hi i'm julie with san diego voice and
accent
and in this video you're going to learn
all about advanced intonation
in american english
intonation is such a fun topic to
discuss
because there are so many different ways
to use intonation
effectively your voice can go up then
down
or down then up or maybe your voice
stays on the same pitch
but then it goes up when you say
something important
but this is also why intonation can be
challenging to learn there are many
quote
right ways to do it and it's difficult
to know when to use
one intonation pattern over the other
there are no absolute rules to
intonation
it's up to the speaker to decide what
type of intonation pattern
they want to use but there are some
basic guidelines that native speakers
follow
in this video i'll explain the basic
guidelines for the intonation patterns
of statements
and questions and then we'll work on the
more
advanced intonation patterns
to demonstrate these different types of
intonation patterns
i'm going to have a conversation with
myself
i'll be person a on the left side of the
screen and also person b
on the right side of the screen i'll
give you some background information
about what type of intonation pattern
you're about to hear
and then i'll tell you why i used it
let's start with the basics of
statements
statements will typically have downward
intonation
at the end this shows that you are
confident about what you've said
and you're finished speaking listen to
this conversation
what's your name my name's julie
and where are you from i'm from
california
and what's your favorite type of
chocolate i love dark chocolate
so you heard me say a few statements
about myself
and with each statement my intonation
went down
at the end i was confident about what i
said
and i didn't want to add any more
information
i was done speaking the end period
now let's get more advanced what if i
have a longer statement
something with a few different thought
groups what then
listen to this conversation
what do you like to do for fun i really
like going camping
because i like being in nature and
sitting by the campfire at night
and roasting marshmallows
in this conversation i used slight
upward or neutral intonation
throughout each thought group this
indicated i had more to say
but at the end of my statement i ended
with downward intonation
because that was the end of my answer
there are two additional intonation
patterns you could use with the
statement
what if your intonation remained flat
what would that type of intonation
communicate
what do you like to do for fun i really
like going camping because i like being
in nature
and sitting by the campfire at night and
roasting marshmallows
did you believe me did i seem interested
in talking to you did i seem excited
no if you use flat intonation if your
voice stays on one pitch almost the
entire time
you'll come across as sarcastic and
boring
you need to do something with your
intonation go up
go down don't stay flat
but what if your intonation went up at
the end of a statement
what would that communicate
what do you like to do for fun i really
like going camping
because i like being in nature and
sitting by the campfire at night
and roasting marshmallows
did i seem confident about what i was
saying
were you waiting for me to say something
else at the end
did it seem like i was asking a question
at the end
upward intonation throughout a statement
and especially
at the end of a statement can make you
seem
unsure of yourself or it can indicate to
your listener
that you have more to say or
it can turn that statement into a
question
what's your name my name is julie
and where are you from i'm from
california
and what's your favorite type of
chocolate i like dark chocolate
by adding upward intonation to the end
of the statement
i turned each statement into a question
and this type of question is called a
yes no
question the answer is either yes or no
my name's julie yes
i'm from california yes
i love dark chocolate yes
listen to this conversation what do you
think my intonation is trying to
communicate
what's your name my name's julie
your name's julie um
yes and where are you from
i'm from california you're from
california
uh yeah and what's your favorite type of
chocolate
i love dark chocolate you love dark
chocolate
um
[Music]
so how did i sound in my follow up
questions
i was asking yes no questions so my
intonation went up at the end
but it went up more abruptly at a faster
steeper incline
this can sometimes be interpreted as
being rude or offensive now one more
type of advanced intonation of yes no
questions
listen to this conversation what do you
think my intonation is trying to
communicate
what's your name my name's julie
my name's julie and where are you from
i'm from california i'm from california
and what's your favorite type of
chocolate i love dark chocolate
i love dark chocolate
my intonation went up at the end but the
change in intonation was
bigger more dramatic and the pitch of my
voice went
higher my facial expressions also
changed my eyebrows went up and my eyes
got bigger
this type of upward intonation plus the
facial expressions
indicated surprise or doubt or disbelief
if i say your shoes cost 100
i'm expecting the answer to be yes or no
and i don't anticipate i'll be surprised
by that
but your shoes cost 100
again this is a yes no question so the
answer is going to be yes or no
but i already know the answer is yes and
i can't believe it or i'm shocked by
that information
let's discuss another type of question a
wh
question these are questions that begin
with the wh
words like who what where when
why and how the answer to these
questions
is not yes or no instead these questions
require an
open-ended answer and we'll start with
the basics
typically wh questions have downward
intonation
listen to this conversation
what time is it it's 12 o'clock
who's coming to dinner tonight my sister
and her new boyfriend are coming over
for dinner
how many cats do you have i have four
cats
i used downward intonation at the end of
each wh
question this indicated that i didn't
anticipate that i would be
surprised by the answer or maybe i
already knew the answer
and i wanted confirmation now let's get
more advanced
what if i use upward intonation at the
end of a wh question
what would that communicate
what time is it it's 12 o'clock
who's coming to dinner tonight my sister
and her new boyfriend
are coming over for dinner tonight
many cats do you have i have four cats
if you use upward intonation with a wh
question
it can indicate that you're unsure of
the answer to the question
and you are asking for more information
or
you anticipate that you'll be slightly
surprised by the answer
or you'll have some form of disbelief
about the answer
now let's take it one step further let's
say
you know the answer to the question it's
12 o'clock
but you are very surprised by that
information
you might ask the wh question again
but this time you'll use even more
intonation
listen to these examples
the time is 12 o'clock what time is it
it's 12 o'clock we have dinner plans
with my sister
and her new boyfriend who's coming to
dinner tonight
my sister and her new boyfriend are
coming over for dinner
i love my four cats how many cats do you
have
i have four cats
in this conversation my intonation was
bigger
more dramatic and the pitch of my voice
was higher
my facial expressions also changed my
eyebrows went up
and my eyes got bigger this
indicated i was very shocked by the
answer
let's practice both the basic and
advanced intonation patterns of
statements
yes no questions and wh questions
i'll say each sentence three times and
then you'll have a chance to repeat
don't worry about the pronunciation
instead i want you to imitate
the intonation
today is monday today is monday
today is monday
i had a turkey sandwich for lunch and it
was so delicious
i'm going to have it again tomorrow i
had a turkey sandwich for lunch
and it was so delicious i'm going to
have it again tomorrow
i had a turkey sandwich for lunch and it
was so delicious
i'm going to have it again tomorrow
i had a turkey sandwich for lunch and it
was so delicious
i'm going to have it again tomorrow i
had a turkey sandwich for lunch
and it was so delicious i'm going to
have it again tomorrow
i had a turkey sandwich for lunch and it
was so delicious
i'm going to have it again tomorrow
i had a turkey sandwich for lunch and it
was so delicious
i'm going to have it again tomorrow
i had a turkey sandwich for lunch and it
was so delicious
i'm going to have it again tomorrow
i had a turkey sandwich for lunch and it
was so delicious
i'm going to have it again tomorrow
you want to go do you want to go
you want to go you want to go
you want to go
do you want to go do you want to go
do you want to go
what time is it what time is it
what time is it
what time is it what time is it
what time is it
what time is it what time is it
what time is it
i hope you enjoyed this video from san
diego voice and accent
thanks for watching and have a great day