Say Stressed Syllables Louder - Not Longer!
by Jason Catizone on 07/15/24
Having begun working as an English (ESL) tutor more than twenty years ago, I have of course encountered many different problems people have when speaking English. Today, I'd like to discuss the topic of syllable stress.
Some people learning English confuse the topics of timing, and stress. For example, you may here an English learner say something such as this: 'I went to the dooooctor yeeeeesterday becaaaaause I had a feeeeever.' The error that such a person is making is that he/she has confused the issues of syllable stress, and syllable/word lengthening.
In everyday English, a stressed syllable does not mean that the syllable is also held out longer when speaking. For instance: "father" is FA-ther, not faaaaa-ther; "window" is WIN-dow, not wiiiiin-dow.
If you make stressed syllables longer when you speak, your English will sound very weird. Consider hearing this in a conversation: 'I reeeeecently went shooooopping at a big depaaaaartment store, and I purchaaaaased some iiiiitems for my huuuuusband and chiiiiildren.' Sounds strange, huh?
So, to wrap up, remember that syllable stress means that the syllable is stressed, or emphasized - it doesn't mean that you are to say the syllable longer.
