How to Pronounce: Science and Technology: Clapping and Syllable Stress

Hello! I’m John Russell.
One of the great things about language learning is that we can find educational value in almost anything.
Today’s lesson, which continues our science and technology theme, will show you how.
Let’s start with listening to part of a report from VOA Learning English’s Bryan Lynn.
learningenglish.voanews.com/a/study-moon-s-thin-at…

Scientists say new examinations of soil collected on the moon suggest its atmosphere might have been created by repeated meteorite strikes.
Let’s pay careful attention to the last few words you heard: repeated meteorite strikes. These are not necessarily the easiest words to pronounce.
We can take the group of words and do a kind of game. The goal is to improve our sense of how English words sound when put together.
What we can do is clap on the parts of the words that we need to say louder. In other words, we clap on the parts of the words that are stressed. This clapping will permit us to create a kind of rhythm. We start slowly and then increase our speed.
Listen and repeat after me:
RePeated MeteoRite Strike
RePeated MeteoRite Strike
ri-ˈpē-təd
ˈmē-tē-ə-ˌrīt
ˈstrīk

Now, we can slowly increase our speed.
RePeated MeteoRite Strike
RePeated MeteoRite Strike

And if we really want a challenge, we can go very fast.
RePeated MeteoRite Strike
RePeated MeteoRite Strike

I don’t know about you, but I’m tired after doing this activity.

What we have done today is to develop our sense of the rhythm of English. You can do this kind of activity with almost anything.
Poetry and limericks in particular can be fun, but really any kind of language can be useful.
That’s all for today! Keep up the good work.
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