I'm back to explain a little about intonation. This is a topic that I teach when I tutor. Remember, you can reach me at englishispersonal@gmail.com if you'd like to ask about tutoring services.
Most, or all, languages use intonation is some way. Intonation is the way we raise, lower, or vary (change up then down then up then down...) our voices while we speak a word. We can use intonation with any vowel (a, e, i, o, u) in a word.
Always, we use intonation to express our feelings. You can think of these feelings as the punctuation in writing.
Below is a picture of the possible intonation patterns. Can you match the possible intonation options to the possible punctuation options? I will put the answers at the end of this post. Try to match them before you look. Notice there are four possible intonation patterns that can match periods.
a) Your voice tone goes up a little, then down again at the vowel of a word
b) Your voice tone goes up, then down, then up, then down, then up, then down, for an extended amount of time beginning with the stressed vowel of the word.
c) Your voice tone goes slowly up, then down, then up, then down, for a shorter amount of time.
d) Your voice tone raises up at the end of the word.
e) Your voice tone drops down at the end of a sentence or word.
f) Your voice tone raises up (for longer than a), then down, then up a little starting with the stressed vowel of the word.
NOTE: Remember that you do not raise or lower the volume of your voice. You just change the tone. Tones are like the notes when you play music. Here is a good example from The Sound of Music.
When you feel confident, try to say a simple word like 'yah' while changing your intonation. You can do it!
We can fix that!
Matthew
Answers: a3, b4, c5, d1, e6, f2
What is the difference between a, b, c, and e?
'a' shows a normal pronunciation. Not happy, not sad, just normal.
'b' shows sarcasm. The meaning of 'sarcasm' is here.
'c' shows hesitant agreement.
'e' shows that you are feeling sad.
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