Intonation and Stress in English

Intonation and Stress in English Correct intonation and stress are the key to speaking English fluently with good pronunciation. Intonation and stress refer  to the music of the English language. Words that are stressed are key to understanding and using the correct intonation brings out the meaning.   Introduction to Intonation and Stress Exercise Say this sentence aloud and count how many seconds it takes. The beautiful mountain appeared transfixed in the distance.   Time required? Probably about five seconds. Now, try speaking this sentence aloud He can come on Sundays as long as he doesnt have to do any homework in the evening.   Time required? Probably about five  seconds. Wait a minute- the first sentence is much shorter than the second sentence! The beautiful Mountain appeared transfixed in the distance.  (14 syllables)He can come on Sundays as long as he doesnt have to do any homework in the evening.  (22 syllables) Even though the second sentence is approximately 30 percent longer than the first, the sentences take the same time to speak. This is because there are five stressed words in each sentence. From this example, you can see that you neednt worry about pronouncing every word clearly to be understood (we native speakers certainly dont). You should, however, concentrate on pronouncing the stressed words clearly. This simple exercise makes a very important point about how we speak and use English. Namely, English is considered a stressed language while many other languages are considered syllabic. What does that mean? It means that, in English, we give stress to certain words while other words are quickly spoken (some students say eaten!). In other languages, such as French or Italian, each syllable receives equal importance (there is stress, but each syllable has its own length). Many speakers of syllabic languages dont understand why we quickly speak, or swallow, a number of words in a sentence. In syllabic languages, each syllable has equal importance, and therefore equal time is needed. English however, spends more time on specific stressed words while quickly gliding over the other, less important, words. Simple Exercise to Help With Understanding The following exercise can be used by students and teachers to further help with pronunciation by focusing on the stressing content words rather than function words in the exercise below. Lets look at a simple example: The modal verb can. When we use the positive form of can we quickly glide over the can and it is hardly pronounced. They can come on Friday. (stressed words in  italics) On the other hand, when we use the negative form cant we tend to stress the fact that it is the negative form by also stressing cant. They cant come on Friday.  (stressed words in  italics) As you can see from the above example the sentence, They cant come on Friday is longer than They can come on Friday because both the modal cant and the verb come are stressed. Understanding Which Words to Stress To begin, you need to understand which words we generally stress and which we do not stress. Stress words are considered content words such as: Nouns (e.g., kitchen, Peter)(Most) main verbs   (e.g., visit, construct)Adjectives  (e.g., beautiful, interesting)Adverbs (e.g., often, carefully)Negatives including negative helping verbs, and words with no such as nothing, nowhere, etc.  Words expressing quantities (e.g., a lot of, a few, many, etc.) Non-stressed words are considered function words  such as: Determiners (e.g., the, a, some, a few)Auxiliary verbs (e.g., dont, am, can, were)Prepositions (e.g.,  before, next to, opposite)Conjunctions (e.g., but, while, as)Pronouns (e.g., they, she, us)Verbs have and be even when used as main verbs Practice Quiz Test your knowledge by identifying which words are content words and should be stressed in the following sentences: Theyve been learning English for two months.My friends have nothing to do this weekend.I would have visited in April if I had known Peter was in town.Natalie will have been studying for four hours by six oclock.The boys and I will spend the weekend next to the lake fishing for trout.Jennifer and Alice had finished the report before it was due last week. Answers: Words in italics are stressed content words while unstressed function words are in lower case. Theyve  been learning English for two months.My friends have nothing to do this weekend.I would have visited  in April  if i had known Peter was in town.Natalie will have been studying  for fours hours  by six oclock.The boys and i will spend the weekend next to the lake fishing for trout.Jennifer and Alice had finished the report before it was due last week. Continue Practicing Speak to your native English speaking friends and listen to how we concentrate on the stressed words rather than giving importance to each syllable. As  you begin to listen and use stressed words, you will discover words you thought you didnt understand are really not crucial for understanding the sense or making yourself understood. Stressed words are the key to excellent pronunciation and understanding of English. After students have learned basic  consonant  and vowel sounds, they should move  on to learning to differentiate between individual sounds by using  minimal pairs. Once they are comfortable with individual words, they should move on to intonation and  stress exercises  such as  sentence markup. Finally, students can take the next step by  choosing a focus word to help further improve their pronunciation.

