(Video Transcript)
Learn American English with Movies: Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Hi everyone, I’m Julie with San Diego Voice and Accent, and today, you’re going to learn American English intonation, rhythm, and reductions as I analyze a scene from the movie, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
So…I want you to tell me the truth. Have you ever pretended to be sick so your parents would let you stay home from school? Or lied to your boss in order to get out of going to work?
We’ve all been there, haven’t we? I know I have. I remember a time when I just didn’t want to go to work - I had gone away for the weekend to a friend’s house, and when Sunday night came and it was time for me to drive back home, I just didn’t want to go. So instead, I called my boss on Monday morning and told her that my car had a flat tire and needed to be towed to a mechanic to be fixed. That was a lie, but hey, I got out of work that day and had a great time with my friends instead.
Have you ever done something like that?
This is called playing hooky. Playing hooky from something means to take a day off from work or school or something else you’re supposed to be doing without asking for permission. When someone plays hooky, it’s very common for them to pretend to be sick.
And that’s what happens in this movie, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. The whole premise of this movie is that Ferris Bueller is playing hooky to get out of going to school, and he’s pretending to be really sick, like on his deathbed sick. He has this whole day planned out with his friends and has all these fantastic things he wants to do, but first, he has to get past his parents. He has to fool them into thinking he’s really sick. And that’s where our analysis starts.
I’ll analyze the first forty eight seconds of the opening scene from this movie, and I’m going to focus on just a few things from each sentence: intonation, rhythm, reductions, and a few interesting T sound pronunciations.
This analysis will give you in-depth instruction on the overall sound of English - the way each speaker changes their intonation and pitch to convey a specific emotion, and the way each speaker reduces words and syllables to make their speech more rhythmic and natural. Then you’ll learn a few specific pronunciations of the T consonant that I think are really important to highlight. The pronunciation of the T consonant changes so much in spoken English, and knowing about these changes is one of the best ways you can sound more native-like right away.
Before we get started with the analysis, I want you to prepare yourself to learn a lot about American English intonation, rhythm, and reductions. Grab a pen and paper, take notes, and rewatch this video as many times as you need so that you understand all of the topics I’m going to cover.
And hey, while you’re at it, be sure to subscribe to my channel, hit the like button, and leave a comment below. This is a fantastic, no cost way for you to tell me that you like this video and you want me to make more of them!
And just one more thing - did you know I have a free Guidebook to the Sounds of American English? My guidebook is a must-have tool if you want to improve your English pronunciation. It teaches you every sound of American English with pictures, audio recordings, IPA symbols, and more - and you can get it for free! The link to the guidebook is in the description below.
Alright, now back to the analysis. First I’ll play the entire scene so you can get a feel for the tone of the conversation. Then I’ll play each sentence and complete my conversation analysis.
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For the transcript of the analysis, click the “CC” option on the video above.
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All right everyone - thanks so much for sticking with me till the end! I hope this in-depth analysis of the intonation, rhythm, reductions, and the T pronunciations was helpful and taught you some new practice techniques that will help to boost your intonation skills.
Don’t forget to hit like and subscribe with notifications turned on - that’s the best way you can show your support and let me know that you want more videos just like this one!
Feel free to drop a comment below if you have questions or suggestions for future videos, or if you just want to say hello, and I’ll do my best to respond as soon as I can.
Keep practicing, and I’ll see you next time.
