Pronunciation — Word Stress in English
Wrong stress = misunderstanding. Before learning a new word, learn its stress pattern — mark it with a dot above the stressed syllable in your notes: PHO•to•graph.
Tag: Pronunciation
Intonation: Using Your Voice to Mean More
💬 From my own experience: Working the floor at Merivale, I learned that the same words said with different intonation can mean the opposite. 'Of course, sir' said with a falling tone means genuine agreement.…
Connected Speech: How English Really Sounds
💬 From my own experience: When I moved to La Réunion, French people told me my English was 'too clear' — meaning I spoke like a textbook, not a human. Connected speech is what happens…
Word Stress: Where to Put the BEAT
💬 From my own experience: In my sommelier training in Sydney, I once said 'deSERT' instead of 'DEssert' — ordering what I thought was a sweet and getting a sand dune. Stress changes meaning. That…
The Schwa: English’s Most Common Sound
💬 From my own experience: When I was learning French to C1, the nasal vowels were my nemesis. But when I turned to teaching English, I discovered most learners have the opposite problem: they pronounce…
LLFE-T04 · Drilling Done Right — Choral and Individual Drilling
📖 From the teacher's desk: In my CELTA observed lessons in Landerneau, drilling was the technique I had the most physical resistance to. It felt mechanical — almost old-fashioned. But watching it done well by…
Listening: Understanding Fast Native Speech (B2)
In natural speech, native speakers do not pronounce each word separately. They connect, reduce, and modify sounds to speak faster and more efficiently. This is called connected speech. There are four main features:
Pronunciation: Silent Letters in English (A2)
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English Bite — The /θ/ Sound: The One Nobody Gets Right
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Connected Speech — Why Native Speakers Are Hard to Understand
Natural English is not four separate words — it is one flowing sound