Real English series: Can for ability and what are the French like?

Two new videos in our Real English series. In the first one, a group of people in the street answer questions with the verb can so that we can find out their ability to do something.

Can you play any musical instruments? I can play the piano
Can you cook?
Can he cook?
What else can you do?
Can you speak any foreign languages?

You can watch the same video clip with subtitles on the Real English site here.
You can do an excercise on the video above on the Real English site here.

Pay attention to the differences in pronunciation between affirmative can and negative can't. This is a subtle difference that causes English learners of all levels great difficulties as many times listeners fail to understand whether the speaker is using can in the affirmative or in the negative.

For a detailed explanation of how to pronounce can, check this blog entry.

The second video, What are the French like?, is a repeat of the entry What are the English like? and What are the Americans like?, which we studied last week. So revise the explanation we gave to this tricky question before you watch the video.

The main difficulty of the video lies on the vocabulary, mainly adjectives, the speakers use to describe the French. Most of the adjectives will definitely be understood by elementary learners (Básico 1 and Básico 2), but a few of them are a bit tricky. It is advisable to watch the video clip below with subtitles on the Real English site here.

You can also do an excercise on this video here.

Real English also provides a longer version of the same video for intermediate students here.

An ode to can

We dealt with the problems in distinguishing between the pronunciation of can and can't in a post two years ago, can versus can't. I would recommend you to read all the information we published there before going on with this entry.

Some time ago I came across this motivational video by Tony Colette through David Mearns blog. The emphasis of the video is obviously the great effect a letter may have on our outlook on life. It's not accidental that the type of poem chosen to express this idea is an ode, as odes are lyric poems of some length, usually of a serious or meditative nature and having an elevated style.

For us, English learners, the added value of the poem is getting to grips with discriminating between can and can't, which is no mean feat.

Remember to read the entry can versus can't I told you about before, and pay attention to the stress Colette places on can't, as opposed to can, which is unstressed.



There's a four lettered word
As offensive as any
It holds back the few
Puts a stop to the many.
You can't climb that mountain
You can't cross the sea
You can't become anything you want to be.
He can't hit a century
They can't find a cure.
She can't think about leaving
or searching for more.
Because can't is a word with a habit of stopping
The ebb and flow of ideas
It keeps dropping itself where we know
in our hearts it's not needed
And saying "don't go"
when we could have succeeded.

But those four little letters
That end with a T
They can change in an instant
When shortened to three.
We can take off the T
We can do it today
We can move forward not back
We can find our own way.
We can build we can run
We can follow the sun
We can push we can pull
We can say I'm someone
Who refuses to believe
That life can't be better
With the removal of one
Insignificant letter.

Can versus can't

The pronunciation of can and can't is probably the best example of the difficulties of English pronunciation for Spanish people. The pronunciation of this (modal-auxiliary) verb presents these features:

- Pronunciation of  difficult individual sounds / æ / and /ə/ in can, /ɑ:/ in can't.

- Variations in the way the verbs are pronounced, depending on their position in the sentence: We only pronounce can as / kæn / in short answers, or at the end of a sentence or before a pause, or for emphasis:
A: Can you swim? B: Yes, I can. / kæn / (short answer)
A: Can you have it for Friday? B: I think I can, but I need ... / kæn / (before a pause)
A: Sue can't swim, she's too young. B: Of course she can swim. / kæn / (emphasis)
Can you come at six? /kən/
I can run faster than you. /kən/

- Ellision of sounds: the "t" in can't is very often not pronounced; the "a" in can is very often not pronounced when it is pronounced /ə/ .

- Stress: can't is always stressed, so speakers know if a sentence is affirmative or negative because of the stress on can't, not because they hear "t": I can't go (both "can't" and "go" take the stress)
When can is pronounced /kən/ is always unstressed, and the stress falls on the main verb: I can go. (only "go" takes the stress).

For Spanish speakers it is very difficult not to give stress to any words in a sentence, as our language gives the same stress to all the words. Consequently, when we use can in conversation it is sometimes very difficult for listeners to know if the sentence is affirmative (can) or negative (can't).

There are two tricks we can use to pronounce can in an unstressed position:
1) Omit the vowel sound and pronounce can quickly: I can go to the cinema  / ai kn 'gəu /
2) Make can part of the subject, as if they were the same word: I can go to the cinema / aikn 'gəu /

To complete the study of this difficult pronunciation point, you can watch these two videos from Accentworkshop.com. The first one is about the pronunciation of can, and the second about the pronunciation of can't.





If you're still uncertain about this point, Jennifer ESL also has some videos with explanations and examples.
Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwJAiCj-Rcs&feature=channel
Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B43GFCO4pes&feature=related