Level A2 (approx. band 3-4) · Academic and General Training You say a word with all the right sounds, but the listener does not understand. Why? Often the problem is word stress. In this episode: • What is word stress? • Useful patterns: -tion, -ic, -ity • NOUNS AND VERBS: REcord AND reCORD • Why stress matters more than accent • Listening lab • Language bridge • Practice • Self-check questions with answers Key points: • one syllable is strong, the others are weak and short. • with -tion, -ic and -ity, stress the syllable just before the ending. • noun first, verb second, for pairs like REcord and reCORD. • clear stress is more important than sounding like a native speaker. IELTS Complete Course: a self-study podcast from A1 to C2 for Academic and General Training. Listen, pause and answer, then take the 52-question quiz. Audio voiced with AI from an original script by Dr. Rashmi R Nair. Independent course, not affiliated with the IELTS test owners.