by ruth wickham, training fellow, ipgkdri. the meaning is in the stress
TRANSCRIPT
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-ti med rather than syllable-ti med
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.
