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Sound like a native speaker: the BEST pronunciation advice
Are you following the wrong pronunciation advice? Do you think that to have good English pronunciation you need to say every word per-fect-ly? Have you been told that you need to say each syllable in exactly the same way that it is written? Well, in this video I explain why what seems like logical advice is actually COMPLETELY WRONG. The secret to getting excellent English pronunciation is to relax your tongue and to start missing syllables! That’s because native speakers do not speak perfectly in natural, everyday speech. In fact, it even sounds strange to say every word perfectly. I explain to you how we use'elision' to make our speech more connected, flowing, and relaxed. This means that we don’t say every vowel and sometimes even miss words. I also tell you about the most important sound you need to know about in English to improve your pronunciation – the schwa sound: /ə/.
Quiz
Test your understanding of this English lesson
Test your understanding of the English lesson by answering these questions. You will get the answers and your score at the end of the quiz.Levels
Lesson Topics
205 COMMENTS
Jade, you’re just a bombshell. I appreciate you so much! You’re a really nice girl, a really nice person and a wonderful teacher at the same time. I hope you’ll keep going with your “Sound like a native speaker” video lessons, because it’s the last barrier for foreign English learners. Thanks in advance. Good luck!)))
You’re absolutely right. mostly the foreign countries don’t teach their students how to read English-phonics and pronunciations-but they make them memorize word by word. And they teach us Queen English, So we appreciate Ms. Jade for teaching us these subjects.
Of course you guys are right,thank you Ms/our teacher.
Yes I have quite a few native speaker videos coming. Also on my JJ Communication Skills YouTube channel.
It is said that theory and practice go hand in hand;but when it comes to pronunciation it is the putting into practice what really makes the difference.
Very simple and useful tips to put elision into practice right away.
Thanks for this hands-on pronunciation lesson Jade.
Have a great weekend.
Dear Jade,
No one can deny that there is a natural tendency to pronounce English sounds using our mother tongue’s phonetic system.
That is why it is diffucult -I believe- to sound like a native English speaker.
Quoting a pronunciation teacher “Pronunciation is like underwear, it is the last piece of clothe that you take off”.
I would add to this quoting “… but in the end you may not take it off”.
Regards
Dear Madam, I like you videos very much.
Kindly tell me how to improve English writing and pronunciation skills.
One word awesome!
Thanks for teaching this lesson in professional way . We appreciate that . Thanks again .
Please, make a lesson about ng or [ŋ] sound in comparison with a normal n sound. It’s quite simple to pronounce in words with -ing endings, but when we have words like ‘thin’ and ‘thing’, the difference is marginal and more difficult to get. :)
the way to pronounce /n/ and /ŋ/ almost same. But, they have a small difference.
In /n/ sound, your tongue goes to the roof of the mouth. but in /ŋ/ sound, it doesn’t.
Thin /θɪɴ/ , your tongue is ready to pronounce /θ/ sound between your teeth, then release it to make a /ɪ/ sound. And go back to the roof of your mouth to make a sound /ɴ/.
Thing /θɪŋ/ , same step to pronounce /θ/ and /ɪ/. To make a sound /ŋ/, don’t move your tongue. just stay on that position when you pronounce /ɪ/, then stop the air coming to your mouth, let the air go to your nose.
Wow, great explanation. Thanks.
thank you bro
very nice,thanks very much
Ah I like this idea. Let me put my thinking cap on and see what I come up with/1
I didn’t find the meaning of “cap on” teacher.
‘put your thinking cap on’ – to start to think seriously about how to solve a problem or do sth
Thanks a lot Ernest.You tought me a word , i will respect you forever .
Taught.
Jade is the most Salutator teacher I’ve ever seen .well done Jade !
Oh my god i meant Scrutator .I have ti take a rest.I am not functional right now…
Nothing come up whit. Nothing popped into your mind. Your empty mind.
Am i wrong? ( aint, innnit, etc.) Why don’t you try to wear a burka?
It’s worth it. And for your anxiety, get a laid, please.
Jade I think that you should start speaking loud and clear. In the end of the day we need to understand your talking to understand the lesson. Without bad feeling sincerely yours roshavbg.
I think it’s usefull to listen fast and, maybe, a little unclear native speech, so you can learn how to understand people who won’t actually teach you English and how to avoid unpleasants situations when you needed to ask to slow down. :)
You could always try turning up the volume!
It was only a suggestion not confrontation.
