Flawless Carryout! (a FREE English Conversation Training Lesson)

In this English conversation training lesson we’ll break down my entire order of carryout! What makes my spoken English sound native and smooth?

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Video Transcript:

Let’s analyze real conversation to find out what makes American English sound American and how you can improve your listening comprehension.

In this video, I’m calling in an order for dinner. isn’t it so hard speaking a foreign language on the phone? At the end I’ll even put in an imitation training section so you can work on mastering the American accent. First, here’s the whole conversation we’ll analyze.

What are you getting?

I’m getting a bean and rice burrito. Do you want to just split it with me? I feel like when we do that and we get guac..

Alright, I’m going to call.

Hi, I’d like to place an order for pickup.

I’ll have one bean and rice burrito, one chicken tacos, one sweet potato tacos, one pork burrito, and pico, guac, and chips. Oh, and one side of beans and rice.

Nope that’s all.

It’s Rachel.

Awesome, thank you so much.

Alright bye-bye.

Ten minutes. Should be perfect, perfect timing.

Hi, I’m picking up an order for Rachel.

Now, let’s do the analysis.

What are you getting?

The word what, stressed. What are you getting? He’s making it go up in pitch at the end.

What are you getting?

The word what we have a flap T linking it into the next word that begins the vowel, and we’re reducing the next word to just schwa R. What are, what are, what are you getting?

Flap T here as well. A single flap T. The double letter T makes a single flap T. Getting, getting, what are you getting?

What are you getting?

A bean and rice burrito. Do you want to just split it with me?

So I say “I’m getting a bean and rice burrito.” And then I keep going. I don’t make a stop here but we’re going to break it up into two little parts here as we discussed. What’s the most stressed syllables? What are the most stressed syllables that you’re hearing here?

I’m Rachel and I’ve been teaching the American accent on YouTube for over 15 years. Go to Rachelsenglish.com/free to get my free course: The Top Three Ways to Master the American Accent.

I’m getting a bean and rice burrito.

I’m getting a bean and rice burrito. Bean and rice burrito. I’m getting a, I’m getting a I’m getting a. These are a little bit less stressed, set a little bit more quickly. I’m getting a, I’m getting a. Flap T again in getting. I’m getting a bean and rice. Bean and rice. And is reduced, schwa n, bean and, bean and, bean and rice.

bean and rice burrito.

Burrito, burrito, burrito, burrito. Said pretty unclear, the stress syllable is a little bit longer, but I’m saying this word very quickly aren’t I? Burrito, burrito, burrito, burrito, burrito. It’s almost like I’m dropping the vowel here. Burrito, I’m just saying bri, bri, bri, it’s like a br cluster. Burrito. Two syllables.

Bri-to. That’s how unclear I’m being. Burrito, burrito. And we have a flap T there, burrito.

Burrito.

When I lived in the Dominican Republic I hated talking on the phone in Spanish. It was so hard. How do you feel about talking on the phone in English? On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being you hate it and 10 being it’s not a problem for you at all. Let me know in the comments what number you are. I love reading them.

Burrito. Do you want to just split it with me?

Do you want to just split it with me? Split it with me? So my pitch goes up at the end there, the first five words said very quickly. Do you want to becomes do you wanna, do you wanna, do you wanna, do you wanna, really fast. Do is reduced, you is reduced, do you, do you, do you, do you, do you. Want to becomes wanna. Do you wanna, do you wanna, do you wanna, do you wanna, just split it with me?

Do you want to just split it with me?

The word ‘just’ has a dropped T. We do that usually when the next word begins with a consonant and here it does. So just a single S sound, just split, just split, just split.

just split—

just split it with me?

Split it with me? Split it, flap T connecting those two words, split it with. Then a stop T, split it with me? Split it with me?

split it with me—

Yeah, that sounds good.

Yeah, that sounds good. Yeah, that sounds good.

Yeah, that sounds good.

That sounds good. His pitch goes up a little bit at the end. That sounds good, that sounds good. I don’t know why we do that but we do that with this phrase a lot. That sounds good. Good, good, good. Sounds is the most stressed there. That sounds. That with a stop T, but I don’t reduce the vowel. He doesn’t reduce the vowel. That sounds good.

Yeah, that sounds good.

Okay.

Okay. Okay, okay, okay, okay. I’m not fully engaging my voice there. I’m not really saying okay. It’s more like schwa. Okay, okay, okay, okay.

Okay.

Alright, I’m going to call him.

One thought group, said really quickly. Alright, alright, alright. I say this word without an L sound. Alright, alright, alright, alright, alright. You could think of that as being the ah vowel or the ah as in Father vowel. Alright, alright, alright, alright.

