Pronouncing Long Words

Placing a proper stress in longer words in English may be challenging. What’s more, trying to speak fast or fluently, some students tend to swallow the word ending or interchange the order of its parts.

Try breaking a longer word into smaller bits – syllables (units pronounced without interruption with at least one vowel sound) as in:

hi-ppo-po-ta-mus (5 syllables), a-vai-la-bi-li-ty (6 syllables)

Count back (start from the end of the word) 2 syllables and put the stress on the 3d one as in:

hi-ppo-pó-ta-mus,  a-vai-la-bí-li-ty.

To read the word correctly, try reading the word from the end, adding a syllable at a time:

              -tive

           -tative

      -sentative

  -presentative

representative

Or, try finding shorter words within the long word gradually expanding it by adding suffixes (such as –tion, -able) or prefixes (in-, re-, etc.)

Pronounce the following words  in three steps:

reinforcement: force, reinforce, reinforcement

incompatibility: compatible, compatibility, incompatibility