If you are a frequent reader of my blog you know that one of the best ways to improve your American English pronunciation is to use syllable stress correctly.
In spoken English words with multiple syllables, one syllable is always more prominent than the others. We call this the stressed syllable.
Stressed syllables are pronounced:
- with a higher pitch
a bit louder in volume
with a lengthened vowel sound
If you haven’t noticed how American English speakers use syllable stress you absolutely must start to listen for it.
Once you can recognize and use this KEY feature of spoken American English the rhythm of your speech will improve and people will be able to understand you much more easily!
Most accent reduction and American English pronunciation books do not spend enough time on this KEY topic. The best book that I’ve found for learning syllable stress rules is Accurate English: A Complete Course in Pronunciation
I use this book with my advanced accent reduction clients, a group of engineers, medical personnel and finance professionals.
Tags: Accent Reduction Techniques, American English Pronunciation, learn american accent, Syllable stress, syllable stress rules