Intonation and Stress in English

Intonation and Stress in English Correct intonation and stress are the key to speaking English fluently with good pronunciation. Intonation and stress refer  to the music of the English language. Words that are stressed are key to understanding and using the correct intonation brings out the meaning.   Introduction to Intonation and Stress Exercise Say this sentence aloud and count how many seconds it takes. The beautiful mountain appeared transfixed in the distance.   Time required? Probably about five seconds. Now, try speaking this sentence aloud He can come on Sundays as long as he doesnt have to do any homework in the evening.   Time required? Probably about five  seconds. Wait a minute- the first sentence is much shorter than the second sentence! The beautiful Mountain appeared transfixed in the distance.  (14 syllables)He can come on Sundays as long as he doesnt have to do any homework in the evening.  (22 syllables) Even though the second sentence is approximately 30 percent longer than the first, the sentences take the same time to speak. This is because there are five stressed words in each sentence. From this example, you can see that you neednt worry about pronouncing every word clearly to be understood (we native speakers certainly dont). You should, however, concentrate on pronouncing the stressed words clearly. This simple exercise makes a very important point about how we speak and use English. Namely, English is considered a stressed language while many other languages are considered syllabic. What does that mean? It means that, in English, we give stress to certain words while other words are quickly spoken (some students say eaten!). In other languages, such as French or Italian, each syllable receives equal importance (there is stress, but each syllable has its own length). Many speakers of syllabic languages dont understand why we quickly speak, or swallow, a number of words in a sentence. In syllabic languages, each syllable has equal importance, and therefore equal time is needed. English however, spends more time on specific stressed words while quickly gliding over the other, less important, words. Simple Exercise to Help With Understanding The following exercise can be used by students and teachers to further help with pronunciation by focusing on the stressing content words rather than function words in the exercise below. Lets look at a simple example: The modal verb can. When we use the positive form of can we quickly glide over the can and it is hardly pronounced. They can come on Friday. (stressed words in  italics) On the other hand, when we use the negative form cant we tend to stress the fact that it is the negative form by also stressing cant. They cant come on Friday.  (stressed words in  italics) As you can see from the above example the sentence, They cant come on Friday is longer than They can come on Friday because both the modal cant and the verb come are stressed. Understanding Which Words to Stress To begin, you need to understand which words we generally stress and which we do not stress. Stress words are considered content words such as: Nouns (e.g., kitchen, Peter)(Most) main verbs   (e.g., visit, construct)Adjectives  (e.g., beautiful, interesting)Adverbs (e.g., often, carefully)Negatives including negative helping verbs, and words with no such as nothing, nowhere, etc.  Words expressing quantities (e.g., a lot of, a few, many, etc.) Non-stressed words are considered function words  such as: Determiners (e.g., the, a, some, a few)Auxiliary verbs (e.g., dont, am, can, were)Prepositions (e.g.,  before, next to, opposite)Conjunctions (e.g., but, while, as)Pronouns (e.g., they, she, us)Verbs have and be even when used as main verbs Practice Quiz Test your knowledge by identifying which words are content words and should be stressed in the following sentences: Theyve been learning English for two months.My friends have nothing to do this weekend.I would have visited in April if I had known Peter was in town.Natalie will have been studying for four hours by six oclock.The boys and I will spend the weekend next to the lake fishing for trout.Jennifer and Alice had finished the report before it was due last week. Answers: Words in italics are stressed content words while unstressed function words are in lower case. Theyve  been learning English for two months.My friends have nothing to do this weekend.I would have visited  in April  if i had known Peter was in town.Natalie will have been studying  for fours hours  by six oclock.The boys and i will spend the weekend next to the lake fishing for trout.Jennifer and Alice had finished the report before it was due last week. Continue Practicing Speak to your native English speaking friends and listen to how we concentrate on the stressed words rather than giving importance to each syllable. As  you begin to listen and use stressed words, you will discover words you thought you didnt understand are really not crucial for understanding the sense or making yourself understood. Stressed words are the key to excellent pronunciation and understanding of English. After students have learned basic  consonant  and vowel sounds, they should move  on to learning to differentiate between individual sounds by using  minimal pairs. Once they are comfortable with individual words, they should move on to intonation and  stress exercises  such as  sentence markup. Finally, students can take the next step by  choosing a focus word to help further improve their pronunciation.

