EnglishClub 7
Secrets for ESL Learners
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Secret #1: Learn about WORD STRESS
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Word Stress is golden key number One for speaking and understanding
English.
Word Stress is very important. You can try to learn about Word Stress. This is one of the best ways for you to understand spoken English—especially English
spoken fast.
What is Word
Stress?
Take 3 words: photograph, photographer,
photographic, for example. Do they sound
the same when spoken? No! They sound very different, because one syllable in each word is "stressed" (stronger than the others).
PHOtograph
phoTOgrapher
photoGRAPHic
This happens in all words with two or more syllables:
TEACHer, JaPAN,
CHINa, aBOVE, converSAtion, INteresting, imPORtant, deMAND, etCETera
The syllables that are not stressed are "weak" or
"small" or "quiet". Native speakers of English listen
for the stressed syllables, not the weak syllables. If you use Word
Stress in your speech, you will instantly and automatically improve your
pronunciation and your comprehension.
If you have an English teacher, ask him or her to help you understand
Word Stress. Try to hear the stress in words each time you listen to
English—on the radio, or in films for example. Your first step is
to hear and recognise it. After that, you can use it!
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Secret #2: SENTENCE STRESS
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Sentence Stress is golden key number two for speaking and understanding English.
With Sentence Stress, some words in a sentence are
"stressed" (loud) and other words are weak (quiet). Look at
the following sentence:
We want to go.
Do we say every word with the same stress or force? No! We make the
important words BIG and the unimportant words small. What are the important words in this sentence? Yes, you're
right: WANT and GO
We WANT to GO.
We WANT to GO to
WORK.
We DON'T WANT to
GO to WORK.
We DON'T WANT to
GO to WORK at NIGHT.
It's impossible to explain everything about Sentence Stress in this
email. The important thing for you is that you know it exists and try
to learn about it. Sentence Stress is very important!
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Secret #3: LISTEN! LISTEN! LISTEN!
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Students sometimes
say: 'I don't listen to the BBC news on the radio because it's too
fast for me and I can't understand it.' That's a pity! When it's too
fast for you, when you can't understand it, that is exactly
when you NEED to listen to it!!!
How can you improve if you don't listen and practise?
When you were a baby, did you understand your own language? When you
were 3 weeks old, or 2 months, or 1 year, did you understand
everything? Of course not! But you learned to understand by listening. Think about it. You learned
to understand your own language by listening, 24 hours a day, 7 days a
week. After that, you learned to speak. Then you learned to read. And
then you learned to write. But listening
came first!
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In the last secret
I said LISTEN! LISTEN! LISTEN! Now I say DON'T LISTEN! What do I
mean?!
Do you know the difference between the verbs TO LISTEN and TO HEAR? TO
LISTEN is active. TO HEAR is passive. Sometimes you can LISTEN too
hard. Sometimes you can TRY too hard. Sometimes it is better only to
HEAR. Let the radio play. Let the cassette play. But DON'T
listen. Just HEAR. Your subconscious will listen for you. And you
will still learn. If you listen and try to understand, you may block
on one word and get frustrated. Don't worry! Just HEAR! Believe me,
you will still be learning. The important thing is to let
the radio or cassette or television or record PLAY. Let it play.
And you - you do nothing. Your brain will HEAR, your subconscious will
LISTEN and you will LEARN!
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Secret #5: IMPROVE YOUR VOCABULARY WITH 5 WORDS A DAY
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Vocabulary is
easy! How many days in a year are there? 365, normally (on Earth).
If you learn only 5 new words a day, you will learn 5 x 365 = 1,825
new words in a year. ONE THOUSAND, EIGHT HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE
WORDS. That is a lot of new words. And we are not counting all the
other words you will learn in other ways - reading, conversation
etc. Buy a notebook and write in 5 new words EACH day, EVERY day.
Learn them! You will soon have an excellent vocabulary.
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Secret #6: 30 MINUTES A DAY BETTER THAN 3.5 HOURS A WEEK
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In fact, 30
minutes of English study once a day is better than 5 *hours* once a
week! Study regularly. Study often.
LITTLE + OFTEN is better than LOT + SOMETIMES.
It's easier, too. You can easily find 30 minutes each day. How? You
can get up 30 minutes earlier. Or have a shorter lunch break. Fix a
particular time every day - and keep it!
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