Syllable Stress
In every lesson, you will practice syllable stress as you
repeat words. Remember that a syllable is a beat. The words
learn, stress, main and
page have one syllable. The words
business, perfect, order and
minute have two syllables. The words
confident and
diagram have three syllables. The word
explanation has four syllables.
Pronunciation has five syllables.
How to Speak with Syllable Stress
To speak with good stress:
* Let the tone of your voice be a little bit higher on the stress.
* Make sure that the vowel on the stressed syllable is clear and strong.
If you believe that you are not at all musical, don't worry! The voice
naturally rises and falls as we speak. Think about going up-to-down or
down-to-up. This should help you gain the minor change in pitch. Here
is a visual way to think about it.
Watch Video Lesson
1st Syllable
|
2nd Syllable
|
3rd Syllable
|
rea
son
|
round
a
|
na
ex-pla tion
|
sen
tence
|
vanced
ad
|
me
in-ter di-ate
|
min
ute
|
mi
per ssion
|
no
e-co mic
|
di
ffi-cult
|
ca
va tion
|
sa
con-ver tion
|
In American English, most of the vowel sounds (the sounds of A, E,
I, O and U) are large sounds. The only short, quick sounds are the
Short E, Short I and Short U, as in
met,
sit and
up
respectively. When stressing a syllable, use a clear vowel sound. Most
of the sounds on the unstressed syllables are shorter or reduced. For
instance, in vacation, both of the A's can have a Long A sound as in
rain, but the first A usually reduces to a light
u sound as in
vu-CA-shun.
When you reduce unstressed vowels, the stressed vowel sounds are more
clear. This is one the keys to American English pronunciation.
Note: Many longer words have 2 strong vowel sounds. For instance, conversation has a clear O and a clear A.
If changing your pitch seems very difficult, here are two simple techniques:
1. Force yourself to say a long word, like
pronunciation,
in only one pitch, as if tapping one note on a piano repeatedly. For
most people, this will not come naturally, and you will sense the small
change in tone that is natural to you. This is all you need.
2. Try moving your hand in up-down motions as you practice syllable
stress. The visual and sensory effect will help you change your pitch.
