Do YOU think intonation is important? - Pronunciation Blog Post II

Intonation in real life

Hellooo,

Did you enjoy your holidays? 

This time I want to give you some information on an important aspect of spoken English: Intonation. Knowing how to stress a sentence will help immensely when trying to sound like a native speaker. As I am aiming for an American English accent, I will focus on American English intonation. Sorry to all the British-enthusiasts.

The example from this site shows the impact of intonation on the meaning of a sentence. Each one of these seven sentences implies a different meaning.

1. I didn't say he stole the money.
2. I didn't say he stole the money.
3. I didn't say he stole the money.
4. I didn't say he stole the money.
5. I didn't say he stole the money.
6. I didn't say he stole the money.
7. I didn't say he stole the money.

So, you're sure about the meaning? Then check if you are right:

1. I didn't say he stole the money, someone else said it.
2. I didn't say he stole the money, that's not true at all.
3. I didn't say he stole the money, I only suggested the possibility.
4. I didn't say he stole the money, I think someone else took it.
5. I didn't say he stole the money, maybe he just borrowed it.
6. I didn't say he stole the money, but rather some other money.
7. I didn't say he stole the money, he may have taken some jewelry.

Despite expressing a certain meaning by using appropriate intonation, the speaker can also state their opinion, attitude and mood by raising and lowering their voice. Talking in a monotonous voice, for instance, delivers a different message than enthusiastically stressing every second word. In the image above, you can see how the girl expresses annoyance and the parents happiness through intonation.

Until now, stressing the right words doesn't sound too difficult, eh? The problem is, though, that there are aspects of intonation that are not the same or at least similar in different cultures. German intonation differs from the Austrian and so does the British as well as the American intonation.



This is the reason why it may be useful to set up some rules for American English intonation: 

1) If you give your listeners new information, i.e. if you say something for the first time, stress the noun. Whenever you can't decide which word you actually want to stress, just go with the noun because nouns are substantial and usually carry new information.
2) If you repeat some or all of the words you said, put the stress wherever you want it, to express a certain meaning or your attitude, except for:
3) Compound nouns. Here, stress the adjective. It is a white house but not the White House.
4) Last but not least, there are a few intonation patterns. Remembering (and using) the most important ones will definitely improve your spoken English skills.

Statements

If stating something glide down with your voice at the end of the sentence.

I think we are completely lost.

Listings

If listing something, raise and lower your voice with every word listed, only gliding down at the last one.

Samuel likes pizza, tacos, spaghetti, hamburgers, and hot dogs.

(Hot dog is a compound noun, this is why the hot has to be stressed.)

Closed questions

The first word is stressed. Your voice should glide up at the end and stretch the last word.

May I use the bathroom?

Open Questions / Wh - Questions

 Stress the Wh-word and one or more important words in the middle of the sentence. No gliding up at the end!

What is your favorite memory from childhood?

 Clarification questions

If you ask a clarification question, you usually are surprised. Step up after the wh-word and stay up.

Who are you talking about again?

Questions with options

Glide up at the first option and even more at the second.

Do you want to come at nine or ten?

 Tag Questions

The first part is treated like a statement. Step up at the first verb after the statement, stay up if you are uncertain about the answer to the question, glide down if you know the answer.

Susan ate, didn't she? 

Of course, these intonation patterns and rules can vary with the situation. They can only be applied to general, spoken American English in a "normal", usual situation. Due to the size of the US, intonation could differ between regions and states. Nonetheless, using these intonation rules is not a mistake and will make you sound more like a native speaker of English.

Cheers!

Sources: http://www.americanaccent.com/intonation.html
http://www.vacuumsolutions.us/mirror2.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fyoutube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D3JCTywIDrVk&spfreload=10

Pronunciation Blog Post I

Hello again.

Due to the fact that you’re able to read my blog posts, I infer that you are either a native speaker of English or an English learner. If you’re still in the process of learning the language, let me ask you a question: How confident are you when it comes to pronouncing English words correctly?

I have to admit that I am often not that sure whether I pronounce words in the correct way or completely wrong. And this has to change. That’s why I decided to improve my pronunciation step by step.

The first one is to decide on the English accent I favor. In the pronunciation diary I keep, I answered this question at length, by listing different aspects of the accents that appealed to me. I think I will make it public when it’s finished, so you can have a look at that. My final answer to the accent question is, that I want to learn how to speak proper American English. 

Right. Now I know what I want to do, but without any help, I won’t be able to improve much. At this point I looked at the website of Antimoon because it was created by two Polish guys who mastered speaking American English nearly perfectly in only three years time. Seems like a good starting point.

I began by taking the pronunciation test provided and scored 10/10. Yay! :) I obviously know the basics but I am aware of the necessity to improve further. Without a proper English pronunciation, people might not understand you, even though you talk to them without making any grammar or vocab mistakes. It would be depressing to not be understood after several years of studying English.

The next step provided on antimoon.com, is the phonetic alphabet. It is useful when you want to find out how exactly a word is pronounced, telling you also where the stress is. 

On antimoon, there is a chart that shows you how the various vowels and consonants are pronounced. I listened to the American pronunciation and came to the following conclusion: I didn’t know that there is a voiced sh in words such as pleasure, occasion and vision. That’s something I will have to be aware of the next time I look up a word with an s. Also, I have difficulties in pronouncing the v sound in the middle of a sentence. I have to practice that as well as the u in put and could because it doesn’t sound like the German u but lower, more like an a. Additionally, the sound æ in words such as cat and black has to significantly differ from the e in met and bed. The last aspect of American pronunciation I wasn’t actively aware of, is the ʊəʳ pronunciation of, for instance, pure and tourist. 

VOWELS !

The chart on the right side helped me to understand where the different vowels are produced. There is a short description of the image on antimoon. I simply imagine a head looking to the left onto this chart and then I can see that the i in see, for example is produced in the uppermost part of the mouth, near to the teeth, and that the a in arm is produced deep down in the throat. 

Now from the theory to my plan: I will, as recommended by the guys that set up antimoon, practice the sounds I find difficult every day, just a few minutes, and eventually, hopefully improve.

Apart from the vowel and consonant pronunciation, I think the hardest thing about speaking English is the correct stress of a word. It’s something that you simply have to learn and so that is what I am going to do. We were assigned about 700 words to learn until January and in order to remember them longer than just for the exam, I will start studying them early. While learning them, it is essential to take a very close look at the pronunciation and the stress of every single word, no matter how familiar it might seem.

Last but not least, besides studying vocab by heart all the time I sometimes need some spoken input that I will get by watching English TV, movies, by listening to English audiobooks and radio. With this exercise it is important to not just sit there, indulge myself and try to make out the main points. I have to pay attention to the pronunciation of various words and look up some of them if I am not sure what they mean.

That’s it, actually – for now. I believe I'll have enough to do for some time but I am looking forward to my next blog post related to pronunciation, which is probably going to be about intonation of American English. It’s gonna be a lot of fun! ;)

Source: http://antimoon.com/