When someone says to "stress" a syllable, that means your voice raises in tone slightly on that syllable. English speakers think they are making a louder sound when they "stress" the syllable, and that could happen, but in effect, the voice goes up at that moment. You could even hum the flow of the sentence; but practice what you hear and make it flow smoothly.

Listen to native English speakers on TV, movies, podcasts, etc., and notice the rhythms and stress patterns they use. English tends to stress verbs and nouns, not adjectives, articles or prepositions; therefore, you will hear stress near the beginning and sometimes the end of sentences (not in the middle as in some Latin languages, or mostly at the end as with German). If you can learn to copy this pattern, you will sound "more natural" when speaking English.

Here are my tips. They have helped me improve very effectively: 1. Listen to how the natives speak as much as you can. Watching English movies is one good way of doing that. 2. Speak clearly and confidently. Confidence is the key. 3. Don't try to speak too fast or too slow. Focus on pronouncing each word properly. 4. Don't try to adopt any accent. Neutral accent is the best as it's easier for most people to understand. 5. Last but not least, record your voice conversations and listen to how you speak. Notice your mistakes and correct them. This will help you improve your speaking skills very quickly. Remember that practicing consistently is very important. So practice speaking English as much as you can. Don't be shy, people don't bite, do they? =)

It depends on the country you live. I'm American and I can't pronounce words like the English.

Hi, I suggest that you work on your listening skills. There is a free online talking dictionary of English pronunciation. Just click over the pink words to hear them spoken at www.howjsay.com/index.php?word. Here is a pronunciation site : http://www.pronuncian.com