Today’s tip is on sound linking. （连音）今天的小贴士是关于连音。  

Although in written English, there’re spaces between every word, in spoken English there’re always never pauses between words. 虽然在书面英语当中，每个单词之间是有空的，而在英语口语中经常是单词之间是没有停顿的。  

In order to understand spoken English, it is essential to understand how this linking is done. 为了能懂英语口语，懂得如何连音是非常重要的。  

Today let’s concentrate on the most common sound linking situation. 今天我们来关注最普通的连音情况。  

Whenever a word ending in a consonant sound is followed by a word beginning with a vowel sound, the consonant sound is linked to the vowel sound as if they were part of the same word. 若以辅音结尾的单词后面跟着以元音开头的单词，这个辅音就和后面的元音连在一起发音，如同这两个音构成了一个单词。  

Let’s look at some examples. I’d like another bowl of rice, please. 让我们来看一些例子。我想再要一碗饭。  

First, note that although there’re six words in the sentence, all the words are linked together without pause. 首先，注意下虽然这个句子里有六个单词，但是所有的单词都没有停顿地连在一起。  

Listen again. I’d like another bowl of rice, please. 再听一遍，我想再一碗饭。  

Now listen to how the words “like” and “another” are linked. 现在听下单词 “like”和 “another”是如何连在一起的。  

“Like another”, “like-another”. “Like” ends in a consonant sound, and “another” begins with a vowel sound. 单词 “like” 是以辅音结束的，而单词 “another” 是以元音开始的。  

So the “k” from “like” is linked to the “a” from “another” to produce “kanother”. 因此，单词 “like” 中的 “k” 和单词 “another” 中的 “a” 连在一起发 “kanother”.  

Listen to the example sentence again. 再听下这个例句。

I’d like another bowl of rice, please. In the sentence there is another example of a consonant being linked to a vowel. 在这个句子里有另外一个辅音与元音相连的例子。  

A bowl of, a bowl-of. A bowl of, a bowl-of. It sounds like that you’re saying the word “love”. 听起来像在说单词 “love”。  

Here’s another example. 另外一个例子。

I’d love a bowl of rice. I’d love a bowl of rice. This sound linking is probably the biggest problem for learners of English when they try to understand native speaker’s talking. 这个连音可能是英语学习者努力去弄懂以英语母语的人的话遇到的最大问题。  

We’ll talk more about sound linking in future daily tips, as this is an extremely important feature of spoken English. 我们将在以后的日常小贴士中会学习更多关于连音的，因为这是口语中的一个很重要的特点。  

Today’s tip is to link consonants to vowels which come after them. Till then, tomorrow, for another daily tip. 今天的小贴士是关于辅音与它后面的元音的连音。明天会有另外一个小贴士。