Intonation and Stress in English

Intonation and Stress in English Correct intonation and stress are the key to speaking English fluently with good pronunciation. Intonation and stress refer  to the music of the English language. Words that are stressed are key to understanding and using the correct intonation brings out the meaning.   Introduction to Intonation and Stress Exercise Say this sentence aloud and count how many seconds it takes. The beautiful mountain appeared transfixed in the distance.   Time required? Probably about five seconds. Now, try speaking this sentence aloud He can come on Sundays as long as he doesnt have to do any homework in the evening.   Time required? Probably about five  seconds. Wait a minute- the first sentence is much shorter than the second sentence! The beautiful Mountain appeared transfixed in the distance.  (14 syllables)He can come on Sundays as long as he doesnt have to do any homework in the evening.  (22 syllables) Even though the second sentence is approximately 30 percent longer than the first, the sentences take the same time to speak. This is because there are five stressed words in each sentence. From this example, you can see that you neednt worry about pronouncing every word clearly to be understood (we native speakers certainly dont). You should, however, concentrate on pronouncing the stressed words clearly. This simple exercise makes a very important point about how we speak and use English. Namely, English is considered a stressed language while many other languages are considered syllabic. What does that mean? It means that, in English, we give stress to certain words while other words are quickly spoken (some students say eaten!). In other languages, such as French or Italian, each syllable receives equal importance (there is stress, but each syllable has its own length). Many speakers of syllabic languages dont understand why we quickly speak, or swallow, a number of words in a sentence. In syllabic languages, each syllable has equal importance, and therefore equal time is needed. English however, spends more time on specific stressed words while quickly gliding over the other, less important, words. Simple Exercise to Help With Understanding The following exercise can be used by students and teachers to further help with pronunciation by focusing on the stressing content words rather than function words in the exercise below. Lets look at a simple example: The modal verb can. When we use the positive form of can we quickly glide over the can and it is hardly pronounced. They can come on Friday. (stressed words in  italics) On the other hand, when we use the negative form cant we tend to stress the fact that it is the negative form by also stressing cant. They cant come on Friday.  (stressed words in  italics) As you can see from the above example the sentence, They cant come on Friday is longer than They can come on Friday because both the modal cant and the verb come are stressed. Understanding Which Words to Stress To begin, you need to understand which words we generally stress and which we do not stress. Stress words are considered content words such as: Nouns (e.g., kitchen, Peter)(Most) main verbs   (e.g., visit, construct)Adjectives  (e.g., beautiful, interesting)Adverbs (e.g., often, carefully)Negatives including negative helping verbs, and words with no such as nothing, nowhere, etc.  Words expressing quantities (e.g., a lot of, a few, many, etc.) Non-stressed words are considered function words  such as: Determiners (e.g., the, a, some, a few)Auxiliary verbs (e.g., dont, am, can, were)Prepositions (e.g.,  before, next to, opposite)Conjunctions (e.g., but, while, as)Pronouns (e.g., they, she, us)Verbs have and be even when used as main verbs Practice Quiz Test your knowledge by identifying which words are content words and should be stressed in the following sentences: Theyve been learning English for two months.My friends have nothing to do this weekend.I would have visited in April if I had known Peter was in town.Natalie will have been studying for four hours by six oclock.The boys and I will spend the weekend next to the lake fishing for trout.Jennifer and Alice had finished the report before it was due last week. Answers: Words in italics are stressed content words while unstressed function words are in lower case. Theyve  been learning English for two months.My friends have nothing to do this weekend.I would have visited  in April  if i had known Peter was in town.Natalie will have been studying  for fours hours  by six oclock.The boys and i will spend the weekend next to the lake fishing for trout.Jennifer and Alice had finished the report before it was due last week. Continue Practicing Speak to your native English speaking friends and listen to how we concentrate on the stressed words rather than giving importance to each syllable. As  you begin to listen and use stressed words, you will discover words you thought you didnt understand are really not crucial for understanding the sense or making yourself understood. Stressed words are the key to excellent pronunciation and understanding of English. After students have learned basic  consonant  and vowel sounds, they should move  on to learning to differentiate between individual sounds by using  minimal pairs. Once they are comfortable with individual words, they should move on to intonation and  stress exercises  such as  sentence markup. Finally, students can take the next step by  choosing a focus word to help further improve their pronunciation.

