My name is Emma and in today's video I am going to teach you how to become a better listener,

and I'm going to do that by teaching you about something called "Sentence Stress".

Okay?

So I want you to think about the times you've listened to English, maybe in a movie, maybe

you saw a movie, or maybe a TV show - was there ever a time where you didn't understand something?

Maybe everybody laughed, maybe somebody suddenly got angry and you felt like you missed some

of the meaning to why something happened.

It might be because you're not listening enough to sentence stress.

So, what is sentence stress?

Well, let me show you.

When we talk about stress in language, we're talking about making something louder and longer.

Okay?

So, for example, if I say the number "thirteen" versus "thirteen", even though they sound

similar, they're different because I've put a different stress or a different emphasis

on each part of the word.

So this is in part a pronunciation lesson, but also really about listening and how to listen better.

So I have here a sentence: "I love studying English."

Now, it seems like a pretty straightforward sentence, but I can actually change the meaning

of this sentence using sentence stress.

Okay?

So, by saying different parts of the sentence louder and longer I can actually change the meaning.

So I'm going to give you an example.

"I love studying English."

What part did I say louder and longer?

If you said: "I", you're correct, so I'm going to put a mark here to show sentence stress.

"I love studying English."

If you heard somebody say this it means that I love studying English, but my friend doesn't.

Or I love studying English, but other people hate studying English.

So I'm really emphasizing that I am, you know, maybe one of the only people.

Okay?

So, I love studying English.

Now, this is a bit of a different meaning than if we move the stress-so I'll just erase that-to the word "love".

Okay?

So I want you to listen to how I say this: "I love studying English."

So in this case "love" is the part I'm saying louder and longer.

Okay?

And now it has a different meaning.

Even though it's the same sentence, just by saying a different part louder and longer

I've changed the meaning.

So: "I love studying English."

What does that mean?

If I'm focused on the word "love" it means I really want to emphasize that I don't just

like English, I love English.

English is my passion.

I love it. I really, really, really like it a lot.

Okay?

Now, if we take the stress here and we move it to "studying": "I love studying English",

okay?

So now you hear "studying" is louder and longer, again, now we have a different meaning from

when I said: "I love studying English",

"I love studying English", "I love studying English",

each of these means a different thing.

"I love studying English" means I only love studying English.

I'm emphasizing maybe I don't like using English, maybe I don't like, you know, English in conversation.

Maybe I only like reading my book about English, but I don't actually like using it.

Okay?

Now, if we change the stress to "English" and now "English" is going to be louder and longer...

Okay? So, for example: "I love studying English", "English" is louder and longer, now this has

a new meaning, a fourth meaning.

"I love studying English" means only English.

Maybe I hate all other languages.

I don't like studying French, I don't like studying Portuguese, I don't like studying Arabic.

I only like studying English.

Okay?

So, as you can see, the way we pronounce these sentences adds meaning to them.

It's not just the words that have meaning, it's also the way we use our voice, our intonation.

Okay, so we're going to do some practice listening.

I'm going to say a sentence and you're going to first listen to: What part of the sentence has the stress?

What part of the stress is louder and longer?

Okay?

So let's do that with the next sentence first.

Okay?

"I like your painting. I like your painting."

What part was the loud part?

What part was the long part?

"I like your painting."

If you said: "your", you are correct.

This part has the stress.

Now, I have three different meanings that this sentence could mean.

It could mean it's an okay painting.

Okay? It could mean my friends don't like the painting,

or it could also mean I only like your painting,

but not the other people's paintings.

Okay?

So I want you to listen one more time and tell me which of these best represent this

sentence with the stress.

"I like your painting."

Okay?

So does that mean it's an okay painting?

No.

Does that mean my friends don't like it?

Not really.

Does it mean I only like your painting, but not other paintings?

Yes.

So, in this case this is the meaning of the sentence.

I like your painting, but I don't like his painting.

His painting's awful.

Your painting is the good painting.

Okay?

So let's try again.

I'm going to now take away the stress and I'm going to say the sentence again but with

the stress somewhere else.

Okay? So listen to where I put the stress carefully.

"I like your painting.

I like your painting."

So what part is louder and longer?

If you said: "I", you are correct.

Okay?

So what do you think this means?

Do you think it means: "I like your painting" means it's an okay painting?

Or: "I like your painting" means my friends don't like your painting, but I do?

Okay? So I'm emphasizing "I".

Which one do you think it means?

If you said B, you're correct.

If I'm focusing on "I", it means that other people don't like it, but I do, and I'm highlighting

the fact other people don't.

Okay?

So, if we put the stress here it means this.

Okay.

So finally we're going to do the third possible meaning, and I'll take away the stress here.

"I like your painting.

I like your painting."

So what part of the sentence is stressed?

If you said: "like" you're correct.

Okay? So this means that I'm not really saying I love your painting.

I'm really stressing I like it.

It means it's an okay painting, but I don't love it.

Okay? I don't hate it, I don't love it.

It's an okay painting.

I like your painting, but I don't love it.

Okay?

So here's an example of where stress changes the meaning of the sentence.

Just putting stress on different words has a huge impact on the sentence, and this is

something a lot of language learners miss when they're listening.

So let's do another couple more practices of this just so you can really see how important

the pronunciation and stress is to meaning.

Okay, so before we begin the next example, I want to tell you that I know this is difficult.

Okay?

So if you're just, like: "I don't know what's going on. I can't understand the differences",

it's okay because this does take time.

Okay?

We're practicing, and the more you practice the easier it will be, but just try your best

and just remember that stress changes the meaning.

Okay?

And just, you know, you can think logically about it, but try your best.

It is difficult for people who are learning a language.

Okay, so let's look at the next example.

"She had a lot of money."

Okay?

"She had a lot of money."

I'm going to first say the sentence again, but this time I'm going to put some emphasis

or some stress on part of the sentence.

I want you to decide: Which word do I say louder and longer?

Okay? Which word do I put the stress on? Okay?

"She had a lot of money.

She had a lot of money."

So what word is louder and longer?

If you said: "money", you are correct.

This is the word where we have the stress.

Okay? I'm saying "money" louder.

So if I stress "money": "She had a lot of money", what does this mean?

Do you think it means she doesn't have much money now?

Is that what we're focused on?

Do you think it means she was very rich, and that's what we're focused on?

Or do you think it means although she had money, she didn't have other important things?

Maybe she didn't have love.

She has lots of money, but not other things.

Which is the best meaning based on the intonation?

I'll say it one more time: "She had a lot of money."

Okay?