As any student of a new language knows, there’s a big difference between being able to read and understand a word and being able to hear and use it in a conversation. Much of this distinction is due to how a word sounds when it’s spoken, which may be different from how the student thinks it should sound, or how they “hear” it when reading. Many languages have guides to pronunciation in the form of accent marks, which show how individual letters are to be pronounced as well as where the word should be stressed. Note that in this post, we’re using the word accent to refer to these marks (also known as diacritics), and the word stress to refer to the emphasis placed on a particular syllable.

For a good example of how stressed syllables affect spoken words, think of the words proceed and progress. As verbs, both these words (at least by US standards) have the stress on the second syllable:

They were asked to proceed (pro-SEED) to the exit.
(to proceed = to move ahead, move forward)

With each win, the team will progress (pro-GRESS) towards the championship.
(to progress = to advance, move forward)

However, when the words are nouns, the stress moves to the first syllable:

The proceeds (PRO-seeds) of the fundraiser will go to charity.
proceeds = money received from an event or transaction

Have you made any progress (PRAH-gress, [UK PRO-gress]) on the accounting summary?
progress = forward movement, advancement

If you only saw these words in written texts, you’d see no clue about how they were to be pronounced in different contexts. That’s why it’s so important that you make sure to look up all of the definitions of a word when you’re learning it, especially if the word can be used as different parts of speech. Proper pronunciation is the only way you’ll progress towards your goal of having the ultimate vocabulary you want.