Alright,

Then actually I make that a flap T at the end. Alright I’m, alright I’m. Because I link it right into the next word, which begins with a vowel. Alright I’m, alright I’m, alright I’m, alright I’m. Alright, I’m going to call them. I’m gonna, I’m gonna, I’m gonna. These words said flat, low in pitch, very quickly. I’m gonna, reducing going to to gonna. I’m gonna, I’m gonna, I’m gonna, I’m gonna. Alright, I’m gonna—

call them.

Then call has stress, up down shape, call them. And the word them is reduced. I’ll write it over here. It’s just schwa em, call ‘em. Call em, call em, call em. That’s a common reduction with them to drop the th, and then link the reduction of the word onto the word before. Call them, call them, call them.

call them.

So, now here I am going to call the taco shop and I’m going to speak with them on the phone. I’m not going to go over the pronunciation of what he’s saying to me because it’s pretty unclear but I will make sure you know what he’s saying so that if you’re ever calling in you know what kind of phrases to expect.

So he starts when he answers the phone by just saying the name of the business. Honest Tom’s, Honest Tom’s. And by making the pitch go up at the end, that’s putting it in a questioning tone which is like saying ‘how can I help you?’ He doesn’t say that but it’s implied by the tone. Honest Tom’s.

Honest Tom’s.

Hi, I’d like to place an order for pickup.

Hi. Hi. Up down shape, Hi, I’d like to place an order for pickup. And I make my intonation go up a little bit at the end. It’s just like asking have you understood what I’ve just said. I find that I do this on the phone sometimes, I make my pitch go up as a question rather than go down as a statement as a way of acknowledging that the person may not have heard you. You know, sometimes on the phone a little bit of communication is lost.

Hi, I’d like to place an order for pickup.

I’d like. Like is a little bit longer, the D sound here subtle, it’s not released. I’d like to place. I’m doing a true T and then a schwa reduction. I’d like to place.

I’d like to place an–

I’d like to. This is something that we say, a lot when we’re being helped. For example, if you’re at the grocery store and you’re ordering something from the deli you could say, I’d like, I’d like to have or I’d like to order or you could just say I’d like, I’d like a half pound of chicken or something like that. I’d like, I would like. It’s a polite way to ask for something. And here I’m saying I’d like to place an order for pickup. So that means I want to tell them what I want and then I’m going to go get it there. Pickup. it’s the same thing as carry out. I could have said I’d like to place an order for carry out but I said pickup.

I’d like to place an order for pickup.

And it’s a, the volume cuts out a little bit because of the car jiggling, but there is a for reduction here, order for, order for pickup. And the ending K sound links right into the uh vowel, cup, cup, cup, pickup, pickup.

order for pickup.

And notice I put my lips together for the P and then I don’t release them. By the time my lips relax, I’m done speaking. So it’s a stop consonant and I do not finish it.

pick up.

I’ll have—

He says, ‘Yeah, what can I get for you?’ So he has acknowledged that I’m going to start an order and now he’s ready to hear what I want. So, I start that by saying I’ll have.

I’ll have—

And notice that I will sounds like all, all, I’ll have, I’ll have, and now I start to list what I want. Pay attention to the intonation of my list.

I’ll have one bean and rice burrito, one chicken tacos,

One bean and rice burrito, burrito, one chicken tacos. As I make my list here, it’s a definitive list. I know exactly what I want and I make my pitch go up on each item until I get to the end when my pitch will go down. And by making my pitch go up, this is a signal to him that I am not done listing what I want, I’m not done placing my order. So we use up intonation in lists and it’s a way to communicate to the other person that we’re not done until we get to the end then the pitch goes down. And then that indicates to the listener I’m done, that’s the end of my list.

How do I pronounce ‘one’? It’s definitely stressed, more clear.

I’ll have one bean and rice burrito,

One bean and rice burrito. One bean rice burrito. These are all stressed and the and is definitely reduced. So even on the phone, you’re going to do reductions to be clear. Bean and rice. That is something this guy probably hears a 100 times a day. Bean and rice. So by using that expected intonation, that expected reduction, I’m being more clear. Bean and rice burrito. Flap T in burrito. By the way, if you’re watching this and you haven’t watched this uh, real life exercise goes with another real life exercise where David and I are discussing what to order. And that lesson is just before this lesson in the conversations course.

