You Want to Improve the Way You’re SPEAKING ENGLISH? I Know Exactly How To Help!

If you’re hoping to improve the way you’re speaking English, my Ben Franklin Exercise® videos are an incredible way to practice! In this video you’ll watch a conversation from a movie and then I’ll break down all of the spoken English in detail.

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Video Transcript:

I can’t believe it’s been 12 years since this movie came out. It’s called ‘Her’. And I think it’s one of the best movies to learn English with. The conversation isn’t too fast and there isn’t much background noise. It’s a great way to study real natural English. Today, we’ll take one scene from this movie and study the pronunciation of the words and the stress and flow of the phrases so you can start to understand what makes a natural American accent.  

I’m Rachel. I have a background in opera singing and I’ve been teaching the American accent to non-native speakers for over 20 years. Scan this QR code or go to rachelenglish.com/free to get my free course, The Top Three Ways to Master the American Accent. It will change the way you think about speaking American English.  

First, here’s the scene we’ll study.  

But it does make me very sad that you can’t handle real emotions, Theodore.  

They are real emotions. How would you know–  

What? 

Say it. Am I really that scary? Say it. How do I know what? 

How are you guys doing here?  

Fine. We’re fine. We used to be married, but he couldn’t handle me. He wanted to put me on Prozac, and now he’s madly in love with his laptop.  

Well, if you’d heard the conversation in context, what I was trying to say,  

You always wanted to have a wife without the challenges of actually dealing with anything real. I’m glad that you found someone. It’s perfect. 

  

Let me know if I can get you guys anything.  

Thank you. 

Now, let’s do an analysis.  

But it does make me very sad that you can’t handle real emotions, Theodore.  

But it does. But it does. Did you hear the flap t in but? But it. But it. But it. But it does.  

But it— 

but it does.  

Clear bounce there of the tongue on the roof of the mouth making a flap sound connecting those two words. But it, but it does. But it does. 

But it does.  

What about the T here? It’s not released. But it does.  

But it— 

But it does.  

Does. Stop of air. And then the D sound for does. But it does.  

But it does.  

Notice the word does is spelled with the letter S, but that makes the Z sound. Does.  

Does.  

But it does make me very sad that you can’t handle real emotions, Theodore.  

Make me. Make me. Do you hear the K there?  

Make me– 

It’s definitely hard to pick up. It’s a stop consonant and she’s stopping the air. I would imagine she’s putting the back of her tongue up into position for the K, but she’s certainly not releasing it. Make me. Make me. I can exaggerate the break there a little bit. Make me.  

Make me–  

But she doesn’t really do that. It’s very fast. Make me. Make me. We hear the K because it’s a little bit shorter and more abrupt. A little flatter. Make me.  

Make me. If it was the word ma with no ending, it would be shaped more like this. Ma- with the voice coming down in pitch. But instead, it’s make with this stop and then me, make me.  

make me— 

very sad.  

Very sad. She stresses the V a little bit here for emphasis.  

Very— 

sad.  

Very sad. Sad. She also stresses the word sad.  

Sad.  

Very sad.  

Sad. She stresses the word sad. You can really hear the up down shape. 

Sad.  

And it’s also in general the whole thing is a little bit higher in pitch. That makes it a little bit more stressed.  

Sad.  

that you can’t.  

Sad that you can’t. Okay, a couple things. The D, this is a stop consonant. Sad. D, but the D isn’t released. We hear just a little bit. Sad. A little bit of that sound in the throat, that voiced sound to show that it’s a D. Sad that you.  

Sad that you.  

And now she could have reduced it that you the that. But I believe I hear a full vowel at a that, that, that. But it’s still very fast. And definitely we have a stop T here. Sad that you, sad that you.  

Sad that you— 

The word sad, longer, more stressed. The words that and you definitely shorter, unstressed.  

Sad that you— 

can’t handle real emotions.  

Listen to can’t handle several times.  

Can’t handle— 

Do you hear how there’s a little stop between the words can’t handle? Can’t handle. Can’t handle. That’s how we know it’s the word can’t. Even though we don’t hear the t released, we do hear a little tiny break. Can’t handle— 

Also, it’s the full A vowel. Can’t. Can’t.  

can’t handle— 

Usually, the word can is reduced to the schwa. Can handle, can, can, can. Can handle. But this was can’t. Can’t handle. So the difference between can and can’t is cun, can, cun, can. 

