VENOM

You can understand Americans effortlessly and speak very natural English

when you study the way we’re going to today.

We’re going to study English with the movie Venom, and look at all the things that make spoken English difficult.

Linking, reductions, changing the sounds of a word.

When you study these things and you know them,

you’re going to be so much more comfortable and confident speaking English.

Study like this and you’re going to be able to understand American movies and TV without subtitles.

You’re a good person, Annie.

We’re doing this all summer, we started in June, and we’re going through August.

Stick with me, every Tuesday.

They’re all great scenes, and there’s going to be so much to learn

that can transform the way you understand and speak English.

And as always, if you like this video, or you learned something new,

please like and subscribe with notifications.

You’re going to watch the clip then we’re going to do a full pronunciation analysis together.

This is going to help so much with your listening comprehension

when it comes to watching English movies in TV.

But there’s going to be a training section. You’re going to take what you’ve just learned,

and practice repeating it, doing a reduction, flapping a T, just like you learned in the analysis.

Okay, here’s the scene.

You’re in luck, I’ve decided to work pro bono.

I’m joining the public defender’s office.

You’re a good person, Annie.

What about you? What are you going to do?

Uh, the network asked me to bring the show back. Uh, they want to start with a piece on Drake.

Oh, when? Really? So-what did you say?

Uh, I’m not, I’m not into it.

I want to concentrate on the written word.

And now, the analysis.

You’re in luck, I’ve decided to work pro bono.

You’re in luck– You’re in luck– So if the melody starts lower, you’re in luck–

it goes up for in, and comes back down as she finishes the word luck.

You’re in luck– you’re in luck– And everything links together, doesn’t it?

There are no breaks, so we have this smooth change in pitch, this up down shape.

See if you can imitate that. We want a lot of smoothness in American English.

You’re in luck–

You’re in luck–

You’re in luck–

This word ‘you are’ is not pronounced you’re, but it’s: yer yer, she reduces it.

That’s the common pronunciation.

You can try to make it with no vowel: you’re, you’re, just a Y sound and an R sound:

you’re, you’re, you’re, you’re in luck, you’re in luck.

You’re in luck, you’re in luck.

You’re in luck, I’ve decided to work pro bono.

Luck, I’ve– luck, I’ve– ki’ve– ki’ve– ki’ve–

The K sound links right into the next word: I’ve with the AI diphthong, luck I’ve– luck I’ve-

Luck, I’ve–

decided to work pro bono.

That word is unstressed. I’ve decided– we have some of that up down shape there.

I’ve decided to work pro– pro bono.

So some stress on pro, and also on bo, on pro, pro, it’s going up, pro bono.

So we have three letters o there: pro bono, and they’re all pronounced with the OH diphthong, oh, oh.

One mistake my students make sometimes is they’ll say: oh, and they don’t change the lip position,

oh, oh, we do need the change in the position, we go from more relaxed in the first sound,

to more rounded in the second sound, and that change is important. Pro bono. Pro bono.

I’ve decided to work pro bono.

I’ve decided to work pro bono.

I’ve decided to work pro bono.

I’ve decided to work- decided– decided– decided–

So the first syllable, said very quickly, de, de, and the last syllable said very quickly, ed, ed.

Decided. Decided. Decided. Uhhhh. The stress is really on that middle syllable. I’ve decided. I’ve decided.

I’ve decided–

Decide. So right from the D into a true T sound.

She wouldn’t have to do that. It’s common to drop it when the first sound is a D, the sound before is a D,

decided to–, decided to– and just make it a schwa. But she does make a true T and then a schwa.

Decided to, decided to, decided to.

The important thing is that the vowel here is the schwa, and it’s said very quickly.

It is unstressed. Decided to. I’ve decided to.

I’ve decided to–

to work pro bono.

Decided to work pro bono. Work also said pretty quickly. To work, to work, to work, to work.

This is a tricky word because it has the R vowel in it. Work.

One thing that can mess up my students is when they try to put a vowel in work, something like that.

It’s just W consonant, think of there being no vowel, R sound, work, work,

you don’t need much jaw drop for that. Work. Work.

See what happens for you if you take the vowel out. Work. Work.

Work–

pro bono.

I’m joining the public defender’s office.

What are her most stressed syllables in this next sentence?

I’m joining the public defender’s office.

I’m joining the public defender’s office.

I’m joining the public defender’s office.

I’m joining– I’m joining the public defender’s office.

