English language Archives - Page 3 of 3 - Communication and Beyond

Grammar- to focus or not to focus

Business Emails, English language, Uncategorized, Writing Skills / Archana Parmar

Whether we are talking about a ten year old who is about to sit for his English test paper or whether we are talking about a thirty year old who is attempting to write a thesis for master’s degree, we cannot turn down the fact that picking up proper English grammar is important. Whenever we discuss English grammar, the prompt reaction of many people I know is to cringe. They are reminded of junior high and high school English class and the way that their English teachers made them to English grammar exercise after exercise. Surprisingly, English grammar is usually seen in such a negative sense, it is all the more important that people replace those lies with the truth that learning English grammar really is important for anyone who wants to have a proper perspective of the English language. When we learn to communicate in English, not too many of us take the time to think about the fact that English grammar is the very thing that allows us to communicate with and understand one another. It is not so much because we use the same words of the English language, but it is because we all put our words together in certain ways to form thoughts and sentences that we can understand each other. This, in short, is the purpose of English grammar. English grammar is the mechanics of the English language that allows for two people who use the same vocabulary to be able to communicate without misunderstanding. Certainly there will always be some level of misunderstanding that happens when two people communicate, but so much of our problems will be lessened if we all take some time to learn English grammar. Many schools today are moving away from making English grammar a part of the regular curriculum. So while students may learn how to read and write successfully, they will likely never learn the English grammar or the reasons why they are speaking and writing as they are. So if you or someone you know is struggling with any element of the English language, or if you know a child or someone who is attempting to learn English for the first time, then make sure English grammar is included as an important PART of the learning process. Being able to speak, understand and write a language is an important part of being successful no matter what you do in life. And taking the time to learn even the basics of English grammar will go far in helping people communicate even better. Book your Free 30 mins call with me to know how my 3-step approach will help you in becoming an effective communicator of English Language.

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What is your purpose of learning Business English ?

2 Comments / Business English, Communication, Presentations, Uncategorized, Writing Skills / Archana Parmar

So you decided to advance your conversational skills in English? Congratulations. Improving your language skills can be a great way to move into a better job or even get the job you’ve been dreaming of for a long time. But, have you asked yourself this very important question? Exactly what profile/industry are you aiming for? This is a question many English language learners never really ask! Why am I asking you this question? You see the language we use changes depending on the situation. The type of industry, the work environment, and many other factors will influence the language used in one field from another. Of course some language and communication purposes stay the same, but a lot is different. This isn’t really too hard to understand, but let’s look at a simple example to simplify what I’m talking about here. Imagine two people who work for different companies in different industries. One works for http://microsoft.com as a programmer in the IT industry, and another works as a check-in attendant for Ethiad Airways in the airline transportation industry. Both require business English, but quite clearly the language the programmer uses to talk with “client/colleague/partner” will be very different from the language the check-in attendant uses. You won’t hear the programmer asking a client “Do you want an aisle or window seat?” very often. Nor will you find an airline attendant telling his or her supervisor that the latest sub-routine has a bug in it that is causing client’s computers to crash. This just makes simple sense. The work you do, the place you work, and the people you work with will all affect the language that you use on a daily basis. So, when you are studying English for business purposes, you need to remember a very important thing. You need to study the general business English that will be common in most business situations, but you also need to focus on the language that is specific to the business world that you will be working in. A combination of both of these is critical to your success. If you cannot use the language of your industry because you don’t really know it, you will have a very hard time getting (or keeping) a job. Pro tip: when learning Business English make sure it industry specific as well. What’s the Difference Between Business English and General English? Drop me a line at archana@archanaparmar.com to learn about the ways you can incorporate industry specific content to your Business English lessons.

