Listening: Understanding Natural Connected Speech B1 - Lesson 1: Recognizing Basic Linking Sounds (consonant-vowel)

Main Skill: Listening | Sub-skill: Understanding Natural Connected Speech | CEFR Level: B1 (Intermediate)

🎧Listening: Understanding Natural Connected Speech B1 - Lesson 1: Recognizing Basic Linking Sounds (consonant-vowel)

🎯 Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

• Understand what consonant-vowel (C-V) linking is in spoken English.
• Recognize common examples of C-V linking in short phrases and sentences.
• Identify how linking makes words sound connected and flow smoothly.
• Improve your ability to understand natural English speech that includes basic linking.

💡 Key Concepts: How Words Join Together

Hello B1 learners! When native English speakers talk naturally, they don't usually pause between every word. Instead, words often link or join together. This helps the speech flow smoothly and quickly. One very common type of linking is consonant-vowel (C-V) linking.

What is Consonant-Vowel Linking?

This happens when:

• A word ends in a consonant sound (like /t/, /d/, /n/, /s/, /k/, etc.)
• AND the next word begins with a vowel sound (like /æ/ as in apple, /e/ as in egg, /ɪ/ as in in, /ɒ/ as in on, /ʌ/ as in up).

When this happens, the final consonant sound of the first word often sounds like it has moved to the beginning of the second word.

Examples:

• "an apple" Listen often sounds like "a napple"
• "look at it" Listen often sounds like "loo ka tit"
• "good idea" Listen often sounds like "goo die dear" (with the /d/ linking)

Recognizing this linking is very important for understanding spoken English at a natural pace.

🇰🇭 Cambodian Context: Smooth Speech Flow

Sua s'dei! Think about how words flow together when you speak Khmer quickly and naturally. You don't always pause between every single word. English is similar! This "linking" of sounds helps make English speech smooth and fast.

For Cambodian learners, sometimes it might seem like English speakers are "eating" sounds or saying words differently than how you learned them one by one. This linking is one reason why! For example, if someone in Battambang says, "I live in_a house," the "in" and "a" will join together. This lesson will help your ears get used to hearing these common connections.

🎧 Pre-Listening Activity: Spotting Potential Links

Look at these pairs of words. If spoken together, which ones do you think would link with a consonant sound moving to a vowel sound?

read a book (read_a: /d/ links to /ə/)

big dog (No C-V link here - ends in consonant, starts with consonant)

come on in (come_on: /m/ links to /ɒ/; on_in: /n/ links to /ɪ/)

nice cat (No C-V link here)

speak up (speak_up: /k/ links to /ʌ/)

Listen to your teacher or use the TTS buttons to hear the examples in the "Key Concepts" section again. Notice how the sounds join.

🔊 Listening Tasks: Hearing the Links

Important Note for Learners: This lesson uses your browser's Text-to-Speech (TTS) to "speak" phrases and sentences. TTS often naturally produces some linking sounds. Listen carefully for how words flow together. For the best learning, listen to clear, pre-recorded human audio demonstrating these features.

Task 1: Does it Link? Yes or No.

Click "🔊 Listen" to hear a short phrase. Decide if you hear a clear consonant-vowel link between the bolded words.

1. Phrase: "I need an_apple."

Yes, "an" and "apple" link. No, they sound separate.

2. Phrase: "He has_a_new car."

Focus on "has" and "a".

Yes, "has" and "a" link. No, they sound separate.

3. Phrase: "Turn it_off."

Focus on "it" and "off".

Yes, "it" and "off" link. No, they sound separate.

Task 2: Identifying Linked Words in Sentences

Click "🔊 Listen" to hear a sentence. Which pair of words in the options is most clearly linked by a consonant sound moving to a vowel sound?

1.

Sentence: "This is an old book."

This - is is - an (sounds like "i zan") old - book

2.

Sentence: "Can I have a bit of ice?"

Can - I bit - of (sounds like "bi tof") of - ice (sounds like "o vice")

📝 Post-Listening Activity: Practice Linking

Try saying these phrases aloud. Focus on making the words flow together smoothly by linking the final consonant of one word to the initial vowel of the next.

• read a_book (rea da book)
• look at it (loo ka tit)
• think_about it (thin ka bou tit)
• an old oak (a nold doak)

It might feel strange at first, but this is how natural English often sounds!

🚀 Key Takeaways & Listening Strategies

• When a word ends in a consonant sound and the next word starts with a vowel sound, they often link together.
• The consonant sound can feel like it "jumps" to the start of the next word.
• Recognizing this linking helps you understand words that might sound different from when they are said alone.
• Listen for the overall flow of phrases, not just isolated words.

💬 Feedback & Learner Tips (Self-Assessment)

After the exercises:

• Could you hear the consonant sounds linking to the vowel sounds?
• Which linked pairs were easiest to identify? Which were harder?
• Try saying the linked phrases yourself. Does it help you hear them better when others speak?

🇰🇭 Tips for Cambodian Learners:

In Khmer, words are usually clearly separated. In English, this linking is very common and makes the language sound smooth (រលូន - roloun). For example, if you want to say "I like it" in English, it often sounds more like "I lai kit."

Practicing these links will make your own English sound more natural, and it will really help your listening comprehension when you hear English spoken by native speakers or in songs and movies, perhaps while you are relaxing in Battambang!

📚 Further Practice & Application

• Listen to B1 level English audio (songs, podcasts, dialogues) and try to identify examples of consonant-vowel linking.
• Practice reading short English texts aloud, focusing on linking words smoothly. You can mark the links first.
• Use online resources that specifically teach and provide practice for connected speech features like C-V linking.