One bean and rice burrito,

One chicken tacos,

One chicken tacos. And my intonation goes up at the end. Now something interesting is happening here. Actually I stress that to one chicken tacos. I’m trying to be really clear because I’m on the phone. But I have the word one and then I have a plural here. What’s up with that? It’s because I want an order of chicken to tacos and there’s two in each order. I should have said one order of. I didn’t, I thought by saying one chicken tacos that was going to be clear. I did the same thing here, one sweet potato tacos. I meant order of, and you know what he did, he gave me one of each taco and so that was not very clear. I should have been more clear. We were very disappointed when we opened them up at our friend’s house and we found that we only had one chicken taco and one sweet potato taco. I thought by putting the plural on the end I was being clear but I was not being clear enough on the phone. So I should have said one order of but that’s why you’re seeing one with the plural because there are two in each order. One sweet potato tacos, pitch goes up at the end. So I’m still going with my list.

One chicken tacos, one sweet potato tacos,

One sweet potato tacos. Sweet potato, stop T sweet potato, potato. Okay, in case you haven’t noticed, we have two T here. One’s a a true T, the first one, and the second one is a flap. Why? They both come between two vowels. Well that’s because the stress is here. Potato. The middle syllable is stressed and a true, whenever a T starts a syllable, it’s always a true T. Sorry, whenever a t starts a stressed syllable, it’s always a true T. So here, the T starts an unstressed syllable and I make it a flap. But here it starts a sressed syllable, and so I make it a true T. Potato, potato, potato, sweet potato tacos.

One sweet potato tacos,

One pork burrito,

One pork burrito. All stressed. One pork burrito, my pitch goes up. That means I’m not done ordering, I still have more things. Flap T, one pork burrito.

One pork burrito,

and pico, guac and chips.

And pico guac and chips. So, in this little thought group, in this little phrase, we have the word and twice. Let’s compare the pronunciations.

and pico, guac and chips.

The first time I fully pronounce it, I even say the D. That’s a little uncommon, I’m doing that because I’m on the phone and I’m trying to be really clear. But then, for this and, I’m not clear at all. I reduce it to ən. Why do I do that? Because these three things go together, they’re one order, one package. And so it’s natural when you’re listing things that go together, to reduce that. So that’s why that one got reduced, even though I’m on the phone, even though I’m trying to be clear. And pico, guac and chips. It’s like those four words together make up one thing. Pico, guac, and chips. And pico, guac and chips. All stressed, being clear with all of those main objects that Define that unit that package. And my pitch goes down at the end, because I’m done with my list until I remember I forgot something.

and pico, guac and chips.

Oh, and one side of beans and rice.

So I have to add it. Oh, and one side of beans and rice. Beans and rice, these two things make up one thing, one side of beans and rice. They go together. So again, I reduce and to ən, ən, ən.

Oh, and one side of beans and rice.

Oh and one. So, here I don’t reduce and, I say the D. He needs to make sure that I forgot something and I’m telling him another item I went to order. But then here, when it’s part of a unit, when it’s part of two things that go together, I reduce and.

Oh, and one side of beans and rice.

Oh, and one side of beans and rice. One and side both clear, beans rice both clear, and and of both less clear.

Oh, and one side of beans and rice.

Of, of, of beans and rice.

of beans and rice.

He says ‘okay.’ He’s got it all. Anything else?

Okay. Anything else?

Nope, that’s all.

I say the two nope and that’s these two words together, I don’t release my T, nope, that’s all, but I link them together, I say them quickly so I don’t release that. Nope, that’s all. Nope, nope, nope. I bring my lips together for the P and I don’t release I go right into the th. Nope, that’s all.

Nope, that’s all.

They all have a little bit of a curve to them. Nope that’s all.

Nope, that’s all.

It’s Rachel.

Then he asks for my name to put with the order. I say ‘It’s Rachel.’ It’s lower, clear less stressed, it’s Rachel. And then I make sure my name is stressed and clear with that up down shape. It’s Rachel. It’s Rachel.

It’s Rachel.

Awesome. Thank you so much.

So then he tells me how long I have to wait and I say ‘Awesome.’ Awesome. Up down shape. Awesome.

Awesome.

Thank you so much.

Thank you so much. Thank and much, the most stress there, you and so, a little flatter. Thank you so much. Thank you so much.

Thank you so much.

Alright, bye-bye.

And then he says something back to me like ‘thanks.’ Acknowledging that we’re done talking, we’ve figured everything out so I say ‘Alright, bye-bye.’

Alight, bye-bye.

Alright, bye-bye. Alright, alright. Just like before, alright, I don’t really say an L sound. Alright, alright. Stop T. Alright, bye-bye.

Alright, bye-bye.

So when we say bye-bye, we usually reduce the first word. bə, bye-bye. And then the second word is fully pronounced with the I diphthong. Bye-bye, bye-bye.

bye-bye.

