If you can understand these 15 audio clips, your English is AMAZING!

if you can understand these 15 audios your listening skills are amazing I understand how it is you can understand most of what I say in my videos you can understand what your English teacher says but when it comes to fast informal speech it's a lot harder today I'm going to test you this is going to be a gap fill exercise so grab a pen and paper you're going to hear 15 audio clips from British and Irish celebrities these clips will gradually increase in difficulty I'm going to play each clip twice to give you a chance

to fill in the gaps then I will reveal the answer and pick out any interesting pronunciation features and explain any tricky grammar or vocabulary so you won't just practice your listening skills in this lesson we'll be focusing on your pronunciation grammar and vocabulary knowledge too as always I've created PDF to go along with this video in the PDF you'll find even more information about the pronunciation vocabulary and grammar and some top tips for improving your listening skills if you'd like to download the PDF just click on the link in the description box or scan that

QR code there you enter your name and your email address you sign up to my mailing list and the PDF will arrive directly in your inbox after that you'll automatically receive my free PDFs alongside my news course updates and offers it's a free service and you can unsubscribe at any time okay are you ready for the first clip here is the sentence you need to try to fill each Gap with one word are you ready here's clip number one I love dogs cats on the other hand I mean I I do like cats don't ever

do a film with them though listen again love dogs cats on the other hand I mean I I do like cats don't ever do a film with than though I must say I am more of a dog person ready for the answers here they are Benedict stressed the key words he wanted to emphasize love cats do and ever this helps The Listener pick out the important information and he also added do to a positive statement I do like cats this is quite unusual but we do do this when we want to emphasize the following verb

he also added a y between the and other the other to smooth the transition between the vowel sounds we'll also pick up on this in some of the later audio clips next clip let's listen to Ed Sheron answering the question who looks after your cats when you're touring Cherry but Cherry's actually here today cuz she's got a couple of weeks off work um so at the moment my mom and dad have them one more time Cherry but Cherry's actually here today cuz she's got a couple of weeks off work um so at the moment my

mom and dad haveen that was a lot harder especially with music in the background okay here are the answers did you hear Cherry with a CH or cherry with a sh Ed said Cherry with a CH but both of these sounds are very similar and often confused to make the sh sound imagine you're telling someone to be quiet sh round your lips push them forward sh you can continue this sound for as long as you have air in your lungs sh the CH sound combines a t and Sh I build up pressure with the T

and then I quickly switch to the sh ch ch notice how the sound stops and my jaw opens ch ch cherry cherry cherry cherry can you hear the difference Ed also uses the shortened form of the because cuz cuz and this is very common in fast informal spoken English and did you also notice how he dropped the v in of he said a couple of weeks a couple of weeks not a couple of weeks this is especially common when of comes before a consonant sound okay are you ready for clip number three what animals does

Adele want and what do you notice about her pronunciation of want to I want to get some chickens basically I want to I want to have a little farm that's what I want to do one more time I want to get some chickens basically I want to I want to have a little farm that's what I want that you okay here are the answers I Love Adele so Adele wants chickens and a little farm but what's interesting about this clip is how Adele pronounces want to as wner wner this informal contraction is incredibly common in

spoken English in this clip Adele uses W as a contraction of want to I want to get some chickens I want to get some chickens we can also use it as a contraction of want uh for example do you want a drink do you want a drink I've included lots more of these informal contractions in the PDF if you'd like to download that click on the link in the description box or scan that QR code there let's move on to clip number four we're going to practice our prediction skills for this next clip predicting what

you might hear is a handy real life skill and it can also help you get better marks in official language exams here is Tom's answer to the question why do you love dogs so much any ideas about what could go in each Gap here pause the video and have a think I'll now play the clip um cuz they don't lie they're just all hot AR they dogs and they don't ask for anything and one more time um cuz they don't lie they're just all heart aren't they dogs and they don't ask for anything here are

the answers how close were your predictions Tom loves dogs because they don't lie notice how he used the shortened form of because cuz just like Ed did he also didn't pronounce the T sound in the negative contraction between don't lie and aren't they he said don't lie and aren't they and then he said they're all heart have you heard this expression before if not can you guess what it means from the context the idiom to be all heart is usually used to describe very kind and generous humans by using this phrase to describe dogs I

think Tom is emphasizing the huge amount of love and affection you receive from them and I couldn't agree more let's move on to clip five this is our last beginner audio then we'll move on to intermediate we're going to hear from the wonderful Nadia Hussein here's the gapped sentence try and catch the missing words there's one missing from each space ready when I was a teenager I had one cat and then I just got obsessed with rescuing them one more time when I was a teenager I had one cat and then I just got obsessed

with rescuing them are you ready for the answers here we are Nadia says when I was a teenager with the weak form of was was generally used in positive statements when I was now the consonant sound Z joins to the vowel sound uh so the two words sound like one waser when I was a teenager so when nardia was a teenager she had one cat and got obsessed with rescuing them in this context got means became we often use get with an adjective to describe a process or a changing situation for example I'm getting hungry

