English Pronunciation

English Pronunciation

Sentence

StressBy Ruth Wickham, Training Fellow, IPGKDRI

For people to understand your English

stress can be more important than pronunciation.

The MEANING is in the Stress

To CORRECT information

To CHECK information

The

Meaning

is in the

StressFor example

One Sentence, Different Meanings

• Are you going to eat THAT?[Meaning: it’s so big! / it’s disgusting!]

• Are you going to EAT that?[Meaning: I’m not sure that it’s really ‘food’!]

• Are YOU going to eat that?[Meaning: I thought you bought it for me!]

• ARE you going to eat that?[Meaning: you are sitting here just looking ...]

English Rhythm

Chinese Rhythm

English is stress-timed rather than syllable-timed

Stress-Timed Language

• Dogs chase cats

• The dogs chase cats

• The dogs chase the cats

• The dogs will chase the cats

• The dogs will be chasing the cats

♫Beat and Rhythm ♫ I was talking to Brian when I ran into Sue.

I was waiting for Jack when I saw Mary Lou.

They were cleaning the house when I knocked at the door.

He was dusting a lamp when it fell on the floor.

She was learning to drive when I met her last May.

She was buying a car when I saw her today.

She felt very happy when she left the store, she had never bought a computer before.

She

NEver

-PUTer be-

FELT very

HAPpy when she

LEFT the

STORE, she had

BOUGHT a com-

-FORE

He felt very nervous when he knocked on the door. He had never gone out on a date before.

he FELT very NERvous when he KNOCKED on the DOOR.

he had NEver gone OUT on a

DATE be-FORE.

She felt very weak and her throat was sore. She had never had the ‘flu before.

She FELTvery WEAK and her THROAT was SORE. She had NE-ver

HAD the ‘FLU be- FORE.

He felt very proud when his guests asked for more. He had never baked a pie before.

He FELT very PROUD when his

GUESTS askedfor MORE. He had NEVER

BAKED a PIE be- -FORE.

She felt very foolish when her food hit the floor. She had never eaten with chopsticks before.

She FELT very FOOL-ish when her FOOD hit the FLOOR.She had NEV-er

EAT-en with CHOP-sticks be- -FORE.

He looked very scared when it started to roar. He had never been close to a lion before.

He LOOKED very SCARED when it START-ed to ROAR.He had NEV-er been CLOSE to a LI-on be- -FORE.

She was very annoyed when he started to snore. He had never made so much noise before.

She was VER-y an- NOYED when he START-ed to SNORE.He had NEV-er

MADE so much NOISE be- -FORE.

He was very surprised when he opened the drawer. He had never seen so much money before.

He was VER-y sur- -PRISED when he OP-ened the DRAWER.He had NEV-er

SEEN so much MON-ey be- -FORE.

Contact

Ruth Wickham: ruth.wickham@gmail.comWebsite: http://acollectionofteslresources.weebly.com