Ten minutes.

Then I’m talking to David. Ten minutes. Ten minutes. Stressing ten, ten minutes.

Ten minutes.

Minutes is pronounced with schwa here, which you know what, I would write it either as a schwa or as an ə vowel. Minutes. Minutes, minutes, minutes, minutes, minutes. Said very, very quickly, and then the TS cluster. Minutes, minutes, minutes, minutes. Ten minutes.

Ten minutes.

Should be perfect.

So, I don’t make the D sound here. L is always silent in this word. It’s not uncommon to drop D in the word should when we’re linking into another word. Should be, should be. I should say another word that begins with a consonant. So this is just shu. The SH sound and the schwa sh, should be, should be perfect.

Should be perfect.

Perfect. And I do make both sounds at the end. K and T if I was linking into another word that began with a consonant, then I might drop the T. But this is the end of my thought group so I fully pronounce that ending cluster.

Perfect.

Perfect timing.

Perfect timing. So the next time I say it, perfect timing, I connect with just one true T sound. So you can think of the T being dropped here and then making a true T to begin. Perfect timing, perfect timing. So the tongue goes up in the back to touch the soft palate to make the K sound but you don’t release that. Perfect. You just leave it there to stop the air and then you make the T. Perfect timing, perfect timing.

Perfect timing.

Time is the most stressed syllable there. So, the syllables in front of it lead up to that, and the syllable after that falls down from that peak of pitch. Perfect timing.

Perfect timing.

Hi, I’m picking up an order for Rachel.

And then I left this part in just so you would get a feel for what to say when you walk into the restaurant. So I say ‘Hi’. Up down shape, always like to be friendly and give a greeting before I start saying my purpose. So I do my greeting and then I say my purpose.

Hi, I’m picking up an order for Rachel.

I’m picking up an order for Rachel. So pick and my name are the most stressed words there, the most important things to convey. What am I doing? I’m picking something up. I’m not placing an order to stay there and eat. I’ve already placed the order and it’s under the name Rachel. I’m picking up an order for Rachel.

I’m picking up an order for Rachel.

Picking up an order. A little bit of stress there. Picking up an. Linking ending consonants to beginning vowels and then I do reduce for. Picking up an order for Rachel.

Picking up an order for Rachel.

And I make my pitch go up at the end. For Rachel I wouldn’t have to, I could make it as a statement. I’m picking up an order for Rachel. But by making my pitch go up at the end, it’s just a way of saying do you acknowledge, do you hear, do you understand. It’s just it’s a little bit less commanding, demanding. I’m picking up an order for Rachel versus I’m picking up an order for Rachel. Since it’s only the second thing I’ve said to her, I’m making my pitch go up at the end, is just a little bit more soft. It’s like saying, ‘could you do this for me?’ ‘Could you get my order for me?’

Hi, I’m picking up an order for Rachel.

So that is placing an order over the phone and picking it up. Let’s listen to the whole conversation one more time.

What are you getting?

I’m getting a bean and rice burrito.

Do you want to just split it with me?

Yeah, that sounds good.

Okay. Alright, I’m going to call them.

Honest Tom’s.

Hi, I’d like to place an order for pickup.

Yeah, I’ll have one bean and rice burrito, one chicken tacos, one sweet potato tacos, one pork burrito, and pico, guac and chips. Oh, and one side of beans and rice.

Nope, that’s all.

It’s Rachel.

Awesome. Thank you so much.

Alright, bye-bye. Ten minutes.

Should be perfect. perfect timing.

Hi, I’m picking up an order for Rachel.

In this training section, you’ll hear each sentence fragment twice in slow motion, then three times at regular pace. Each time, there will be a pause for you to speak out loud. Imitate exactly what you hear. Do this training twice a day, every day this week and see how the conversation flows at the end of the week.

What are you getting?

I’m getting a bean and rice burrito.

Do you want to just split it with me?

Yeah, that sounds good.

Okay. Alright, I’m going to call them.

Hi, I’d like to place an order for pick up.

I’ll have one bean and rice burrito,

one chicken tacos,

one sweet potato tacos,

one pork burrito,

and pico, guac and chips.

Oh, and one side of beans and rice.

No, that’s all.

It’s Rachel.

Awesome. Thank you so much.

Alright, bye-bye.

Ten minutes. Should be perfect.

Perfect timing.

Hi, I’m picking up an order for Rachel.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this video, I absolutely love teaching about the stress and music of spoken American English. Keep your learning going now with this video and don’t forget to subscribe with notifications on, I absolutely love being your English teacher. That’s it and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.

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