English we
don't really worry about any of those
breaks in between words do we we kind of
mash everything together into one long
word yes I was just working on a video
on this topic when you read the unit
that you focus on is a word but when
you're listening or speaking the unit
isn't the word it's a thought group and
a thought group is any collection of
words between breaks when speaking it
can be really short you can have a
one-word thought group like high or it
can be much longer a very long sentence
with no breaks or it can be much longer
a very long sentence with no breaks for
example let's take the phrase I'll see
you later I'll see you later
how many words are in there I'll see you
later
there's four words I'll see you later
but when we speak it I'll see you later
I'll see you later I'll see you later
there's really only sounds like there's
one word so the syllables these stressed
syllables are the important part that's
what we want to bring out in our
sentences in our phrases so that our
listeners can understand us and that's
what native speakers are listening for
they're listening for the stressed
syllables now I'll see you later
how can we tell what the stressed
syllables are I'll see you later I'll
see you later
what did we say about stress syllables
they have that up-and-down curve in the
pitch of the voice
how many up-and-down curves in my voice
do you hear I'll see you later I'll see
you later I'll see you later - see lay
those are the important syllables those
are the stressed syllables in the
content words in that phrase I'll see
you later I'll see you later now another
thing to think about that proves again
that syllables are more important than
words is that a four-word phrase can
take the exact same amount of time that
it takes a four syllable word to say
what did I just say four words will take
just as long to say as one word yes
because it's the syllables that are
important let's take an example like
vulnerable vulnerable there's four
syllables in that word vulnerable
how many stressed syllables do you hear
Vall neural vulnerable just one right
that first syllable has that up-and-down
quality in the voice of all vulnerable
vulnerable now let's take a phrase give
it to me give it to me four words each
word is one syllable so four syllables
in that phrase give it to me give it to
me again can you hear the up-and-down
quality in one of those words give it to
me give give it to me so we have the
first word the first syllable stressed
give give it to me vulnerable vulnerable
give it to me they both have the exact
same music and they both take the exact
same amount of time to say once you know
the music and rhythm pattern of a phrase
or word like that all of a sudden you
can speak the music of a bunch of
different phrases and
words let's look at a few of them
confession confession I love it I love
it
I'll have one I'll have one uh
do you hear that it's the same music
under all of these phrases and words he
did it he did it I know that I know that
productive productive uh let's listen to
all of them right in a row confession I
love it
I'll have one he did it I know that
productive it's all the same music
listen for that stressed syllable in
phrases and words and that's what you
want to begin
imitating once you've started to hear it
now what's awesome is there is so much
material out there that you can listen
to to get a sense for the musicality to
begin listening in this way to begin
listening like a native speaker so
Rachel actually made a video about how
to use you glish calm to practice your
pronunciation this is a great tool to
use to begin listening like a native
speaker so that you can imitate with
more precision and clarity and native
speaker quality but let's go ahead and
take a little bit of time here to listen
to some TV and film clips and see if we
can hear the music
here the rhythm here the important
stressed syllables the phrases I know I
know you know you know you know I know I
know I know I know I know I know how
many stressed syllables do you hear I
know
just one know right all of them are
going to say the exact same musical
rhythm pattern here now everyone is
completely unique they may shift exactly
the way that they're expressing
themselves with these words but the
rhythm that's stressed syllable that up
down quality in the voice that musical
quality is there for all of them let's
listen again you know you know you know
I know I know I know I know I know I
know I know I know I know
how about this phrase you're the best
you're the best you're the best you're
the best you're the best you're the best
you're the best you're the best you're
the best
how many stressed syllables do you hear
you're the best you're the best I just
hear that up and down curving the voice
on best best so that's our stress
syllable that's the important syllable
you're the best you're the best you're
the best you're the best you're the best
you're the best you're the best you're
the best you're the best you're the best
you're the best are you starting to hear
that music awesome
so now let's make it a little bit more
complicated let's go to some longer
sentences in this first clip let's
listen for where are the stressed
syllables what are the syllables that
have that up-and-down curve in the voice
everything happens for a reason
everything happens for a reason did you
hear it
I heard three everything happens for a
reason you want to listen for that music
where are the important syllables one
thing that can be really useful is
listening to a sentence a phrase a word
three four times in a row and you begin
to hear the music underneath the words
let's listen to this one three times in
a row everything happens for a reason
everything happens for a reason
aah everything happens for a reason are
you beginning to hear it let's go to
another sentence he refused to believe
in coincidence he refused to believe in
coincidence he refused to believe in
coincidence
[Music]
do you hear that he refused to believe
in coincidence three stress syllables
all connected into one long word but
those three syllables give us the
meaning and the music he refused to
believe in coincidence let's try one
more find a happy place find a happy
place find a happy place find a happy
place ah
[Music]
hopefully you're beginning to hear that
music underneath the American English
being spoken and once you begin to hear
it and really listen for it you'll be
able to imitate it with a lot more
precision and you'll sound much more
like a native speaker the more music you
can bring in to your English this week
take some time when you're listening to
a podcast or watching a show or movie in
American English to think about the
music of what you're hearing
remember how tom was taking sentences
and breaking them down into ah just the
melody on a single sound no words listen
to what you're hearing as you're
listening to that podcast and think
about what would this phrase sound like
if I just set it on a if I took out all
the words uh again there is so much
material out there to practice with
I really recommend using youkilis calm
it's a great resource to practice the
words and phrases that you want to be
able to say alright that's everything
for this video thank you so much for
watching and thank you so much for using
Rachel's English
huge thanks to Tom for making this video
you know Tom actually spends a lot more
time with students these days than I do
a lot of my time goes towards making
videos for my youtube channel or running
my online school Tom is actually working
with students every day coaching them
helping them improve and because of that
I really value his opinion when it comes
down to what works and what helps
students alright guys thanks for
studying with me and Tom that's it and
thanks so much for using Rachel's
English
if you want to see my absolute latest
video click here if you're new to the
channel
check out this where to start playlists
click here to subscribe I make new
videos on American English every Tuesday
to be sure we can keep in touch
click here to sign up for my newsletter
you'll get free lessons in your inbox
every week