Consider the following phrases:
Do you know what I mean?
Whether you like it or not
Bizarre though it may seem
They all have the same thing in common. They are the type of phrases that you don't have to construct. You just say them. These are sometimes called stock phrases or lexical chunks and the reason why they are so popular amongst advanced foreign language learners has to do with the fact that (as I explained in my previous post) they allow us to speak without thinking because, in a certain way, your brain can't tell the difference between a sequence and a long word. If you think about it, it makes sense, doesn't it? After all, how are you is a three-syllable sequence just like Hawaii. Pronouncing the first sentence is every bit as difficult as articulating the place name and those who don't speak English might not see the difference between a phrase and a word. I still remember the time a student asked me what festival I kept going on about in a class. lt took me a while to realize that she had misheard the expression first of all.
Anyway, the great thing about lexical chunks is that they allow a learner to sound natural, but there's an extra advantage: chunks also help you speak faster and, therefore, more efficiently. I know. Saying how are you is far easier than uttering a really long sentence such as I wouldn't go so far as to call them sleazy. Still, the key to saying those two sequences lies in the same skill: your ability to master transitions.
In the video below I explain how you can do it.
