Sound like a native speaker: the BEST pronunciation advice

Are you following the wrong pronunciation advice? Do you think that to have good English pronunciation you need to say every word per-fect-ly? Have you been told that you need to say each syllable in exactly the same way that it is written? Well, in this video I explain why what seems like logical advice is actually COMPLETELY WRONG.

The secret to getting excellent English pronunciation is to relax your tongue and to start missing syllables! That's because native speakers do not speak perfectly in natural, everyday speech. In fact, it even sounds strange to say every word perfectly.

I explain to you how we use 'elision' to make our speech more connected, flowing, and relaxed. This means that we don't say every vowel and sometimes even miss words. I also tell you about the most important sound you need to know about in English to improve your pronunciation - the schwa sound: /ə/.

TAKE THE QUIZ:

Hi, everyone. I'm Jade. What we're talking about today, is elision. And that's one of the things that makes the speech of native speakers hard to understand because we don't say every single word perfectly, like, how it is on the page. We squash words together, and we miss sounds out. So I'm showing you how we do that in today's lesson.

So you know we like tea in England, right? We like to drink tea. Well, we call it a "cuppa tea". And if I were to offer you that, I'd say, "Dju wanna cuppa tea?" "Dju wanna cuppa tea?" And we've got an example of elision in that sentence. The written sentence would be, "Do you want a cup of tea?" All the different syllables being pronounced. But colloquial, relaxed spoken English, "Dju wanna cuppa tea?" So the "of" joins the words before. So remember, it's "cup of tea", "cuppa tea." "Dju want a cuppa tea?" We join that. And that's an example of elision.

We can also elide consonants. For example, in this sentence, the reply, "I don wanna tea." Some people will not say the T at the end of a word if the next word is another consonant. So saying it properly is more effort. "I don't want a cup of tea." Or, again, there's more elision here. "I don't want a tea." The A joins "want" and becomes "wanna". "I don wanna tea." Two examples of elision there: not saying the T and A joining "want", the word before.

What about the next example here? Here, I've written it out, "I don't want a tea." What we see here is the contraction, and that is standard English. We can write that. We can write "don't" like that, "do not". "I don't want a tea." But you cannot write it exactly how it sounds. You cannot write it, "I don". You need the T there. And the difference between contractions and elision is that contractions are okay when we write them, and elision isn't -- it's not necessarily the case that we can write down an elision and it be grammatically correct English. I'll show you two examples.

"Wanna" and "gonna" are two common forms in colloquial speech. We say them all the time. "I wanna do that." "I'm gonna go there later." But we can't write them. The reason we can't write them is that they're not contractions. They're not recognized as being standard English. We can say it, but we can't write it that way. In general, we use elision in our speech because it's just easier than saying every single sound in a sentence.

Some people think that posh accents are made up of just saying every single word properly and giving it good enunciation and definition and making sure you say everything correctly. But in fact, as we'll see in a sec, posh people and posh accents also use elision in their speech. But they will have some rules that they consider wrong. So for example, "wanna" and "gonna" in some posh accents are considered sloppy or not right or not a correct way of speaking. But I think a good thing to say about that is a lot of people think and perceive that they don't use these words when in fact they do. So you could ask a posh person, "Do you ever say this?" "Oh, no. I wouldn't say that. It's not right. It's not proper English." When in fact, David Cameron would also use "wanna" and "gonna". He's the prime minister of the UK at the moment. So I'd say he's a pretty posh guy, and he's using "wanna" and "gonna". That shows me that these are quite standard forms now. Some people will judge you for it, "Oh, it's not right. You don't say it that way." And also, some people will not realize that they say it themselves. So --

So -- yeah. What to think about elision? It just shows us how when we try to speak English correctly just by reading everything properly, this is not going to help you sound like a relaxed, natural speaker of English who actually sounds good because our real speech doesn't fit the actual words on the page.y of the vowels.

[jongym]

This is something that won't be taught in any formal english class in countries where english is not the mother tounge.. thanks.

[nicolasoliveros]

13 years of English lessons and no one bothered to teach me elision. Thank you Jade !

[diegoortiz]

She has a perfect London accent, great . it´s like music to my ears!!!

