English like an American" Gabby: Hey, guys! I'm Gabby Wallace and this

is a Go Natural English lesson. One of my viewers asked a question about American

English pronunciation. And I'm happy to answer. You know, English, and especially American

English, is really interesting. Because the way that we speak can be different than the

way you might think we're going to speak, based off of how you read the words or how

you learn how each sound sounds individually. But then, when we put sounds together, in

words, in phrases, they change a lot. So, in this video, you're going to understand,

finally, how to understand one specific sound and how to say or how to make one specific

sound, which is the "T" sound in English. Now, my viewer said, "I noticed that when

you have words with "T" in the middle, they change to a "D" sound. And that makes it really

difficult to understand." Movies, American movies or conversations with fluent English

speakers or American English speakers, it's true. Whenever you have a "T" in the middle

of a word surrounded by two nouns, it changes to a "D" sound.

Here are some examples: "I'd like a cup of water.", "I'd like a glass of water." Do you

notice that I don't say it "wa-ter"? I say "wa-der". Okay? If you're speaking with someone

who is from the UK or perhaps another English speaking country, they may say "wa-ter". But

Americans or North Americans, will say "wa-der". "Wa-der". Can you say it? (pause). Sounds

good. Alright. So, another example is "butter". "I'd like some butter on my toast." So, butter

has two "Ts" but it doesn't matter. It's between two vowels. So, those vowels soften that "T"

sound so it becomes "D". So, again, "butter". (pause) Alright. Nice.

Another word, another food word that you may hear at a restaurant or you may want to use

at a restaurant, it's a food I like very much is "tomato". Okay. If you're speaking with

someone from the UK, they may say "to-mah-to", but Americans will say "to-may-doh". Not only

is the "A" sound different, but that "T" sound in the middle is different, "to-may-doh",

"to-may-doh". Do you hear how soft that sound is? It's not "to-may-to", it's "to-may-doh".

Okay, so if you want to understand Americans, you have to understand that these sounds change.

Finally, another word that is not food related, but you'll hear quite often is "matter", or

"mat-ter". But that's not how we say it in North America. We say it "ma-der". "What's

the matter?" is "What's wrong?" So let me hear you say it, "What's the matter?" (pause).

Okay. Or "It doesn't matter", "It doesn't matter to me" means "I don't care", "It's

not important". So let me hear you say it, "It doesn't matter". (pause). All right, very

nice. So, these are just four examples of words

with "T" in the middle of two vowels. And the "T" changes into a "D" sound. So, again,

and you can repeat after me if you like: "water" (pause), "butter" (pause), "tomato" (pause),

"matter" (pause). All right, very nice. So, I hope that this helps your understanding

of American movies, American people, American conversations or North American, I should

say. I have to include Canadian friends. So, please remember this as you're listening and

you'll be able to understand a lot better with more confidence and understanding of

native fluent English speakers. Thanks so much for watching. If you come visit

me at gonaturalenglish.com, you can come get a free e-book that will help you to learn

more English. So, I hope to see you there.

Bye for now. ************************************************************************

Thank you for being a wonderful part of the Go Natural English community. Come back to

http://gonaturalenglish.com, share your comments, and find more English learning resources!

Go Natural English Your Notes: Gabby Wallace, M.Ed TESOL

Page 1