Train Your Ears to Understand Fast English

You know every word in your English book, but a real conversation sounds like a storm. In this episode, Paul and Emily show you why real English sounds so fast, and how to train your ears in five small steps.

This page helps you learn with the episode. This episode is for A1 and A2 learners.

Watch the episode: Train Your Ears to Understand Fast English on YouTube

Time: about 17 minutes to listen, and about 15 minutes for the practice.

Before you listen: think of one time when someone spoke English too fast for you. What did you do? Keep it in your mind. You will use it at the end.

How to use this page: listen once, read the key idea and the useful language, then do the practice. If you want to read while you listen, the full transcript is at the bottom.

What You’ll Learn

• Why real English sounds so fast: words join together, and small words get quiet
• Three short spoken forms: gonna, wanna, gotta
• Linked words and quiet words: check it out, get up, a cup of tea
• A 5-step listening routine you can start with one short recording
• Six useful phrases for fast speakers, including two ways to ask again
• A role-play at a train station and a four-sentence listening quiz

Key Idea

Hear the train, not every car.

In a book, each word stands alone, like a train car parked by itself. In real speech, people join the cars together, and the whole train moves fast. Some small words get very short, and some sounds almost disappear. You do not need to catch every car. See the whole train, and you can follow the meaning.

Sounds in fast speech

Slow	Fast	What happens
going to	gonna	two words become one short word
want to	wanna	two words become one short word
got to	gotta	two words become one short word
check it out	checkidout	the words join into one long word
get up	geddup	the words slide into each other
a cup of tea	a cuppa tea	the small word of becomes a quiet sound

Editorial note (not from the episode): gonna, wanna and gotta help you understand fast speech. In careful writing, use going to, want to and got to.

In a fast sentence, the important words are like big road signs. In the episode’s examples, the road signs are call, sleep and bank. Follow the road signs, and you usually reach the meaning.

The 5-Step Listening Routine

Step	What you do	Idea from the episode
1. Learn real sounds	Listen for gonna, wanna, gotta and joined words.	The words you know are hiding inside the sounds.
2. Slow, then fast	Choose one short recording, about half a minute. Play it slower first (about three quarters speed), then at normal speed. Use the same recording five times.	It is like tuning an old radio: at first you hear noise, then a clear voice.
3. Dictation	Play one sentence, pause, and write what you hear. Play it again and add the words you now hear. At the very end, compare with the written words.	Missing words are like a map. They show you what to practice. Spelling is not the goal.
4. Shadowing	Speak at the same time as the speaker, a tiny bit behind. Use headphones and a soft voice. The real voice should be louder than yours.	The sounds your mouth learns become easy for your ears too.
5. Listen for fun	Choose something you like: a travel vlog, a song with a story, or a short cartoon. Let it play from start to end.	You can follow the story, even when you miss some words.

Make it a habit: tie your fifteen minutes to something you already do, such as waiting for the rice to cook or walking to the shop.

Useful Language from the Episode

Word or phrase	Meaning	Example from the episode
keep up with	you are not left behind when someone talks fast	In the morning meeting, Paul can’t keep up with his boss.
catch on	you start to understand, a little later than others	At the airport, Emily didn’t catch on at first.
pick up on	you hear a small thing that other people miss	After one week of practice, I picked up on the word gonna in every movie.
bear with me	please wait a moment, because I need some time	Bear with me, I’m looking for my ticket in my bag.
Sorry, I didn’t catch that.	ask someone to say it again	Paul says it in the train station role-play.
What was the last part?	ask again for only the part you missed	Paul says it after he hears the word Bristol.
dictation	listening and writing what you hear	Step three of the routine.
shadowing	speaking together with a recording, like a shadow	Step four of the routine.

Ask again like Paul

In the role-play, Paul does not say “I don’t understand” and stop. He says the one word he heard, Bristol, and then asks only for the part he missed. That makes it easy for the other person to help.

Practice with the Episode

1. Listen for details

Use the times below. Try to answer before you read the answers.

