 Let's watch a clip from the very popular television show, Friends, and listen to Joey introduce his new roommate, Janine. At the end of the video, I want you to answer these questions. Hey, everybody. I'd like you to meet Janine. She's going to be my new roommate. Hi. Hi. Yeah, she's going to live with me. It's nice to meet you. Janine Lacroix. Janine Lacroix. I didn't know that. What a pretty last name. So, where are you from? Australia. I just moved here a couple of weeks ago. From the land down under? Yeah. I didn't know that either. So, what do you do? I'm a dancer. You're a dancer? She's a dancer. Wow. I think I'll go and unpack. Let's break down the video clip by clip and I'll explain to you the expressions that are being used in natural spoken English as well as the pronunciation changes that are taking place. This is a great way to improve your listening skills of natural spoken English and to sound more natural when you speak. By the end of the video, you should have a lot better idea of how to introduce yourself naturally and how to understand native English speakers when they speak at a very fast pace. Hey everybody. Hey everybody. Hey everybody. This is a casual greeting that we use in informal situations when you're meeting friends at, let's say, a cafe or the movies or even at a casual work meeting as well. And notice the pronunciation here. Everybody. So, it's not body like the spelling suggests. Everybody. This is why it's very important to not use the spelling to learn pronunciation in English. They're very different. So repeat. Everybody. Everybody. And look at the syllable stress here. Everybody. So we're stressing the first syllable. Everybody. Hey everybody. Repeat. Hey everybody. Another casual greeting we can use is. Hey everyone. Hey everyone. Repeat. Hey everyone. Or a very common greeting. Hey guys. Hey guys. Now notice here, guys is not only for men. It's gender neutral. And we use it for both a group of men and women or even just a group of women. We can say, hey guys, if you're greeting a group of only women. And I do this myself a lot with my girlfriends. I'll greet them and say, hey guys, even though it's only ladies. So now choose one of these three greetings and use them on me. So, great. Hey everybody. Hey everybody. I'd like you to meet Janine. I'd like you to meet Janine. I'd like you to meet Janine. This is how we introduce someone in English. And notice here the contraction. I'd. This is a contraction of I would. I would. I'd. Repeat. I'd. English speakers use contractions 95% of the time in both formal and informal situations. I encourage you to start using them now. So we have I'd like you. Like you. Notice the linking of the sounds and how they blend together. And it actually sounds like like you. This is because we take the last sound of a word and we transfer it on to the beginning of the next word. Like you. I'd like you. And then we have the preposition to. Because this is a preposition and it's not an important word in the sentence. We reduce the sound and it's going to sound like to. I'd like you to. I'd like you to repeat. I'd like you to. I'd like you to meet Janine. So this is how we introduce someone in English. I'd like you to meet. But we can add more information. I can say I'd like you to meet my friend or my wife, my brother, my boss. And then we say their name. I'd like you to meet my friend Janine. Okay. Now you try introducing your friend to me. Great job. I'd like you to meet Janine. I'd like you to meet Janine. She's going to be my new roommate. She's going to be my new roommate. She's going to be my new roommate. Here we have a contraction. She's. Do you know what this contraction is? She is. She is. So is, of course, is the verb to be. And as a contraction, she's. Repeat, she's. Next we have gonna, which is a reduction. A reduction is a natural change that happens in spoken English, where we take the sounds of two words and we make them one word. So this is a reduction of the words going to. And we say gonna. But notice again the pronunciation. It's not with an O sound. It's with a U. Gonna. Repeat. Gonna. She's gonna be. Repeat. She's gonna be. She's gonna be my new roommate. Now remember, reductions are for spoken English only. In natural English conversations, friends will use reductions in let's say text messages or informal meetings. But it's something you want to avoid in writing and just use them for oral, for spoken English. She's gonna be my new roommate. She's, she's gonna be my new roommate. She's, she's gonna be my new roommate. Hi. Hi. Yeah, she's gonna live with me. She's gonna live with me. So we have the same, a contraction. She is. And then the reduction of going to gonna. She's gonna live with me. Repeat. She's gonna. She's gonna live with me. And here Joey gives you the definition of roommate. It's someone that lives with you. It's someone that lives in the same home as you. So do you have a roommate? Hi. Hi. Yeah, she's gonna live with me. Hi. Hi. Yeah, she's gonna live with me. It's nice to meet you, Jeanine. Le Coix, Jeanine Le Coix. It's nice to meet you. It's nice to meet you. This is the expression we use after we're introduced to someone in both formal and informal situations. So notice here we have a contraction again. It is. So we still have the verb to be, but this time is with the subject it. And this is it. Repeat. It's. And we have the same reduction. It's nice to meet you. But here Monica actually says it's nice to meet you. So Monica doesn't reduce this. There's no reason why it's just her choice. So you can say it's nice to meet you. It's nice to meet you. We can also say it's great to meet you. It's great to meet you. Or it's a pleasure to meet you. It's a pleasure to meet you. These are alternatives you can use. So I'm going to introduce myself and you choose one of these expressions to use. So hi, my name is Jennifer. It's nice to meet you, Jennifer. That's what you could say. Next, Monica says, Janine. Notice how she uses both her body language and the lingering sound. Janine. How she draws out that sound to indicate she wants more information. Janine. This is a common way to ask for someone's last name without saying what's your last name. So this is how we can ask for