So: join, pu–, fen, and ah–, all have the most stress.

The word I’m, I’m, AI diphthong, M. It’s not fully pronounced here, I don’t think. What do you think?

I’m joining–

I don’t really hear the diphthong. I just hear the M consonant before the J.

I’m joining, mmmm, I’m joining, I’m joining.

It’s a fairly common reduction. I’m joining. I’m joining.

I’m joining–

public defender’s office.

So we have our stressed syllable join, then two unstressed syllables.

Ing the, ing the, ing the, ing the. I’m joining the public—

I’m joining the public—

I’m joining the public—

I’m joining the public—

Does it feel unnatural for you to make the pitch go up and down like this?

It might feel very strange to do that depending on your native language.

But that really helps with the native speakers understanding you because we’re so used to that.

It might feel silly to you, but it’s how we use the language. So don’t be afraid to really change your pitch.

Joining the public. And joining the public. And joining the public.

That’s what makes English clear to us. So challenge yourself to do that even if it feels silly.

I’m joining the public—

I’m joining the public—

I’m joining the public defender’s office.

Public de– So this ends in a K sound.

I don’t hear it released. I don’t hear: public, public, public defenders.

I hear public de– So the sound stops. She puts her tongue up into position for the K.

Public de– but then rather than just releasing a puff of air, she goes right into the D sound.

Public defender’s office.

Public defender’s office.

Public defender’s office.

Public defender’s office.

This here, apostrophe S showing possession, the office of the defender, of the public defender, is a Z sound.

Defender’s office. And it links right into the vowel.

Defender’s office.

Defender’s office.

Defender’s office.

Vowel can either be the AW as in law vowel or the AH as in father vowel. Defender’s office.

Defender’s office.

Defender’s office.

Defender’s office.

You’re a good person, Annie.

How does he stress this? What words seem the most clear to you?

You’re a good person, Annie.

You’re a good person, Annie.

You’re a good person, Annie.

Good, per–, ann– that’s what I hear. You’re a good person, Annie.

You’re a good person, Annie.

You’re a good person, Annie.

You’re a good person, Annie.

Good person, Annie.

You’re and a, both said very quickly.

You’re a– you’re a– you’re a– you’re a—not: you’re a– you’re a– you’re a– you’re a—

Very relaxed face. Very little jaw drop. You’re a– you’re a– you’re a– you’re a–

I can do that without moving my jaw or my lips or my cheeks at all. It’s just the tongue.

You’re a– you’re a– you’re a– you’re a– you’re a—

See if you can do that. That kind of simplification of mouth movement is really important

to help you make these unstressed syllables very fast, to give them an unstressed feeling.

You’re a– you’re a– you’re a good person.

You’re a good person.

You’re a good person.

You’re a good person.

Good, good, good, good person. You know, even though I wrote this as stressed,

and I do think it has a bit of a stressed feel, it’s actually pretty short, isn’t it? Good, good, good, good, good.

There’s not much of a vowel there.

This is the push vowel, uh, sugar, good,

but it’s not good, it’s good, good, good, good, good person, good person.

Good person–

Annie.

Good person, Annie. Nannie. The ending N links right onto the vowel AH.

This is what we want, we want this kind of linking. Good per–

these two sounds with no break in between.

You’re a– linked together: you’re a good person, Annie.

Everything links together so smoothly.

You’re a good person, Annie.

You’re a good person, Annie.

You’re a good person, Annie.

With this word, person, person, make sure you don’t put a OH sound in there. That’s the schwa.

Schwa N. When those two go together, you don’t really try to make a vowel at all.

Person, son, son. Right from S into N. Person. Person, Annie.

Person, Annie.

Person, Annie.

Person, Annie.

What about you? What are you going to do?

So these are two different questions but she doesn’t put any break in between. They link together.

What are our stressed words here?

What about you? What are you going to do?

What about you? What are you going to do?

What about you? What are you going to do?

What about– A little stress on the question word. What about you?

What are you going to do?

So those are our peaks of stress, I would say. What about you?

What about you?

What about you?

What about you?

What about you? What about– What about– What about–

She says this really quickly, doesn’t she? She links the two words together with a flap, wha-dadadadadada.

What about– What about–

We can do that sound more quickly than a true T. What about– What about– What about–

And that’s why it gets changed. We… you would never hear a native speaker do that.

