Stress and Thought Groups in American English Archives • Page 4 of 7 • English with Kim

The Difference Between Stress and Intonation, Why Intonation Matters, and Other Intonation Myths

You’ve probably noticed that I love talking about stress and intonation. In my opinion, speaking with clear stress and expressive intonation will help native speakers understand you better. You’ll communicate what you really mean, sound more natural, and feel more confident as a result. Even if you recognize that stress and intonation are important, you may feel confused about why they matter, what they communicate, or how to get started changing the way you use … Read the article and watch the video lesson

How to Say American Phone Numbers with the Right Stress and Intonation

Have you ever had to repeat yourself several times when giving your phone number in English? After all, accuracy matters! You want to make sure the other person gets the right number so they can actually reach you. How we say phone numbers varies from culture to culture and country to country. When I moved to Argentina, one of the first things I learned was how to give my phone number so that people would … Read the article and watch the video lesson

Sound More American When Speaking English – Three Simple Changes

Simple changes can often be the most effective. This is a guiding principle in most everything I do, including accent and communication coaching. So often we think that we need to make big, dramatic changes in order to get the results we want. This mindset can keep us from taking action because we think that we’re further from our goals than we actually are. When it comes to improving your accent and sounding more … Read the article and watch the video lesson

Pronounce Contractions in American English with Stress and Reductions

Because you study contractions early on in your English learning journey, you often learn them as “optional” ways to combine pronouns and helping verbs, or helping verbs and negatives. But they’re not really optional – they’re basically required if you want to sound natural when speaking English. That’s why you have to understand how and why we use contractions in normal speech. Let’s discuss how to say contractions naturally in American English by pronouncing them … Read the article and watch the video lesson

How to Communicate Clearly in English for Customer Service and Call Center Jobs

If you’re working as a customer service representative and interacting with a lot of native speakers on the phone or in person, you’re probably really concerned about clear communication in English. I recently received an awesome question from a member of this community who said: “It’s really important for me to sound like a native English speaker because I work as a customer service representative. For this reason I’m working on my communication skills. … Read the article and watch the video lesson

Train Your Ear to Hear English Rhythm and Melody

When I start working with my accent reduction clients on stress and intonation, there’s one comment I hear all the time: I never noticed this before. And then this question follows: Why did I never notice this before? Why did no one ever tell me that this was so important? Even for people who have lived in the US or other English speaking countries for many years, the importance of stress and intonation still comes … Read the article and watch the video lesson