So can, the positive word is said with the schwa usually and can’t, the negative word is said with the full vowel. Can’t handle.  

Can’t handle–  

real emotions, Theodore.  

Real emotions, Theodore. So we have a comma here. We would write it that way, but she doesn’t put a break. Everything is very connected. Real emotions, Theodore. Real emotions, Theodore.  

Real emotions, Theodore. 

So have that same shape in your voice. Real emotions, Theodore. The most stressed syllable is the one of emotions. The stressed syllable of emotions. Second syllable. Real emotions, Theodore. Can you connect all the words the same way?  

Real emotions, Theodore.  

They are real emotions.  

They are real emotions. Here he’s really stressing the word are. This isn’t quite the normal way that someone would do this. He’s doing it because she accused him of not having real emotions.  

They are real emotions.  

So, he’s saying they are. He’s stressing that word. Normally, we would probably stress real or emotions. They are real emotions, for example. But here, he’s stressing are because he’s disagreeing with what she said. They are real emotions.  

They are real emotions.  

How would you know– 

What? Say it.  

Okay. So, now he’s stressing you here. How would you know? His tone is a little bit aggressive. It’s a little bit accusing. Um, clearly they’re disagreeing about something here and emotions are high.  

How would you know— 

The L in would is silent.  

How would you know— 

And often when we have a D followed by the word U, you’ll hear a light J sound. Um, here it is very light. I’m not 100% sure that he is changing it to this J sound. Would you? Would you?  

Would you— 

At any rate, the consonant there is pretty light.  

How would you know— 

What?  

What? Love it. Perfect example of a stop t. The words, flat. What? And often a stop at the end of a word will make it more flat. It won’t have that up down shape of a stressed syllable quite as much. What?  

What?  

Say it.  

Say it. Connected. Here we have the a diphthong. Say it. And then the I vowel. You can connect these with the glide consonant Y which is made with the J symbol in IPA. Say it. Say it. Say it. Just like she does. She connects those well.  

Say it.  

And another beautiful stop T at the end. Say it.  

Say it.  

Am I really that scary?  

Say it. How do I know what?  

How are you guys doing here?  

Am I really that scary? Stressing the word that. Giving it a full A vowel.  

That’s scary?  

Am I really that scary?  

Sometimes we reduce this word. She does not. That scary. Now she does still make a stop T here. That scary?  

That scary?  

Am I really that scary?  

Notice how fast am and I. Am I, am I, am I, am I really that scary?  

Am I— 

Am I really that scary?  

So these two words unstressed are very fast compared to the stressed word that, and also the stressed syllable in scary. Scary.  

Am I really that scary?  

Am I really that scary? Her voice does go up in pitch a little bit at the end because it’s a yes no question.  

Am I really that scary? Say it.  

And it leads right into the next phrase. Scary? say it. All connected. Even though it’s two different sentences, she doesn’t pause between them.  

Scary? Say it.  

Again, connecting say and it and a stop at the end. Say it.  

Say it.  

How do I know what?  

How do I know what? Okay. So, the rhythm here. Da da da da da.  

How do I know what?  

She’s really stressing the question words. How? How do I know what? Again, a little bit of an aggressive tone here. She’s badgering him a little bit. She’s mad that he’s not being honest with her.  

How do I know what?  

And now here, as part of her anger, she’s really releasing the true T firmly. What? And that can be a way to show emotion when it’s sort of an overexaggerated release of a true T.  

What?  

How you guys doing here?  

How you guys doing here? Friendly tone leaves out the word are, although grammatically it should be there.  

How you guys doing here?  

Doing. I’m pretty sure she doesn’t make an NG sound here. I hear it as just an n sound. Doin’ here. Doin’ here. How you guys doin’ here?  

Doing here.  

How you guys doing here?  

So, she’s just checking in with them, seeing if they need anything. This would be a pretty typical thing for a server to do.  

How you guys doing here?  

Fine. We’re fine. We used to be married, but he couldn’t handle me.  

Fine. We’re fine. Okay. So, the tone of that. Fine. Fine. Again, it’s not, It’s a little aggressive. It’s not very friendly. Fine. Fine. It’s a little bit rough. I think it’s because the pitch is higher than it normally would be. Fine. Fine. Would be a more normal pitch, a more friendly pitch. Fine. Fine. Sounds more upset. Also, the F, you can exaggerate the F if you wanted to add a little bit of sarcasm to that word. Fine. Fine. We’re fine.  

