In this lesson I will provide you with rising and falling intonation exercises and examples to help you understand the various functions of intonation, otherwise know as inflection. I have attached a downloadable cheat sheet that I developed to use with my own coaching clients you are welcome to use for your own home practise.

Intonation patterns in English 

Falling Intonation

Falling intonation is when the words in a sentence gradually fall in tone (or musical note) almost in a stepwise manner.

Here is something that might come as a surprise… most of the time English speakers actually use a falling intonation pattern, why you ask? Because falling intonation communicates to the listener a very specific message (depending on how dramatically your intonation drops!).

Functions of Falling Intonation

• Statements or comments
• Wh questions like ‘where are you going?’
• Low energy emotions such as boredom, disinterest

If you are familiar with what I mean by word stress you will understand that stressed words (important words or short phrases) in a sentence are the exception to the falling tone applied to the rest of the words in the above sentences. That’s because one of the ways English speakers mark the importance of a stressed word is with a sudden rise in tone. For example the word ‘outside’ in the following sentence:

‘I want to eat outside this evening’

Functions of Rising Intonation

Rising intonation is often overused by both none native English speakers as well as native speakers (and most people don’t realise they are doing it!). In fact this is called ‘high rising terminal’ and has been on the increase especially in Australia. Using rising intonation incorrectly can indicate you are unsure of yourself, in a heightened emotional state, or wanting the listener to clarify what you are saying. Many non native speakers have been taught to use rising intonation when asking any kind of question but this is not correct as English speakers only use rising tone for questions with a yes/no answer! The rising tone intonation pattern is only used for:

• Questions with a yes/no answer
• Requests for clarification (indicates uncertainty)
• High energy emotions e.g. happiness/anger/shock

Functions of Mixed Intonation

Mixed intonation in English sentences serve several functions including:

• Offering a choice of two (high to low intonation) e.g. black or white?
• Listing items (gradually rise then fall on the last word) e.g. milk, bread, butter and cheese

Intonation Examples Cheat Sheet – free download 

For more examples and exercises to work on intonation patterns in English, download our free cheat sheet below.

If you have any questions or need any clarification after this lesson feel free to contact me.

The post Rising and Falling Intonation – Examples & Exercises appeared first on AccentU.

Do you want to learn the Aussie accent? Have you noticed you have trouble pronouncing some of the Australian long vowel sounds..?

Many of my clients tell me they learnt English pronunciation from a teacher outside of Australia, who spoke English as their second language! If that is how you learnt English your long vowel sounds your accent may sound just like that person who taught you.

How do you know if you need to work on your long vowel sounds? Well, if your mother tongue is on a different ‘branch’ to English on the language tree above – you probably pronounce your long vowel sounds differently to Australian English. Long vowel sounds are one of the first things I often target with my clients for good reason – they are a key component of the Aussie accent. Vowel sound errors are often the cause of communication breakdown for example, for example if you shorten the vowel sound in the word ‘mood’ it becomes ‘mud’!

If you want to improve your accent or simply learn the aussie accent, you need to learn the long vowel sounds. In this lesson, I explain the pronunciation of 1 category of the three ‘types’ of aussie vowels – long vowels, using the international phonetic alphabet.

Download my free long vowel sounds worksheet below.

Check out my other free lessons on short vowels and diphthongs.

If you would like to learn more about accent reduction coaching check out our article here. If you would like to access our free online lessons, check out our video lessons tab. If you would prefer a more personalised touch, contact me for a free online consultation and I can give you my professional opinion on your pronunciation. Alternatively, send me a video on facebook messenger to analyse. As always, feel free to email me with your suggestions and feedback if you have any requests for particular lessons.

The post Long vowel sounds – cheat sheet and video lesson! appeared first on AccentU.

Do you ever find it tricky spelling out your name or email over the phone? Sick of having to repeat yourself!? Check out my pdf cheat sheet below to help you pronounce the Australian alphabet letters correctly, the first time, every time!!

The symbols below used in conjunction with the International Phonetic Alphabet represent the correct Australian English pronunciation (with an aussie accent) of consonants as well as short and long vowel sounds in the alphabet.

The post Pronounce the Australian alphabet properly… it’s all about vowels! appeared first on AccentU.