Welcome to part four of our series on practicing English speaking skills! After tackling vocabulary, we’re now moving on to two fundamental components of spoken English: intonation and stress. Understanding these elements will help you sound more natural and confident when speaking English. Let’s dive in!
The Importance of Intonation and Stress:
Intonation, the rise and fall of voice pitch, and stress, the emphasis placed on certain syllables or words, play a critical role in conveying meaning in English. They can change the interpretation of a sentence, express emotional states, or indicate whether a statement is a question or not.
Mastering Intonation:
Intonation in English typically rises at the end of yes/no questions and falls at the end of statements. To practice, try reading aloud dialogues from an English book or repeating sentences after native English speakers in films or language apps.
Mastering Stress:
In English, stressed syllables are longer, louder, and higher in pitch. Words often have one syllable that receives primary stress, e.g., ‘PHOtograph’ vs ‘phoTOgraphy.’ To improve word stress, listen to native speakers and repeat after them. You can also use online dictionaries that indicate stress with an apostrophe (‘) before the stressed syllable.
Stress also applies to sentences, where important words (usually content words like nouns, main verbs, adjectives, and adverbs) are stressed. To practice sentence stress, read aloud English texts, emphasizing the important words.
Exercises to Practice:
- Shadowing: Listen to a short speech or dialogue by a native speaker, then try to replicate it, mimicking the intonation and stress.
- Reading Aloud: Read English texts aloud, consciously applying the rules of intonation and stress. Record yourself to check your accuracy.
- Stress Identification: Listen to English audio and mark the stressed syllables or words. Compare your markings with a transcribed version of the text.
New Vocabulary:
Intonation (/ˌɪntəˈneɪʃən/): The rise and fall of the voice in speaking.
Stress (/strɛs/): The emphasis that is given to particular syllables or words in speech.
Mastering intonation and stress is a crucial step towards perfecting your spoken English. It requires active listening and conscious practice but can dramatically enhance your speaking skills. Stay tuned for the next post in our series, where we’ll do our best to help you find some conversation partners.
Have you mastered the secrets? Know for sure by taking the quiz below!
#1. Where is stress usually placed in two-syllable nouns?
#2. What is ‘stress’ in terms of English pronunciation?
#3. In the word ‘presentation’, which syllable is stressed?
#4. What changes when a word is stressed incorrectly?
#5. What is ‘intonation’?
#6. How does intonation affect the mood of a sentence?
#7. Which type of sentence typically uses rising intonation?
#8. What is the ‘falling intonation’?
#9. Why is intonation important in English?
#10. What are homographs?
Results
The secrets are yours! Excellent job!
Sometimes secrets get distorted. Re-read your notes and try again!
