Hey there! This is TOP episode 57: Pronunciation Tip. ‘Meet You’, ‘Did You’. Assimilation
My name’s Ola and I am an English teacher. This podcast is for you if you want to start speaking English fearlessly. I help people fight the fear of speaking, become confident, fluent and independent. I have eliminated a massive language blockade myself and now I teach others how to achieve that.
In this episode, you’ll practise speaking and in turn boost your vocabulary, brush up your grammar and improve your pronunciation. Go to my website for full transcripts and worksheets to each episode. Happy learning!
Hello hello, welcome back after a little break. It’s September 2020 and we’re going to come back to normal, that is releasing episodes every Wednesday. I was on holiday. I needed them so much! And I’m so happy I was able to have some. I’m grateful for that. You know I try to count my blessing every day, and this holiday was just amazing! I went by the Polish see with my husband and with my son. I’m well-rested ready for September and the end of this very different year.
How are you? Have you had any holiday this year? Where did you go? What did you do? Let me know. Leave a comment at teacherola.com/57.
Ok, today’s episode is again focused on correct pronunciation. Let me just make it absolutely clear, I keep repeating the same thing in probably every episode. It is not and it’s never been about your accent. Your Polish accent sounds just fine. Everybody has its own accent! Sometimes it’s a very strong regional accent but that is simply beautiful. So, if you’re not super crazy about this beautiful British or American or Australian or Canadian accent, just live. Live your happy life, communicate with people, be happy. Don’t put on yourself any pressure where it’s absolutely irrational. You have enough pressure I guess.
Ok. So why do we talk about pronunciation here? Because pronunciation is not accent, and pronunciation matters! In my opinion and you may have a different one, pronunciation is the king. In order to be understood you need to be able to produce accurate sounds. What’s more, you want to understand the people around you. I promise you, that knowledge is the key. If you know those sounds, you know where they come from, you feel much more confident. So let’s make it clear. Once and for all! Is it meet you, did you, or meet you, did you?
Well, when one word ends with the /t/ or /d/ sound and another word starts with the /j/ sound we don’t pronounce /t/ or /d/ sound at the end of the word. Instead, we produce the /tʃ/ sound or the /dʒ/ sound respectively. So meet you changes into meet you, and did you changes into did you. It happens when you speak fast, it’s a natural process and it occurs across many languages, also Polish. Sounds want to become similar to other nearby sounds. It is a big topic, and there’s a lot to learn so I decided to divide this humongous topic into several pieces, that is episodes on different aspects of assimilation. Each episode is going to be easy to digest and easy to remember. But the key, the real key is you, my friend. I trust you and I know you keep repeating after me. Let’s begin this practice. Listen and repeat after me:
meet you
did you
what you
suit you
don’t you
I bet your
get you
hold your
could you
would you
Ok, great job.. Now we’re going to practice all those words, I mean pairs of words I should say in sentences. Please repeat after me. Go even further and try to say those sentences out loud from your memory. You know what I mean? Try to recall them and say them out loud to yourself. Download the worksheet, where you’ll find some of the sentences you’ll hear in a second but in Polish. Then, translate them into English and yet again: say them out loud. Ok, listen and repeat:
Nice to meet you.
What did you do?
What you see is what you get.
I’m afraid it doesn’t suit you.
Don’t you think it’s time to rest?
I bet your kids are cute.
I’m gonna get you.
Hold your head up high.
Could you pass me the salt, please?
Would you like some more?
Well done. And one more thing. Those expressions: meet you, bet you, got you, won’t you have evolved even further. In spoken, highly colloquial language you might hear things like:
meetcha
betcha
getcha
wontcha
Do you know this song by Pussycat Dolls and Busta Rhymes titled ‘Don’t Cha?’ It goes: ‘Don’tcha wish you girlfriend was hot like me, don’t cha. Or! Shania Twain’s ‘I’m Gonna Getcha Good’. So, yes, it exists, accept it, and understand it. For example:
You betcha.
You betcha is used to express an agreement. It’s a strongly positive response. So you can use it to answer someone who for example offers you something you really want.
Would you like some chocolate?
You betcha!
Here you have it. Assimilation of the /t/ and /d/ sound followed by the /j/ sound. Today you learned how to connect words which end with the /t/ or /d/ sound and words which start, which begin with the /j/ sound. I hope now you understand why we don’t read the /t/ or /d/ sound but we change it into the /tʃ/ or /dʒ/ sound. Like in: meet you or did you.
Please don’t forget to download the worksheet and translate Polish sentences from this episode into English. This free worksheet is available for you at teacherola.com/57.
Please spread the word, share this podcast with someone you think might need it.
And come back here next Wednesday, because we’re going to learn some vocabulary. We’ll be talking about some common food idioms. Subscribe to this podcast if you haven’t yet. And I’ll see you next Wednesday. Goodbye! Happy learning.