Get Out

In the US, summer is for sand, sun, and blockbuster movies.

And this summer, we’re going to use those movies to learn English, and study how to sound American.

Every video this summer is going to be a Study English with Movies video.

We’ll pull scenes from the summer’s hottest movies, as well as favorite movies from years past.

It’s amazing what we can discover by studying even a small bit of English dialogue.

We’ll study how to understand movies, what makes Americans sound American, and of course,

any interesting vocabulary, phrasal verbs, or idioms that come up in the scenes we study.

I call this kind of exercise a Ben Franklin exercise. First, we’ll watch the scene.

Then we’ll do an in-depth analysis of what we hear together.

This is going to be so much fun. Be sure to tell your friends and spread the word that all summer long,

every Tuesday, we’re studying English with movies, here at Rachel’s English.

If you’re new to my channel, click Subscribe, and don’t forget the notification button.

Let’s get started. First, the scene.

Seizures create anxiety, which can trigger aggression.

Yeah, but like randomly attacking other people?

Uh, it’s not random.

You know, it was your flash, That’s what set him off.

Hey.  » Well.

How’s he doing?

He’s much better.

I imagine that I owe you all an apology.

Now, the analysis.

Seizures create anxiety, which can trigger aggression.

Okay so there’s a little bit of a cymbal crash, a little bit of leftover music, or sound effect as he begins speaking.

But he says the word ‘seizures’ and then there’s a little bit, a little bit of a lift.

Seizures create anxiety, which can trigger aggression.

Seizures create anxiety, which can trigger aggression.

Seizures create anxiety, which can trigger aggression.

Seizures create anxiety– so I would maybe separate that into its own little thought group.

What’s the stressed syllable in the word ‘seizures’?

Seizures create anxiety–

Seizures create anxiety–

Seizures create anxiety–

Seizures– first syllable stress. Seizures. A little curve up, then a curve down, and the second unstressed syllable

just falls into that line. Seizures, zures, zures, zures.

Seizures.

Seizures.

Seizures.

That’s sort of a tricky word. We have the DJZ sound, which isn’t too common. So first syllable stressed,

sei– zures, zures, zures, then the DJZ sound right into the schwa R sound. Zures, zures, and a super light,

light Z at the end, you could even think of that as being a super light S, seizures, seizures.

Seizures.

Seizures.

Seizures create anxiety, which can trigger aggression.

Create anxiety, which can trigger aggression.

What are our stressed syllables here?

Create anxiety, which can trigger aggression.

Create anxiety, which can trigger aggression.

Create anxiety, which can trigger aggression.

We have a few stressed syllables. Create anxiety, which can trigger aggression.

Those are the four syllables that are a little bit longer, and have more of that up-down shape.

The other syllables are flatter, lower in pitch, and said more quickly.

Create anxiety, which can trigger aggression.

Create anxiety, which can trigger aggression.

Create anxiety, which can trigger aggression.

So a lot of those other syllables are actually unstressed syllables within the stressed word.

Like the first syllable crea– crea– crea– in the word ‘create’.

So even when we’re talking about stressed words, we only ever mean the stressed syllable

that has that up-down shape. Unstressed syllables in a stressed word are said quickly and more simply.

Create, create, create, create, create.

Create anxiety,

create anxiety,

create anxiety.

Now, here we have a T that links the two words together.

Create anxiety, create an– create an– And that is a flap T, to connect.

Create anxiety.

Create anxiety,

create anxiety,

create anxiety.

Another word that’s a little tricky, that you may not be sure how to pronounce by looking at the letters.

So we have AN, but actually, the letter N here makes the NG sound so we’re making that

with a back of the tongue: an– an–

Create anxiety.

Create anxiety.

Create anxiety.

Anxie– the stressed syllable, the letter X makes the Z sound here. Anxie–

And we have the AI as in buy diphthong. Anxi– iety, iety, iety, iety, and then two unstressed syllables.

IH vowel, flap T, which I write as the D because the flap T sounds like the American D between vowels,

and then an ending EE sound. Unstressed, and make a quick flap with your tongue there:

iety, iety, iety, iety, iety, anxiety.

Practice that word with me. Four syllables, second syllable stress:

An– xie– ety, anxiety, anxiety.

Create anxiety.

Create anxiety.

Create anxiety.

Create anxiety, which can trigger aggression.

So then we have two more unstressed words, which can, before our stressed word ‘trigger’.