What about– What about– What about– What about—Rarara—

Just the tongue bouncing on the roof of the mouth. What about–

The first sound there is the schwa.

What a– What a– What a—What about—What about you? About–

Stop T, so again, not about, about, about you, but a stop T, about, about, about you, about you.

What about you?

By changing those T pronunciations, we can say them more quickly,

and we can make the whole line more smooth

without stopping the air with a stop and release. That’s what we want.

What about you?

What about you?

What about you?

What about you?

What are you going to do?

What are you going to do?

What are you going to do?

Said really quickly, isn’t it? There’s a little bit of up down shape, a little bit more length on what and you,

but then really, most of the stress on do.

What are you going to do? What are– What are—

Just like here, what about, with the flap T, here we also have a flap T. What are— What are—

The word are reduces to schwa R.

What are— What are— What are— What are—what are you– what are you– what are you–

Everything links together so smoothly, doesn’t it?

What are you going to do?

What are you going to do?

What are you going to do?

Going to, she pronounces that as gonna, very common reduction.

What are you going to do?

What are you going to do?

What are you going to do?

What are you going to do?

What are you going to do?

What are you going to do?

Uh, the network asked me to bring the show back.

Uh—uh– this is the sound we make when we’re thinking.

What is the sound in your language that you make?

Uh– it’s very relaxed, open sounds, the uh as in butter vowel, uh—uh—

Uh— uh—

Uh, the network asked me to bring the show back.

The network asked me to bring the show back.

The network asked me to bring the show back.

I feel that those have that up down shape, the higher pitch,

and therefore feel more stressed. Let’s look at the other syllables, the other words.

The network asked me to bring the show back.

The network asked me to bring the show back.

The network asked me to bring the show back.

The— almost always unstressed, said quickly. The network, the network, network.

Do you notice that’s a stop T? That’s because the next word is a consonant.

The network—

The network—

The network asked me to bring the show back.

The network asked– I don’t really hear a released K here. If anything, I feel like it sounds almost like a light G.

The network asked– the network asked—kasked– kasked– kasked– super light though, do not say: gassed.

The network asked– The network asked–

Actually, I think it’s going to work for you to think of it as a K or G. Either one, as long as it’s extremely light,

and it links right into the vowel.

Kasked– kasked– kasked—

The network asked–

The network asked–

The network asked–

The ED ending is a T when the sound before is unvoiced. The K is unvoiced, so the ED ending here is a T.

The network asked–

The network asked–

The network asked me to bring the show back.

So let’s listen to: asked me to– Do you hear the T in asked?

Asked me to–

Asked me to–

Asked me to–

Asked me to–

Asked me to–

Nope. I don’t hear it. You know, it’s common to drop the T when it comes between two other consonants.

Here, it comes between K and M. That sound is totally dropped. Asked me to– asked me to–

Asked me to–

Asked me to–

Asked me to–

Do you hear the K?

Asked me to—

No. The K is also dropped.

Asked me to–

Asked me to–

Asked me to–

So what is happening here?

In the word ask, we have the AH vowel, S consonant, K consonant.

When we add the T, well, first, I should say ask. Did you ask him? I’ll ask you later.

We would pronounce both of those sounds. But in the past tense, when we add the T.

I asked you to do that yesterday. Asked. Asked. When we add the T, we tend to drop the K sound.

Here, I’m linking into a word that begins with another consonant, the M,

and I often, it is the habit to drop the T very often between two other consonants.

So that also gets dropped.

So now it’s just as—as– ask me– ask me– ask me to—

By dropping some of those consonants, we can link more smoothly.

So just know asked, past tense, we’re going to drop that K.

Pretty much always. Asked. Asked. Asked.

The T, we might also drop that T if the next word begins with a consonant like here, ask me, ask me.

Asked me– asked me– asked me to bring the show back.

Asked me to bring the– asked me to– me to– me to– me to—

The word to gets changed, this becomes a flap.

I write that as a D. It sounds just like a d between vowels. Me to– me to– me to—

And the OO vowel changes to the schwa, uh, uh, me to— asked me to– asked me to– asked me to bring—

Asked me to bring—

Asked me to bring—

Asked me to bring the show back.

Bring the– little unstressed word, lower in pitch.

Bring the show back. Show back. And then the word back, just comes in on the downward pitch,

coming down from that peak in show. Show back.

Bring the show back.

Bring the show back.

Bring the show back.

Uh, they want to start with a piece on Drake.