1. 04:55, Emily’s airport story. What did the woman at the coffee shop say? What did Emily say after five long seconds?
2. 05:35, the end of the airport story. What did the woman give Emily?
3. 05:58, Paul’s Spanish recording. How long was the recording? How many times did Paul play it?
4. 11:12, the train station role-play. Which word did Paul say back to show he heard something?

Answers

1. She said, “Djeet yet?” (it means “Did you eat yet?”). Emily said, “Sorry, one more time, please.”
2. A free muffin.
3. About half a minute. He played it five times that evening.
4. Bristol. Then he asked, “What was the last part?“

2. Say it out loud

Press pause after each line and say it after Paul and Emily:

• Bear with me for a second.
• Slowly, I’m catching on.
• Sorry, I didn’t catch that.
• What was the last part?
• Hear the train, not every car.

3. Test your ears

Listen at 13:04. Paul says four short, fast sentences. Pause and guess the full, slow sentence before Emily gives the answer.

1. I wanna go home.
2. Whatcha doing?
3. Geddup.
4. I gotta go.

Answers

1. I want to go home.
2. What are you doing?
3. Get up.
4. I have got to go. (Or: I’ve got to go.)

Three or four correct answers is very good for today. One is a good start.

4. Try the 30-second test

This is the small task from the end of the episode:

1. Pick one recording, half a minute long.
2. Play it once and count the words you catch.
3. Write the number on a small piece of paper and put it inside your English book.
4. Next month, play the same recording and count again. The new number shows your progress.

5. Write in the comments

Which short word is hardest for you to hear: gonna, wanna, or gotta? Write one sentence in English. Even one sentence is great.

Keep Practicing

Want a simple guide you can use without the episode? Read How to Ask Someone to Say It Again in English. It shows you a three-step way to ask again politely, with short dialogues and practice.

Vocabulary in this episode: First, Then, After That, In the End: Signpost Words for Telling Things in Order.

Chapters

• 00:00 Why Fast English Feels Impossible
• 00:47 A Quick Listening Test
• 01:53 Why Real English Sounds So Fast
• 03:04 Step 1: Real Sounds (Gonna, Wanna, Gotta)
• 05:50 Steps 2 and 3: Slow Then Fast + Dictation
• 08:08 Steps 4 and 5: Shadowing + Listening for Fun
• 09:45 6 Phrases for Fast Speakers
• 11:12 Role-Play at the Train Station
• 13:04 Quiz: Guess the Full Sentence
• 14:11 Story Review
• 15:15 Your 15-Minute Listening Plan
• 16:23 Today’s Challenge

Full Transcript

Paul: Have you ever understood every word in your English book, but nothing in a real conversation?

Emily: That was me for two whole years. The book felt easy, but real people felt like a storm.

Paul: Welcome to English Practice Daily. I’m Paul.

Emily: And I’m Emily. This podcast is for A1 and A2 learners who want real English.

Paul: Today we have five small steps to train your ears, so real speakers feel less scary, step by step.

Emily: And at the end, you will speak too. If you want, you can repeat after us.

Paul: Keep this line in your pocket. Hear the train, not every car. But first, a little test for you, Emily.

Emily: Oh no. Okay, I’m ready.

Paul: Listen carefully. Whatcha gonna do after work?

Emily: Wait. Something about work. Say it one more time, please.

Paul: Sure. Whatcha gonna do after work?

Emily: Hmm. You asked something about my work. That’s all I caught, honestly.

Paul: Now I say it slowly. What are you going to do after work?

Emily: Oh! I know every one of those words. I learned them in my first month of English.

Paul: Right. You knew all the words. You just did not hear them.

Emily: That feels a bit unfair. I studied so hard for those words.

Paul: It does feel unfair. And many learners feel the same way. They decide that their ears are bad.

Emily: But my ears are fine. I can hear birds outside, and I hear my phone from the kitchen.

Paul: Your ears are completely fine. They just learned book English, and not street English yet.

Emily: Okay, so tell me the difference. Why does real English sound so fast to me?

Paul: Here’s the good news first. There is no magic, and there is no secret pill for this.

Emily: That doesn’t sound like good news, Paul.