If it’s that hard for you, you can use subtitles and read what she is saying. I think she has a lovely british accent.
it’s really rude :(
Thanks Jade
Jade, my first EngVid video and I marked directly the web as “favorite”. I,m going to follow all your pronunciation videos. Genial!!! Thank yoy!!
nice to have you back and i hope to see more videos about vocabulary and confiusing words
Thank you very much.
Thank you so much for this video teacher, we must learn how native speakers talk because it will help us improving our listening and we won’t have problems when we watch movies!!
Learning how to understand native speakers is hard but very rewarding in the end once you manage it!
Dear Jade,
A kind Hi,,
Let me know pls : Is there any difference btw Somebody n Someone ??????!!!!
Tnx in advance,
:) fatiima!
It is said that theory and practice go hand in hand;but when it comes to pronunciation it is the putting into practice what really makes the difference.
Very simple and useful tips to put elision into practice right away.
Thanks for this hands-on pronunciation lesson Jade.
Have a great weekend.
It helps me to improve my speaking english.
Can I use this advice to speak American English?
Thanx Jade, U r amazing I not only like yr character but also the way of yr teaching…..
very nice!
Dear teacher Jade,
Excellent!
As a learner in English, I strongly believe that this video clip is so useful to me. In general, we pronounce English words with our local identity; so I think it is a natural issue, but I try my best to understand different accents followed by native English speakers living in different parts in the world. In my practical setting, I random find native English speakers, hence I hardly get an opportunity to practice English in its original beat, however, I try my best to watch English programs on internet conducted by native English speakers to get this gap filled. Good Luck!
Sounds like you are trying your best. I’m sure you will succeed in your goals.
thank you very much yoare gorgous
thanx….
Thanks nice teacher Jade, I got 88%.
Jade speaks and looks strange. :|
She speaks not as strange as you think, just like a usual Londoner. Londoners have quite a few accents including a world-famous cockney, and Jade’s accent is not a worst one from them.
As for how she looks, I see nothing wrong with that. Just a young shy girl who does all the best for helping us to improve our language skills.
Jade is not ‘shy girl’. She is just an introvert…
Of course.
and at the end of the day, we all love you Jade.
It is a productive video-lesson isn’t it!
Have a good one!
Many thanks to you Jade.but ,dont forget your teaching Non- native English mean Your Kind of fast I hope to see more videos abuout IELTS exam . Thats scary test .thanks alot .
Thank for lesson today
Thank you for making this lesson.
Hi Jade, thanks for this lesson. However I have looked into the Oxford Dictionary, it says for example:
memorable: ˈmemərəbl
family: ˈfæməli
and so forth
I am a bit confuse now. :)
What the dictionary says and how people talk are not always the same thing.
Indeed if you look up familiy in the OD you get /ˈfamɪli, -m(ə)l-/, which is the same pronunciation given by teacher Jade. The schwa between parenthesis is an elided schwa.
The same with memorable /ˈmɛm(ə)rəb(ə)l/. There you have two elided schwas.
Thank you :)
Jade , are there rules for elision in english ?
thanks
Hi, Amer 2. Awaiting for Jade’s response, please get mine. I guess there is only one rule about elision in English. The rule is: “Elision rules”! Cheers.
Thanks Hiubhp for your advice but I hope to see the respone from her too dont forget she is our teacher
In the video I mention 2 rules but personally I find these rules hard to apply in natural, flowing speech.
Thank you Jade. I’m an ESL teacher and I liked your style in teaching. I’m learning a lot from you.TK U so muuuuuuuuuuuuch
Hello Prof. Jade
Thank you very much. I wish I could speak English like you because UK accent is my favorite :)
i love it very much :)) thank u teacher Jade :))
Thank you for the lesson! But I have a query.In your examples “laboratory” and ” secretary” the elision of schwa follows a “t” not a “m” or “r”
hey jade i hope u fineee! thx for this lesson productive lesson . if you mind i have a question which is what’s the different among the american accent and british accent and accadimic accent ? have a nice time
ohh sorry jade i forget to tell you that i can understand your accent without repeating the video :D so what u think about my listening ?
hey everbody i suggest to you to watch this funny video about American accent and british accent have fun
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpJ3yzUPbL0
Was fun
Is this sentence grammatically correct=
lost my wife (misty),
she went for shopping
& still not reached home yet.
This video will probably have confused many of people who get used to North American accent and pronunciation. So be careful, when you decide to change your pronunciation thinking you don’t speak properly.