So how are these two words pronounced?

Which can trigger–

which can trigger–

which can trigger–

Which can– which can– which can– which can–

Very fast, low in pitch, flat, remember, we really need this contrast of this kind of word.

Which can– which can– which can– against words that have that up-down shape,

that stressed syllable like ‘anxiety’.

So ‘which can’, it’s a clean W sound, there’s no escape of air, but just: which, which, which,

with the IH vowel said very quickly, ending CH sound, which can– which can– which can–

goes right into the K sound of ‘can’ and you’re probably noticing that vowel is reduced,

it’s the schwa: can, can, can.

Which can– which can– which can–

When ‘can’ is a helping verb, meaning it’s not the only verb, it reduces.

Can trigger, trigger is the stressed word so it becomes: can– can trigger, can trigger, trigger is the main verb.

Which can trigger–

which can trigger–

which can trigger–

The TR cluster can be a CHR and usually is, here, I think he is making a clean T sound:

trigger, trigger, trigger, trigger. Try that: trigger, trigger, trigger, instead of:

trigger, trigger, trigger, trigger, trigger, trigger.

Trigger,

This word is tough. We have two R sounds. Trr— if you’re having a hard time with the word, practice it

slowing down the R. Trrrrigger. Both times. Holding out the R will help you fine-tune the position,

your ear and your mouth can work together to make a sound that’s more accurate.

Trrriggerrr. Trigger.

Trigger

aggression–

Trigger aggression– trigger aggression– Two stressed words in a row, but again, it’s only the stressed syllable

that has that up-down shape. The other syllables said simply, quickly, unstressed.

So we have the ending schwa R sound, the schwa beginning the word aggression.

Tri– gger a– gger a– gger a– gression.

Trigger aggression–

trigger aggression–

trigger aggression–

Trigger aggression– So make sure that you really feel that change in intonation,

that up-down shape on your stressed syllables. Aggression–

Here, the double S is making the SH sound, schwa N is the ending: sion– sion– sion–

Aggression–

aggression–

aggression–

Yeah, but like randomly attacking other people?

Okay, she’s feeling like hmmm… Aggression is one thing, but randomly attacking is another thing,

and can siezures really cause that? So in this thought group, what are her stressed words?

Yeah, but like randomly attacking other people?

Yeah, but like randomly attacking other people?

Yeah, but like randomly attacking other people?

A little bit of length on ‘yeah’ a little bit more height, yeah, but like, but like, much flatter, lower in pitch.

Yeah, but like randomly attacking other people?

Rand– and tack– are most stressed syllables there. Even though ‘other people’ could both be content words,

they’re not said with stress, I would say, they sound flatter, less energy.

Yeah, but like randomly attacking other people?

Yeah, but like randomly attacking other people?

Yeah, but like randomly attacking other people?

Listen to just ‘other people’. Listen to how quietly they’re said.

Other people–

There, at the end of the sentence, she’s lost her vocal energy, she’s not stressing these words.

The words that are most important are ‘randomly’ and ‘attacking’.

Yeah, but like randomly attacking other people?

Yeah, but like randomly attacking other people?

Yeah, but like randomly attacking other people?

Whoa, different day, different outfit, important announcement.

Did you know that with this video, I made a free audio lesson that you can download?

In fact, I’m going this for each one of the YouTube videos I’m making this summer,

all eleven of the Learn English with Movies videos.

So follow this link, or find the link in the video description to get your free downloadable audio lesson.

It’s where you’re going to train all of the things that you learned about pronunciation in this video.

Back to the lesson.

Yeah, but like randomly attacking other people?

Yeah, but like randomly attacking other people?

Yeah, but like randomly attacking other people?

As you imitate with the audio that goes with this video lesson, make sure that you’re really paying attention to

things like volume as well. One thing that I work with my students on sometimes is taking the energy and

volume out of the voice towards the end of a thought group.

That really helps bring an American feeling to what they’re saying.

Yeah, but like randomly attacking other people?

Yeah, but like randomly attacking other people?

Yeah, but like randomly attacking other people?

Let’s talk about a few other things. We have a stop T in ‘but’. Yeah but like, but like, but, but, but, but.

Because the next word begins with a constant, the L consonant. Then we also have a stop consonant,

the K sound, and it’s not released. She doesn’t say: like randomly– like randomly– like–

We do not hear that release, that’s also a stop. Like randomly, like, like, like.