Fine. We’re fine.  

We used to be married, but he couldn’t handle me.  

Okay. So this whole section, all of these three sentences are said very quickly with no break in them whatsoever. Again, that sort of shows her agitation.  

Fine. We’re fine. We used to be married, but he couldn’t handle me.  

Married. We used to be married, but he couldn’t handle me. And it keeps going.  

We used to be married, but he couldn’t handle me. He wanted to put me on Prozac, and now he’s madly in love with his laptop.  

Prozac. Laptop. So everything else is said really quickly and she’s bringing out these stressed words. Married, handle, Prozac. So those three words, those are um, very interesting words to bring out. They are where all the content is, where all of the real meaning is. She’s accusing him of wanting her to be on this anti-depressant while they were married. And to say that he couldn’t handle her, it’s a pretty strong accusation to say of your husband or ex-husband.  

Fine. We’re fine. We used to be married.  

Used to be married. So, she makes a schwa here in the word to. Used to, used to, used to be married.  

used to— 

used to be married.  

And you can drop the D there if you’re connecting these two words. Used to, used to. It will make it a little bit easier to pronounce. It’s what she did.  

Used to— 

used to be married, but he couldn’t handle me.  

But he couldn’t handle me. But he, even couldn’t really fast. No L there. Couldn’t handle me. We have a stop here. It’s really fast. Um, it’s just like can’t that we just studied a minute ago. N apostrophe T is usually pronounced this way, not with a true T.  

He couldn’t handle me.  

He wanted to put me on Prozac and now he’s madly in love with his laptop.  

Wanted to, wanted to. I really am just hearing it as a schwa added on to the end of the word wanted. Wanted to, wanted to, wanted to put me. Stop t at the end of put.  

He wanted to put me on Prozac.  

And now he’s madly in love with his laptop.  

Barely can hear the word and. It’s just an extremely quick and. And now, and now, and now. Since the next word begins with N, that makes it even harder to pick up on. And now, and now, and now. 

And now— 

And now he’s— 

And now he’s. She dropped the H in he’s now. Now he’s, now he’s. Linked it up to the word before.  

Now he’s madly— 

Now he’s madly in love with his laptop.  

Madly in love with his laptop. Okay, so she does bring out this syllable mad, mad. Madly. A little bit as well. It’s a little bit longer. A little louder. And it has a little bit of that up down shape in the voice. Madly in love with his laptop.  

Madly— 

Madly in love with his laptop.  

Dropped H in his. In love with his, in love with his laptop.  

In love with his— 

Well, if you’d heard the conversation in context. What I was trying to say— 

If you’d heard, the D sound here is hard to pick up on. If you’d heard.  

If you’d heard— 

It’s very light. A native speaker. I mean, I hear it. I think other native speakers would also hear it, but a non-native speaker might not hear the D. It’s just a very quick, if you voiced sound in the throat.  

If you— 

if you’d heard.  

Heard, the most stressed word there. Heard, we have E and A and they’re making the ur sound. Ur, always goes with r. And you don’t need to think of making two different sounds. It’s just one sound, ur. So it might help you to think that there’s no vowel in here at all. Heard. Just the h sound, the r sound, and then the d. Heard the.  

Heard the— 

if you’d heard the conversation in context, what I was trying to say?  

This end part got really mumbly.  

in context— 

conversation in context.  

He’s obviously not really wanting to talk to the server about this. So, he sort of mumbles towards the end, cuts himself off, and then redirects his attention back to the woman at the table.  

If you’d heard the conversation in context, what I was trying to say— 

What I was, what I was. Flap t here connecting these words. What I was. And also the word was reduced very quick, was, was, was.  

What I was— 

what I was trying to say— 

Trying, often pronounced with the ch sound. Trying, trying, and I do hear that here. Trying, trying to say.  

trying to– 

trying to say— 

The word to, flap T schwa. Trying to say. Trying to, trying to, trying to say.  

trying to— 

trying to say— 

You always wanted to have a wife without the challenges of actually dealing with anything real.  

You always wanted to have a wife. Wanted to. Again, no real T here. Just a schwa at the end of wanted. Wanted to. You always wanted to have a wife.  

Wanted to— 

have a wife.  