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3 reasons you cannot speak fluent english

Business English, Communication, English language, Non-verbal, Presentations, Speaking Skills, Uncategorized / Archana Parmar

Speaking skills cover a wide range, from engaging in simple conversation to formal public speaking. It certainly plays a vital role in communication process. It is the most important type from the types of linguistic activities. Developing speaking skills help in creating an effective connection among the individuals’ network. Yeah! I am getting overtly expressive with the importance of speaking skills. Now some technical part, speaking is a complicated mental process and a productive skill. Producing speech is not a single skill, rather speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing, receiving and processing information. Effective Speaking includes two categories; accuracy and fluency. This means that developing speaking skill involves the correct use of vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation and having the ability to speak spontaneously. Doing all of this at the same time brings in the ‘unwanted guest’ here: ANXIETY. Speaking is affected by these variables; therefore, foreign language speaking anxiety is one of the most prominent factors that has a negative influence on the oral performance of speakers of other language learning English whether as a second language or a foreign Language. Anxiety is a negative way to present human feelings. When we are anxious we feel nervous, worried and fearful. It is usually associated with unpleasant feeling and is similar to fear. Anxiety in communicating in a second language, especially when that language is English can have an adverse effect and can influence the speakers’ targeted goals. There can be different reasons behind these anxiety attacks: Lack of preparation Feeling of covering too many points in a short period of time Fear of being judged by the audience Now that we know the problem, let’s have a look at the solutions to cure these problems. Identify your fears: you can’t work on improving yourself until you identify the problems. Introspection is the key here. Accept the problems and share your feelings with others or write them down- read aloud for as long as you are unaffected by how it sounds. Mistakes are the best way to learn so that we are less likely to keep making them. The most important step is to keep practicing. Always remember you are learning to master a second or may be a third language while many native speakers do not even speak a second language. Schedule a free 30 minutes session with me to understand how you can overcome this anxiety. Or write to me at archana@archanaparmar.com

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7 steps to better Email Writingbuei

2 Comments / Business Emails, Business English, Communication, Vocabulary, Writing Skills / Archana Parmar

Professional emails are an important part of Business Writing. Nowadays, there are very few jobs that do not involve the daily use of emails, and due to the pandemic and remote working concept the adoption of lean media conversation is of unparalleled significance. We all know that the medium of communication in the business world is mostly English, also known as Business English. Emails have become an inseparable part of our business communication. Whether we are at office, co-workspace, or working from home, one thing that we keep checking/sending/responding to, is email. Email is incredibly important in the Business Communication. In order to make your emails communicate well, you must write them effectively. Business emails tend to serve two purposes: a. Giving information b. Asking for information. To make sure your emails do justice to these two purposes, follow the 7 steps to effective business email. Always start your email with a greeting (being polite is important in business). Tell the recipient who you are (state your name and how you would like to be recognized as). Clearly state the purpose of email (clear sentence to the point). Provide essential details (mention the attachments as well). Do state what action is needed. Close the email with suitable sign-offs Don’t forget to end with your signature. When the main purpose of your email is to communicate a problem and your proposed way to resolve it, you can follow the SCRAP structure. Situation: Start positively, explain the situation and your purpose for the email Complication: explain clearly the problem Resolution: explain your proposed solution to the problem Action: clearly state what you would like to happen next, the actions for the recipient and for you Politeness: includes thanking or praising the recipient. Write Better! Drop your email address here or drop me a message at archana@archanaparmar.com to join my free email writing course to learn more about writing better emails.

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Are you sabotaging your professional communication with these mistakes?

