Draw one step of the staircase for each word of the paragraph. Start a new staircase for every
stressed word. There usually is more than one staircase in a sentence. New sentences don't have to
start new staircases; they can continue from the previous sentence until you come to a stressed word.
I'll read the beginning sentences. Check the first sentence against the example. Then put the words of
the second sentence on a staircase, based on the way I read it. Remember, I'm exaggerating to make
a point.
V Write out the rest of the staircases.
× Turn the CD back on to check your staircases with the way I read the paragraph. × Pause the
CD again to check your staircases in the Answer Key, beginning on page 193. × Back up the
CD, and listen and repeat my reading of the paragraph while following the staircases in the
Answer Key.
From your color-marked copy, read each sentence of the paragraph in Exercise 1-15 after me. Use
your rubber band, give a clear pitch change to the highlighted words, and think about the meaning
that the pitch is conveying.
× Back up the CD and practice this paragraph three times.
× Pause the CD and practice three times on your own.
Beware of "Revealing" a Personality that You Don't Have!
There is no absolute right or wrong in regard to intonation because a case can be made for stressing
just about any word or syllable, but you actually reveal a lot about yourself by the elements you
choose to emphasize. For example, if you say, Hello, this intonation would indicate doubt. This is
why you say, Hello ? when answering the telephone because you don't know who is on the other
end. Or when you go into a house and you don't know who's there because you don't see anyone. But
if you're giving a speech or making a presentation and you stand up in front of a crowd and say,
Hello, the people would probably laugh because it sounds so uncertain. This is where you'd
confidently want to say Hello, my name is So-and-so.
A second example is, my name is—as opposed to my name is. If you stress name, it sounds as if you
are going to continue with more personal information: My name is So-and-so, my address is suchand-
such, my blood type is O. Since it may not be your intention to give all that information, stay
with the standard—Hello, my name is So-and-so.
If you stress / every time, it will seem that you have a very high opinion of yourself. Try it: I'm
taking American Accent Training. I've been paying attention to pitch, too. I think I'm quite
wonderful.
An earnest, hard-working person might emphasize words this way: I'm taking American Accent
Training (Can I learn this stuff?). I hope to make it as enjoyable as possible (I'll force myself to
enjoy it if I have to). Although the only way to get it is to practice all the time (24 hours a day).
A Doubting Thomas would show up with: I should pick up on (but I might not) the American
intonation pattern pretty easily, (but it looks pretty hard, too). I've been talking to a lot of Americans
lately, and they tell me that I'm easier to understand (but I think they're just being polite).
Mark every word or syllable with ' where you think that the sound is stressed. Use the first sentence
as your example. Check Answer Key, beginning on page 193. Pause the CD.
Hello, my’ name is______________. I'm taking American Accent Training. There's a lot to
learn, but I hope to make it as enjoyable as possible. I should pick up on the American intonation
pattern pretty easily, although the only way to get it is to practice all of the time. I use the up and
down, or peaks and valleys, intonation more than I used to. I've been paying attention to pitch,
too. It's like walking down a staircase. I've been talking to a lot of Americans lately, and they tell
me that I'm easier to understand. Anyway, I could go on and on, but the important thing is to
listen well and sound good. Well, what do you think? Do I?
Listen and re-mark the stressed words with your marker. After you've put in the accent marks
where you think they belong, take one of the colored translucent markers and as I read very
slowly, mark the words that I stress. I am going to exaggerate the words far more than you'd
normally hear in a normal reading of the paragraph. You can mark either the whole word or just
the strong syllable, whichever you prefer, so that you have a bright spot of color for where the
stress should fall. NoteIf you do the exercise only in pencil, your eye and mind will tend to skip over the accent marks.
The spots of color, however, will register as "different" and thereby encourage your pitch change.
This may strike you as unusual, but trust me, it works.
* Pause the CD and practice reading the paragraph out loud three times on your own.
Answer key on page 193 Read the following with clear intonation where marked. Hello, my name is__________________. I'm taking American Accent Training. There's
a lot to learn, but I hope to make it as enjoyable as possible. I should pick up on the American
intonation pattern pretty easily, although the only way to get it is to practice all of the time. I
use the up and down, or peaks and valleys, intonation more than I used to. I've been paying
attention to pitch, too. It's like walking down a staircase. I've been talking to a lot of
Americans lately, and they tell me that I'm easier to understand. Anyway, I could go on and on,
but the important thing is to listen well and sound good. Well, what do you think? Do I?