They want to start with a piece on Drake. Start, piece, Drake.

I hear those as our stressed syllables. The other words said pretty unclearly. Uh, they– uh, they– uh, they–

Uh, they want to start with a piece on Drake.

Uh, they want to start with a piece on Drake.

Uh, they want to start with a piece on Drake.

This utterance, this thinking vowel goes right into the word they. This TH pretty unclear.

Uh, they– uh, they– uh, they– uh, they– uh, they–

Want to– becomes wanna.

So all of these unstressed words are pretty unclear. Uh, they want to– uh, they want to– uh, they want to—

Uh, they want to—

Uh, they want to—

Uh, they want to—

Uh, they want to– Can you do that so simply, barely moving your mouth?

Pay attention. Pretend that your cheeks are frozen.

uh, they want to— uh, they want to— uh, they want to—

What can you do with frozen cheeks? How much can you simplify those mouth movements

so that those words all feel really unstressed matching the way he does it?

Uh, they want to—

Uh, they want to—

Uh, they want to start with a piece on Drake.

Start with a piece– start with a piece– I love that rhythm. Stressed, then to unstressed, with a, with a, with a, with a, and then stressed. Dadadada.

Start with a piece– start with a piece– Think about that rhythm while you’re doing this exercise.

Start with a piece. Start, stop T,

start with a, with a, with a, with a. Low in pitch, flat, said very quickly, linking together.

Start with a piece on—

Start with a piece on—

Start with a piece on—

I barely even hear the TH. Start with a, with a, with a, with a, with a.

I’m going to say that that’s like the voiced TH, that’s unstressed, where the tongue tip doesn’t come through.

It just comes to the back of the teeth. That’s going to let you say that as quickly as he does.

And that sound links together right in with a schwa. With a, with a, with a, with a, start with a piece.

Start with a piece on—

Start with a piece on—

Start with a piece on Drake.

Piece on Drake. And then we have stressed, unstressed, stressed. And they link together.

The S feels like it begins the next word.

Piece on, son son son. Piece on Drake.

Piece on Drake.

Piece on Drake.

Piece on Drake.

Oh, when? Really? So—what did you say?

Oh, when? Really? Oh– Up down shape. Oh, when? Really?

Very quiet and a little bit high, a little bit breathy.

Oh, when? Really? Not super well pronounced.

I think she’s a little surprised.

Oh, when? Really?

Oh, when? Really?

Oh, when? Really? So—what did you say?

So– she doesn’t really say so with the OH diphthong it’s more like suh suh,

I would maybe write that with a schwa. Suh– she doesn’t fully pronounce it. Just like these words were.

She was sort of saying things without saying them to him, they were just her reaction.

Here she’s putting together what she wants to say. So–

and here’s what she wants to say. She wants to put a question out there.

So–

What did you say?

What did you say? What did you say? What, the question word, and say have our stress.

What did– so we have some interesting things happening here with the links.

When a word ends in T and the next word begins with a D, like:

what did, it’s not uncommon to just drop that T sound and link it in.

Wha—wha—what did—what did– So I would probably write that W, uh as in butter. Wuh—duh–

and it links right into the D, which is a flap because it’s between two vowels.

What did— what did— what did— Now what happens with the D and the Y?

What did you say?

What did you say?

What did you say?

What did you—dya—dya– the D when it’s followed by you or your can be turned into a J sound,

JJ– and that’s what she does. She reduces the vowel in you to the schwa. So what did you—becomes:

what didya– what didya– what didya–

Do you hear how flat in pitch that is? Unstressed, less clear, quieter,

What did you— What did you— What did you say?

All linking together smoothly and the schwa linking right into the S of say. What did you say?

What did you say?

What did you say?

What did you say?

Uh, I’m not—

Uh—uh—Again, that thinking vowel. Uh– I’m not, I’m not, stop T.

More stress on I’m, I’m not, and then not comes in in the downward pitch. I’m not– uh, I’m not—

Uh, I’m not—

Uh, I’m not—

Uh, I’m not, I’m not into it.

I’m not into it. I’m, in, the rest, a little bit unstressed. Dadadada– I’m not into it.

I’m not into it.

I’m not into it.

I’m not into it.

I’m not in– not in– not in– I hear those two words linking together with a flap.

M right into N with no break. I’m not in– what about this T?

I’m not into it.

I’m not into it.

I’m not into it.

