Intonation is the melody of English
このレッスンでは、自信を持って自然にイントネーションを使う方法をいくつかご説明致します。
What is intonation? There are three ways that words can be stressed. Can you think of them?
Word stress is a combination of three things:
- Volume: loud ⇔ soft
- Pitch: high ⇔ low
- Length: long ⇔ short
We are going to use all three in this lesson, but the most powerful and the most common is word length. Say important words longer, and the other words shorter. The stress point really depends on the word, but we always lengthen a vowel.
Here is a test question. Answer it smoothly, and pay attention to your intonation.
How did you meet your best friend?
Your student should use some intonation because they are excited about the topic.
Make notes of key phrases and call attention to what your student has done well. If there are words or phrases with unnatural intonation, call attention to them, too. You can say something like this:
Your tone is not bad! I liked how you said, "…". Let's work on your intonation for the phrase, "…".
Let's do three exercises to quickly improve your intonation. Your teacher will introduce each one.
1. Intensifiers and strong adjectives
Stress the intensifier as much as you can.
- My best childhood memory is…
- The biggest problem facing the economy is…
- Surfing is fantastic!
- The biggest threat to work-life balance is going to be A.I. If humans have to compete with machines, we'll have to work so hard. It's going to be really tough.
2. Lists
Use list intonation, rising at the end of each item in the list, then falling clearly at the end.
- Food in Paris is amazing, and there's a lot of variety. You can find good Chinese, Italian, Indian, and of course, French.
- My vacation was good—I relaxed on the beach, had some cocktails, went swimming and didn't even think about work.
- My hometown is in the countryside, so there's a lot of nature: rivers, mountains, and fields. In spring, there are daffodils, and in autumn, there are red leaves. It's gorgeous.
3. Opposites
Stress the auxiliary verb in these patterns:
- My hometown might not be cheap, but it is a fun city!
- Fast food might not be good for you, but it is convenient.
- Golf might not be the most exciting sport, but it is good exercise.
Now use intensifiers, lists and opposites to give your real opinions about your city, your last vacation, and your hometown.
These three intonation skills will help your student make a good impression in their speaking test.
1. Intensifiers and strong adjectives
The first point is very general. Make sure you mention you can say it louder and longer, and with rising (or falling) intonation.
You can also mention some phrases that your student said in the Warm Up.
2. Lists
Lists should have rising tone for each item until the last item.
A↗, B↗ and C↘.
Model this with sentences #1–3. Have the student repeat after you, until they can use the correct intonation.
- …there's a lot of variety. You can find good Chinese↗, Italian↗, Indian↗, and of course, French↘.
- My vacation was good—I relaxed at the beach↗, had some cocktails↗, went swimming↗ and didn't even think↘ about work.
- …so there's a lot of nature: rivers↗, mountains↗, and fields↘.
3. Opposites
This is a very specific sentence pattern that you can use to talk about balance. To be honest, nothing is perfect, so the phrase, "Well, it might not be perfect, but it is very good," can be used for everything from your hometown to your work to politics or nuclear power.
Generally, the pattern is:
[SUBJ] might not be the [#1 ADJ], but it is [positive point].
Now practice answering some speaking test questions. Remember to aim for natural intonation.