Paul: Wait, there’s more. Fifteen minutes a day is enough to start. Small, but every single day.

Emily: Fifteen minutes. I can find that time. Maybe on the bus, or after lunch.

Paul: Now, the reason. In your book, each word stands alone. It’s like a train car parked by itself.

Emily: Okay. So I see one car, then a space, then another car.

Paul: Yes. But in real speech, people join the cars together, and the whole train moves fast.

Emily: So the words are still there. They are just connected to each other.

Paul: That’s it. Some small words get very short, and some sounds almost disappear.

Emily: So my job is not to catch every single car that goes by.

Paul: No. Your job is to see the whole train. Hear the train, not every car.

Emily: I like that a lot. It already makes me feel a little lighter.

Paul: Good. So let’s go to step one. Learn how English really sounds when people talk.

Emily: Can I give the first example? I really love this part.

Paul: Go for it.

Emily: Going to often becomes gonna. Listen. Slowly, going to. Fast, gonna.

Paul: For example, I’m going to call you tonight. I’m gonna call you tonight.

Emily: Want to becomes wanna. Slowly, want to. Fast, wanna.

Paul: For example, I want to sleep early today. I wanna sleep early today.

Emily: And got to becomes gotta. Slowly, got to. Fast, gotta.

Paul: For example, I’ve got to go to the bank. I gotta go to the bank.

Emily: Now you try. Say these three words with us. Gonna. Wanna. Gotta.

Paul: Good. Next, words that hold hands. Check it out sounds like one long word, checkidout.

Emily: And get up sounds like geddup. The words slide into each other like water.

Paul: Last, the tiny words. A cup of tea sounds like a cuppa tea in a fast sentence.

Emily: The word of becomes just a small sound in the middle. Uh.

Emily: So in a fast sentence, the important words are like big road signs. Call. Sleep. Bank.

Paul: Follow the road signs, and you usually reach the meaning.

Paul: This reminds me of your trip, Emily. You told me a story about it once.

Emily: Yes! I remember my first trip to London. I was at the airport at seven in the morning.

Paul: You were tired, I guess, after the long flight.

Emily: Very tired. A woman at the coffee shop smiled at me and said, Djeet yet?

Paul: Djeet yet. Ha, that is a hard one, even for me.

Emily: I just stood there with my big bag for five long seconds. I said nothing at all.

Paul: So, what did she mean?

Emily: Did you eat yet? Four easy words. I knew every one of them from school.

Paul: But they came to you as one fast train.

Emily: I felt my face get hot. Then I took a breath and said, sorry, one more time, please.

Paul: Good for you. That takes courage.

Emily: She laughed and said it slowly. Did you eat yet? Then she gave me a free muffin.

Paul: A free muffin! That’s a happy ending.

Emily: It was. And I learned that Djeet yet was not a new word. It was four old friends holding hands.

Paul: Okay, step two. I’ll start with a little secret this time.

Emily: A secret? Now I’m curious.

Paul: Last winter I learned some Spanish. My teacher gave me a recording of a woman ordering food in a café. It was only half a minute long.

Emily: I bet you understood almost nothing.

Paul: The first time, only one word. Café. Nothing else. I almost closed my laptop.

Paul: Then I slowed the player down to three quarters. Suddenly I heard the size and the price.

Emily: So the slow version opened the door for you.

Paul: Yes. Then I went back to the real speed, and it didn’t feel so scary anymore.

Emily: And then you played it again and again.

Paul: Five times that evening. Every time, a few more words came through. It was like tuning an old radio.

Emily: At first just noise, and then a clear voice.

Paul: Exactly. By the end, I heard milk, sugar, and the price.

Emily: So step two is slow, then real speed, with the same short recording.

Paul: That’s it. Half a minute is enough. A new recording every day is not the goal.

Emily: Okay, the same recording five times. I can do that during my lunch break.

Paul: Step three uses a pen. We call it dictation.

Emily: Oh, I remember dictation from school. I didn’t love it.

Paul: This one is gentler. Here’s how it looks. The recording says, I put it on the table.

