In today's lesson, you are going to learn how to boost your pronunciation skills so that you can speak clearly and confidently anytime that you have an English conversation.

Hi, I'm Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com, and like always, I have created a free PDF worksheet with all of today's pronunciation tips, sample sentences, and everything that you need to boost your pronunciation skills in 2025.

Plus, at the bottom of the worksheet, you can answer Vanessa's challenge question so that you never forget what you've learned.

You can click on the link in the description to download this free PDF worksheet today.

All right, let's get started with our first pronunciation tip so that you can boost your pronunciation skills in 2025.

My first pronunciation tip to help you speak clearly and naturally in English is with this word.

Take a look at this word.

It is a very simple word.

Listen to the pronunciation, water, water.

What's happening to that T in the middle of this word?

Water.

It sounds just like a D sound.

In American English, which is what I speak because I'm from the US, we change T's to D sounds when they're surrounded with vowels.

What I'm going to do is I'm going to read a few sentences that include lots of T changing to D sounds.

I'm going to read it one time, and then we're going to look at some of the words, and I want you to practice pronouncing those same sentences out loud with me.

This is called shadowing, and it is the number one pronunciation technique to help you actually be able to improve and speak clearly in English.

Listen carefully to the key words as I read the next few sentences.

Yesterday, I left my water bottle and computer in the car, so I put on my sweater to go outside.

I always feel better when I'm warm.

Later, I think I will go into the city to see my friend.

I'm excited to see her.

You heard me say water, bottle, computer.

Can you say those first three words with me?

Water, bottle, computer.

Then the next T changing to a D is a little bit tricky.

It's actually two words, but the T still changes to a D.

I said I put on.

Put on becomes put on.

Do you see the same rule here still applies?

There's a vowel on either side of that T.

Even though it's two separate words, put on becomes put on.

When you can learn pronunciation tips like this, it will help your pronunciation, of course, but it will also help your listening skills because you'll be able to hear when people use this in daily conversation.

The next two words I said were sweater and better.

It just sounds like a D sound.

Can you say all three of those with me?

Put on, sweater, better.

Great work.

The final three words that have the T that changes to a D are later, city, excited.

This last word just sounds like did, excited.

Let's say all three those together.

Later, city, excited.

Now we're going to put it all together.

I'm going to read the entire section out loud.

I want you to try to say it exactly with me at the same time.

Let's do it.

Yesterday, I left my water bottle and my computer in the car, so I put on my sweater to go outside.

I always feel better when I'm warm.

Later, I think I will go into the city to see my friend.

I'm excited to see her.

Great work.

Let's go on to the second pronunciation point that will help you to level up your speaking skills.

The second pronunciation tip that will help you to level up your speaking skills in 2025 is with this word.

You will becomes you'll, but in regular, fast conversational speed, we say you'll, you'll.

You're almost swallowing the end of this word, you'll.

We're going to practice several contractions.

This is what this means, two words put together with an apostrophe with the word will.

Let's practice a few of them.

I'm going to read a few sentences, and then we'll go back and practice them together.

Let's make a plan for the surprise party next weekend.

If you'll bring the dessert, we'll bring the wine, and they'll bring the rest of the food.

It'll be such a fun time.

He'll be so surprised to see everyone there.

All right, let's go back word by word and practice this pronunciation, and I want you to try to say it with me.

The first two are you will and we will.

Let's practice the first contraction, you'll, you'll, you'll.

The next one, we will becomes we'll.

Notice how you're almost swallowing that sound.

It is not clear, we'll.

It's not clear like that.

It's we'll, we'll, and this is what happens when you're speaking in a regular speed, relatively fast American English pronunciation, we'll, we'll.

The next three are they will, it will, and he will.

Let's start with the first they'll, they'll, but really when we're speaking in a conversation, we just say they'll, they'll, they'll.

Then the next one, it will becomes it'll, it'll.

Notice here, this is similar to our first tip, that T changes to a D sound, it'll, it'll.

You might be wondering, Vanessa, you said that T changes to a D when it is surrounded by vowels.

What's happening here?

There is an L afterwards.

We'll listen to the sound that's being used, it'll, it'll.

We're adding here, a little schwa sound, which is a vowel.

So even though we don't see the vowel, we're still pronouncing a vowel and it's making that T change to a D.

Boom.

Wonderful, right?

So let's say it will as it'll, it'll, it'll.

The last one is he will, which becomes he'll, he'll.

He'll be so surprised to see the party.

He'll, he'll.

You could say he'll, he'll, that's very clear, but when we're speaking quickly, we're more likely to just link it together and say, he'll be so excited.

He'll be so excited.

All right, let's say this full thing all together and I want you to try to repeat exactly with me.

You can do it.

Let's make a plan for the surprise party next weekend.

