Listening Lesson – “Shopping at the Mall!” (podcast)
Story: A wanted to buy a dress to wear to a wedding!
Pronunciation Lesson: How to pronounce hadn’t, didn’t, and couldn’t
This podcast is for intermediate to advanced English learners. I use core vocabulary to tell you a story about something that happened in my daily life in Canada. Each podcast also includes a pronunciation lesson that explains something I said in the story. You’ll hear the story twice. The first time, the story is a little slower than normal. After the pronunciation lesson, you’ll hear the story again, but at a regular speed. I speak naturally and with a standard American accent.
TRANSCRIPT
Earlier this year I was invited to a wedding in New Zealand! Two of my close friends were getting married! I’d never been to New Zealand and I hadn’t been to a wedding in a long time, so this was a great excuse to buy a new dress!
I didn’t want to waste time dress shopping in New Zealand. I wanted to spend as much time as possible sightseeing, doing things with friends and resting before the wedding. I wanted to buy a dress before I left Canada. Since there are almost 200 stores in the nearby mall, I thought for sure I could find a nice dress there!
I spent an entire afternoon at the mall trying on dress after dress, but I came away very disappointed. I couldn’t find anything that fit my figure. Every dress I tried on had no shape to it. The chest, waist, and hips were all the same size and the dress just hung like a sack on my body. I know I’m not skinny, but I’m not fat, either. I’m somewhere in the middle, like most women. I couldn’t find any dresses made for a normal-size woman with curves. This was very disappointing.
On my way to New Zealand, I spent a week in Hawaii. I knew I would have better luck dress shopping there. There are a lot of places to shop in Hawaii since it’s a popular tourist destination! I was not let down! My hotel was near the largest mall in Hawaii. The very first store I went into had amazing dresses that fit me perfectly. The sales girl was so persuasive, I walked out of the store with TWO new dresses! I decided to wear one dress to the bachelorette party and the other dress to the wedding.
PRONUNCIATION
Listen to some sentences from the story:
“I hadn’t been to a wedding in a long time.”
“I didn’t want to waste time dress shopping in New Zealand.”
“I couldn’t find anything that fit my figure.”
Did you hear the negative contractions hadn’t, didn’t, or couldn’t in those sentences? In natural, fast speech, these negative contractions are not fully pronounced.
Contractions are a basic part of natural spoken English. Instead of saying had and not separately, they are joined together, and some letters are left out of the final contraction, hadn’t.
Something interesting happens with these specific negative contractions. Had, did, and could all end with a d consonant sound. When they are contracted with not, not is reduced to the letters n and t. The d, n, and t consonant sounds all have the same tongue position, so in natural spoken English, they are not fully pronounced.
To begin the d consonant sound, the tongue goes up, and the front of tongue is pressed up against the top of the mouth. This is also the tongue position for the n consonant sound. This is also the starting position for the t consonant sound.
For example, to say the word hadn’t, move your tongue up to start the d sound, but don’t finish it. Keep your tongue pressed up against the top of your mouth: had.
Next, make the n consonant sound had n. The n consonant sound comes through your nose. The n sound is very short.
The t consonant sound at the end of the word is a held t. It stops the n sound, and it’s not fully pronounced. Don’t drop your tongue at the end of the word: had nt
Listen again to the negative contractions:
hadn’t
didn’t
couldn’t
This also occurs with other negative contractions I didn’t use in the story:
wouldn’t
shouldn’t
It may take a while before you can hear the difference between the modal verb, and the negative contraction.
Listen carefully:
had / hadn’t
did / didn’t
could / couldn’t
would / wouldn’t
should / shouldn’t
REFERENCE VOCABULARY
sightseeing
“I wanted to spend as much time as possible sightseeing, doing things with friends and resting before the wedding.”
= seeing famous places or interesting things when you visit a new place
[For example, sightseeing in Hawaii might include visiting the Arizona Memorial, snorkeling in Hanauma Bay, watching the sunset from Waikiki Beach, or eating at the Hard Rock Cafe.]
skinny
“I know I’m not skinny, but I’m not fat, either.”
= very thin, not fat
sales girl
“The sales girl was so persuasive, I walked out of the store with TWO new dresses!”
= a girl/woman who works in a store helping customers and selling things
[Other names for sales girl: salesperson, sales associate, sales clerk, sales representative.]
bachelorette party
“I decided to wear one dress to the bachelorette party…”
= a party for a bride before she gets married; usually only the bride’s female friends attend the party
PHRASAL VERBS
try on
“I spent an entire afternoon trying on dress after dress,…”
“Every dress I tried on had no shape to it.”
= put on clothing in a store before you buy it, in order to see what it looks like on you and how it fits
come away
“I spent an entire afternoon trying on dress after dress, but I came away very disappointed.”
= leave somewhere (or some situation) with a specific feeling about it
let down
“I was not let down!”
= disappoint (someone), because something or someone was not what it was expected to be
CORE VOCABULARY
(What is core vocabulary?)
3***
invite
wedding
married
buy
dress
shopping
spend
possible
rest
almost
sure
entire
find
anything
fit
figure
shape
chest
size
hang
body
somewhere
middle
normal
way
popular
tourist
hotel
perfectly
wear
2**
excuse [noun]
waste [verb]
nearby
mall
waist
hip
fat
curve [noun]
luck
destination
amazing
1*
disappointed
sack
disappointing
persuasive
COLLOCATIONS
(What are collocations?)
this year
invite (someone) to (something)
(#) of my friends
get married
in a long time
an excuse to (do something)
buy a dress
waste time
dress shopping
spend time
as much/many (noun) as possible
for sure
an entire afternoon
find something that fit(s)
the same size
in the middle
on my way
have good/bad luck
places to shop
wear (something) to (somewhere)
