Hello again. This is part 1 of 4 on American English intonation.
Intonation is not a new sound. It is the rise and fall of your voice while you speak. If the pitch stays flat, the words can be right and the listener still has to work too hard.
What is intonation in American English?
Intonation is the use of pitch. Pitch is the rising and lowering of your voice. People call it the music or melody of speech. When you sing, your voice goes higher for high notes and lower for low notes. In English we do the same thing while we talk.
We can go high in our pitch, or we can go low. Say that sentence out loud and listen for the change. Sometimes the pitch feels like a wave, or a roller coaster: up, down, up, down.
Intonation and the rhythm of English
Intonation is part of learning the correct rhythm of English. It is not only about saying every sound. It is about how the language is supposed to flow. When the rhythm is right, the listener can follow you without asking you to repeat the whole line.
A common imitation of English is “dadaDAddaddaDada DAdada.” That joke is actually useful. What people are copying is the intonation pattern, not the vowels.
Why this matters on a call
If every word gets the same pitch, important words do not stand out. The other person misses the point, then asks you to say it again. A small pitch change on the word that matters often fixes that faster than speaking louder.
Daily habits that help: 10 helpful tips for mastering English pronunciation and daily English pronunciation exercises.
For more practice, see our guide to questions for your pronunciation trainer and our list of common English intonation mistakes made by non-native English speakers.
How to practice this week
Pick one sentence you actually say at work. Record it once. Listen only for pitch: which word went up? Then say it again and lift the important word a little. Two minutes is enough.
This is part 1 of 4. Part 4 of the series is here: American English intonation (4 of 4).
I hope this helps. Leave comments and questions below.
–Annie Ruden M.S. CCC-SLP
Transcript from the video
The skill we are going to learn and practice today is intonation.
Intonation is the use of pitch. Pitch is the rising and lowering of your voice. Intonation is often called the music or melody of speech. So think of it in terms of singing. When you sing, your voice goes higher for the high notes and lower for the low notes.
In English, we do the same thing with our voice while we are speaking. We can go high in our pitch or we can go low. Did you hear the pitch change in my voice when I said that sentence? I’ll say it again: we can go high in our pitch or we can go low. Sometimes the pitch changes in English feel like a wave pattern or a roller coaster as it goes up and down. I’ve heard people imitate English speakers by saying “dadaDAddaddaDada DAdada.” This is actually a pretty good imitation, because what they are imitating is the intonation pattern of English.
If you want a coach to hear your pitch on a real work sentence, start here: https://pronunciationpro.com/trial/.