The back of her tongue probably goes up into position for the K very quickly rather than releasing the air

and going into the R. She just goes right to the R. Like randomly– So we don’t hear that little escape of air.

It’s common to do this with stop consonants, to drop the release when the next word begins with a consonant.

But like randomly– but like randomly–

Yeah, but like randomly–

Yeah, but like randomly–

Yeah, but like randomly attacking other people?

Okay, let’s talk about our two stressed words here. Randomly attacking.

So first of all, I want to say, in the stressed syllable, ran–, we have the AA vowel followed by N. Ran–

We don’t say it like that, we put an UH sound in between even though you won’t see that in the dictionary.

Raauh– that’s what happens because the back of the tongue relaxes before the front of the tongue lifts,

so we get a UH sound in there. Raa– Raa– Ran– So not ‘ran’, not pure AH. Raa– Raa– Ran– ran– randomly.

Now, the D sound, a little hard to detect here. It’s followed by schwa M, dan-dmm–

and I don’t think she really lifts her tongue and brings it back down for a D sound.

Randomly, dom– dom– dom– dom– you want to go right into an M sound from that D.

Try to make that as fast of a transition as possible. And because it’s schwa M,

we don’t need to try to make a vowel here. We have four consonants that take over the schwa: RL, M, N,

and that means they’re called syllabic consonants, that means you don’t try to make a vowel,

they overtake the schwa. Whenever you see schwa M, just think M, random, dum-dum-dum-dum.

Randomly–

Randomly–

attacking other people?

Attacking– attacking– listen to how unstressed the first and last syllables are.

Attacking–

Ah-ttack-ing– Really focus on that as you practice this word. Actually, just practice it right now. Break it up.

Ah-ttack-ing– attacking– attacking– Here, the T is a true T because it begins a stressed syllable.

And a T that begins a true syllable is always a true T, unless it’s part of the TR cluster,

then you might make it a CH. Attacking– attacking– make sure that first syllable is a schwa, uh–

attacking–

Attacking–

attacking other people?

And again, we’ve already discussed it, but just make sure that this is low in volume,

simplify your mouth movements, these words are unstressed.

Attacking other people?

Attacking other people?

Attacking other people?

Other people– other people. And the pitch goes up a little bit at the end it’s a yes/no question.

Attacking other people?

Attacking other people?

Attacking other people?

Uh, it’s not random.

Okay then we have the word ‘uh’, just a little filler word as he’s thinking, and then a three word thought group.

Talk to me about the stress here. How do you feel the stress goes?

Repeat it, feel it, and find the most stressed syllable.

Uh, it’s not random.

Uh, it’s not random.

Uh, it’s not random.

Uh, it’s not random.

I think ‘not’ is the most stressed word there. Not random. So here she’s saying

‘randomly’ and he’s saying it’s not random, not, contradicting that, so that’s gonna have the most stress.

It’s not random. Stop T after ‘not’ because the next word begins with a consonant. Not random.

And remember, just like with randomly, try not to make a vowel here: random– dom– dom– dom– random–

Random– random– random–

You know, it was your–

Okay, so the way that I’ve written it with the commas which makes sense grammatically is not actually how

he broke it up with his thought groups. He put a little break after ‘your’.

You know, it was your–

You know, it was your–

You know, it was your–

You know, it was your– you know– You know, it was your–

So ‘know’ the most stressed word in that thought group, and actually, ‘you’ is reduced, its yuh with the schwa,

not the OO vowel but ye– ye– you know– We say the word ‘you’ this way a lot.

In the phrase ‘you know’, it becomes: ye know, ye know.

The word ‘you’re’ also reduces: yer, yer, not: you’re, but yer.

You know, it was your–

You know, it was your–

You know, it was your–

Z sound in ‘was’, Y sound in ‘your ‘ or yer. They sound together a little bit like the DJZ.

It was your– was djz– But I probably wouldn’t tell my students to practice it this way.

In that case, it would probably end up sounding too heavy. Was your– was your– was your–

I would still concentrate on making a light Z sound connecting to the Y. Was your– was your–

Was your–

It was your– It was your– Stop T in ‘it’, was, I would write that with the schwa. Was, was, was.

Instead of was, less jaw drop, different kind of vowel. Was– it was your–

It was your–

flash–

Flash, then he puts another break here, so the word ‘flash’ is its own little thought group here,

it’s a single syllable, and it is stressed, has that up-down shape.

