Week 3 · Session 4
Can or can't
The hardest pair in English, and a full-speed listen.
~40 minSelf-check
5 minutes
“I'm sorry?” with the pitch going up means:
The plural of dog ends in:
The hardest pair in English
6 minutes
Can and can't sound almost identical at speed, and they mean opposite things.
| You read | You hear |
|---|---|
| I can go. | “I k'n go.”can reduces to almost nothing |
| I can't go. | “I KANT go.”can't stays full and stressed |
| Can you hear me? | “K'n ya hear me?” |
The trick: do not listen for the t — it is usually swallowed. Listen for which word is loud. If can is loud and full, it is can't. If it flattens into “k'n”, it is can. The negative always gets the stress.
Watch: contractions with n't
12 minutes
She takes questions from viewers, so you get real questions in a natural register — and she spends time on n't contractions, which is exactly the can / can't problem above.
Full speed, captions off
6 minutes
Go back to the Alligators conversation from Session 3. Play two minutes with the captions off.
Count how many questions you hear — not what they were, just how many. Then play it again with captions and check your count. Hearing that a question happened is a real skill on its own, and it is the one that stops you being caught out.
Record your voice note
3 minutes
“You are halfway through this course. What has changed in how you listen? What is still hard?”
Save it as “Week 3 — Voice Note 3”.
Get ready for your live class
4 minutes
This class includes your midpoint recording. Bring your Week 1 baseline if you have it on your own phone — you will record the same task again and listen to the two back to back.
Also bring: three voice notes, the Workshop 3 recording, and your list of missed questions.
Week 4 is the hardest one — three or more people talking at once.