The importance of rhythm

What is the most important aspect to speaking clear English? The individual sounds? or the rhythm? I think the answer depends on how intelligible you are when you begin. Some people have a natural talent for languages, similar to that of music. In fact people who are musical do tend to have an easier time with second language acquisition. It may be that they are tuned into rhythm and aural nuances.

Though I wold have to say, that in my experience it is really the features of English that affect rhythm that has the greater impact. What features are these?

It is intonation, alternation between stressed and unstressed syllables, pausing, word stress and vowel reduction.

These features of spoken English affect the listeners ability to understand your message both the implied meaning and the spoken meaning. The other advantage is that when you use a standard rhythm, with standard reduction there is less chance of dropping information loaded word endings.

In my future posts we will take a closer look at each feature I mentioned and how to incorporate them into your speech.

If you would like to see some videos related to these topics visit my site

Thanks for reading!
Lynn