Flash by putting that stop before, and separating it into its own thought group,

we bring more emphasis to that word.

Flash,

That’s what set him off.

Okay, now in the rest of the thought here, the last thought group, what is our stressed word?

That’s what set him off.

That’s what set him off.

That’s what set him off.

I would say our stressed words are: That’s what set him off. ‘What’ has a little bit of length too.

But ‘that’s’ and ‘off ‘ are our most stressed, highest pitch, up-down shape.

That’s what set him off.

That’s what set him off.

That’s what set him off.

What set him– what set him– what set him– A little bit lower in pitch, a little bit flatter,

what set him– what set him– Stop T in ‘what’ because the next word begins with a consonant.

Now, you may think stop T in ‘set’ because the next word begins with a consonant, but actually,

he dropped the H sound that’s a really common reduction, so now the word ‘him’ begins with a vowel.

It’s um, um, um. So the T does come between two vowels, he does use it to link, and it’s a flap T.

Set him, set him, set him.

That’s what set him off.

That’s what set him off.

That’s what set him off.

Set him off– set him off– So two words that are flatter, lower in pitch, unstressed, compared to ‘off’.

Set him off– set him off– set him off–

Set him off–

set him off–

set him off–

Hey. » Well.

Hey. Hey. Okay, so compared to ‘set him off– ‘ which is lower in pitch, hey, hey, is a lot higher in pitch, isn’t it?

It’s more friendly, he’s greeting the person who had an issue.

Bringing the pitch up, friendly tone. That’s a lot different than: hey. Hey! Hey!

More upbeat, more positive sounding.

Hey.

Hey. » Well.

Well. Well. Single word in a thought group, up-down shape. Well. Well.

The L isn’t too clear, that’s a dark L. She did not lift her tongue tip for that.

Well. Uhl, uhl, uhl, uhl.

That dark sound at the end of the dark L is made with a back of the tongue, tongue tip stays down.

If you bring your tongue tip up, you’re making too much of this L. Well, uhl, uhl. Well. Well. Well. Well.

Try that, practice it, tongue tip down.

Hey. » Well.

Hey. » Well.

Hey. » Well.

The back of the tongue, uhl, uhl, uhl, pushes down and back a little bit. That’s how we get the dark sound.

Hey. » Well.

Hey. » Well.

Hey. » Well.

How’s he doing?

Okay, now he speaks quietly, and the door is opening, so it’s a little bit harder to hear what’s going on.

But listen to it again and tell me what you think the stressed words are.

How’s he doing?

How’s he doing?

How’s he doing?

How’s– How’s he doing? ‘How’s’ and ‘do’ the most stressed syllables there. How’s he doing?

How’s he– how’s he– What’s happening in the word ‘he’? How’s he–

The H is dropped. So then it’s just the EE vowel, ending Z sound, links right into the EE. How’s he– how’s he–

How’s he doing?

How’s he doing?

How’s he doing?

And it’s a little hard to tell because the end of the word is really covered by the door,

but I think he is dropping the NG sound and making just an N sound.

Doin, doin, doin.

How’s he doing?

How’s he doing?

How’s he doing?

He’s much better.

And she responds, three words, stress on the middle syllable. He’s much better. Smoothly linked together.

The H here isn’t dropped, but it’s pretty light, so keep that in mind.

He’s much better.

He’s much better.

He’s much better.

He’s much better.

He’s much better.

And also keep in mind that ‘much’ is the peak of stress, and the word ‘he’s’ leads up to that peak,

and the word ‘better’ falls away from that peak. So it’s all smoothly connected.

And what are you hearing for the T’s in this word?

He’s much better.

He’s much better.

He’s much better.

Flap T. Double T, a single flap T, because the T sound comes between two vowels.

Now here, we have schwa R. Remember, R is a syllabic consonant, so you don’t need to try to make

a vowel sound, it’s just: rrrr. But even though the R takes over the vowel, in IPA it is written schwa R,

you do make a flap T, you do count that as a vowel when you’re thinking about is this a flap T or not?

T does come between vowels even though in practice the are absorbs the vowel.

Is that confusing enough for you? Better, better.

The thing with these rules is it can be useful to know them, but what’s ultimately the most useful

is to listen to how native speakers do it, and really imitate that.

He’s much better.

He’s much better.