Emily: And I write, I put on table.

Paul: Right. Two tiny words are missing, it and the. That’s completely normal.

Emily: So what do I do with my missing words?

Paul: Listen to that one line again, and add the words you hear now. At the very end, look at the written words and compare.

Emily: Then the empty spaces in my notebook tell me what to practice.

Paul: Yes. The missing words are like a map.

Emily: I love that idea. My mistakes are a map, and they show me the way.

Paul: And if your spelling is a little wild, that’s fine. Today we train listening.

Emily: Good, because my spelling is a small disaster.

Paul: Step four has a funny name. Shadowing.

Emily: It’s like dancing with a partner. The speaker leads, and you move with them, just a tiny bit behind.

Paul: So you talk while the recording plays. You follow their rhythm and their melody.

Emily: Headphones on, and a soft voice, please. Their voice should win, not yours.

Emily: I’ll be honest. The first time I tried this, my tongue felt too slow and heavy.

Paul: That’s normal. After a week, your mouth gets faster, and your ears follow it.

Emily: And something nice happens. The sounds your mouth learns become easy for your ears too.

Paul: Yes, they help each other, like two friends on one team.

Emily: And step five is the easiest one. Listen for fun.

Paul: Pick something that makes you smile. A travel vlog, a song with a story, or a short cartoon about animals.

Emily: Let it play from start to end. No stopping, no dictionary. Just enjoy it.

Paul: For example, every Sunday morning I watch a short travel vlog about Ireland, with no subtitles.

Emily: And you understand everything?

Paul: Not everything. But I know where they are, and I know if the trip went well.

Emily: So it’s like a puzzle with a few missing pieces. You can still see the picture.

Paul: That’s right. You follow the story, even when you miss some words.

Emily: Hear the train, not every car.

Paul: There it is again. You remembered it before me.

Emily: Now let’s learn some useful phrases. These help you when people talk too fast.

Paul: Phrase one. Keep up with. You are not left behind when someone talks fast.

Emily: For example, in the morning meeting, Paul can’t keep up with his boss. She talks so fast.

Paul: Sadly, that example is true. Say it with us. Keep up with.

Emily: Phrase two. Catch on. The light turns on in your head, a little later than others.

Paul: At the airport, Emily didn’t catch on at first. Later, she understood the question.

Emily: Phrase three. Pick up on. You hear a small thing that other people miss.

Paul: After one week of practice, I picked up on the word gonna in every movie.

Emily: Phrase four. Bear with me. It means please wait a moment, because I need some time.

Paul: For example, bear with me, I’m looking for my ticket in my bag.

Emily: Now here are two phrases for asking again. They are very useful for beginners.

Paul: Sorry, I didn’t catch that. Say it with us. Sorry, I didn’t catch that.

Emily: And, what was the last part? Say it with us. What was the last part?

Paul: These two phrases are gold. You don’t just say I don’t understand, and then give up.

Emily: You show that you heard something, and you only need a little help.

Paul: Let’s use them in a real scene. Emily, where are we?

Emily: We are at a busy train station, Paul.

Paul: Okay. And who are you in this scene?

Emily: I’m a busy traveler. I talk very fast, and you need to understand me.

Paul: Good. I’ll use our new phrases. Let’s go.

Emily: Excuse me, is this the platform for the next train to Bristol, or do I need to go downstairs?

Paul: Sorry, I didn’t catch that. Bristol, yes. What was the last part?

Emily: Do I need to go downstairs?

Paul: Ah, okay. I think so. The sign says platform two, and it’s downstairs.

Emily: Great, thanks so much!

Paul: You’re welcome. Have a good trip.

Emily: Nice work. Did you notice what Paul did there?

Paul: I said the one word I heard, Bristol. Then I asked only for the part I missed.

Emily: That’s real communication. It’s polite, and it’s easy for the other person to help.

Paul: Now it’s your turn. In this scene, you are Paul.

Emily: I’ll ask a new question. You answer with one of our phrases. Then Paul answers after you.

Emily: Excuse me, does this bus stop near the city library, or is it the next one?