Bringing out the word wanted the most here. You always wanted to have a wife. Have a wife. Have a wife.  

Wanted to have a wife.  

All of the words here are really connected. And the word that’s just the letter A is usually pronounced as a schwa and that’s a good sound to use to link two other words. Have a, have a wife. All of those can flow together.  

Have a wife— 

without the challenges of actually dealing with anything real.  

Again, she’s not putting any pauses between her words here. Emotions are high. She’s saying things as soon as she’s thinking them.  

Always wanted to have a wife without the challenges of actually dealing with anything real.  

Without the challenges. She does really bring out her stressed syllables, though. And you have to, if you’re not putting in any pauses to make things more clear, then it makes sense that you would need to bring out your stressed syllables even more in order to sort of anchor the listener in your speech.  

Without the challenges— 

of actually dealing with anything real.  

Without the challenges of actually. Again, another stressed syllable there. Actually.  

Of actually— 

Of actually, schwa V. Now, we do drop the final consonant in this word quite a bit.  

Of actually— 

Of actually. Part of stressing that word is putting just the tiniest of breaks before. This is actually something that I’ve realized lately in studying making Ben Franklin exercises®, is that one of the ways Americans stress words is to put tiny breaks before the word.  

Without the challenges of actually dealing with anything real.  

Without actually dealing with anything real. Okay. So again, in contrast to the stress syllable, act, actually, all of these words down here, dealing with anything real, are lower in pitch and they’re flatter. Actually dealing with anything real.  

Actually dealing with anything real.  

Even though we do have stressed syllables in there, deal is longer than ing.  

Dealing– 

And real is definitely a little bit longer.  

real— 

dealing with anything real.  

I’m glad that you found someone. It’s perfect.  

New sentence, but she didn’t put a break at all. This word is directly connected to the word before, which is real.  

Dealing with anything real. I’m glad that you found someone.  

Again, this just goes with the heightened emotion of the situation. She’s not putting any brakes anywhere. She’s just barreling through her thoughts.  

Dealing with anything real. I’m glad that you found someone.  

I’m glad that you found someone. Glad and found. More stressed, longer, more clear.  

I’m glad that you found someone.  

That and you both unstressed very fast. That was reduced to the schwa. Stop t, That, that, that you, that you, that you.  

That you— 

that you found someone.  

Those two words are probably not even as long as the single word found. That you found, that you found, that you found someone.  

That you found someone.  

It’s perfect.  

It’s perfect. What do you notice about the word it’s? The vowel was dropped. Just the t s sound attached to the next word. It’s perfect. It’s perfect. Stress on the first syllable there.  

It’s perfect. 

Let me know if I can get you guys anything.  

Thank you.  

Stop t after let me. Let me know. Let me know if I can get.  

Let me know if I can get you guys anything.  

The word can. Remember how I said, it’s usually reduced to the schwa? It is here. Can, can, can get. We do that when it’s not the main verb. Here the main verb is get. So, can is a helping verb. Therefore, we will reduce it.  

Can get— 

you guys anything.  

Get you guys. Stop t after get. Get you guys. Get you guys.  

Get you guys–  

anything.  

Thank you.  

Thank you. What do you notice about the speech there compared to everything else she’s just said? It’s lower in pitch. It’s lower in energy. Thank you. Thank you.  

Thank you.  

Whereas her other speech was full of these exaggerated stressed syllables. Thank you. Thank you. It’s quieter. Very different tone than her other sentences.  

Thank you.  

Let’s listen to the whole dialogue again.  

But it does make me very sad that you can’t handle real emotions, Theodore.  

They are real emotions. How would you know— 

What? Say it.  

Am I really that scary?  

Say it. How do I know what?  

How you guys doing here?  

Fine. We’re fine. We used to be married, but he couldn’t handle me. He wanted to put me on Prozac, and now he’s madly in love with his laptop.  

Well, if you’d heard the conversation in context, what I was trying to say— 

You’ve always wanted to have a wife without the challenges of actually dealing with anything real. I’m glad that you found someone. It’s perfect.  

Let me know if I can get you guys anything.  

Thank you.  

Don’t forget to head over to rachelenglish.com/free to get my free course, The Top Three Ways to Master the American Accent. Keep your learning going now with this video and don’t forget to subscribe with notifications on. I love being your English teacher. That’s it. And thanks so much for using Rachel’s English. 

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