There is always at least one stressed word in a sentence and frequently you can have quite a few
if you are introducing a lot of new information or if you want to contrast several things. Look at
the paragraph in Exercise 1-15. Take a pencil and mark every word that you think should be
stressed or sound stronger than the words around it. I'd like you to make just an accent mark (')
to indicate a word you think should sound stronger than others around it. Reminder The three ways to change your voice for intonation are: (1) Volume (speak louder),
(2) Length (stretch out a word), and (3) Pitch (change your tone).
* Pause the CD and work on the paragraph below.
Now you decide which words should be emphasized. Write a normal, everyday sentence with at
least seven words and put it through as many changes as possible. Try to make a pitch change
for each word in the sentence and think about how it changes the meaning of the entire sentence.
1.________________________________________________________
2.________________________________________________________
3.________________________________________________________
4.________________________________________________________
5.________________________________________________________
6.________________________________________________________
7.________________________________________________________
Notice how the meaning of the following sentence changes each time we change the stress
pattern. You should be starting to feel in control of your sentences now.
1. What would you like ?
This is the most common version of the sentence, and it is just a simple request for
information.
2. What would you like?
This is to single out an individual from a group.
3. What would you like?
You've been discussing the kinds of things he might like and you want to determine
his specific desires: "Now that you mention it, what would you like?" or
He has rejected several things and a little exasperated, you ask, "If you don't want
any of these, what would you like?"
4.What would you like?
You didn't hear and you would like the speaker to repeat herself. or
You can't believe what you heard: "I'd like strawberry jam on my asparagus. What would you like ?"
Write a short sentence and indicate where you think the most normal intonation would be placed.
Then, change the meaning of the sentence slightly and change the intonation accordingly.
Normal intonation ___________________________
Changed intonation ___________________________
Take the sentenceI didn't say he stole the moneyand translate it into your native language. Write
it down below, using whatever letters or characters you use in your language.
Now that you have written your sentence down, try shifting the stress around in your own
language by going through the stress patterns 1-7 in Exercise 1-9. Don't try to put on a
particularly American or other accent; just concentrate on stressing a different word in the
sentence each time you say it.
For example, if your language is German, Ich habe nicht gesagt daß er das Geld gestohlen hat, you
would change the stress to: Ich habe nicht gesagt daß er das Geld gestohlen hat, or Ich habe nicht
gesagt daß er das Geld gestohlen hat.
If you translated it into French, you would say, Je n'ai pas dit qu'il a vole l'argent, or Je n' pas dit
qu'il a vole l'argent.
In Japanese, many people think that there are no intonation changes, but if you hear someone
say, wakkanai, you'll realize that it has similarities to every other language. Watashi wa kare ga
okane o nusunda to wa iimasen deshita. Or perhaps, Watashi wa kare ga okane o nusunda to wa
ümasen deshita.
No matter how strange it may sound to you, stress each different word several times in your
language. You may notice that with some words it sounds perfectly normal, but with other words
it sounds very strange. Or you may find that in your language, rather than stressing a word, you
prefer to change the word order or substitute another word. Whatever you do is fine, as long as
you realize where your language patterns are similar to and different from the American English
intonation patterns. Then, when you do it again, in English, it will be much easier. Note An excellent exercise is to practice speaking your native language with an American accent. If
you can sound like an American speaking your native language, imagine how easy it would be to
speak English with an American accent.
Pause the CD and practice shifting the stressed words in your native language.
Intonation Contrast
Below are two sentences—the first is stressed on the most common, everyday word, book. Nine
times out of ten, people will stress the sentence in this way. The second sentence has a less
common, but perfectly acceptable intonation, since we are making a distinction between two
possible locations. Normal intonation Where's the book? It's on the table. Changed intonation Is the book on the table or under it? It's on the table.
Pause the CD and repeat the sentences
Now, let's see what you can do with the same sentence, just by changing the stress around to
different words. I'll tell you which meaning to express. When you hear the tone +, say the sentence as
quickly as you can, then I'll say the sentence for you. To test your ear, I'm going to repeat the
sentences in random order. Try to determine which word I'm stressing. The answers are given in
parentheses, but don't look unless you really have to. Here we go.