He’s much better.

I imagine that I–

I imagine that I–

Imaa– maa– longer, more stressed, I imagine that I–

Now, the unstressed syllable at the end does continue to go up, I think. I imagine, imagine that I–

And then it comes back down, but the length is definitely on the stressed syllable ‘ma’ with the AA vowel.

I imagine that I–

I imagine that I–

I imagine that I–

I imagine that I–

Make sure you link ‘I’, the AI diphthong with the vowel IH: Ai-ih– Ai-ih– Ai-ih– smoothly.

Sometimes when it comes to linking a vowel or diphthong to another vowel or diphthong,

students don’t feel comfortable with that. Feels too sloppy, too connected, and they want to restart the voice:

I imagine– but don’t do that. Really try to link those together: Ai-ih– Ai-ih– Ai-ih– I imagine–

I imagine that–

I imagine that–

I imagine that I–

What’s happening with ‘that’ and ‘I’? Can you hear that?

That I– that I– that I–

That I– that I– that I– Definitely a flap T linking those two words.

Also, the vowel AH, that, is reduced. It’s a schwa: that I– that I– that I–

So the word ‘that’ becomes: duh, duh, duh, duh, schwa flap: that I–

That I– that I– that I–

owe you all an apology.

Okay, let’s just listen to this final thought group a couple times on a loop. Listen to the music of it.

Owe you all an apology.

Owe you all an apology.

Owe you all an apology.

The more I listen to something like this, the more I hear the music, the more I just think life is an opera.

We sing everything we say.

Owe you all an apology. Da-da-da-da-da-da-da. Da-da-da-da-da-da-da.

You could dance to that, couldn’t you? Da-da-da-da-da-da-da.

Owe you all an apology.

Owe you all an apology.

Owe you all an apology.

I love exploring that, and that really helps us find the stress.

Owe you all an apology. When we listen on a loop, I think it really makes the stress super obvious.

‘Owe’ and ‘pol, our two stressed, longer up-down shape syllables there.

Owe you all an apology.

Owe you all an apology.

Owe you all an apology.

Owe you all an apology. Owe you all an a– Owe you all an a– Then these four syllables here, you all an–,

and the first unstressed syllable of the stressed word ‘apology’, flatter in pitch, you all an a–, you all an a–

And all really linked together, very smooth. Owe you all an a– Owe you all an a– Owe you all an a–

you all an a– you all an a– you all an a– Can you do that? Just imitate those four syllables.

You all an a– you all an a–

You all an a–

You all an a– Now, the word ‘all’ ends in a dark L, and you generally don’t need to lift your tongue tip for an–

a Dark L. However, when it links into a word that begins with a vowel, like here, we have the schwa

in the word: an, an, an, then I think it is useful to lift the tongue tip.

You all an a– you all an a– you all an a– It helps to find the dark L moving into a word that begins

with a vowel or diphthong. So you can lift your tongue tip here.

You all an a–

If it was the end of the thought group, or it linked in to a word that began with the consonant,

I probably wouldn’t lift the tongue tip. I owe you all. I really owe you all. Owe you all. Owe you all.

There, I’m making a dark sound, light, subtle at the end, but I’m not lifting my tongue tip.

But because we’re linking into a word that begins with a vowel, let’s do go ahead and lift the tongue tip there.

You all an a– you all an a– you all an apology.

Owe you all an apology.

Owe you all an apology.

Owe you all an apology.

The L in ‘apology’ is a dark L because it comes after the vowel in the syllable.

But again, it’s followed by another vowel here, another vowel sound, so I would lift the tongue tip.

Apol– llluh– apology. Apology.

Apology.

Mmm… I love that. I love listening to the music of the speech. This was a great little snippet of conversation,

just 15 seconds but so much to study.

Flap Ts, linking, difficult words, breaking them down by syllables, the music of speech.

Let’s listen to the whole conversation one more time.

Seizures create anxiety, which can trigger aggression.

Yeah, but like randomly attacking other people?

Uh, it’s not random.

You know, it was your flash, That’s what set him off.

Hey.  »Well.

How’s he doing?

He’s much better.

I imagine that I owe you all an apology.

We’re going to be doing a lot more of this kind of analysis together.

What movie scenes would you like to see analyzed like this? Let me know in the comments.

And if you want to see all my Ben Franklin videos, click here.

You’ll also find the link in the video description.

That’s it, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.