Thanks for your interesting videos.Could you please deliver a lesson about clear and dark L ?
I appreciate your effort.
I appreciate all kinds of lessons because the “main goal” is learn English and that’s exactly what I’m doing in (engVid)10Q Jade!!!
I do not speak English and I want to learn.
Hello Jade !
What a pleasure to have at last a british teacher on engVid ! I like your accent which is so different from the american one !
I’m living in London for 1 month and I would love to meet you in person if it doesn’t bother you. I would like you to give me some advice about learning english or about things to do in London, job interviews or whatever. Let me know please !
See you soon !
Hello Jade. a handy lesson as usual thanks a lot. One question, I’m wondering about your accent, is it Cockney ?
My accent is called ‘Estuary English’. If you search for this on my personal Jade Joddle channel you will see videos about it.
is Estuary English spoken a lot in London?
well, to be honest, i still don’t have too much idea about the concept of “London accent”, though apparently you’ve heard it frequently.
as far as i know, there are RP, cockney, estuary, northern english and southwest etc, but i never have knowledge on what specifically is “London accent” #_#
How cool and great! I hope to pronounce naturally and fluently like native speaking people. I wanna coffee :P
Thank you so much, Jade! I’d like to improve my speaking more smoothly.
finally i found british teacher. i hope your accent will help me when i watch football. great job AJ Jade
Thanks for the lesson.
oh, i really saw the light in this lesson though i missed two questions hehe. never mind. however, that’s why i couldn’t hear the native speaker until now. i though the words they speak were the words i heard first time even “camera” haha, “camra”? what is it? i never knew.
Yes it’s a small thing but now you know. Good luck!
. . . I’m back again after a short break . . .
Sharing is what makes the language learning experience more exciting.
Regards
“Wanna” and “Gonna” are used very often in speech. And, of course, they have the same structure of formation such as “hafta, outta”, сoulda, shoulda” etc. And, for example, these words are: donna (don’t know), prolly (probably), gotcha (got you) and so on. English is really very rich language of interpretation all words.
thanks a lot
Thanks for the lesson, Jade! And I got 10! :)
perfect…
Thank you for your lesson.
Good tricks.
Mmmm I got it. Tks. I’ll be looking for additional examples
I wanna to get this video with lyrics
Can I?
Hi Jade, wonderfull lesson, and beautiful accent. Im Santiago from Panama, and this lesson helped me a lot, I had heard the pronunciation of comparable, Interesting, chocolate, and I knew there was something different but I dindt know why, and sometimes what….this helped me a lot…
You have excellent listening skills if you observed that just by yourself. Keep up the good work. :))
Hi Jade
How about Yorkshire and Winchester and Bicester
U always rock!
GREAT VIDEO! CONGRATS!
Thnak you.
British accent is tough, i prefer Us
Sorry, but it wasn’t a good lesson
I really wanna speak better the English and i know that i can do it with your videos. thank you very much!
english
thanks
Yes, It was a good lesson. Thank you Jade.
I got 100!
I agree with you sally
Nice and perfect lesson. looking forward to your next videos.
im really happy that i found a website wherein it can help me improve my self both writing and speaking in englis
Hi Ms. Jade,
When do we use “will” and “be going to”?
Thank you in advance.
Thank you for the lesson, Jade! I greatly appreciated it! :-)
I watch every lesson in your classes, I love British accent, thanks .
I know… Thanks for all your kind attention. William. :))
thank you jade.
thank you jade
if it possible to sond like native speaker if i was born in england
thank you
Very good lesson, thanks.
Big Thanks. It’s really good and fun.
Hi, we’ll chat as more improve in English as native, Chat me at 7005034188 (WhatsApp)
Thank you, Jade, for your lessons, they are very practical for common life :-)
Nice lesson! Thank u sooooo much!
8/8 Good lesson!
hello jade. I really hope you will make some videos about the conditionals. I have watched some videos about conditionals on anglolink.com but i have found these videos very hard to understand, and i think the examples are the real issue not the teacher or the presentation. So i hope you will find some time for this. Im looking forward for your new videos. Cheers
I’m a native…:))))
fantastic jayde….
D’ja wanna get a pizza?…………when we do that D ja
Do you becomes the example of elision that you mention in your comment.
thank’s you so much.
I’m a new member of this site, so I worry about making mistakes when writing. How can I download video lessons?
I loved our lesson! thanks Jane! see you!