Communication, English language, Presentations, Speaking Skills, Uncategorized / Archana Parmar

Most of us are English-medium pass-outs, yet we mumble-fumble when it comes to express ourselves in English language. Ever thought of it? Most of the non-native speakers have learnt or studied the English language as a subject and not as a life skill, this contributes to the incompetency or the lack of confidence while communicating in English language and this very lack of confidence affects not just our job performance but also our capabilities as a professional (we all are afraid of being wrong/being judged/made fun of). To a great extent it hampers our growth as an individual. Different people have different problems, to some it is just about not getting the appropriate vocabulary, some find the words stuck in their throat, others doubt their usage of the correct tense, and then there are some who unconsciously use fillers. Fillers, most commonly seen, add to the break in your speech. They serve no purpose, fillers are better labeled as empty pauses. If you use- ‘ummmm, uhhhh, well, you know, ahaa,’ frequently… you know what I mean. Most of the times, the speaker doesn’t even realize that he/she is using these fillers. These empty pauses become a habit. This habit broadcasts insecurity and stifle effective communication. Fortunately, language problems are easy to identify and fix. All you need to do is start talking consciously. Talk slow- consciously- notice in what situations you take these fillers. Whenever you are on the verge of using any filler- You take a pause. Confident speakers pause, pausing as the punctuation of speech, a period is a pause when you’re reading, so are the colons, and the commas. PS: an easy method to get rid of these empty fillers is to record yourself and listen to it. Most commonly used fillers are: ah, um, actually, literally, I mean, like, you know, only, etc. Drop me line here or shoot an email at archana@archanaparmar.com if you want to know more about the tips and tools to become a confident speaker.

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Presentation Skills

Communication, English language, Presentations, Speaking Skills / Archana Parmar

Myth- Great speakers are born; well some of them are certainly gifted, they are born with the ability to stand in front of people and deliver a dynamic speech. While others, the not so gifted great speakers, they usually have invested years of their life in developing and practising their oratorical skills. These are the people who have been through the continuous process of learning, unlearning, and re-learning the basics of Public- Speaking. Just like your favourite sports-star or your favourite film-star, your favourite speaker also puts in great deal of time and efforts. Yes, presentations are a part of Public Speaking with a specialized audience; here the audience is well aware of the topics, intricacies, terminology, outcome, methodology of the topic. The whole concept of these presentations is as old as the Aristotle and Socrates’ times, it is just that the advent of technology has glorified it to its ‘modern work skill’ form. I have put the essentials of Presentation Skills in three pillars- Assess your speaking skills Plan and Prepare your presentation Deliver you presentation effectively Assess your speaking skills: With response to an individual’s behaviour towards Public Speaking, the speakers can be categorized in four groups: Avoider- This group avoids every single opportunity to be on stage to interact with audience. to network or talk to strangers to be in lime-light. Resister- Speakers who belong to this group may resist to be called upon to address an audience, they may unwillingly accept to interact with an audience if it gets an unavoidable situation altogether. Acceptor- This is the group for people who take up the role of the speaker as a part of their job. They occasionally offer to deliver presentations. Seeker- as the name itself suggests, they always seek the opportunities to speak. The difference between all of these categories is the way they manage their stress and anxiety. For avoiders, the anxiety creates roadblocks, whereas, for the seekers, it fuels their passion. Plan and prepare your presentation: Well planned is half done, it applies in the case of presentations as well. Plan everything about the event, right from your personal appearance to your outline and the details of your presentation. Personal appearance- plan everything- keep your attire according to the occasion, colour coordination, hairdo, footwear, accessories. I would like to add a note for the people who wear glasses- wear them if them you really need them during the event or you may invest in a pair of rim-less glasses for such occasions. Prepare your presentation- start with your ‘Why’- why do you need to create this presentation Who is your audience Where would you be delivering this When- time What- all would it be covering How- methodology. Working on these ‘WH’ questions will help you in creating a solid structure of your presentation. Body of presentation- Brainstorm all the possible ideas you can think of, related to the topic of the presentation. Prioritize these ideas and shortlist 3-5 topics (depending on the time allotted to you). Write these ideas and 3+1 bullet points hinting what would you be talking about for explaining these ideas. Rehearse- a full dress rehearsal will help you prepare for the actual event. Practice using a conversational tone, humour (in context), avoid chasing perfection- rather develop your own style of presentation. Delivery of the presentation: There is only one way of delivering any presentation effectively, i.e, engage with your audience. The way you connect and engage with your audience plays a key role in delivering a successful presentation. You should be able to communicate not just your word but you enthusiasm as well if you as a speaker want them to be enthusiastic about your ideas. Here, your non-verbal communication and your body language come to play. “It is not just what you say, but the way you say”, makes all the difference. Pay attention to your: Style- choose conversational style of speaking. Movement- move around to connect with them effectively and it will also let your energy flowing. Hand-gestures Facial expressions Voice-tone, pitch, fillers Posture Pace Pauses Learn to listen to your own self- it will tell you how you say what you say. Concluding a presentation: Be open to take up questions at the end of the presentation Be attentive to your audience’s questions and concerns Be honest with them is you don’t know any answer, tell them that you will get back to them and do get back to them. Feel free to Like, comment, share. Drop me a line @ archana@archanaparmar.com if you want to learn more about delivering effective presentations or to improve presentation skills.

