Hello everyone, welcome back to Dr. Byrnes’ TOEFL Show!
Today we have another TOEFL Speaking Listen and Repeat lesson, with tips, strategies, and practice to help you earn a top score.
In particular, we will focus on how to pronounce words the way native speakers do, using connected speech, and how native speakers stress words to create natural sentence rhythm.
Today we will use an official TOEFL sample set. These are the seven sentences we will work on today.
"Welcome, let's get started and check you in."
"There is a reception desk over here for you."
"The elevators are located just off the main lobby."
"Our hotel lounge is available for relaxation."
"If needed, we can store your bags in the luggage storage room."
"Our amenities and services are listed on the notice boards throughout the building."
"To avoid being charged a late-departure fee, be sure to check out on time."
We will look at how to stress the important content words and how to connect unstressed words, just like the native speaker in the official ETS sample. OK, let’s get started.
1. Welcome, let’s get started and check you in.
There is a pause after “welcome,” so the sentence has two thought groups:
“Welcome”
and
“let’s get started and check you in.”
The stressed syllables are:
WEL, let’s, STAR, CHECK, IN
The other words are unstressed, so the pitch becomes lower on those words.
Stress tip
Notice that check in is a compound expression, specifically a phrasal verb. In many phrasal verbs, the main stress falls on the particle, the adverb. That is why IN receives the strongest stress.
Make sure you understand how compound words are stressed, because many TOEFL Listen and Repeat sentences contain compound words or phrasal verbs.
We covered compound word stress in previous Listen and Repeat videos, so make sure to review those, since today’s lesson builds on that concept.
Pronunciation tip
The phrase “started and” often sounds like “startidn” in natural speech.
In phonetics, t and d sounds are stop consonants. That means the airflow stops briefly and then releases.
But in fast, fluent speech, native speakers often reduce or delete stop sounds to keep the rhythm smooth.
In “started and,” the d at the end of “started” links to the following vowel, and the d in "and" is dropped. The word “and” is reduced and often sounds like “uhn.”
So the phrase may sound like:
star-tidn
Now repeat after me.
2. There is a reception desk over here for you.
The stressed syllables are:
CEP, DESK, HERE
Reception desk is a compound noun because the desk is used for reception. In compound nouns, the main stress usually falls on the first word, so we stress reCEPtion desk.
Pronunciation tip
“there is a” often sounds like:
therizuh
Now repeat after me.
3. The elevators are located just off the main lobby.
The stressed words are:
ELevators, located, OFF, LOBby
These are the main content words that carry the meaning of the sentence:
elevators located off lobby
Stress tip
“just off” functions as a location phrase, and the word OFF receives stress because it carries the directional meaning.
In the phrase “main lobby,” main describes lobby, so lobby receives the stress.
Pronunciation tips
In “the elevator,” the word “the” should sound like “thi”, because elevator begins with a vowel sound.
When two vowels occur together, native speakers often add a linking /y/ sound to connect them smoothly.
So “the elevator” may sound like:
thee-elevator
Also, “elevators are” may sound like:
elvatorsuh
Now repeat after me.
4. Our hotel lounge is available for relaxation.
Our hoTEL LOUNGE is aVAILable for relaxAtion.
The stressed words are:hotel, lounge, available, rexation
The main idea of the sentence is:
lounge available for relaxation
Stress tip
In the phrase hotel lounge, hotel describes lounge, so the stress goes on lounge.
Now repeat after me.
5. If needed, we can store your bags in the luggage storage room.
The stressed words are:
NEEDED, STORE, BAGS, LUGgage, STORage, ROOM
There is a pause after “needed,” so we have two thought groups:
“If needed”
and
“we can store your bags in the luggage storage room.”
Stress tip
luggage storage room is a compound phrase, meaning a room for storing luggage.
In compound phrases, the first word often receives the strongest stress, so LUGgage is strongly stressed.
Pronunciation tips
Because there is a pause after “needed,”, the word needed is pronounced fully.
When can is used in an affirmative sentence, it usually has no vowel sound and sounds like:
kn
The word in often sounds like:
un
Now repeat after me.
6. Our amenities and services are listed on the notice boards throughout the building.
The stressed words are:
amenities, services, LISTed, notice, building
These are also the main content words of the sentence.
Stress tip
“notice boards” is a compound noun, meaning boards for notices, so the stress falls on notice.
Pronunciation tips
The word “and” in "amenities and services” is reduced and pronounced “uhn.”
It connects to the previous word, so the phrase may sound like:
amenitizen services
Also, “are listed on the” may sound like one connected unit:
uhlistedunuh
The main stress remains on LIST.
Now repeat after me.
7. To avoid being charged a late-departure fee, be sure to check out of your room on time.
There is a pause after “fee,”, creating two thought groups:
To avoid being charged a late-departure fee
and
be sure to check out of your room on time.
The stressed words in the first thought group are:
aVOID, CHARGED, PAR, FEE
In the second thought group, the stressed words are:
SURE, OUT, ROOM, TIME
Speaking tips
The “a” in “a late departure fee” attaches to charged, sounding like:
chargeduh
In “late departure fee,” FEE receives the strongest stress, and PAR in departure receives the second strongest stress.
The phrasal verb “check out” has stress on OUT.
In “be sure to,” the word “to” is very short, so “be sure to” often sounds like one connected phrase, with the stress on SURE.
“your” attaches to out, sounding like:
outur
And “on” attaches to room, sounding like:
roomun
Now repeat after me.