Word Stress Make your speaking sound very English without stressing out! What is Word Stress? When you are speaking English, you do not say each syllable with equal emphasis. In one word, we accentuate ONE syllable. We say one syllable very loudly (big, strong, important) and all the other syllables very quietly. Let's have a closer look: photograph, photographer and photographic. Do they sound the same when spoken? No. Because we accentuate (stress) ONE syllable in each word. And it is not always the same syllable. So the "shape" of each word is different. Try to say them like this... PHOtograph phoTOgrapher photoGRAPHic This happens in ALL words with 2 or more syllables: Listen to this short clip… Can you hear the stress in individual syllables? TEACHer JaPAN CHINa aBOVE converSAtion INteresting imPORtant deMAND The syllables that are not stressed are weak or small or quiet. Fluent speakers of English listen for the STRESSED syllables, not the weak syllables. If you use word stress in your speech, you will instantly and automatically improve your pronunciation and your comprehension. Your first step is to HEAR and recognise it. Then, you can USE it! Why is it important? English uses word stress and pro-NOUNCE DIF-fer-ent SYL-la-bles with more or less im-POR-tance. Fluent English speakers use word stress to communicate rapidly and accurately, even in difficult situations. Imagine this...you are a loud and busy train station and you need to know which platform to get on, and you do not hear a word clearly, you could still understand the words because of the position of the stresses. Where do I put it? There are two very important rules about word stress: #1One word, one stress. (One word cannot have two stresses. So if you hear two stresses, you have heard two words, not one word.) If you want to know all of the nitty-gritty rules, I have some coming on the next pages! #2 The stress is always on a vowel. A. Stress on first syllable B. Stress on last syllable C. Stress on penultimate syllable D. Stress on ante-penultimate syllable (penultimate = second from end) (ante-penultimate = third from end) E. Compound words (words with two parts) So they are the rules, but do not rely on them too much, because there are many exceptions. It is better to try to "feel" the music of the language and to add the stress naturally. Practice, practice, practice! Let’s practice! Record yourself reading the text ‘A Present for the Queen?’. DO NOT peek at the next page… that is coming next! A Present for the Queen? Thinking of giving the queen a little something to celebrate one of her special days? What does one give the woman who has everything? Seriously everything! Here are a few things to avoid as she already has them stashed away at Buckingham Palace: You may think a tribal weapon would make a lovely gift, but she already possesses both a Kiribatian sword made from shark’s teeth and a Maori mere (a type of club). Perhaps steering clear of animals would be sensible, considering the corgis might get jealous. Just in case, here are a few she’s received as gifts already: a male elephant named Jumbo, two sloths from Brazil and a pair of red deer stags. Most end up at the London Zoo. Considering 500 cases of tinned pineapples? She received these as a wedding present from Australia in 1947. At the time, with rationing still in force, they were probably very gratefully received! How did you sound? I have put in bold the stresses that are appropriate in English speaking. Now listen back to your recording and see how you went. Finally, record yourself again using the stresses correctly. A present for the Queen? Thinking of giving the queen a little something to celebrate one of her special days? What does one give the woman who has everything? Seriously - everything! Here are a few things to avoid as she already has them stashed away at Buckingham Palace: You may think a tribal weapon would make a lovely gift, but she already possesses both a Kiribatian sword made from shark’s teeth and a Maori mere (a type of club). Perhaps steering clear of animals would be sensible, considering the corgis might get jealous. Just in case, here are a few she’s received as gifts already: a male elephant named Jumbo, two sloths from Brazil and a pair of red deer stags. Most end up at the London Zoo. Considering 500 cases of tinned pineapples? She received these as a wedding present from Australia in 1947. At the time, with rationing still in force, they were probably very gratefully received!