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Impromptu Speaking- a skill to learn

36 Comments / Communication, English language, Presentations, Speaking Skills, Uncategorized / Archana Parmar

What is impromptu speaking? Impromptu speaking is giving an unprepared talk. The typical characteristic of this form of speech is the unprepared delivery and the suddenness with which a person is confronted with a speech situation. Impromptu speaking is often conducted at those times when a person is called upon without warning ―to say a few words mostly at social/professional gatherings. Many people assume that impromptu speaking is easy. In reality impromptu speaking is extremely difficult. There are methods, however, if used properly, will enable a person to perform acceptably on the spur of the moment. The thought of public speaking intimidates many people. This fear can be reduced to a good extent when there is time to prepare and practice before getting up in front of an audience. What happens, though, when there is not time to prepare? When you are asked to speak without notice? This can make the most confident presenters nervous. The key to success in these situations is to have strategies you can use to compose your thoughts quickly and communicate the message clearly. Becoming skilled at impromptu speaking can give you the self-confidence you need to give a last-minute presentation, sail through a challenging meeting, or convince others of your ideas. You can build your personal brand when you learn to speak effectively under pressure. It can also equip you with the techniques to conduct a successful question and answer session or make important connections at a networking event. By developing this skill, you can learn to speak with eloquence, humor and confidence, and you’ll ensure that you can communicate your messages clearly. This can be very advantageous as you pursue future leadership roles in near future. The easiest way to prepare for impromptu situations is to anticipate. Anticipating situations where you may be asked to speak unexpectedly. However, it certainly is not practically possible to anticipate every possible situation in your personal as well as professional life, so having a couple strategies to deal with those unexpected situations or to be able to handle those situations effectively, it is better to anticipate, prepare and practice for an unforeseen opportunity to speak. While preparing for these impromptu conversations, consider the two most common scenarios that people face: Being asked to share your thoughts, answer some questions Give an update, on a project/filling in for someone, without being told ahead of time. How would you feel if you face either of these situations? How do you deal these? What do you do? What do you say? How do you say it? What if you can’t think of anything worthwhile to say? ***** Let’s take you through this, for that, start with brainstorming… You may have many ideas, thoughts, expressions, fears, anxiety and opinions running through your mind when you are chosen to speak in front of a group. The first thing you must must and must do is to calm yourself down in order to convey your thoughts in a coherence and cohesion. Take a deep breath or two. That should always be the first thing to do. A common mistake most people make is that they start speaking before they have gathered their thoughts. Give yourself enough time absorb and observe the question or topic you are supposed to talk about. These deep breaths are strategically put to help you collect yourself and your ideas. It slows you down, relaxes you, and makes you appear more in control of the situation. As a personal brand you don’t want to project yourself as overtly anxious/nervous/perplexed. In this short time span, or this window of opportunity, try to interpret what is being asked in the question or request and why you? Repeat the question yourself before answering or better if you can rephrase the question or changing it slightly into what you want to answer. Ask for clarification if you have not understood the question, it will help you be more specific about the answer. At this point you may even ask the speaker to explain it in simpler words. Deal with one aspect/one point of view/ one topic and one supporting piece of information at a time. Remember: This technique gives you focus and allows you to answer accurately and with conviction. Say it clearly. Do remember: the way you say something is almost as important as what you say. Speak in a confident voice (not just a loud voice!) Use pauses strategically to emphasize a point Avoid sounding monotonous Maintain the eye contact with your audience When you convert your thoughts into coherent speech you are making a conscious effort of making yourself heard. You come across as being confident, persuasive and trustworthy. So by now, you might have had a fairly good idea how to handle situations where you are asked to respond to a question/situation extempore. Moving on to the situation where you are being asked to deliver an extempore speech. It is indeed difficult to prepare for an unknown topic, but you can prepare a method to deal with such encounters. One system of doing this is to have in mind various orders by which to develop your ideas. For example, you are asked to talk about ‘Family’. Here, you can talk about the this term indifferent contexts- family as social unit, your family members, values, importance of having a family, structure of family (joint/nuclear), extended family, professional family- your organization/department/unit. In addition to all these, you may also talk about things like: Why is this topic important to your audience? Give a back-story of the importance and relevance of having a family. What are the overall effects of your topic (such as,________) on your audience, the state, the nation, the world? What are the effects geographically? What are the effects politically? What are the effects economically? What are the effects socially? What are the effects religiously? What are the effects educationally? What are the effects morally? What are the effects agriculturally? What are the effects emotionally and