Charlotte Beer's CEO Ogilvy and Mather Worldwide Essay - 21

Charlotte Beer's CEO Ogilvy and Mather Worldwide - Essay Example This paper illustrates that Ogilvy Mather (O&M) is one of the worldwide leading adverting agencies. When Beer took over as the new CEO and Chairman, the organization was on the verge of collapsing. Notably, the organization, there was a breakdown in communication channels, and the overall performance of the organization had significantly deteriorated. According to Beer, the efforts to restructure the organization back to its initial position were messy, painful and chaotic. While introducing the change within the management tier, the "Brand Stewardship" faced enormous challenges. Beer stewardship refers to the new agency philosophy that was intended to build brands within the organization. Sadly, the philosophy was poorly understood due to various communication shortcomings. Firstly, when Beer took over there was great excitement and a time to introduce change was ripe. In her first attempt at launching stewardship, she concentrated much on involving customers and investors. While th is could be a strategy to regain back the lost customers and invite new investors to the organization, the need to create a motivated staff should have formed the primary responsibility. In addition, customers had opted out of the organization due to inconsistency and fall in products quality. Matha & Boehm state that the standards of service are proportional to the staff capability and motivation. Certainly, the focus should have been a direct two-way communication with the employees. In addition, Beer greatest undoing was an uncertainty of who to seek help from in charting a new organization discourse. In fact, the press and companies focused on her solo effort in bringing up Beer Stewardship. Lack of teamwork and shared decision-making contributed to the slow development of the change program. In any organizational change strategy, the stakeholders must be involved in needs identification.

Manager interview Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Manager interview - Essay Example Richard Branson has expanded his entrepreneurial efforts and diversified his companies to more than 30 countries that include Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, United States, Europe and South Africa. Some of the companies under Virgin Group include Virgin Atlantic airlines, Virgin Media, Virgin Trains, Virgin Music, Virgin Radio, Virgin mobile USA, Virgin Cola, and Virgin Brides (Hellriegel and Slocum 35). Branson engages in several sporting activities as evidenced by crossing of the Atlantic in Virgin Atlantic Challenger II in 1986, hot air balloon crossing in 1987 and sponsorship of various sporting events and teams across the world. Richard Branson is in the top management of Virgin Group and has both human skills and conceptual skills. He has diversified the operations of the companies through various strategies in order to attain high global market share. He has effectively managed organizational behavior through influencing the efforts of employees, transformational leadership , commitment to the organizational objective, motivating the staff and ensuring effective communication in the organization. Accordingly, Richard Branson is good at decision-making and management of stress in the organization (Hellriegel and Slocum 36). ... Answer: Richard Branson claimed that he is capable of controlling negative feelings and emotions. He claimed that he was open to challenges, new experiences and perceives failures as learning opportunities. Richard Branson went further to assert that emotional intelligence entails self-awareness, respect for others and emotional stability in order to regulate both one’s emotions and those of colleagues in the organization. . c) What are the critical values that are central to your success as a business leader? Answer: He outlined that commitment, self-confidence, tolerance, persuasiveness and positive attitude are some of the values that have enabled him grow successful enterprises and enter competitive niche markets across several industries. He claimed that his commitment to success is evident in his record-breaking crossing of Virgin Atlantic and numerous innovative products that Virgin Group has offered to its clients. d) How do you deal and handle criticism? Answer: He cl aimed that he perceives criticism as productive and essential to innovativeness and creativity. He is positive about constructive criticism and is open to challenges and new ideas that aim at ensuring organizational learning and implementation of innovative solutions to various societal problems. e) What is your approach to management of conflicts in your organization? Answer: Richard Branson started by outlining that conflicts in the organization are inevitable due to task conflicts, differences in personality, cultural differences and differing opinions. He claimed that he is capable of making conflicts constructive through enabling conflicting parties understand the sources of conflicts, encouraging cooperation and collaboration in solving the conflicts