I'm getting tired cold and so on which clip out of the five we've covered so far have you found the most challenging and least challenging it might not just be about their accent it might be about the speed at which they speak let's move on to some slightly more difficult clips now are you ready for number six here is comedian Russell Howard talking about a dog called Mani who made it big on social media because of her unusual appearance can you catch the missing words here go ahead all a tee for they took all her

teeth out and the tongue hangs out a bit oh let's listen to that again all her teeth are rot and they took all her teeth out and her tongue hangs out a bit so are you ready for the answers here they are we have a couple of really interesting pronunciation features here did you notice how Russell dropped the H sound or the H sound at the beginning of H and hangs he said uh and angs it's common for speakers to drop the H sound from grammar words like his and and her but Russell also dropped

it from the verb hang Which is less common also Russell said te with a f not teeth with a f the dental sound f is quite challenging to make so many speakers switch it for the easier unvoiced consonant F this is a common feature in many dialects and finally were you able to catch the last word I say out but Russell pronounces this more openly and drops the final T sound they took all a teeth out okay next clip in this one James acter who's a British comedian is talking about an old myth that the

position of cows in a field can help us know if it's going to rain or not here's the gapped sentence try to catch the missing words basically um there's a rumor going around the cows can predict the weather it's going to be sunny they stand up it's going to rain they down granted Beyond those two types of wether cows appear to have very little idea what's going on okay that was slightly longer let's listen to it again basically um there's a rumor going around the cows can predict the weather it's going to be sunny they

stand up it's going to rain they lie down granted Beyond those two types of weather cows appear to have very little idea what's going on okay are you ready for the answers here they are did you you catch the two phrasal verbs stand up and lie down did you notice how he stressed the particles up and down most phrasal verbs are stressed on the second word rather than the verb although there are quite a few exceptions he also used the conjunction granted which means the same as admittedly and is used to say that something is

true often in contrast to something else you say about it James didn't pronounce the in granted or little he used a glottal stop instead granted little glottal stops are very common in British English and are made by closing the throat blocking the flow of air very briefly before releasing it granted can you hear the slight pause in there granted there are also two interesting pronunciation features similar to the last audio from Russell Howard Russell pronounced the unvoid th sound f with a F and said teth instead of teth did you notice the sound James used

instead of the voiced th sound V in weather go back and listen again if you need to Beyond those two types of weather that's right he changed the V for a v weather like Russell James also drops the H sound or H sound at the beginning of words he said AV instead of have he also used a linking W sound to join to and AV together to have okay clip eight let's listen to another comedian Sarah milikin she's from Newcastle and she has a lovely Jordy accent she's talking about going to a well-known Pet Shop

to see animals instead of the zoo but can you catch the missing words here so we have perfected the art of wandering around pets at home you got to go in with a lot of confidence you know she's so good let's listen again so we have perfected the art of wandering around pets at home you got to go in with a lot of confidence you know okay you ready for the answers here they are she reduces you have got to to you and a lot of to a lot this helps her to speak more quickly

and fluently and another interesting feature is how she uses a linking W sound between go and in go in we often use w y or R between two vowel sounds to link them you can find out more about this in the PDF let's listen to clip number nine we have Orlando Bloom talking about his rescue dog here are the gaps let's listen I created it was this incredible Bond he came with with me everywhere he was literally on set on the boat on Pirates he would one more time I created it was this incredible Bond

he came with me everywhere he was literally on set on the boat on Pirates he would did you catch the two words missing here here they are the first word bond is a strong connection between people or animals we often talk about a close or a strong bond now Orlando is British but he's married to American singer Katy Perry and has starred in a lot of big Hollywood movies which might have had an effect on his pronunciation interestingly in bond he used a longer vow sound similar to a bond which is often used in North

American English rather than the short vowel sound o bond which is commonly used in British English British Bond North American English Bond he then uses a flap T which is also more common in North American English I say literally and Orlando says it's literally on literally can you hear how that t sounds more like a d how do you pronounce this word more like me or more like Orlando I've included more information about the flap te in the PDF okay let's move on to clip number 10 our last in the intermediate section you'll need up

to four words here to complete each Gap are you ready let's listen Animals by and large are not destroying their environments although some of them would if they could but they've evolved so there's a Natural Balance one more time Animals by and large and not destroying their environments although some of them would if they could but they've evolved so there's a Natural Balance okay are you ready for the answers here we are Jane goodle uses the phrase by and large meaning something is usually or generally true it sounded like one word didn't it that's because

she used the linking yeah to join by and and by and large she also elided or didn't pronounce the d in and and she did this in order to join it smoothly to the next word by and large by and large linking sounds and illusion are two common aspects of connected speech did you get the two modal verbs that she used would and could they were quite easy to hear because Jane stressed them modal verbs are not usually stressed when they're in the positive but they can be when they aren't followed by a main verb