Hey teacher! I loved that lesson but speak like you it is so complicated to me. I´ve got an american accent. That´s make me speak some words in a different way! That is a problem if I travel to London?
I have problem in pronunciation how can I deal with this? what is the best way to start for solving this problem??
I am good with grammar meaning writing , but how to say the words correctly I have problem in this
thanks teacher jade :))
This is the first time I’ve found all the tips about grammatical varieties between British and American English in one place at once. It was pretty confusing not knowing these rules. Especially when listening or chatting. It’s easier now. Thanks Jade.
Sorry, I had several of your videos ready to watch in my browser and this comment relates to the lesson ‘American&British English,8 grammar differences’.
Thumbs up for this lesson to!
though my fluency is very poor but everyone says my pronunciation is almost like a native speakers…but alas i got 4 out of 8 in this quiz.
Thank you Jade. I am living in the UK for more than a year and I am working in schools as a TA and I have Master awarded by English university. I am still struggling with my pronunciation and is not easy to understand me other people and understand them. I bought a Tv recently, but I need something more effective.What you recommend? Thank you.Irene
Hello Jade, I’m beginning to learn english and that lesson of pronunciation is wonderfull, I hope to continue learning english with you. Thank
got 100% thank you so much, jade!!
thank you so much you!please, could you make more advanced lessons <3
Gee!!! You must be an advanced English student.
I strongly recommend you to see a lesson developed by Adam -an EngVid teacher- on “Causative verbs”.
Please, do the quiz, it may a be a bit of a challenge for you, I bet.
See you around!!!
Dear Teacher Jade. Still Iam searching the
Questions but I didn’t find it yet.
So where I can find it?
Jade,
I appreciate your time to teach us how to improve and motivate by ourselves. I had some doubts to learn English online but after found this site and then heard about your channel I have no more doubts to follow this path.
See you around and I love the way you say goodbye!
Hi Jade.. why is it so important for a politician to learn a perfect English, you mentioned that in one of your videos. Learning English is a must for sure for all sorts of jobs, but why is it a bit more important for a politician specifically.
Thank you, Jade!
Thank you,Jade this lesson really helps me to improve my pronunciation in English, before this I don’t really know how to talk English like native speaker, but now I know and it all because of you. Thank you again and keep up the good work.
It was AWESOME :) thanks a lot Jade!
Thanks a lot for your valuable information.
Thank you so much I love your lessons your pronounciation is clear and really native…..I apreciate your effort
I got 7 correct out of 8.
:)
thank you miss Jade
thanks jade do you have more of pronunciation videos please ?
Hi Jade, that’s a really great and helpful video. i am quite interested in some features in British English like elision, schwa, non-rhoticity, disappearing of /t/&/d/ sound, etc.
regarding the topic of the video, elision of schwa, i just wanna additionally ask you about the sound of “pro” before a stressed syllable, as in “professor”, “professor”. because i constantly perceive that (first) /r/ sound in /prə ˈfes.ər/ or /prəˌnʌn.si ˈeɪ.ʃən/ is barely pronounced, which consequently become /pə ˈfes.ər/ and /pəˌnʌn.si ˈeɪ.ʃən/. but i really not quite sure if it is the case. perhaps it’s just me over-sensed it.
i am looking forward to your opinion about it. that’d be very appreciated! :)
Result 75 %, so so . Thanks.
Love your teaching .I have never had an astute teacher like U. You spotlight the dark sides thanks dear Jade…
Thank you,see you later…O.O…O.O…O.O…
Hi how are you
THANKS JADE
Please help me how i can learn ?
Ms. Jade I just adore your accent ;) I find this lessons really usefull so thank you ;)
awesome videos mam, i would try hard to get good pronunciation skill.
very helpful Thank you
I have a question about Ilets
Can I use cursive handwriting in my answers?
thanks alot
I wanna do the test one more time.
teacher where I can get vedio of English lessons in my phone pls help I want to sound like native speaker
Thank you very much Jade.
hi every one
my name is almogdad osman and iam from sudan
I want learn english cultural please I need some more help and I hope to email me in my email almogdadosman8@gmail.com ang GOD bless you
Thanks for teaching this lesson in professional way . We appreciate that . Thanks again
thanks you and all the teachers in this site helped me alot
thanks it’s a pretty helpful lesson
(love your accent)
We’ve got a lot of examples of elision in all the languages. French, Italian, German, etc. We say /Madrí/ /soledá/ etc. And we’ve got our “posh” accent. A German speaker can say if you are from Berlin, Bonn and your level of education. The same in French. Italian is the most funny chaos.
