Legal language - 01

Wadjasay? American English Pronunciation Practice

I’d like to begin this podcast by thanking Teri Kanefield for permission to use an excerpt from her most recent blog. Teri is an author, attorney, and all-around talented and valuable person. You can learn more about her on her website.

I’ll read a paragraph from her blog four times. Then I’ll divide it into sentences, or parts of sentences, so you can listen and repeat. If you need to translate any of the words, I recommend DeepL.

Let’s get started:

“Most cases settle before trial. Trials are always risky. The purpose of civil litigation is to resolve disputes between parties. If every dispute went to trial, courts would be very costly to maintain (courts are funded by the public.) Moreover, anyone who has been involved with civil litigation knows that both sides often end up feeling like they lost.”

1. Most cases settle before trial.

2. Trials are always risky.

3. The purpose of civil litigation…

4. …is to resolve disputes between parties.

5. If every dispute went to trial…

6…courts would be very costly to maintain…

7…(courts are funded by the public.)

8. Moreover, anyone who has been involved with civil litigation…

9…knows that both sides often end up feeling like they lost.

Just a reminder: it’s really important to listen carefully to how things are actually pronounced. Please do NOT let the spelling distract or confuse you. In the last sentence, for example, listen to how I pronounce the word “often.” Do you hear a “t” sound? I hope not because I am pronouncing it like awfn. The T is written but not spoken.

Source: Teri Kanefield

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