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•  Stress: The emphasis we put on certain syllables or words. For example:
                   w "Desert" (noun): DE-sert (a dry area of land)
                   w "Desert" (verb): de-SERT (to abandon)
              •  Intonation: The rise and fall of our voice as we speak. For example:
                   w Used in yes-no questions: "Are you coming?" (The pitch rises at the end of the sentence)
              •  Rhythm: The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables. For example:
                   w "The CAT is ON the MAT." (Stressed syllables: CAT, ON, MAT)

              Phonetics

              Phonetics is the study of the sounds that we make when we speak. We use sounds to speak. Every word is made up
              of one or more sounds. We put these sounds together to pronounce words. Phonetics is essential for understanding
              how languages use sound to convey meaning and for improving pronunciation in language learning. If you engage in
              phonetic exercises and training programs then it will help you enhance your pronunciation skills.

              The English alphabet has 26 letters, from A to Z. But each of these letters can be pronounced in different ways in
              different words. We use 26 letters to write in English. But, we use more than 26 sounds when we speak English. This is
              why, a word's spelling does not always match its pronunciation. Let us see some examples.
              Breakdown of Sounds
              •  Cat (/kæt/): The 'a' in "cat" is pronounced as a short vowel sound, /æ/, which is similar to ",s" in Hindi.
              •  Father (/ˈfɑːðər/): The 'a' in "father" is pronounced as a long vowel sound, /ɑː/, which can be approximated to "vk"
                in Hindi.
              •  Name (/neɪm/): The 'a' in "name" forms part of a diphthong, /eɪ/, which is a combination of two vowel sounds,
                similar to ",s" in Hindi.
              •  About (/əˈbaʊt/): The 'a' in "about" is pronounced as a schwa, /ə/, which is an unstressed and neutral sound, often
                represented as "v" in Hindi.
              Let us take the letter 'a' for example. Read the words below aloud. The letter 'a' is pronounced differently in different
              words as shown in the given table.

                                  Words              Pronunciation of the letter 'a'  Pronuniation in Hindi
                        cat, apple and back          ,s                           oSQV] ,siy] cSd
                        car, fast and park           vk                           dkj] iQkLV] ikoZQ
                        call, ball and saw           vkW                          dkWy] ckWy] lkWo

              Importance of Phonetics
              By understanding and practicing phonetics, you can.
              •  Improve Pronunciation: It helps you learn the correct way to produce the sounds of English, leading to clearer and
                more accurate speech.
              •  Enhance  Listening  Skills:  It  gives  you a  better  platform  to recognise and differentiate  sounds  thus improving
                comprehension.
              •  Reduce Accent: It helps you gain awareness of how native speakers produce sounds, which helps in reducing accents.
              •  Increase  Confidence: It guides  you  in  speaking with  correct pronunciation  and  thus  boosts the confidence  in
                communication.

              Types of Sounds
              In the English language the alphabets are not enough to match different types of sounds we make, when we speak. Let
              us take a closer look at the sounds we use. All English words are made of three basic types of sounds.



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