How to speak like an American: Part 2

Learn stress and intonation skills to make you sound fluent and confident.

Created byKatherine Katsenis

Last updated 11/2013

English

What you'll learn

Student will be able to speak with appropriate contractions and reductions.
In this course, students will learn the rules off stress, and major exceptions to the rules.
In this course, students will learn what reductions and contractions are and when to use them.

Course content

3 sections • 16 lectures • 1h 19m total length

Introduction4:32
A short introduction about what stress and intonation are and why we need to study them.

Stress and Syllables Part One7:06
Learn the basic rules for placing stress on two-syllable words.
Stress in sentences6:18
This lecture explains about stressing words in sentences and how it affects meaning.
Pronouncing "can" and "can't"5:37
Learn the small differences in pronouncing "can" and "can't" and how they relate to the schwa sound.
Small Unstressed Words: are, you, or, for, at5:11
This lesson teaches students how to reduce the words "or" "for", "at" "are" etc. in unstressed situations.
Stress and meaning.7:21
More practice and lecture on the nuances of stress.
Stress and pronouns.5:43
This lesson explains how pronouns often change the way they sound in natural speech. The pronoun "you" and how it is spoken is also emphasized.
Stress and compound nouns.3:38
This lecture explains the two kinds of compound nouns heard in speech and how to place stress.
Stress and words with the suffix -ion4:29
This class sessions teaches the rules for pronouncing words with the suffix -ion.
Exercise on Stress2:46
This exercise contains six sentences which combine several stress skills.

Expressing contrast.6:11
This lecture teaches exact intonation to express contrast in both a question and statement form.
Tag questions.5:24
This lecture explains and provides practice for the two types of tag questions in American English.
Longer sentences and intonation.4:46
This lecture explains and practices two kinds of intonation experienced in longer sentences.
Mmmm and Uh uh. Intonation and meaning.6:48
There are two sounds which are used like words. In this lecture, both are taught. Students learn details about the pronunciations.
Numbers3:48
This is a quick lesson about the "teen" and 'tee" numbers and how to pronounce them.
Quiz on Stress
Conclusion1:00
This document contains the main ideas taught and practiced in this course.

Requirements

Students must be at an intermediate level of English speaking to benefit the most from this course.
Students are strongly encouraged to meet with the teacher in the live sessions for direction and extra practice.
Students will need a quiet place to listen to the videos and practice the exercises.

Description

This is a course for high intermediate advanced students of English. The course is given entirely in American English. The focus is on speaking with correct stress, intonation and"melody" in American English. The section focuses on stress and the many ways it is used. Skills are are explicitly taught by example. In the second section, the concentration changes to speaking phrases and sentences. Most of the lectures are provided in video. The last few lectures are given as a narrated PowerPoint. This is to provide practice listening.

Students who take this course will improve dramatically in their American English speaking skills.

Who this course is for:

Students who speak American English at work
Students preparing for exams like the TOEFL or IELTS
Persons who have to give a business presentation
Students who are at a high intermediate to an advanced level in English speaking

How to speak like an American: Part 2

What you'll learn

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Course content

Introduction1 lecture • 5min

The Basics of Stress in American English9 lectures • 48min

Part 2: Basic Intonation6 lectures • 28min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: