English Pronunciation Pod 58

Saturday Mar 6th, 2010
English Pronunciation Podcast 58-
Moving the "focus word" in a phrase. The Rhythm and Intonation of English- Part III
Learn an important rule for choosing which word in a phrase receives the most stress.

In this week's podcast, we're going to continue to learn how to speak in the rhythm of American English.
Speaking in the rhythm of English, will make you sound more like a native speaker and more
importantly, it will be easier for people to understand you.

In podcast 57, we learned that there is usually one word which receives the most stress in a phrase.
This is known as the focus word. I strongly recommend that you listen to podcast 57 if you haven't already.
In podcast 57, we also learned that the focus last is usually the last content word.

However this is not always the case.
In this week's podcast, we're going to learn about focus words in more depth.
We're going to learn how and when the focus word can move to any postion in a phrase.

The focus of this week's podcast is:

• To learn how and why any word in a phrase can become the focus word.
• To practice this principle of "moving focus words" in some key examples.

Review: Last content word is generally the focus word.

As we previously learned, every phrase in English has at least one word that receives the most stress
and this word is known as the focus word. It's extremely important to have a focus word in each phrase.

Listen to the following example and determine the focus word.

I'm driving to Boston.

The focus word is "Boston." Notice how I stressed "driving" and "Boston." But I stressed "Boston" the most.
It had the highest pitch and the longest vowel.

Also notice how Boston came last in the sentence. This follows the rule we learned last week
which states that the last content word in each phrase is usually the focus word.
However, this is not always the case.

Any Word Can be the Focus Word

It is not necessary for the last content word to always be the focus word.
In fact, it's possible for any word to be the focus word depending on thet situation and the point that the speaker
is trying to make.

Let's look at some different situations and see how they affect the postion of the focus word in the sentence.

Situation 1. Imagine that Im telling somebody at the beginning of a conversation the fact that I'm driving to Boston. In this case, all the information is new and important. I therefore follow the rule we learned last week that when
all the information is new and impprtant, I stress the last content word .

Please listen and repeat:

I'm driving to Boston.

Situation 2: But now let's imagine a different scenario. Imagine my friend starts the conversation by asking me which bus I'm taking to Boston. Boston is no longer new information and the point I want to get across is going
to change. Now the more important part of my message is "driving." I want to to show contrast to taking the bus,
so my focus word changes accordingly.

And I say:

I'm driving to Boston,

Notice how "driving", the newest and most important piece of information becomes the focus word.
The stressed syllable of "driving" now has the highest pitch and the longest vowel.

Please listen and repeat:

I'm driving to Boston.

Situation 3: Now let's imagine another scenario. Imagine my friend says "When is your girlfriend
driving you Boston?"

Now, the point of my response changes again. My point now becomes that I and not my girfriend is doing the driving and the focus word moves accordingly and I say:

I'm driving to Boston

Notice how "I'm" which is the newest and most important piece of information, now has the highest pitch
and the longest vowel.

Please listen and repeat:

I'm driving to Boston.

A Logical Rule of English !

As you can see, choosing the focus word in English is usually quite logical. Yes...believe it or not, I actually just used the word logical to describe a rule of English. As you know this is often not the case. But here it is.

It is possible for any word to become the focus word depending on what you want emphasize, depending on
what your point is.

In fact, we can take a phrase and demonstrate how any word in that phrase can become the focus word
depending on the situation.

Let's take the phrase," My Dad loves baseball " and create four different conversations.
You're going to hear some mini dialogs between myself and one of my private students Irina.
Notice how I respond wth the same words in each mini dialog. Each time say "my Dad loves baseball,"
but I stress a different focus word depending on what Irina first says to me.

Please listen and repeat my responses.

Scenario 1:

Tell me something about your Dad.

My Dad loves baseball.

In this case, I stressed baseball because almost all of the information was new, so following the general rule
we learned last week, I stress the last content word in the phrase.

Scenario2:

Does your Dad like baseball?

My Dad loves baseball.

Now I'm stressing loves because I want to make the point that not only does my Dad like Baseball,
as the question asked, my Dad loves baseball.

Scenario 3:

Does your Uncle like baseball?

My Dad loves baseball.

As you can hear, my focus word becomes "Dad". I'm showing contrast. My point becomes that my Dad, not my uncle, loves basball.

Scenario 4:

Your Friend's Dad really loves baseball.

My Dad likes Baseball.

Does your Dad like baseball?

Here I want to make the point to my listener that my Dad, not my friends Dad loves baseball so
my focus word is my.

As you can hear my focus word shifts, my focus word moves depending on what the main point
of my response is.

Exercise: Choosing focus words.

Now you respond to Irina using the phrase, "My Dad loves baseball."

Choose the appropriate focus word for each question or statement. Remember to raise the pitch and lengthen
the vowel of the stressed syllable of each focus word.

Practice is Key!

Learning to speak English with a standard American accent and with an American rhythm is a gradual
process but if you work at it regularly and practice as often as you can, you're going to improve!

The Right Training Tools for Better Pronunciation:

It's important to have right training tools in order to improve your accent.

That's why I recommend that you check it out my English Pronunciation Course in mp3 format- Best Accent Training mp3s!

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Any questions, comments or suggestions ? Contact us at:   contact@englishpronunciationpod.com

Thank you and see you next time!