Daily English - Day 26

I've noticed that the majority of my clients clip off the endings of words without even realizing that they are doing it. What I mean by clip off is when saying words, a common mistake that foreign speakers make is that they drop off the last sound in a word, especially those words that end in a B, P, D, or a T. For example, in the word job, you may be saying job without a B sound, where the B is so weak you don't even hear it. I have a good job. See that? You did not hear the B sound. For cap, you may be saying cap. I am wearing a cap, and you don't hear the P sound. For bed, you may be saying bed. I sleep in a bed, and there's no D. For the word plates, you may be saying plate. I eat on a plate, and you don't hear the T sound. The problem is your listener is not hearing that last consonant sound, and if the person you're speaking with does not hear what the last sound is in your words, they'll constantly be guessing as to what you're trying to say. Therefore, don't drop off the endings. Make sure that the final sounds come through clearly and fully, and not shorten them. Let's practice these following sentences and be aware not to drop the endings off. We're going to start with words ending with D. I hope the group will sleep on the ship. The soda pop spilled out of the cup over the map and onto her lap. Was the egg drop soup cheap? Very good. Now, another mistake that foreign speakers make is unvoicing a sound when it should be voiced. For example, job ends in a B, which is a voiced sound. Job is not job with an unvoiced P. Keep the voicing going throughout the whole word. Job with a voiced P ending. Same thing with robe also has a voiced P ending. It's not rope with an unvoiced P. It's robe. Okay, let's go over these sentences ending with P's. We cleaned the cobweb from the doorknob near the bathtub. Rob broke his dog club when he slipped on the ice cube near the bathtub. Rob broke his dog club when he slipped on the ice cube. The crab was under the cement slab at the yacht club. The ticket stub was found in the taxi cab. Now, T ending. Make sure the T's come through clearly. Kate left her cat on the mat as she flew a kite. T ending. Make sure the T's come through clearly. Kate left her cat on the mat as she flew a kite. The sailboat came into the port to join the fleet. What bait will make the fish bite? A cricket or a piece of meat? What bait will make the fish bite? A cricket or a piece of meat? Very good. Now also remember to add voicing to words with P endings. Dead has a voiced P ending. It's not bed with an unvoiced P. It's bed with a voiced P. Road also has a voiced P ending. It's road with an unvoiced P. It's road with a voiced P. Let's go over these sentences ending with voiced P's. Bread will decide which sledge is voiced. Let's go over these sentences ending with voiced P's. Bread will decide which sled should be painted red. David tried to send a refund back to England. He could not hide his report card behind the chalkboard. Very good. Now let's talk about P-V endings. Many verbs that are in the past tense end with P-V. For example, clean. Today, I clean. Yesterday, I clean. Now P-V endings have similar rules as the S-V endings that we discussed in the second session. Here's the first rule, and probably you already do this correctly. If a word ends in an unvoiced consonant, all we do is add an unvoiced P. So let's look at the word jump. For example, the final sound in jump is a P, which is unvoiced. So when you put it in the past tense, all you do is add a T. Jump, you get a T sound at the end. Jump. Of course, the word is spelled with a P-V ending. It's just pronounced as a T. Jump. Like that. The word walk, which has an unvoiced K sound at the end. Walk. Here comes walk. Yesterday, I walked. Here's the second rule. If a word ends in a voiced consonant, you add a voiced D. In other words, you keep the whole word voiced. For example, the word rub ends with a voiced P. Rub. Today, I rub. Yesterday, I rubbed. All I did was add a voiced T sound at the end. Rubbed. It's not rubbed, an unvoiced T. It's rubbed. Like that. Here's another example. Clean ends with a voiced N. So today, I clean. Yesterday, I cleaned. I cleaned the kitchen. Poured becomes poured. I poured the milk. Scrub becomes scrubbed. I scrubbed the floor. Tag becomes tagged. I tagged the clothing. Spill ends with a voiced L sound. Spill. So it becomes spilled. I spilled the juice. Trim becomes trimmed. I trimmed the tree. Move has that voiced T sound. Move. So it becomes moved. I moved to California. Buzz becomes buzzed. The clock in California. Buzz becomes buzzed. The clock buzzed all night. Okay, so that's the second rule. Here is the third rule. If a word ends in a T or a D sound, you add the ending id. It's a vowel if followed by a D. Voiced id. So for example, the word lift. Lift ends with an unvoiced T. Lift. So today I lift the ball. Yesterday I lifted the ball. Lift becomes lifted. And remember in the third session we talked about when a T falls between two vowels, it turns into a D like in the word water. Water becomes water. Remember that? But the same thing happens here when the T comes between two vowels. So look at this next word. Heat. The verb to heat becomes heated. I heated up my dinner. Boat becomes boated. We boated this morning. Hand becomes handed. He handed me his report. Trade becomes traded. I traded in my old car. Add becomes added. She added some information. Okay, now let's go over these exercises with easy endings. You'll notice that I put a line under all the endings that are voiced. To help you remember to add voices. Here we go. Bob raked the leaves. And then started to wash his car. He then loaded up the dishwasher. And finished washing his dishes. Susan spilled her tea. Drink on the spotted rug. She cleaned it up. Susan spilled her drink on the spotted rug. She cleaned it up with a napkin, which wasted a lot of time. He thanked me and offered me tea. She picked it up with a napkin, which wasted a lot of time. He thanked me and offered me tea. He thanked me and offered me money if I picked up the new equipment. Very good. Okay, now let's talk about words that end in NG. Some people who speak English as a second language have gotten into the bad habit of adding a K release sound like that after an NG ending. For example, in the word ring, it becomes ring. The word walking becomes walking. The word talking becomes talking. Like that. That is not right. The problem is there's just this little K sound at the end of the ING sound. Don't do this. It is not right. That is not right. The problem is there's just this little K sound at the end of the ING sound. Don't do this. It is not right and it does not sound good. Let's talk about the NG sound. There are three nasal sounds in English. Nasal sounds are sounds that come out of your nose. Those three nasal sounds are M, N, and NG. Like that. Let me show you something. Try to say the M sound while closing off your nose. See, you cannot do it. The M sound comes out of your nose. It is a nasal sound. Same thing with the NG sound. It comes out of your nose. It is a combination of an N and a G. It is found at the ends of words like ring and sing. I want you to realize that there is not a K sound. There is not a K sound. The word is not walking. It is walking. It is that NG ending. Let's practice these sentences with NG endings. Here we go. I have a feeling that she is working too much. She has been wearing... Here we go. I have a feeling that she is working too much. She has been wearing a hearing aid so that she could sing. She is working too much. She has been wearing a hearing aid so that she could sing. She is looking forward to speaking at the Thanksgiving celebration. Very good. That is it for today's session. I hope that you have been enjoying this program so far. I hope that you are beginning to notice some improvements in the way you are speaking English. I bet you are sounding much better already. Have fun practicing.