Great, the problem when you learn english it's how fast people sometimes talk and if they link words becomes hard to understand. Great video.

[carolinacastro]

This is EXACTLY what I've been looking for! Thanks, Jade. I can't have enough of your videos. It's mind-blowing how a few videos can change the whole perspective of things! For those who say it's not important to sound like a native speaker: that may be the truth when you are a tourist or not living and working in the UK. But when you are, believe me, IT'S RATHER IMPORTANT. Firstly, if you understand how they speak and are aware of the pronunciation, then it's easier for you to get their accent and not get lost in translation. And secondly, it makes you sound more natural, which can only be an advantage, specially on the phone/at work, etc. WELL DONE, Jade. THANK YOU.

[amantedelmondo]

Nice lesson but as a non-native english speaker living in an english speaking country 
I personally think it´s unnecessary trying to sound like a native speaker. people from the united states or canada speak fairly different from the british or the australians. they all have their own distinctive accent, if you will.  in my opinion, as long as you have a decent pronunciation and a good fluency you´ll be fine. 

[hdmat]

My first language is English.
What am I doing with my life.

[truckerfromreno]

A genuine native English speaker at last.

[federicamereudrawingpainti]

ciao jade, I follow your lessons because you are the most difficult british teacher to understand.(in a good sense I am telling this) and when I will understand everything you say it means that I have learned english. bye bye frome roma.
p.s. sometimes in some of your videos you should speak loudly

[perthhill]

I should have met this young and brilliant lady while I was in England. The way she teaches is so fluid and lite. I like her soft and style free English. Thank you.

[galihpa]

Elision + British Accent = Most Ultimate Enemy Ever 

[takuyayamamoto]

You teach me what ive not known before, Im sure youre the best one of U-TUBE English teacher Ive ever watched English learning channels. Thanks for great free English classes for English as a second language.

[andrzejsati]

There are a lot of priceless info put on in a concise way  .Thanks a lot Jade !

[juancarlosl]

Jade I don't know whether I love more your lessons or the adorable, lovely way of expressions and communication you do.

[햄찌-xb]

I love this video and, I like the way she teaches. someone said that she isn't good at explaining things but, I don't agree. she's explaining is very simple. she is trying to talk every sentences shortly using easy verbs, as I see. and she's british accent is very clear. (she even speak slowly, nice!) this all things will be helpful for Asian people want to learn by watching and listening British english just like me. especially Japanese, Korean. Because this two Country's grammar is very different to english! It's completly reversing how you speak & read. Long explaining, added adjective, talking stories, it's sometimes useless! it's even make more confusion to these country's people. These videos are just what I want! Thank you for Jade! x

[xandrutait]

I am English born and bread with a council estate accent and it's amazing to see people's attitude change when I open my mouth and one thing has always stayed true to me. and that's never change who you are thou I have been told by a posh woman in Chelsea once "You don't often hear a working class accent to often now days".Well I am living proof luv. Lol

[MrCappedro]

Well, I also am a teacher, and I think when many people as communication instructors start teaching that: "We don't say like this, we say like that." All the time, that can be such a confusing thing. In addition, I am of the opinion that we need to know what is the "RIGHT" thing. Not the way some say like this, or some say like that. Both United States and United Kingdom have MANY, MANY, MANY  ways of speaking.
We need to know how the thing really is, how the thing really has to be said. Now, when we go and live in such a country, certainly we will learn with them and then maybe we also will get accostumed to their ways, then incorporate or not to our ways of speaking. That's just what I humbly think. Enjoy English, folks!!!

[alexandervideo]

Teacher Jade, for me you are the best teacher, I´m learning English with you for two years. And I like your pronunciation and your England accent.

[Patricio]

Hey, very nice videos, I'm French and I've lived in NY and London the past 9 years. My daughter is born in London and now we are back to France since few months and it seems for a good time..
I would like my daughter to be perfectly fluent and to keep practicing her British English, (she just turned 3) as often as possible.. so your videos are perfectly made for the occasion because Daddy must be on point now .. I'm fluent but being in charge of that, I must improve even more on my pronunciation! So thanks a lot for that!! Cheers

[collinslfc]

Watching this video makes me think that learning English is really confusing, and I'm English myself.