But “elision” and all the other things were invented for British people, of course. Let them think that “Brittannia” rules. Bendita ignorancia.
Very Helpful lessons, actually I was studying English in school and college, and all what they were teaching is vocabularies , grammar, which is important, finally it will be a waste without vocal and speaking lessons like this.
thank you Jade, great lesson, great tool to help my students understand why some words are so difficult for them so pronounce! I appreciate your help! Blessings
Jade, you are a great teacher. Thanks a lot.
Hello, i’m am glad to watch your videos, in fact I really love the way you teach.
I have a little question…..why the elision is different with: secret-ry…laborat-ry….and mem-rable…If is the same amount of sylablles.
Thanks for your answer.
Hello I’m trying to learn American English although some pronounciations are difficult in American English and now it’s kind of difficult to understand English.I like to learn both but I understand American better.
I mean it’s kind of difficult to understand British English.
And also some pronounciations are hard in american and some of them in British.
Hi, Jade !
I have a question to you.
Why do you spoke elide like [i’li:d] ?
I believe that it sounds [ɪˈlaɪd].
Can you get rid me of uncertainty ?
And, also I want to say you’re awesome ! I adore your lessons, dear Jade. :D
Hi
I don’t know whether you did it intentionally or not,but in phonemic transcription we don’t write /wanna/ or /tea/. So let’s be more consistent.
How many syllables does a native speaker commonly pronounce in the word jade
1
2
3
4
Thank you.
Thanks a lot.
Hi teacher Jade, first of all I want thank you for your good explanation,but I did not understand very well,I hope you will repeat it again so I will attend it and study it very well.Thanks.
Hello Mrs.Jade your lessons are very very helpful and interesting too. You are just shaping what I want to be in the future as an introvert english teacher. well I want to ask you in the first role you said schwa after first stress get delete but in the word memory you didn’t delete the “e” in (‘m”e”m.ri) although it is after a stress and in laboratory thier two stress as I see. and in laboratory you didn’t delete the “o” after the b stress too la’b”o”or.ra.tri. I mean I don’t understand why you didn’t use the first role in the second role too and thanks :)
thanks Jade
Firstly, thank you for precious lessons. I have been working hard to master British accent, your immaculate accent is helping me understand at a better level how words are pronounced in vernacular conversations which I believe dictionary will never provide.
Hi Jade, first of all: Thank YOU! awesome lesson.
real English for real people (just not for the Queen!),that’s how English comes alive.
Best!
Thanks for your lesson, it was very useful :)
7/8 :)
Great tips! They really make sense when we heard a native speaker in a conversation!
Thanks a lot Jade!
Many thanks, it was very useful for me:)
I appreciate the lesson. Thank you, Jade.
From this lesson I understand only 2 words: “David Cameron”. What is “elision”? What means “schwa”? And how to understand “Elision of Schwa”?
I got 9 corrects. Thank you, Jade.
I got 6 out of 8 am so greatfull thanks jade
it helps me a lot Jade, thank you :)
I’ve got 8 out of 8 .. thanks a lot Jade
You are so great Jade! Your accent is perfect to study. I didn´t understand very well at first lesson, but now is so much better. :)
Thanks, Jade!
I suppose singers sometimes pronounce words in a way that goes well with melodies. For example the band Yes has a song that says ” I am a camera, camera camera ” in which every syllable is clearly heard.
Actually that’s how I learned that word!
Hello Jade,
In this video, why do “laboratory” and “secretary” not follow the “m” and “r” rule of the elision of the SCHWA?
Thank you
I got 100%
Thank you Jade I started learning British English since last week but your lesson is really helpful for me thank you everything
Thank you Jade
got 7/8. thanks!
Rather interesting, thanks Jade!
Very good.
woao, I had problems with these pronunciations whole my life. This lesson was very useful for me, this is exactly what I need. Thanks beautiful Jade.
Thanks Jade.
That’s such an exquisite lesson! I love your words, and what’s more is that they come with absolutely guaranteed perception.
Pronunciation is the biggest obstacle to learning passive English. It is passive when you learn to speak just by listening to the language. That’s how I learned Slovenian because I never had a single lesson in the Slovenian language. I spoke Slovenian better than 90% of Slovenians because I listened to standard Slovenian on the radio or TV. Central European languages are full of dialects that sometimes the village next to the village does not understand. I read Slovenian, but I read more English, so it is of little use when it comes to spoken language.