Listening: Basic Auditory Perception & Discrimination A2 - Lesson 2: Identifying Stressed Syllables in Common Two-Syllable Words

A2 Listening Discrimination: Identifying Stressed Syllables

Welcome to your next A2 lesson! We will learn about the 'music' of English words, called Syllable Stress². In words with more than one part, or syllable¹, one part is always spoken longer, louder, and with a higher pitch. This is the 'stressed' syllable.

1. Stress on the FIRST Syllable (DA-da Pattern)

Let's listen to common two-syllable words where the stress is on the FIRST part. The first syllable is stronger. For example, listen to the word 'teacher'. The stress is on 'TEA'.

TEA-cher

STU-dent

HAP-py

WA-ter

MAR-ket

AL-ways

2. Stress on the SECOND Syllable (da-DA Pattern)

Now, let's listen to words where the stress is on the SECOND part. The second syllable is stronger. For example, listen to the word 'hotel'. The stress is on 'TEL'.

ho-TEL

to-DAY

a-BOUT

re-PLY

de-CIDE

a-GAIN

3. Why Stress is Important: Noun vs. Verb Pairs

Sometimes, changing the stress can change the word's function from a noun (a thing) to a verb (an action). Listen carefully to this pair.

PRE-sent (Noun: a gift)

Sentence: "I received a present³ for my birthday."

pre-SENT (Verb: to give/show)

Sentence: "Tomorrow, I will present⁴ my project to the class."

Quiz: Where Is the Stress?

Listen to the word. Is the stress on the first (1st) or second (2nd) syllable?

1. Word 1: (Listen to "about") -> Is the stress on the (a) 1st or (b) 2nd syllable?

2. Word 2: (Listen to "student") -> Is the stress on the (a) 1st or (b) 2nd syllable?

3. Word 3: (Listen to "decide") -> Is the stress on the (a) 1st or (b) 2nd syllable?

4. Word 4: (Listen to "happy") -> Is the stress on the (a) 1st or (b) 2nd syllable?

Click to Show Answers

Answers: 1-b, 2-a, 3-b, 4-a

Homework Task

1. Listen for Stress: Listen to an English song or news report. Find five two-syllable words. Say them out loud and try to identify the stressed syllable.

2. Dictionary Check: Use an online dictionary (like Oxford Learner's Dictionaries). When you look up a word, it shows the stress with a mark ('). Look up "teacher" and "hotel" to see how the stress mark shows you the stressed syllable (`'teacher`, `ho'tel`).

Vocabulary Glossary

1. Syllable (noun) - Khmer: ព្យាង្គ - A single unit of speech, or a "part" of a word (e.g., "wa-ter" has two syllables). ↩
2. Syllable Stress (noun phrase) - Khmer: ការសង្កត់សំឡេងលើព្យាង្គ - Making one syllable in a word louder, longer, and higher in pitch than the others. ↩
3. Present (noun) - Khmer: កាដូ - A gift; something you give to someone. The stress is on 'PRE'. ↩
4. Present (verb) - Khmer: បង្ហាញ - To give or to show something to a group of people. The stress is on 'SENT'. ↩