2 Tips for pronunciation. Many of you have seen the text about why English can be hard to learn. The list features confusing pronunciation and definition. Phrases that can even confuse native speakers on the first read or listen. Here are some examples from that list: -The farm was used to produce produce. -The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert. -They were too close to the door to close it. -Since there is not time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present. Tip 1: English has alternating stress patterns. The First syllable stressed words are nouns and second syllable stressed words are verbs. Examples: CONtract conTRACT Noun: récord Verb: recórd A student of mine shared the video ‘How English sounds to non-English speakers’. The video was really fascinating for me to watch as my brain tried to make sense of what I was listing to. It was confusing, but this video really focuses on the intonation of native English speakers without speaking English. Tip 2: The melodic pattern of the language is fundamental. Intonation is the melody of speech the rise and fall of pitch. Examples: http://goo.gl/o4HT5w a link to the Cambridge dictionary https://goo.gl/j42yuG a link to the video ‘How English sounds to non-English speakers’.