Important for listening! Listen to this conversation. Note that the expressions in black donot really have any meaning; you could easily understand the textwithout them. Notice that the speakers say them very fast, oftenin a low voice: they are "throw away" words, i.e. you could throw themaway and the meaning wouldn't change.
Important for listening! Different people often have their own favourite 'throw away' words. For example, in the conersation above. A says like and you know a lot and В says I mean a lot.
Note: Whenyou are listening, you don't need to understand every word. Often, thethings people say really fast are just 'throw away' words, and you canignore them.
Important for listening! The same expressions which people use as 'throw away' words do havemeaning in other contexts. In all the sentences on the left below, theexpressions in black have meaning. In the sentences on the right, theyare 'throw away' words.
Listen and notice the difference in pronunciation: the 'throw away' words are said faster and in a low voice.
Tell me everything you know. "Blue Mountain" is a kind of coffee. We like to go away at weekends. I meanthe one on the right.
She tells me everything, you know. "Blue Mountain" coffee is kind of nice. We like go to the beach or whatever. I mean, what's the point of buying one shoe?!
We don't like have coffee breaks, I mean we just like get a coffee or tea and sort of like take it back to our desks, you know, but its kind of dangerous 'cause, I mean, people sometimes like knock the drink over the computer, you know.
Follow up: Read the text aloud, saying the underlined expressions fast and in a low voice. Record yourself if possible.
1 I don't think these are the men you know 2 I've taught you everything you know 3 Do you know the place I mean it's just over there 4 She's not the one I mean she's too tail 5 They're like wild animals 6 This is like Arctic weather