Pronouncing every word correctly leads to poor pronunciation! Good pronunciation comes from stressing the right words - this is because English is a time-stressed language.
Difficulty: Hard
Time Required: Varies
Here's How:
1. Learn the following rules concerning pronunciation.
2. English is considered a stressed language while many other languages are considered syllabic.
3. In other languages, such as French or Italian, each syllable receives equal importance (there is stress, but each syllable has its own length).
4. English pronunciation focuses on specific stressed words while quickly gliding over the other, non-stressed, words.
5. Stressed words are considered content words: Nouns e.g. kitchen, Peter - (most) principal verbs e.g. visit, construct - Adjectives e.g. beautiful, interesting - Adverbs e.g. often, carefully
6. Non-stressed words are considered function words: Determiners e.g. the, a - Auxiliary verbs e.g. am, were - Prepositions e.g. before, of - Conjunctions e.g. but, and - Pronouns e.g. they, she
7. Read the following sentence aloud: The beautiful Mountain appeared transfixed in the distance.
8. Read the following sentence aloud: He can come on Sundays as long as he doesn't have to do any homework in the evening.
9. Notice that the first sentence actually takes about the same time to speak well!
10. Even though the second sentence is approximately 30% longer than the first, the sentences take the same time to speak. This is because there are 5 stressed words in each sentence.
11. Write down a few sentences, or take a few example sentences from a book or exercise.
12. First underline the stressed words, then read aloud focusing on stressing the underlined words and gliding over the non-stressed words.
13. Be surprised at how quickly your pronunciation improves! By focusing on stressed words, non-stressed words and syllables take on their more muted nature.
14. When listening to native speakers, focus on how those speakers stress certain words and begin to copy this.
Tips:
1. Remember that non-stressed words and syllables are often 'swallowed' in English.
2. Always focus on pronouncing stressed words well, non-stressed words can be glided over.
3. Don't focus on pronouncing each word. Focus on the stressed words in each sentence.
Intonation and Stress - Key to Understanding and Being Understood
Say this sentence aloud and count how many seconds it takes.
The beautiful Mountain appeared transfixed in the distance.
Time required? Probably about 5 seconds. Now, try speaking this sentence aloud.
He can come on Sundays as long as he doesn't have to do any homework in the evening.
Time required? Probably about 5 seconds.
Wait a minute the first sentence is much shorter than the second sentence!
The beautiful Mountain appeared transfixed in the distance
He can come on Sundays as long as he doesn't have to do any homework in the evening
You are only partially right!
This simple exercise makes a very important point about how we speak and use English. Namely, English is considered a stressed language while many other languages are considered syllabic. What does that mean? It means that, in English, we give stress to certain words while other words are quickly spoken (some students say eaten!). In other languages, such as French or Italian, each syllable receives equal importance (there is stress, but each syllable has its own length).
Many speakers of syllabic languages don't understand why we quickly speak, or swallow, a number of words in a sentence. In syllabic languages each syllable has equal importance, and therefore equal time is needed. English however, spends more time on specific stressed words while quickly gliding over the other, less important, words.
Let's look at a simple example: the modal verb "can". When we use the positive form of "can" we quickly glide over the can and it is hardly pronounced.
They can come on Friday . (stressed words underlined)
On the other hand, when we use the negative form "can't" we tend to stress the fact that it is the negative form by also stressing "can't".
They can't come on Friday .
As you can see from the above example the sentence, "They can't come on Friday" is longer than "They can come on Friday" because both the modal "can't" and the verb "come" are stressed.
So, what does this mean for my speaking skills?
Well, first of all, you need to understand which words we generally stress and which we do not stress. Basically, stress words are considered CONTENT WORDS such as
1. Nouns e.g. kitchen, Peter
2. (most) principal verbs e.g. visit, construct
3. Adjectives e.g. beautiful, interesting
4. Adverbs e.g. often, carefully
Non-stressed words are considered FUNCTION WORDS such as
1. Determiners e.g. the, a, some, a few
2. Auxiliary verbs e.g. don't, am, can, were
3. Prepositions e.g. before, next to, opposite
4. Conjunctions e.g. but, while, as
5. Pronouns e.g. they, she, us
Let's return to the beginning example to demonstrate how this affects speech.
The beautiful Mountain appeared transfixed in the distance . (14 syllables)
He can come on Sunday s as long as he doesn't have to do any homework in the evening . (22 syllables)
Even though the second sentence is approximately 30% longer than the first, the sentences take the same time to speak. This is because there are 5 stressed words in each sentence. From this example, you can see that you needn't worry about pronouncing every word clearly to be understood (we native speakers certainly don't). You should however, concentrate on pronouncing the stressed words clearly.
Now, do some listening comprehension or go speak to your native English speaking friends and listen to how we concentrate on the stressed words rather than giving importance to each syllable. You will soon find that you can understand and communicate more because you begin to listen for (and use in speaking) stressed words. All those words that you thought you didn't understand are really not crucial for understanding the sense or making yourself understood. Stressed words are the key to excellent pronunciation and understanding of English.
I hope this short introduction to the importance of stress in English will help you to improve your understanding and speaking skills.
Stress and Intonation Basics
More on improving your English speaking/pronunciation abilities
نویسنده : غلامعلی عباسی - ساعت ۱٠:٤۱ق.ظ روز ۱۳٩٠/٩/۳
Do five to ten minutes of listening at least four times a week.
In the past, I decided I needed to get fit and went jogging - usually three or four miles. Well, after not having done anything for many months, those three or four miles really hurt! Needles to say, I did not go jogging for another few months!
Learning to understand spoken English well is very similar. If you decide that you going to work hard and listen for two hours, chances are that you will not do extra listening exercises any time soon. If, on the other hand, you start off slowly and listen often, it will be easier to develop the habit of listening to English on a regular basis.
More on improving your listening skills
Look for situations in which you must speak / read / listen to English
This is probably the most important tip. You need to use English in a "real world" situation. Learning English in a classroom is important, but putting your English knowledge into practice in real situations will improve your fluency in speaking English. If you do not know of any "real life" situation, create new ones for yourself by using the Internet to listen to news, write English responses in forums, exchange emails in English with email pals, etc.
become, get, go, turn