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hi everybody welcome back to ask Alicia
the weekly series where you ask me
questions and I answer them maybe first
question this week comes from Ghul hi
gule gule sent us hi Alicia what is the
correct pronunciation of s and th sounds
when they come one after another
especially when we talk fast for example
it's 3 p.m. here is the thing is that
possible he is thin
could you please pronounce these
sentences sure yeah this is a tough one
so when we're speaking quickly we make
the S sound as short as possible
sometimes it's just ants and we drop the
it sound like in its sometimes it turns
into a Z sound so I'll say these
sentences at regular pace it's 3 p.m.
it's 3 p.m.
he's thin he's thin he's thin here's the
thing here's the thing here's the thing
is that possible is that possible is
that possible so we're not pronouncing
all the sounds clearly in that last
example is that possible becomes is that
possible is that possible it's like a Z
sound everything gets combined into
there so in the first example sentence
gets a quick soft S sound it's 3 p.m.
we're not exaggerating the th sound so
much there it's like the th sound
happens but the tongue doesn't come out
between our teeth he's thin thin thin so
I hope that helps you next question next
question comes from Maksim romanovitch
hi Maxim Maxim says hi Alicia nice day
isn't it indeed about two weeks ago I
started learning English by watching
serials without translation in my own
language is it normal that recently I
started to notice I could talk in
English to myself about a half an hour
am I getting crazy with English thanks
for sending this no that's awesome I
think that's really cool um sometimes
you guys do send your comments like oh
wow I can understand things now or I can
use English more than I could before so
I don't think that's weird at all I
think that's great
I think that's just
proof that's evident that your
dedication and your studies are paying
off in other words you're making
progress so I think that's great so
thanks very much for sharing this
comment and good luck in your continued
studies it sounds like you're enjoying
yourself that's awesome
great thanks very much for sending this
let's go on to the next question next
question comes from soo Miah abdullah hi
soo Miah soo Miah says hi I have a
question what is the difference between
portal and date Oh interesting question
okay
portal portal is something used in like
science fiction stories we use portal in
science fiction stories and you might
sometimes see this on the Internet as
like a hub a web hub for something but
portal is used to refer to like a gate
between dimensions it's like a special
kind of like dimensional gate so portal
is not commonly used in everyday speech
maybe some of you have played the game
portal that was a really popular game
where you had a gun and you could shoot
the gun like on a wall and a portal
would open here you could shoot another
portal on another wall and walk through
it so it's like some kind of dimensional
like sci-fi word gates however is the
much more commonly used word we use gate
to talk about this like entrance to a
house or to someone's yard or so a
garden for example so a gate is much
much more common we see them in our
neighborhoods in our cities all the time
so typically in most situations I think
Gate is the better word portal it's like
a science fiction kind of gate it's
usually like the image is like a circle
gate is like something that swinging is
open something like this yeah I hope
that helps you interesting questions
thanks very much next question next
question comes from one punch in Taiwan
punk punk punk says hey Leisha could you
please clarify the phrase we got you
back I came across this expression on my
email from my bank it said we've got you
back on fraud I want you to check the
your emails say we've got your back or
we got you back these are very different
expressions so I'll explain first the
expression we've got we have got your
back means we support you we've got your
back imagine like a friend watches your
back a friend is behind you watching
your back the back side of your body
like to protect you to make sure nothing
bad happens to you so when someone is
watching your back to say I've got your
back something like that means I support
you I'm looking out for you I'm trying
to protect you however we got you back
we got you back means we got revenge on
you for something you did something bad
in the past and someone got you back
means they got revenge on you someone
took revenge for something bad in the
past so we've got your back and we got
you back are very very different
expressions I think your bank is
probably saying we've got your back in
regard to fraud in other words the bank
is trying to protect you if you want to
use this expression in everyday life
like a friend is going to do something
difficult or dangerous you can say eyes
I have I've got your back sometimes we
also make it more casual we drop half
there and say I got your back I got your
back meaning I support you I am looking
out for you so interesting question
thanks very much for asking let's go on
to the next question next question comes
from Ronald Royce hi Reynold round says
one how to study new words and remember
them - how to speak in an American
accent number one how to study words and
remember them to study words and
remember them you could try using a
vocabulary flashcard tool like unki unki
is a great flashcard tool it's a
computer-based tool so that's great for
flashcards I think you can download sets
of flashcards to
you study vocabulary words and
expressions other things you can do once
you've practiced those words make sure
you use them so use the words right with
the words speak with the word so don't
just input input input but create using
those new words - how to speak with an
American accent practice speaking with
an American accent that's what I did
when I was growing up and that's what
speakers all over the world do to gain
their accents they practice speaking
using that accent so if you want to
speak with an American accent I would
say practice speaking with an American
accent I have an American accent so if
you want to practice speaking you can
try to practice speaking like me if you
want to if you want to get some ideas
about American accents you can check the
English topics series on this channel
where you can see Michael Davey and of
course me talking in English but in a
more casual setting so you can get an
idea of how our accents sound in
everyday conversation so if you want to
see what an American accent sounds like
and use that as a way to practice your
speech you can check that out for sure
those are all the questions that I have
for this week thank you as always for
sending your questions remember to send
them to me at English class 101.com /
ask - Alicia of course if you liked the
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out at English class 101.com
for some other things that can help you
with your English Studies thanks very
much for watching this week's episode of
ask Alicia and I will see you again next
week bye
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