as we heard there at the end of the clip Jane said Natural Balance with Rising intonation but they've evolved so there's a Natural Balance her Rising intonation may have indicated that she hadn't finished speaking okay okay we're on to the advanced section now in clip 11 we're going to hear comedian Ricky jaes talking about a hypothetical past using the third conditional each Gap here contains a contraction and one other word let's have a listen if if they said you can't touch a dog in covid that would have been a problem tricky isn't it let's hear

it once more if if they said you can't touch a dog in Co that would have been a problem okay are you ready for the answers here they are Ricky barely pronounced the DU sound in the contracted form they so we have to use our gramar knowledge to fill in the gaps if Plus past perfect if they had if they said also notice how Ricky doesn't pronounce the T in can't we just have the long a vowel sound like in car and then the N con con touch focusing on the long vow sound rather than

listening for the full negative contraction is a good way to differentiate between the positive and negative forms in British English I can touch I can't touch and did you catch the last bit would have becomes W wood with just the uh sound at the end he also reduces the long e vow sound in Bean to I in bin wab bin this is very common in fast spoken English Okay time for clip 12 here we have the actor Eddie redm talking about his experience with chickens during lockdown you'll need a few words to complete some of

these gaps let's listen they were sort of battery chickens so they didn't look that that well but we kind of nurtured them to health and I spent most of lockdown running into other people's Gardens trying to sort of retrieve chickens that were causing Havoc let's listen once more they were sort of battery chickens so they didn't look that that well but we kind of nurtured them to health and I spent most of lockdown running into other people's Gardens trying to sort of retrieve chickens that were causing Havoc okay here are the answers we had some

Advanced vocabulary in this clip which might have made it a bit more challenging for you did you catch the word battery battery maybe you did but were confused as to how a battery could be connected to chickens well battery here has nothing to do with energy battery chickens are chickens raised in battery cages these are lots and lots of small cages in a small space Eddie said that they nurtured the chickens to health if you nurture something you look after it and you provide it with the conditions it needs to develop and be successful in

this case Eddie and his family provided their chickens with the necessary conditions to recover and what did the chickens do in return they caused Havoc Havoc Havoc is a word with a similar meaning to chaos if you create Havoc you might damage things make a lot of noise or cause General confusion so Eddie's chickens escaped into neighboring Gardens and had to be retrieved if you retrieve something you get it back this clip is packed full of interesting things there's a longer explanation in the PDF that goes with this video so don't forget to check that

out okay we've got another clip with some tricky language this time it's idiomatic language let's listen to number 13 with Colin Farrell answering the question why do animals make such good co-stars here's the sentence try to complete the two phrases cuz you're you're trying to when you're telling stories for film or television you're trying to make things look like they're happening on the Fly and animals keep you on your toes one more time cuz you're you're trying to when you're telling stories for film or television you're trying to make things look like they're happening on

the Fly and animals keep you on your toes okay so did you catch what was in the first Gap happening on the fly if something happens on the fly it happens spontaneously without any preparation and in the second Gap we have to keep you on your toes to say that something keeps you on your toes means that it requires you to stay alert attentive and ready to react quickly to the situation that arises okay it's time for our penultimate clip from Scottish actor David Tenant let's listen to him talk about his dog how does he

describe her about that big more of a hand towel than a than a little fluffy thing very excitable let's listen once more she about that big more of a hand towel than a than a little fluffy thing very excitable okay how does he describe her well interestingly David omits the verb is completely and just says she about rather than she's about and what does he compare her to a hand towel Bravo if you caught that as it's a pretty unusual comparison to make David also elides the D in hand towel he says hand towel many

speakers drop the DU sound especially when it occurs between two consonant sounds in the last game we had the word fluffy if a dog is Fluffy it's covered in lots of soft fur like this okay time for our final clip clip 15 we're going to end with a very strange story from the late Paul Grady are you ready here's your sentence let's listen and here's D Meow in the kitchen and she was eating a bit yellow fish that was from the night before in the sink let's listen one more time and here's dot m in

the kitchen and she was eating a bit of yellow fish that was from the night before in the sink okay this one is incredibly challenging not only is the sentence somewhat surreal but Paul also has a very distinct Liverpool or scouse accent did you notice he said me instead of my DOT maau and did you hear what dot was eating from the kitchen sink yellowfish a type of fresh water to fish what's interesting though is how Paul pronounced yellow he said yellow fish and the last word left was hard to distinguish as Paul pronounced left

more like LIF and said the word really quickly if you managed to get all of those words then well done that was really tough okay lovely students what was your total score I'd love to know share it in the comments there is so much much more information to go through in the PDF that goes with this video the link is in the description box or you can scan that QR code there I'd love to know which Clips you found the most challenging and which you found easiest I really hope you enjoyed this lesson I know

it was very challenging let me know if you'd enjoy another one maybe it could be harder or easier don't forget to check out my English courses I've got my B1 B2 and C1 3month English programs if you like to check out my 3month English programs visit englishwith lucy.com I hope to see you in another lesson [Music] [Music]