Following the previous lesson, today we will continue with the next tips to be confident in learning a second language.

To access and master a new foreign language, one of the important things is that we must be able to speak and speak that language correctly, right? With English, a musical language, learning to speak is not simply about speaking, but also requires mastering the pronunciation, rhyme of words and intonation of each sentence. This is one of the points that many people comment is really difficult and a barrier in how to speak English well.

Many international students felt stunned and truly shocked when they set foot in an English-speaking country because although in Vietnam, their English, especially their speaking skills, were evaluated very well, and their results were very good. Their IELTS test reached 8.0, but when they are on foreign soil, the native speakers cannot understand what they are saying and conversely, when they speak, the native people can hardly know what they are saying.

So what to do to be able to speak English well?

First of all, remember these pronunciation tips

1. When nouns and adjectives have two syllables, the stress usually falls on the first syllable

For example:

– Noun: bookshelf /ˈbʊk.ʃelf/, camera /ˈkæm.rə/, cocktail /ˈkɒk.teɪl/, kingdom /ˈkɪŋ.dəm/, comment /ˈkɒm.ent/

– Adjectives: fishy /ˈfɪʃ.i/, sleepy /ˈsliː.pi/, noisy /ˈnɔɪ.zi/, easy /ˈiː.zi/, hardy /ˈhɑː.di/

2. When verbs and prepositions have 2 syllables, the stress falls on the 2nd syllable.

    For example:

    - Prepositions: between /bɪˈtwiːn/, among /əˈmʌŋ/…

    - Verb: finish /ˈfɪn.ɪʃ/, shorten /ˈʃɔː.tən/, harden /ˈhɑː.dən/, polish /ˈpɒl.ɪʃ/ , damage /ˈdæm.ɪdʒ/

3. In words with two syllables and ending in “ever”, the stress will fall on “ever”.

however /ˌhaʊˈev.ər/, every /ˈev.ri/, whatever /wɒtˈev.ər/, forever /fəˈre.vər/, whoever /huːˈev.ər/

4. words with two syllables and ending with endings like “how, what, where”, the stress will fall on the first syllable.

For example :

somehow /ˈsʌm.haʊ/, anywhere /ˈen.i.weər/, somewhat /ˈsʌm.wɒt/

5. In verbs whose last syllable contains ow, the stress also falls on the first syllable.

For example :

follow /ˈfɒl.əʊ/, swallow /ˈswɒl.əʊ/, borrow /ˈbɒr.əʊ/, narrow /ˈnær.əʊ/

6. For nouns or adjectives that contain a long vowel in the second syllable, the stress will fall on that syllable itself.

For example:

belief /bɪˈliːf/, Japan /dʒəˈpæn/, correct /kəˈrekt/, perfume /pərˈfjuːm/, police /pəˈliːs/