Learn American English

Speaking English is essential for business and communication. This section Positive Family Initiative is geared at helping people who are learning English as a second language.

Pronunciation

In American English word stress is so much more obvious so If you are learning English, listening to American English can help you to pick up details about pronunciation and stress.

A general rule about stress in a word is that it tends to fall on the first part of the word.

For example:

CONnect
TAble
DRIving
TESTing

This rule changes for four sylable words.Here the stress is applied to the second sylable:

For example:

peDEStrian
comMUnicate
exCEPtional
imMEdiate

The way to create the stress in the word is not so much about speaking it more powerfully or louder, it is simply by making that part of the word slower.

This does not mean that you say the word very slowly at that stage, just lengthen the sylable a little more than you would say the rest of the word.

A good way to see if you can accentuate the stress correctly is to whisper the word, if you are lengthening the right section of the word, the stress will still show up.

For some great resources on writing in English
- Follow this link! Click Here

Speaking and Listening

Speaking and Listening skills are aquired differently to those that you aquire while writing. First of all it is more immediate, you have to relax enough to allow your mind to search for the words that you know and then attempt to say them.

This is all so easy in your first language but when you are learning a second languabe this can become a barrier. Many times people who are learning a second language can be very familiar with a large vocabulary but not comfortable about speaking.

The best way to deal with this problem is to start talking. Don't worry too much about mistakes, without making them you will not make it to the next stage where you have begun to iron out your errors.

Great Vocabulary Builder Click Here! and find yourself improving your language skills with Listening and Vocabulary from this great course.

Includes:

an mp3 file containing with 20 listening lessons.

listening activities, vocabulary practice, answers and full transcripts for the twenty lessons.

In just a few minutes, you could be improving your understanding of real English

Evangelia Zonnios has been an ESL teacher for seven years and has taught ESL in Higher Education Institutions and along with her husband, she has conducted her own teaching school.