If you'll bring the wine, we'll bring the dessert and they'll bring the rest of the food.

It'll be such a fun time.

He'll be so surprised to see everyone there.

Great work.

The third pronunciation tip that will help you to speak clearly and confidently in English in 2025 is related to this word, gonna, gonna.

What is gonna?

You will probably not find this in a regular dictionary because it is a reduction.

Gonna is actually going to, going to, and then when we speak, we just say gonna.

So there are many reductions that we use in English.

I'm going to put them, most of the most common ones at least, in a couple sentences.

I'll read them out loud and then we'll practice them together.

I'm gonna write a book this year.

I know it's gonna be a lot of work, but it's something that I want to accomplish in my life.

I know I have to do a little bit every day.

To reach this goal, I got to sit down every day with my pencil and paper.

I'm trying to write a chapter every week.

All right, we had a bunch of wonderful reductions here.

Let's go through them one by one.

The first one we just talked about, gonna, is going to.

I'm gonna write a book this year.

Unfortunately, this is not true.

I am not gonna write a book this year.

At least as far as I know, it is only the beginning of the year.

Who knows?

But when you're talking about the future, you don't need to say, I am going to write a book this year.

You can use this lovely reduction and just say, I'm gonna write a book this year.

Do you hear how smooth and fluid and fluent that sounds?

You're gonna hear tons of people using this in conversations and movies and TV shows.

Once you know it, you're gonna hear it even more because all of a sudden your ears will be open to knowing more.

You know that gonna is going to.

I guarantee you're gonna hear this a lot.

The next reduction is wanna.

It's something I wanna accomplish in my life.

This is want to.

I want to accomplish this in my life.

But instead, I've reduced this and said, I wanna accomplish it in my life.

I wanna.

What's something that you wanna do in 2025?

The next reduction is hafta.

Hafta.

Hafta is have to.

Notice that in the full word, there is a V, but in the reduction, we pronounce it with an F.

Hafta.

Hafta.

I know I have to do a little bit every day.

This is something that's a necessity.

I have to do a little bit every day.

For you, what is something that you have to do every day?

Maybe that is make your breakfast.

Maybe that is go to work.

What's something that you have to do every day?

Before we go to the three, and I want you to try to say them out loud with me.

Use your pronunciation muscles.

Let's say them together.

Gonna, wanna, hafta.

Gonna, wanna, hafta.

Great work.

Let's go on to the last two.

To reach this goal, I gotta sit down.

Gotta.

Oh, we have two roles coming together here.

Notice the pronunciation of the T's.

Gotta.

Gotta.

Oh, it is not gotta.

Instead, the T is changing to a D.

Why?

Because there are vowels on either side.

Gotta.

What does this mean?

This is a pretty big reduction reduced to something just small.

It is I have got to becomes I gotta.

Sometimes in spoken English, we might say I gotta or I have gotta or I got to.

There's many variations of this, but the most reduced version, and I would say the most commonly used version, is I gotta.

I have a flight tomorrow at 7 a.m., so I gotta wake up super early.

This is a necessity.

I gotta wake up super early.

And our final reduction that we're talking about today is trying to.

It sounds so weird when you say it by itself, but in a sentence, it's no problem.

I said I'm trying to.

I'm trying to.

I'm trying to.

I'm trying to write a chapter every week, but when I say this quickly, it sounds like I'm trying to write a chapter every week.

I'm trying to write a chapter every week.

I'm trying to.

Can you say this with me?

Trying to.

Let's say both of those that we just practiced.

Gotta.

Gotta.

Trying to.

Trying to.

By itself, it's a little bit weird, but let's put it all together in the full sentences.

This way, it sounds more natural, and you can practice it as well.

So speak out loud.

Shadow directly with me as I'm speaking.

Let's do it.

I'm gonna write a book this year.

I know it's gonna be a lot of work, but it's something that I wanna accomplish in my life.

I know I have to do a little bit every day.

To reach this goal, I gotta sit down with my pencil and paper.

I'm trying to write a chapter every week.

Great work with these reductions.

Let's go on to the fourth important pronunciation point that you need in order to speak clearer, better, more fluent English.

The fourth pronunciation tip we're going to talk about today is in this sentence.

I need to pick up some things for dinner tonight.

I need to pick up some things for dinner tonight.

Listen to that little word, to.

I need to pick up some things for dinner tonight.

The word to is changing to da, da.

I need to pick up some things for dinner tonight.

It's common in English, as you might have guessed, for T's to change in English.

So here, we're just reducing it instead of having that puff of air.

I need to.

We're saying I need to.

I need to.

It's going to make our speech sound a little bit faster, but it will really help you to understand fast English as well, because you will hear this all the time.

So let's read a few sentences.

I want you to listen to me say it, and then we'll go back and practice it together.

I've gotta go to the store later.

Do you need anything?