English pronunciation for non-native speakers

[Susan2]

Hi,

can you teach me whether there is a kind of rule how to pronounce words (i.e. which syllable to stress ?) in British English ?

Why do you say ca'pillary and ca'nal, but 'orange and 'lettuce (" ' " indicates the stress) ?

How could a foreigner know this for a word he/she reads but has never heard before ?

Many thanks,

Susan

[Theeny]

I'm afraid there isn't any rule or clue that can be used. In dictionaries they may put the pronunciation using the phonetic alphabet, but this isn't very helpful for those of us who don't understand th phonetic alphabet. Your best bet is to ask a native speaker

[Jamie (K)]