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How to use dictionary and make friends with words

14 Comments / Communication, English language, Vocabulary / Archana Parmar

Making friends with words! Since a language is made up of thousands of individual words, it must be important to know about those words, and know in detail. The moment we meet a new word (it’s meaning), we think of a dictionary. Dictionary is not just a guide full of words with their meanings. – A reference book on a particular subject, the items of which are typically arranged in alphabetical order. -a similar book giving equivalent words in two languages -a work of informative character arranged alphabetically That’s what we all believe it to be. Well it is more than that, much more than that. A dictionary is one of the most effective, easily available, and reliable teaching aid in a language classroom. It helps us to learn about words- In addition to these, dictionaries also provide the details about the origin or roots of words and examples of using the words. The guide words – words given at the top of each page. The first guide word is the first word on a page and the guide word at the top of the page is the last word on the page. Using the guide words, you should find the word you are looking for easily. It will be between those words. To be a good dictionary user, however, it is not enough to know what to use the dictionary for. You must also decide which is the best dictionary for any of the purposes mentioned above. As well as, you need to be able to find what you are looking for quickly; you need to be sure that you have found what you were looking for; and, most importantly, you need to know when to use your dictionary. If you look up every new word you see or hear, you will spend your whole day with the dictionary in your hand. You have to be clever and choose the right words to check and the right time to do it. The following advice can be followed to check when to use the dictionary. When you find a new word while reading, finish the sentence (better: the paragraph). If you haven’t guessed the meaning and it still seems important, then you can look it up. When you hear a new word, wait and continue listening. What the speaker says next may help you to understand the word. If you look in your dictionary at the very moment, you will not hear what comes next, and this will make understanding the context more and more difficult. If you think the word is very important, you could note it down or write how you think it is spelled. Then later you could ask the speaker or look up in the dictionary to see what it means. Meeting someone and knowing the words they spoke and their meanings are seldom enough, when communication skills are the most sought after skills in today’s world, depth and interaction are necessary if the meeting is to be meaningful. That’s where our word bank (vocabulary) comes into play. Use dictionary as a medium for knowing the words and remember that words are not learnt mechanically, but associatively. Dictionaries are readily available, flexible, and inexpensive, also UNDER-USED. We expand our understanding of the word meanings by interchanging and sharing them with others. Learning words is a relational process. Would you interested in learning more about vocabulary building? Drop me a line at archana@archanaparmar.com or leave a comment.