I’m not into it. Into, into–

That gets turned into a D. Into– into– into–

There are a couple ways that we can reduce this word by changing a sound. We can say into,

we can also say into. I’ve heard both of those.

So he’s doing: into, into, into, he’s keeping the vowel OO. Into, into,

I’m not into it. Into it. Into–

and then the OO vowel links very smoothly into the IH as in sit vowel followed by a stop T. I’m not into it.

I’m not into it.

I’m not into it.

I’m not into it.

So smooth, those changing those true T pronunciations into flaps or stops

really helps us smooth out English and we love that smoothness.

I think that’s part of what makes it really hard for people to understand when they’re learning English,

is everything is so smooth, it glides together so smoothly.

That is just one of the characteristics of American English.

I can totally understand how someone would listen to this phrase:

I’m not into it.

I’m not into it.

I’m not into it.

And not understand what they’re saying.

I’m not into it.

I’m not into it.

I’m not into it.

I want to concentrate on the written word.

What are our most stressed syllables here?

I want to concentrate on the written word.

I want to concentrate on the written word.

I want to concentrate on the written word.

I want to concentrate on the written word.

I think those are our peaks of stress. I want to– how are those words pronounced?

I want to— I want to— I want to—

I want to– I want to– Said so fast. Want to—becomes wanna. I want to—

I want to— I want to— I want to— I want to— I want to— So fast, isn’t it? Try that.

I want to— I want to—

I want to

That’s really great contrast with the stress syllable con–. I wanna con–

we need that contrast in American English to be clear. I wanna con—

I want to con—

Concentrate. Cen—cen– So this C is an S sound. Concentrate. Trate, trate, trate, concentrate.

Concentrate–

on the written word.

He could have connected those with a flap T. Concentrate on– concentrate on–

but I actually don’t hear that. I hear him making a stop and a little lift before moving on.

Concentrate on the written word. On the, on the, on the, on the, flat and low in pitch.

Concentrate on the written word.

Concentrate on the written word.

Concentrate on the written word.

On the written word. Writ—nn– what’s happening here? Wri– the W is silent in this word.

Wri– Oops, I totally wrote that wrong, didn’t I?

We have the R consonant, IH vowel and then we have T schwa N.

And in this pattern T schwa N, the T is a stop T. Written. Written. Written.

So you put your tongue up into position for the T, you stop the air, writ—nn.

And then you just make an N sound.

You don’t need to move your tongue because your tongue is already up at the roof of the mouth

for the T position. Written. Written. Written word.

Written word–

Word. Word. So this is just like work. The first sounds can be a little bit tricky,

but you don’t really want to try to make a vowel because this vowel R combination just sounds like the R sound.

So it’s ww—rr—dd, word, word, word, not much jaw drop needed for that sound, word.

Word.

And everything in that phrase links together really smoothly.

N right into W, no breaks, no leaps in pitch, just uhhh, this constant flow of sound.

Concentrate on the written word.

Concentrate on the written word.

Concentrate on the written word.

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

You’re in luck, I’ve decided to work pro bono.

I’m joining the public defender’s office.

You’re a good person, Annie.

What about you? What are you going to do?

Uh, the network asked me to bring the show back. Uh, they want to start with a piece on Drake.

Oh, when? Really? So—what did you say?

Uh, I’m not, I’m not into it.

I want to concentrate on the written word.

Now for the fun part,

you’ll look at the notes we took together and

you’ll hear a part of the conversation on a loop three times.

Then there’s a space for you to repeat.

For example, you’ll hear this:

Maybe so, sir.

Then you’ll repeat it: maybe so, sir.

Try to imitate everything about this exactly so when you see this,

then you’ll repeat it. Maybe so, sir.

That’s from Top Gun: Maverick, which was the first movie we studied in this summer series.

You’ll also have the opportunity to listen and repeat in slow motion.

This will be important for you if you’re more of a beginner,

or if you’re having a hard time focusing on linking or the melody.

Maybe you’ll want to do it both ways, but the important thing is

here is your opportunity to take what you learned and put it into your body and your own habit.

That’s what’s going to transform your speaking.

You might do well to work with the audio section of this video every day for a week.

Imitating the rhythm and the simplifications will get easier each time you do it.

If you can’t keep up with the native speaker, do the slow-motion imitation.

Okay, here’s our audio training section.

Don’t forget to come back and do this audio again tomorrow and the next day.

You want to build habits here so you don’t need to think about it so much when you’re speaking in conversation.