Step 2 – Target and Improve Your Pronunciation Weaknesses

The second step to successfully pass the TOEFL iBT Exam is having intelligible pronunciation. In other words, when you speak English, can a native speaker understand what you are saying without being distracted by awkward pauses and unclear pronunciation, perhaps due to enunciation problems with vowel and consonant sounds. After all, if the human raters can not understand what you are saying, how can they give you a high score on the TOEFL  iBT speaking?

“What is this 45 minute TOEFL Pronunciation Lesson 2 about?”

In this 45 minute video, you get two lessons for the price of one! That’s two high quality TOEFL products for one low price .  Both parts of lesson 2 focus on

sentence rhythm.

“What do I get in the first part of TOEFL Pronunciation Lesson 2?”

In addition to learning how to stress certain syllables within a word like what was taught in TOEFL Pronunciation Lesson 1, you need to learn sentence stress in the sense there are stress and unstress words, which, if pronounced correctly, help to create a sentence rhythm. Sentence rhythm patterns exist in phrases, sentences, and longer utterances.

“Why is sentence rhythm important to passing TOEFL iBT speaking?”

Like other aspects of pronunciation, sentence rhythm is important to passing TOEFL iBT speaking since it helps you to speak naturally and clearly. For example, consider the following word and sentence: overRAted and He ATE it. If you use appropriate sentence rhythm, it will take about the same amount of time to pronounce the three syllable word and the three word sentence. However, if you pronounce the sentence as He…ate…it and pause after every word, you will be pausing too much, distracting your listeners. Likewise, if you pronounce the word as over…RA…ted, with distinct pauses after each syllable, it will be equally distracting. Using appropriate sentence rhythm adds a natural-sounding polish to your speech that will let the TOEFL iBT human raters know that you are an advanced English speaker.

“Isn’t sentence rhythm the same in my language?”

Rhythm patterns are not the same in all languages, and the language differences may cause you difficulty as you adjust to English rhythm patterns. Furthermore, you may be unaware that certain types of words receive more prominent stress than others. Native-speakers unconsciously distinguish between stress and unstress words, but, since you are learning English as an adult, you must make a conscious decision to use appropriate sentence rhythm. An additional difficulty is that part of sentence rhythm involves varying your intonation patterns, which is a type of pronunciation that seems to be learned by younger children. Therefore, learning sentence rhythm as a adult will require a concentrated effort on your part if you want to be successful. In other words, sentence rhythm may not improve simply because of your speaking English regularly with native speakers.

“What will happen if I do not take your lesson?”

For many English learners that do not have the benefit to take an intensively focused pronunciation course such as Sentence Rhythm Lesson 1, their pronunciation fossilizes, and they never gain proficiency in sentence rhythm. Don’t be one of these learners! With guidance, focused instruction, and some effort on your part over period of time, you can improve your sentence rhythm.

*This course will sharpen your sentence rhythm with words, phrases, sentences, and longer utterances.*

*You have opportunities to practice sentences by reading rhymes and then making voiced recordings so you can compare your speech to a native speaker’s. This comparison will provide you with valuable feedback that will help you to correct your sentence rhythm problems and will help you to improve your ability to self-monitor your pronunciation problems with sentence rhythm.*

*Finally, by taking this course, you will learn which words receive more stress and which words receive less stress. With this information, you will improve greatly in your ability to deliver formal speeches such as TOEFL iBT speaking tasks since you will know how to stress the words you are speaking.*

Take this course so you can catapult yourself into the advanced level of pronunciation proficiency. The improvements that you will make by taking this course will put you head and shoulders about the rest of the TOEFL iBT test-takers.

“Wow!  That’s a lot of instruction.  What will I get in the second part of TOEFL Pronunciation Lesson 2?”

Sentence rhythm is the combination of stressing and unstressing certain words, and, if executed effectively, helps you to sound like a native speaker. Especially in conversational English, native speakers often weaken or compress phrases, a characteristic of sentence rhythm. In formal speaking situations, these same native speakers will use the long forms of these phrases instead. For example, when pronouncing the short form of “What do you want?”, many native speakers will say, “Whaddayawant?”  The second part of TOEFL Pronunciation Lesson 2 teaches you how to weaken or compress phrases in conversational English.

“Will this lesson improve my TOEFL iBT listening skills?”

Yes!  Understanding sentence rhythm can help you to improve your listening comprehension skills because you learn to pay more attention to the nouns, adjectives, adverbs, and verbs, which are often the stress words on TOEFL iBT campus-related conversations, academic discussions, and lectures. Additionally, many of the speakers on the campus-related listening tasks and academic discussions will often reduce their phrases. Therefore, if you are aware of this, it will be easier for you to concentrate on what they are saying. Finally, understanding the difference in pronunciation among modal auxiliary verbs such as “can” and “can’t” will help you to improve your pronunciation with these troublesome words. Furthermore, being proficient in sentence rhythm helps you to distinguish between other types of positive and negative modal auxiliaries and helping verbs. Thus, learning what is taught in this course will help you in your TOEFL iBT speaking and listening.

“Why do I have difficulty improving my sentence rhythm of English?”

Why do some learners have trouble with sentence rhythm? First, sentence rhythm patterns differ from one language to another. Involving the ability to change tones from higher to lower pitches, sentence rhythm is one of the last things that advanced learners acquire in English. Second, it seems that the younger the learner is, the better chance he or she has at becoming proficient in sentence rhythm. Therefore, if you are trying to learn sentence rhythm as a adult, it will require some extra effort on your part to master these skills. Still, no matter how difficult it might be to improve in this area, you can make progress if you are motivated to get better.

“Again.  What specifically will you teach me in the second part of TOEFL Pronunciation Lesson 2?”

Chances are, if you are reading this right now, you are already motivated to improve. To help you succeed on TOEFL iBT speaking and listening, Sentence Rhythm Part B will offer you focused instruction so that you can differentiate between formal academic English and informal conversational English.

*Specifically, you will learn how to weaken or reduce phrases in conversational English.*

*You will also get intensive practice with positive and negative auxiliary verbs: “can” versus “can’t”, “were” versus “weren’t”, “are” versus “aren’t”, and “could” versus “couldn’t”.*

*Participating in listening discrimination exercises, making voiced of sentences and paragraphs of both informal and formal academic English, and then comparing your recording to a native speaker’s will help you to master a very challenging area of pronunciation.*

*With a little instruction, some motivation and effort on your part, you will be able to develop near-native speaker fluency on TOEFL iBT speaking. For the benefits this lesson can offer, buy this lesson today!

**Once you purchase this lesson, Pay Pal will redirect you to a web page in which you will get your lesson information. The entire buying process is automated.**