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Are you Suffering from Mute English?

29 Comments / Communication, English language, Speaking Skills / Archana Parmar

Mute English Let’s talk about some moments that can make or break your impression especially the first one. You have been waiting for this moment! You are supposed to introduce a new idea/product to your audience. Excitement!!! You are called by your manager to discuss the appraisals forms. This is the interview, you’ve been preparing for! You finally managed to schedule a meeting with that special someone! You are with a premium potential client you’ve been eyeing on. It is time to talk about what you have been planning for a long time. You know what you are going to say, you are confident of the facts and figures that you are going to talk about. BUT… your brain freeze of words. The words simply refused to come out of your throat!!! You feel like words are choking inside!!! Have YOU EXPERIENCED this? It feels nerve wrenching! Yes, you have. Don’t worry… I know how it feels as I have experienced this couple of times. I am writing this for you to help you overcome the ‘MUTE ENGLISH’ also known as ‘DUMB ENGLISH’. It hasn’t helped you so far, trust me it isn’t going to help in future as well, at all. Mute English is a term coined to describe a phenomenon where a person can read and understand the English language as a second, third or foreign language but cannot speak it well. Now you understand what I am talking about. Don’t you? Next I want to bring your attention to the reason behind this. Why do we get stuck for words or why do we go mute while speaking? It happens for reasons such as : • You can’t think of an appropriate word for what you want to say next. • You experience momentary brain freeze of words and phrases. • You haven’t been working on your active vocabulary. • You experience nervousness or anxiety. • You have a fear of being wrong/fear of being judged/fear of saying something right in a wrong way. None of these deserve to become a hurdle in your way to success. Mute English occurs because you have been told to put an emphasis on literacy, grammar, and correctness in language education. What you need to remember is that you are using a language which is not your first language. So the easiest approach to break the pattern of mute English is to build and practice your active vocabulary. All of us have two types of vocabulary: passive as well as active. Active vocabulary: words from the target language that we use actively in the speech producing skills i.e., speaking and writing. Passive vocabulary: we understand many words as and when we come across them while reading, listening, but we don’t use them while speaking or writing. This results in the loss of retaining that word in our active vocabulary. You need to bring more and more words in your active vocabulary; frequent use of these words will make you comfortable with the usage and retention of the same in your active list. Remember: Rome was not built in a day. Developing active vocabulary will require time and dedication. * Start adding 6 new words a week (trust me it is practical and possible). * Learn the words in association (do not just learn the meaning but also the usage) * Learn new words in relation to the context. * Start with learning synonyms of most commonly used words. For example: the word ‘important’ is the one that I use frequently, so I started developing my active vocabulary by learning 6 synonyms of the word “important”. Important * essential *vital *significant *crucial *influential *necessary Next, I looked at the usage and purpose of all these words. • Building the list of active words and practising the same is important to build vocabulary. • Building the list of active words and practising the same is essential to build vocabulary. • Building the list of active words and practising the same is influential to build vocabulary. • Building the list of active words and practising the same is necessary to build vocabulary. • Building the list of active words and practising the same is crucial to build vocabulary. • Building the list of active words and practising the same is vital to build vocabulary. * Building the list of active words and practising the same is significant to build vocabulary. (www.thesaurus.com has played an important role in helping me overcome the phenomenon of mute English). Stages of learning a second, third or foreign language Stephen Krashen divides the process of second-language acquisition into five stages: 1. Pre-production 2. Early production 3. Speech emergence 4. Intermediate fluency 5. Advanced fluency The first stage, pre-production, is also known as the silent period. Here, the learners start with a receptive vocabulary of up to 500 words all basic ones, but they do not yet speak their second language. Surprisingly, not all learners go through a silent period. Some learners start speaking straight away, with the distorted meanings most of the time, but they are able to recall those few words. In the second stage, the learners are able to speak in short phrases of one or two words. They can also remember chunks of language, although they may make mistakes when using them. Vocabulary is around 1000 words. The third stage learners have their vocabulary increased to around 3000 words, and they can communicate using simple questions and phrases with grammatical errors. Stage four learners have a vocabulary of approximately 6000 words, and can use complicated sentence structures. They are also able to share their thoughts and opinions in the second language, English here. At the fifth or the final stage, the learners can function at a level close to native speakers. The overall process of learning and mastering a second or a foreign language is more of a thought process and the development of self-awareness, rather than academic qualifications or certifications. Be observant of your

