Many non-native speakers of English believe they should pronounce each word separately because they want to make sure their speech is clear and easily understood. This does help their speech sound clear, but it also creates speech that sounds a bit foreign and a bit mechanical, almost like computer-generated speech.

Native speakers connect, or “link,” words together if the words are part of the same thought group. They connect the last sound of one word to the first sound of the next word. Linking creates the smooth, uninterrupted sounds that are they key to natural, fluent sounding speech.

If you’re making the common error of dropping the endings of words by not pronouncing the final consonant, the problem will automatically be solved when you apply the rules of linking to your speech. Linking requires you to connect the final consonant with the next word, if it begins with a vowel. In this way, the final sound, which is always more difficult to pronounce, becomes the first sound of the word that follows it. For example, it’s more difficult to say “burned out” than to say “burn doubt.”

Instead of saying “it’s - a - cold - evening” with each word pronounced separately, say “it sa col devening,” and your speech will instantly sound more native-like and you are guaranteed to pronounce the final consonants. Chapter

Warning: Common Mistake

Linking and speaking fast are not the same thing! You don’t need to speak fast. When native speakers link words, they are not necessarily speaking faster. The speech is just smoother, and less choppy. It’s extremely important to stress the content words when you are linking words because this will force you to slow down at the right place, and it will make your speech more easily understood.