This is the longest conference line (17 words), yet reproduction does not collapse — it holds at 65.1% (3.21/5, 1,002 attempts). The cost lands on the grammatical glue: the existential there (38.7%) and the relative that (34.4%) fall away in bulk — the content words survive while the connective scaffolding is stripped out.
Conference orientation
Context cue
This is the longest conference line, about a dining hall: there's one in the back, open all day, if you get hungry. Three parts — existence and location, hours, and a condition.
Each word is shaded by how often it was dropped across 1002 attempts. Hover for the exact rate. This sentence is one case in the Listen and Repeat research across 23,000+ sessions — where endings and late words drop most.
The three most fragile words here are there (38.7%), that (34.4%), is (24.9%) — when you record your own version, check first that each of these survives.
These are sounds with substantial measurements in this sentence, not a generic pronunciation list. Automatic assessment places /k/ lowest among the sounds shown.
| Sound | Measurements | Avg accuracy | Below 60 |
|---|---|---|---|
| /k/ | 804 | 74.4/100 | 11.2% |
| /ð/ | 1,777 | 84.8/100 | 6.5% |
| /l/ | 1,348 | 85.9/100 | 9.0% |
Omission rates show the pattern, not its cause. Position, word length, and endings still give us specific practice hypotheses to test.
there
38.7% omitted
There launches the existential There is, but it is unstressed; speakers often jump straight to dining hall, leaving the sentence without its opening.
Practice: Say There is steadily to set up the existential structure before reaching dining hall.
that
34.4% omitted
That is the relative pronoun linking the hall to open all day; drop it and the sentence splits in two.
Practice: Deliberately restore that between hall and open so the clause stays attached.
is
24.9% omitted
Both copular is forms are unstressed and easily swallowed, and that is in particular tends to compress into a single sound.
Practice: Practise a clear that is with both words present.
Place splits between complete meaning groups, following the chunking method. The slashes are memory boundaries for practice, not mandatory audible pauses.
| Speakers paused before | Share of pauses | Placement |
|---|---|---|
| “if” | 12.7% | Natural split |
| “that” | 11.6% | Natural split |
| “it” | 7.1% | Mid-phrase |
| “it's” | 5.2% | Mid-phrase |
Three blocks: There is a dining hall in the back / that is open all day / if you get hungry — hold there's a hall / open all day / if hungry.
Keep the existential There is, then restore the relative that linking the hall to open all day.
Add the condition if you get hungry, minding the /k/ in get and the word hungry.
Do not rely on a vague feeling of success. Meet all four checks twice in a row before increasing sentence length.
Record it once and see your own version of the heat map above — which words you dropped and where your pauses landed.
Practise Listen and Repeat“Welcome to the Accounting Conference.”
5 words · Conference orientation · 1026 attempts
“Get your name tag at the main desk.”
8 words · Conference orientation · 1021 attempts
“The seminar halls are up the stairs on the right.”
10 words · Conference orientation · 1020 attempts
“The main hall here is where companies have their booths.”
10 words · Conference orientation · 1007 attempts
Use 3 meaning groups: There is a dining hall in the back / that is open all day / if you get hungry. Preserve the information skeleton first, then check the final words and endings.
there (38.7%), that (34.4%), is (24.9%) have the highest omission rates among the 1002 attempts summarized here.
Pause between complete meaning groups rather than inside a noun or verb phrase. Use pauses as a memory scaffold, then work toward a connected delivery.