someone's last name. And notice that Janine replies and she knows exactly what Monica wants. And she says, Le Cois. Le Cois. Janine Le Cois. So if I wanted to know your last name, I would say, oh, it's nice to meet you, Mohammed, Julie, Stacey. And I would hold out the N sound and then you would know I want to know your last name. It's nice to meet you, Janine. Le Cois. Janine Le Cois. It's nice to meet you, Janine. Le Cois. Janine Le Cois. So where are you from? Soa, where are you from? No one is here, the word so. What is this? Well, it's a word filler, which means it has no meaning. It's what we use to introduce that we're about to talk. It signals that everyone should pay attention to me because I'm about to say something. We commonly use it at the beginning of sentences or to transition from one subject to the next. But then he uses uh, uh. This is another word filler that has no meaning and it should be reduced as much as possible. Uh, um, uh. These are not what we want to hear in our speech. Soa, where are you from? Notice here, where are you is reduced. Where are ya? Where are ya? So what I'm doing is I'm taking just the R sound and I'm reducing this to ya, which is a very common reduction. And I'm just combining these as one word. Where are ya? Where are ya? Repeat. Where are ya? Where are ya? Soa, where are ya from? This is how someone would ask you in natural spoken English. Where are ya from? Okay, now you tell me. Soa, where are ya from? Great. And now you ask me. Soa, where are ya from? Soa, where are ya from? Australia, I just moved here a couple of weeks ago. Australia. I just moved here a couple of weeks ago. So notice this word, I just. This again is a word filler. It has no meaning. It is used commonly in spoken English. It means only. I only moved here. I just moved here. But in reality, we could delete it from the sentence and there would be no change in meaning. I just moved here a couple of weeks ago. Let's talk about this. Couple of weeks ago. So when we have of between two nouns, we reduce it to a couple of weeks ago. Couple of weeks ago. I would not say couple of weeks ago. So I reduce the sound, but then I also have to connect all these words together. So it sounds like couple of weeks. Repeat, couple of weeks. I just moved here a couple of weeks ago. Great. And what verb tense are we using in this sentence? It's of course the past simple. Because I'm talking about a completed past action. So here, the verb moved. It's a regular E-D, simple past. And it's a completed past action with a start and a finish. Australia, I just moved here a couple of weeks ago. Australia, I just moved here a couple of weeks ago. So what do you do? So what do you do? Here we're using the same word fillers. So and a. And he actually repeats himself twice. Probably because he's thinking about what he's going to say next. And then notice how these sounds blend together. What do you? What do you? So what's happening here? Well, similar to before, I'm reducing you to ya. What do ya? And then I'm dropping this sound and I'm connecting them together. What do ya? What do ya? What do you do? This is how someone would ask you in natural spoken English. What do you do? Okay, so you tell me. So what do you do? So what do you do? What do you do? I'm a dancer. You're a dancer? I'm a dancer. I'm a dancer. Here we have a contraction. I am, I'm. And then we have an article. So this is very important. When we're talking about our profession, we always need this article. A or N. Here because we have it starting with a consonant, it's a, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a dancer. Now we could also say I'm a teacher. Again, we're starting with a consonant, so I need a. But what if I said I'm an electrician? So here I'm starting with a vowel, so I need an. I'm an electrician. But notice I'm using contractions the whole time. Or I can say I'm a server. Now what is a server? A server is the gender neutral term for a waiter or waitress. So in English, waiter and waitress are now considered outdated terms. We don't really use them. Instead, we use the gender neutral term server for both a man and a woman. So I'm a server. Okay, now you tell me. What do you do? Great. Did you make sure you use the article? I'm a dancer. You're a dancer? I'm a dancer. You're a dancer? Wow, I think I'll go and unpack. Well, I think I'll go and unpack. So here we have a transition word. Well, it's a word filler, but we use it to change subjects. So we call this a transition word, just like so. So, well, I think I'll go and unpack. It's Jeanine's way of getting everyone's attention and letting them know she's about to say something. But remember, we could just delete this word and the sentence would not change in meaning. I think I'll go and unpack. So what's this here? It's a contraction of I will, I'll. Repeat, I'll. But in natural spoken English, the unstressed pronunciation is I'll. I think I'll. I think I'll go. Because we say it so quickly, it loses some of its pronunciation. I think I'll go. I think I'll go and unpack. And of course, I will is the future simple. And here she's using the future simple because she's talking about a spontaneous action. Spontaneous just means that the action was not planned. So this is when we can use the future simple. I think I'll go and unpack. Now notice here, I think I'll go and unpack. But in natural spoken English, this is going to sound like going. I think I'll go and unpack. Going, going unpack. We often reduce the word and to just a sound. I think I'll go and I think I'll go and unpack. And of course unpack means to take your clothes or your personal items out of a suitcase or a box. Now remember Janine just moved. So she needs to unpack, get settled into her new home. Well, I think I'll go and unpack. Well, I think I'll go and unpack. Hey everybody, I'd like you to meet Janine. She's going to be my new roommate. Hi. She's going to live with me. It's nice to meet you, Janine Lacroix. I didn't know that. What a pretty last name. So where are you from? Australia. I just moved here a couple of weeks ago. From the land down under? I didn't know that either. So what do you do? I'm a dancer. You're a dancer? She's a dancer. Wow, I think I'll go and unpack.