Paul: Your turn now. One. Two. Three.

Paul: Sorry, I didn’t catch that. What was the last part?

Emily: Lovely. Now repeat four short lines after us. Take your time with each one.

Paul: Line one. Bear with me for a second.

Emily: One. Two.

Paul: Line two. Slowly, I’m catching on.

Emily: One. Two.

Paul: Line three. Sorry, I didn’t catch that.

Emily: One. Two.

Paul: Line four. Hear the train, not every car.

Emily: One. Two.

Paul: Great work. Your mouth is ready now. Let’s test your ears a little.

Emily: A small quiz! I love quizzes.

Paul: I say a short, fast sentence. You guess the full, slow sentence. Then Emily gives the answer.

Emily: Ready? Number one.

Paul: I wanna go home.

Emily: Think about it. One. Two. Three.

Emily: The answer is, I want to go home.

Paul: Number two. Whatcha doing?

Emily: One. Two. Three.

Emily: The answer is, what are you doing?

Paul: Number three. Geddup.

Emily: One. Two. Three.

Emily: The answer is, get up. Two words, joined like train cars.

Paul: Number four. I gotta go.

Emily: One. Two. Three.

Emily: The answer is, I have got to go. Or, I’ve got to go.

Paul: Count your answers. Three or four is very good for today.

Emily: Even one is a good start. Last month, I tried a quiz like this and got zero.

Emily: So please don’t be sad if this feels hard today. It gets easier.

Paul: Now let’s remember our phrases with our stories. No list, just the stories.

Emily: My airport story. The woman said, Djeet yet, and I didn’t catch on at first.

Paul: Say it with us. I didn’t catch on at first.

Emily: Then, later, I picked up on joined words everywhere I went.

Paul: I picked up on joined words everywhere.

Emily: And Paul at the station didn’t panic when I talked fast.

Paul: I said, sorry, I didn’t catch that. Then I asked, what was the last part?

Emily: And then there’s the boss in the morning meeting. Paul can’t keep up with her.

Paul: I can’t keep up with my boss.

Emily: And when you need a moment to think, you say this.

Paul: Bear with me. Say it with us. Bear with me.

Emily: Six phrases, three small stories. That’s much easier to remember than a list.

Paul: It really is. Stories stay in your head, but lists fly away.

Emily: Okay, let’s look back at the five steps. Quickly, one line each.

Paul: Step one. Learn the real sounds, like gonna and wanna.

Emily: Step two. Slow, then fast, with the same short clip.

Paul: Step three. Write one sentence at a time, then check.

Emily: Step four. Shadow the speaker, like a dance partner.

Paul: Step five. Listen for fun, and follow the story.

Emily: Now, Paul, tell me which step you will do this week.

Paul: Shadowing. I take the bus at eight every morning. I’ll shadow one clip there, very quietly.

Emily: Very quietly, please. People on the bus will look at you.

Paul: I’ll take that risk. And what about you?

Emily: I’ll do dictation after dinner. One clip, one notebook, and ten minutes.

Paul: That’s small. I really like small plans.

Emily: Small is the whole point. Tie your fifteen minutes to something you already do.

Paul: While you wait for the rice to cook. While you walk to the shop.

Emily: Then it becomes part of your day, and you don’t need to think about it.

Paul: So, here is one small thing you can do today.

Emily: Pick one recording, half a minute long. Play it once and count the words you catch.

Paul: Write that number on a small piece of paper, and put it inside your English book.

Emily: Next month, open the book, play the same recording, and count again. The new number shows your progress.

Paul: And remember: hear the train, not every car.

Emily: The big picture is enough. The small cars can come later.

Paul: Now we have one question for you. Please write your answer in the comments.

Emily: Which short word is hardest for you to hear: gonna, wanna, or gotta?

Paul: We read the comments every week, and your answers help other learners too.

Emily: If this lesson helped you, please subscribe to English Practice Daily.

Paul: In the next episode, we practice short answers for small talk at work and with neighbors.

Emily: Thank you for training your ears with us today. See you next time.

Paul: Bye for now, and happy listening.