saying? Native speakers don’t.
They use different stress patterns to distinguish the words. In the “-teen” words, it’s the last syllable which is stressed. In the numbers 30, 40, 50 and so on, it’s the first syllable which is stressed. Also, when a syllable is stressed, that syllable’s vowel sound is lengthened, and when a syllable isn’t stressed, the vowel is shorter.
Listen to me say the words, and notice the different syllables being stressed. 13, 30, 14, 40, 15, 50, 16, 60. Now listen to the length of vowels in the different syllables. I will exaggerate them first so it’s easier to notice. 13, 30, 14, 40, 15, 50. Now I will say them naturally. 13, 30, 14, 40, 15, 50, 16, 60, 17, 70, 18, 80, 19, 90. When you say these words, give specially care to stressing the right syllable, and to the length of the vowel sound in the stressed syllable. This has been today’s tip on learning English. Tune in tomorrow for another tip.
美语听力与发音技巧 第19期（轻重音的重要性）
Welcome to Daily Tips on Learning English. Today’s tip is on stressed and unstressed syllables.
Every English word has more than one syllable, and every complete sentence has at least one stressed syllable.
A stressed syllable is pronounced more prominently than surrounding syllables. Simply put, we say it louder and we lengthen the vowel sound. Unstressed syllables are just the opposite. They are not as loud and the
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vowel sound is usually reduced. Vowel sounds are most often reduced to “э”or to “ⅰ”. For example, in the word “purpose”, the first syllable is stressed, and the vowel of the second syllable can be reduced to either “э”as in “purpose” or “i” as in “purpose”. Let me give you a complete sentence. “I didn’t do it on purpose.” “I didn’t do it on purpose.” The following word has three syllables. Which syllable is stressed? “banana”. That’s right. The second syllable is stressed. Listen now for the lengthening of the vowel in the stressed syllable. “bana-na”, “bana-na”. It’s very important to stress the proper syllable, to lengthen stressed syllables, and to reduce unstressed vowels. This is essential if you want to achieve a proper English rhythm. If every syllable is given equal stress and length, what you will sound like is a robot. “I didn’t do it on purpose.” “I didn’t do it on purpose.” Proper rhythm comes from stressing only certain syllables, and lengthening those syllables, while reducing the others.
Listen again to the example sentence, and notice how only certain syllables are stressed and lengthened. “I didn’t do it on purpose.”…… We will talk about how to figure out what syllables or words to stress at the sentence level in an upcoming program. But today’s tip is to make sure when you learn words of more than one syllable, you give special care to learning which syllable or syllables are stressed, and to remember to lengthen the vowels in those syllables.
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This has been today’s daily tip on learning English. Tune in tomorrow for another tip.
美语听力与发音技巧 第20期（清浊辅音的区别）
Welcome to Daily Tips on Learning English. Today’s tip is on the difference between voiced and voiced pairs of consonants.
This difference is important, as it is the basis for learning other aspects of spoken English. First, let’s explain this difference. Let’s compare some consonants, for example, t, d, p, b, k, g, s, z. These sounds differ only in that the first is voiceless and the second is voiced. Put your hand in front of your mouth and say” “t”, then say “d”. Try it again with “s”, “z”. Did you notice that “t”, “s” have more breath or air coming out of your mouth than “d”, “z”. Now put your hand around the front of your throat. Try it again. Say “t”, “d”, “s”, “z”. Did you notice that “t”, “s” have no vibration, whereas “d”, “z”, there’s a vibration?
The sounds with a lot of breath but no vibration are called voiceless, because the vocal cords are not vibrating. The sounds with little breath but a lot of vibration are called voiced, because the vocal cords are vibrating. Tomorrow we will discuss how vowels followed by voiceless consonants are shorter than vowels followed by voiced consonants. Let’s just look at one example today. “bet”, “bed”. Did you notice how the vowel sound “e” is shorter before “t” and longer before
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“d”? Tune in tomorrow for more examples of this feature of English. That has been today’s tip on learning English.
美语听力与发音技巧 第21期（及物和不及物动词）
Welcome to Daily Tips on Learning English. Today’s tip is to be aware of how some verbs in English, transitive verbs, require an object.
Not using an object after a transitive verb is a common mistake made by learners of English. For example, although in Chinese, you can say, “我喜欢”or “我不喜欢”without mentioning what you are talking about, in English, “like” requires an object. So you can’t say, “I like.” or “I don’t like.” You must say, “I like it.” or “I like them.” “I like her.” “I like you.” “I like Taiwan.” or “I don’t like it.” “I don’t like them.” “I don’t like him.” “I don’t like singing at KTVs.” You must use an object after “like” because it is a transitive verb. Another common word which is misused is “want”. “want” is also a transitive verb and must be followed by an object. You cannot ask “do you want” as in the Chinese “你要不要？”“你要吗？”You must ask “Do you want some?” if you are asking about something uncountable like coffee or tea. “Do you want it?” if you are asking about a singular countable object like the last piece of pizza. “Do you want them?” if you are asking about plural countable objects such as some books. And “Do you want to?” or “Do you want to do it?” if you are asking about doing something like going to a movie or going to a concert. The two
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