English Rhythm

Speaking with Rhythm

Answering a listening question, I give my advice on how you can improve your English rhythm and flow when talking.

 

Here’s a summary of my advice, but listen to the whole episode to get more detail.

How to Learn English Word Stress

Word stress is very important when you want to sound natural and improve your rhythm.

 

When it comes to stress, I would recommend not getting too caught up in the rules of each word – it’s impossible to remember it all. Just make a conscious effort to copy what native speakers say with exactly the same tone and pitch (depending on your native language, it might sometimes sound like singing!)

Learn Whole Sentences

Avoid learning single words without context. Just like Chinese tones, the way English moves up and down and flows from one word to the next is unique and cannot be learnt by stringing individual words together.

 

Do you want to go? = Dju wanna go? 

 

You must have been tired = You mustuv been tired

 

Wait here for a bit = Wait here furabit 

Get Lots of Listening Practice

 It’s a long process, but exposing yourself to natural speech will get you used to the sounds. Many learners find their pronunciation (such as vowel sounds and rhythm) improve other time without them even realising. Just have faith that it is getting better.

Practise Speaking

Speaking and practising longer collocations will help cement them in your mind. With my Japanese, I found I used to always say things word for word, but now I can say an entire sentence without thinking because it’s a commonly used collocation.

Record Your Voice

Record your voice and hear where you need to improve. Also, try talking to yourself when cooking a meal or something similar. Then you can practise that flow and rhythm while you go about your life.

Join Level Up English

Sign up to Level Up English to access online courses and join our global learning community.

Sign Up

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top