Syllable Stress Study: 2-Syllable Words da-DA - American English

In this American English pronunciation video, you’re going to get even better at speaking

with rhythmic contrast. We’re going to practice two-syllable words with second syllable stress.

First, if you were just going to watch this video, don’t. That would be very boring.

This video only works if you’re willing to practice your English out loud. So, if

you’re somewhere where you can’t do that, make sure to come back to this video later.

When learning English as a second language, most people don’t make unstressed syllables

as fast, low in pitch, or quiet as they should. The tendency is to over-pronounce them. But

that’s not good English. In English we have clearer stressed syllables, DA, and less clear

unstressed syllables, da. So for these syllables, don’t be afraid to be less clear.

In this video, we’re just going to do two-syllable words with second syllable stress, like this:

da-DA, da-DA, da-DA. That’s all you’re going to hear. You’re going to get into

a groove with the rhythm. After each repetition of the word, repeat it just like you hear

it. Don’t over-pronounce the unstressed syllables. This going to move quickly. See

if you can keep up.

okay, da-DA, okay undo, da-DA, undo

about, da-DA, about

affect, da-DA, affect include, da-DA, include

yourself, da-DA, yourself suggest, da-DA, suggest

today, da-DA, today apply, da-DA, apply

agree, da-DA, agree believe, da-DA, believe

response, da-DA, response provide, da-DA, provide

Now we’re going to go back to the beginning and just do the words one time each. Repeat

each word, and don’t worry too much about the sounds. This is a drill exercise in rhythm.

okay undo

about affect

include yourself

suggest today

apply agree

believe response

provide

Now we’re going to go back to the beginning and just do the words one time each, with

a short sentence. Repeat the word and the sentence, keeping the right rhythm when it’s

in a sentence.

okay – It’s okay. undo – We can undo it later.

about – I’m about to. affect – It’ll affect everything.

include – We’ll include it. yourself – Just be yourself.

suggest – I suggest we try again. today – We’ll start today.

apply – He’ll apply tomorrow. agree – I agree completely.

believe – I believe it. response – The response was positive.

provide – We’ll provide that.

I couldn’t hear you, but I bet you did really great. This video is part of a series where

we take words with the same stress, and practice a bunch of them at once. It’s a drilling

exercise. You want to do it over and over until the stress pattern feels natural. Click

the link here or in the description below to see other videos in this series. The more

you practice while working on stress, the more natural you’ll sound to Americans.

So when you’re learning vocabulary, organize the words in lists by stress. Practice words

of the same stress together to get into that groove.

What other two-syllable words with second syllable stress can you think of? Put them

in the comments below to give everyone more words to practice with.

Stress is something I stress in my book American English Pronunciation. If you want an organized,

step-by-step resource to build your American accent, click here to buy the book. I think

you’re going to love it.

That’s it, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.