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How to learn the rhythm of English Language

26 Comments / Communication, English language / Archana Parmar

Whether we like it or not, people who articulate well, both privately and in front of a group, are generally perceived to be more intelligent and possess greater leadership qualities. -Zig Ziglar English is a language of rhythm where the speaker alternates between stressed and unstressed words at regular intervals, with the stresses falling within content words. Learn to identify the content words and syllables to be stressed in those words. Rhythm- the way stressed and unstressed syllables make patterns in speech. While speaking in English language, we usually give more stress to content words, mainly nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs, and less stress-to the supporting words, such as pronouns, determiners, prepositions, conjunctions and auxiliary verbs. The content words help us create an image in our head; they give us the main idea of the story and tell the listener where to focus his or her attention. Practising this helps our listener to be able to grasp the main content of our speech. Hence, it is highly recommended that we make the content words easier to hear by bringing attention to them, i.e, by stressing them. Samantha is going to chair the meeting. On the other hand, the supporting words (also called the grammatical support or function words) are the words that are used to make our sentences grammatically appropriate. If we do not make the appropriate use of the supporting words in our sentences, our listener would still get the main idea of what we are saying with little bit of difficulty but it certainly will not make us a proficient user of English Language. Samantha chair meeting. Once you learn to differentiate between content words and function words and use the same appropriately, it will be easier for you to learn the rhythm of speaking English Language by focusing on the stressed and unstressed syllables of those content words. In every sentence we have stressed (content words) and unstressed (supporting words) words, it is the combination of these two that creates the melody or the rhythm in the language. The stressed words are the ones where we emphasize or say a syllable or word more strongly as compared to the other parts of the word or sentence, which makes those “stressed” syllables and words more noticeable. While unstressed remain unnoticeable or they are not supposed to stand out from the rest of the words in a sentence. When it comes to ‘stressed words’, they are put in two categories: Syllable stress Word stress According to the Oxford dictionary, “syllable is a unit of pronunciation having one vowel sound, with or without surrounding consonants, forming the whole or a part of a word; for example, there are two syllables in water and three in inferno.” While speaking English language, stressed syllables are louder than non-stressed syllables. Also, they are longer and have a higher pitch.Whereas grammatical words (such as auxiliary verbs, prepositions, pronouns, articles,…) usually do not receive any stress. Ironically, there is no rule about which syllable is stressed in a word with more than one syllable. You will need to learn the stress of words by heart. Word Stress: While stressing syllables in words, we use the following features. Such as: The stressed syllable is l-o-n-g-e-r The stressed syllable is LOUDER The stressed syllable is pronounced more clearly -The vowel sound is purer. The stressed syllable engages larger facial movements – especially wide opened mouth/jaw/lips. The stressed syllable has a Change in pitch, which means it is spoken at a higher pitch than the syllables coming before and afterwards. While the word stress is accent on one syllable within a word, Sentence stress is accent on certain words within a sentence, which gives a rhythm to spoken English. It gives music to the language and at the same time it changes the speed at which we speak or listen to the language. Given below is an example of how the sentence stress can change the meaning altogether. Veronica is driving to the venue. Veronica is driving to the venue. Veronica is driving to the venue. Veronica is driving to the venue. Veronica is driving to the venue. Veronica is driving to the venue. A learner who can balance the rhythm of the language is more likely to sound both natural and fluent speaker of English Language.

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