Lecture Four

Feeling at Home
 In today’s lecture…
• Review of last week’s lecture
• Syllable Stress
• Stress Rules
• The “schwa” Sound
• Emphatic Stress
• Listening for Main Ideas/ Details
• Today’s Focused Vocabulary
• Homework 
HOW we say it something
changes things
Tongue Twisters
Tongue Twisters are great because
they are hard to pronounce and so
they make you focus on how to say
each word.
English is Tough Stuff…
Dearest creature in creation,
Study English pronunciation.
I will teach you in my verse
Sounds like corpse, corps,
horse, and worse.
I will keep you, Suzy, busy,
Make your head with heat grow dizzy.
Tear in eye, your dress will tear.
So shall I! Oh hear my prayer.
Expressing an Opinion Politely
“I think…” = my opinion

There are many different ways

to tell someone your opinion.

Indirect = high manner

might, could, if… or a question

Neutral = a softer “no”

Direct = a strong “no”

= it is OK to use if you disagree about something you
think is morally wrong, dangerous, etc.
What could you say?
Disagreeing with manner… or no
manner
Very indirect
Does your mother like your hair cut?
Do you think it is safe?
You might not want to do that.

Neutral
I wouldn’t do that if I were you.
If I were you I wouldn’t wear that dress.
To tell you the truth, I don’t really like your hair.
I have to say, I don’t think it is so good.

Very direct
No, I think your dog is ugly.
You’re wrong.
What were you thinking? I would never go bridge jumping!
Last Day’s Focused
Vocabulary • polite
• influence • manner
• mispronounce • usually
• proper • moral
• pronunciation • wrong
• agreement • truth
• disagreement • solve
• boredom • symbol
• lack • rise
• self-evaluation • fall
• evaluation • direct
• express • indirect
• opinion • neutral
Now on to today’s
lecture…
 A Syllable… what is
it?!
A syllable is a part of a word.
In English, a syllable has one vowel sound and may
have several consonant sounds.

(An easy way to count syllables is to count how many

times your chin drops when you say the word.)
Waiting = wai [chin drops here] ting = 2 syllables

Vowel: a, e, i, o, u
Consonant: the others letters of the alphabet (b, c, d..)
How many syllables do you
hear?
• friendship
• sister
• home
• participation
• tongue
• twister
• syllable
• practice
• English
 Syllable Stress
In English, one syllable in each word is stressed
more than the other syllable..

Unstressed syllables
vs. stressed syllables

Stressed syllable:
longer, louder, higher intonation
Practice Syllable Stress in
Words
Page 27
 Stress Rules
Rule #1: 2 syllable words
Rule #2: prefixes & suffixes
They are usually not stressed.
Noun = stress 1st syllable
(person/place/thing) Example:
Prefix = un~, im~
Verb = stress 2nd syllable Suffix= ~ed, ~ing
(action word)
walking
present present talked
Object object unhappy
Record record
 The “schwa” Sound
The schwa sound is very similar to the
• about short /u/ sound, but it is softer and
weaker.
• but
The schwa phonics sound is the /uh/
• the sound of a vowel in an unstressed
syllable.
• medium It is the most common vowel sound in
• harmony spoken English.
The “schwa” Sound
Page 33
Practice Pronouncing
the “schwa” Sound
Page 34
At the Big Race
A: He won’t win.
B: Who won’t?
A: He won’t.
B: He will win.
A: He won’t win.
B: He will!
A: He won’t!
B: I hope he wins.
A: I hope he loses.
B: He won’t lose.
A: He will lose.
B: You’re wrong.
A: You’re wrong.
B: He’s won!
A: Who’s won?
B: He’s won!
A: He did?!
A Stressed Race
A: He won’t win.
B: Who won’t? Sometimes we use stress when we
A: He won’t. want to correct wrong information or
B: He will win. to contrast what someone else said.
A: He won’t win.
B: He will! Example:
A: He won’t! You’re wrong. -> You’re wrong.
B: I hope he wins.
A: I hope he loses.
B: He won’t lose.
A: He will lose.
B: You’re wrong.
A: You’re wrong.
B: He’s won!
A: Who’s won?
B: He’s won!
A: He did?!
Emphatic Stress
A: I won’t pass. (no underline)
B: You will pass.
A: You’ll pass.
B: I don’t know. (no underline)
A: You won’t fail.
B: I might fail.
A: I might fail.
B: The exam’s not so hard.
A: It’s very hard.
B: But not that hard.
A: Too hard for me.
B: But you’re very clever.
A: You’re the clever one.
Listening for Main
Ideas
Listen to the following
conversation and listen for
the main idea of the
conversation.
So… what did they talk
about?!
Different types of
homes…
 Listening for Details
When listening, it is important to listen to
the know how to pick out the details.
Who? Where?
What? Why?
When? (How?)

Listen to the conversation between the woman and

her landlord and try to fill in the “While you were
out…” notepad on page 31.
Take Notes: Telephone
Messages
Page 31
 Today’s Focused
Vocabulary
• housewarming • landlord
• potluck • maintenance
• townhouse • rent
• dormitory • repair
• one-room apartment • emphatic
• cottage • underline
• vowel
• consonant
• stressed syllable
• unstressed syllable
 Today’s Homework
Conversation: “In Need of a Repair”

DIRECTIONS:
1. Draw a “/” to split each word into syllables.
2. Circle the words that you would give extra stress to.
3. Underline the syllables that you would stress.

EXAMPLE:
Man: Hello, Garden Apartment Maintenance Office. This is Jack.