Stress

Notice the stress When you learn a new word,always try to notice which syllable is stressed.For example,in theword ‘dictionary’,the syllable dic-
is the one which carries most emphasis.Getting the stress right is very important.If you put the stress on the wrong syllable,listeners may not be able to understand you.

Getting the rhythm right Just as words have stressed syllables,so sentences have stressed words.When speaking in English,try to think which words are the most important in showing the meaning of what you want to say.These are the words which are likely to carry most emphasis.The result of this type of stress is that some of the other words in the sentence almost disappear.This means that,when you listen to English…
To practice identifying stress in sentences,listen to a short extract spoken by your favourite BBC World Service presenter.Can you identify which words she or he stresses?

Speed and fluency aren’t the same Many students of English think that native speakers talk very quickly,and try to do the same.However,the ‘speed’ you hear is the effect of the type of stress we’ve spoken about above.If you find that your listeners are having some difficulty understanding you,it could be because you are speaking too quickly.Try to slow down a little and concentrate on stressing the meaning-carrying words in your sentence.

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