Unit 1.2 VC and friendly connections

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Presentation

Audio [03:11]

Quiz

Discussion

1. What are content words and function words? Find out more here.
2. Do you regularly use contractions in spoken English, e.g., ‘he’s’ instead of ‘he is’? If not, why not?
3. Have you ever learned about VC and friendly connections before? If not, why not?
4. Sometimes connected speech feels like a ‘best-kept secret’ in English. Why do you think that is?

Practice

1. Write down 10 new phrases with VC connections, e.g. ‘go with’. Practice saying them out loud. Do you find them easy to pronounce?
2. Write down 10 new phrases with friendly connections, e.g. ‘tall guy’. Practice saying them out loud. Do you find them easy to pronounce?
3. Practice reading this list of contractions out loud. What other English contractions do you know?
4. Find a short text in a magazine or online and identify 5 phrases with VC connections and 5 with friendly connections.
5. What are ‘function words’ and ‘content words’ in English? Write down ten of each. What is their significance in English pronunciation?

Further Study

• Content Words and Function Words
• Contractions
• List of contractions