Read, Listen (and repeat!) - method 2

Please read Read, Listen (and repeat!) - method 1 first!

Method 2: CHUNKING. To improve your rhythm and intonation.

Suitable for: pre intermediate +

Skills focus: Listening, reading and pronunciation 

In any language, when we read and speak, we do it in multiword units:

For example, look at the sentence below: 
a) The rain ■ in Spain ■ stays mainly ■ in the plain.

It sounds smooth if we break it into chunks as shown above. 
What about if we chunk it as shown below?

b) The ■ rain in ■ Spain stays ■ mainly in the ■ plain.

Now it no longer sounds smooth or rhythmic. Why? 
In a) we split it into lexical chunks - each chunk has a discrete meaning. 
In b) we split it randomly - the chunks have no meaning.

A native speaker of the language does this without thinking. For a non-native speaker, however, chunking may have to be learned. (Some languages do not have chunking, such as Chinese.) Speakers of these languages need to work on this issue in order to sound natural. 

To practice chunking, simply choose a passage in your graded reader and place markers where you think the chunks are. Listen to the CD and compare where you have marked the chunks with that of the speaker on the CD. Correct as necessary and then read the passage out loud. 

After a while, you will find it easy!