ELT365 · Day 161 — Why native speed confuses learners

Idea — Connected speech — assimilation, elision, linking, weak forms — makes native-speed English sound unlike the written form. Learners who know the words still cannot parse the stream.

Example — ‘Did you eat yet?’ becomes ‘Dij’ya eet yet?’ in fast speech. The words are known; the phonological reduction makes them unrecognisable. That is the real barrier.

Try — Dictate ‘What are you going to do?’ at natural speed. Count how many catch it. Then write it on the board. Discuss the gap between what they heard and what was said.

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