Producing /stress/

How to produce /stress/

English is a stress-timed language: content words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs) get full stress and length; function words (articles, prepositions, auxiliaries) are short and weak. 'I WANT to GO to the STORE' has 3 stressed beats. Syllable-timed languages (French, Spanish, Chinese) give every syllable equal weight — which makes English sound mechanical.

Practice the sound in isolation

Say 'I WANT to GO' slowly. Hold the target sound. Record yourself — does it match your mental model of the native version?

A few varied words

• Initial: WANT, GO, STORE
• Medial: the, to, of
• Final: NOW, LATER, HERE