Every accent has a beat. In most American and British speech the beat is carried by a few big stressed syllables, with the small syllables between them squeezed short, so a sentence feels like "DA-da-da-DA-da-DA". In much Indian English the syllables stay closer to equal length, so the same sentence feels like "da-da-da-da-da-da", a steady run of beads on a string. What you will learn: • What rhythm is made of • A gradient, not two boxes • Hearing the smaller long-short difference • Why it can feel fast • Tracking by syllable chains • The even beat and the small words • Rhythm is negotiated in conversation • Practice: decode the sentence • Listening strategies • Self-check questions to test your ear Level: B1–B2. Self-study: listen, then take the quizzes. Audio voiced with AI from an original script by Dr. Rashmi R Nair.