1. Indicate that he borrowed the money and didn't steal it. (5) +
2. Indicate that you are denying having said that he stole it. (2) +
3. Indicate that you think he stole something besides money. (7) +
4. Indicate that you were not the person to say it. (1) +
5. Indicate that you don't think that he was the person who stole it. (4) +
6. Indicate that you didn't say it outright, but did suggest it in some way. (3) +
7. Indicate that he many have stolen a different amount of money. (6) +
Overdo It
Practice these sentences on your own, really exaggerating the word that you think should be
stressed. In the beginning, you're going to feel that this is ridiculous. (Nobody stresses this hard!
Nobody talks like this! People are going to laugh at me!) Yet as much as you may stress, you're
probably only going to be stressing about half as much as you should.
+ Pause the CD and practice the sentences in random order ten times.
Another reason you must overexaggerate is because when you get tired, emotional, or relaxed,
you will stop paying attention. When this happens, like a rubber band, you're going to snap back
to the way you originally were sounding (10 percent). So, if you just stretch yourself to the exact
position where you ideally want to be, you'll go back almost completely to the old way when you
relax. For practice, then, stretch yourself far beyond the normal range of intonation (150
percent), so when you relax, you relax back to a standard American sound (100 percent).
We All Do It
Possibly about this time you're thinking, Well, maybe you do this in English, but in my language, I
just really don't think that we do this. I'd like you to try a little exercise.
Notice how the meaning changes, while the actual words stay the same.
1. I didn't say he stole the money. Someone else said it.
2. I didn't say he stole the money. That's not true at all.
3. I didn't say he stole the money. I only suggested the possibility.
4. I didn't say he stole the money. I think someone else took it.
5. I didn't say he stole the money. Maybe he just borrowed it.
6. I didn't say he stole the money, but rather some other money.
7. I didn't say he stole the money. He may have taken some jewelry.
[I]__ I didn't say he stole the money. Someone else said it.
It's true that somebody said it, but I wasn't that person.
[Didn't]__ I didn't say he stole the money. That's not true at all.
Someone has accused me and I'm protesting my innocence.
[Say]__ I didn't say he stole the money. I only suggested the possibility.
Maybe I hinted it. Maybe I wrote it. In some way, I indicated that he stole
the money, but I didn't say it.
[He]__ I didn't say he stole the money. I think someone else took it.
I think someone stole the money, only not the person you suspect did it.
[Stole]__ I didn't say he stole the money. Maybe he just borrowed it.
I agree that he took it, but I think his motive was different.
[The]__ I didn't say he stole the money, but rather some other money.
We agree that he stole some money, but I don't think it's this money.
[Money]__ I didn't say he stole the money. He may have taken some jewelry.
We agree that he's a thief, but we think he stole different things.
Notice that in the first half of these sentences nothing changes but the intonation.
V Repeat after me.
Native speakers make a clear distinction between pretty easily (easily) and pretty easily (a little
difficult). Repeat the answers after me paying close attention to your stress.
Question: How did you like the movie? Answer:
1. It was pretty good. (She liked it.)
2. It was pretty good. (She didn't like it much.)
Practice saying the sentences after the suggestion and the beep tone +. You will be given only a short time in which to reply so that you won't have the leisure to overthink. Start speaking as soon as you hear the tone because I'll be saying the sentence only a few seconds later.
1. Convey the information that it really does sound as if rain is falling. +
2. Convey the opinion that although it has the sound of rain, it may be something else. +
3. Convey the different feelings that someone has about rain and snow. +
4. Convey the fact that rain is an impossibility right now. +
+ Pause the CD.
Practice the four sentences on your own ten times.
+ Once you're familiar with moving the stress around and feeling how the meaning changes,
turn the CD on to continue with the next exercise.
Practice saying the four sentences after me. Pay close attention to the changes in pitch that you must make to convey the different meanings intended. The words to be stressed are indicated in bold face.
1. It sounds like rain.
2. It sounds like rain.
3. He likes rain, but he hates snow.
4. It can't rain on my parade! He can't do it. (See also Ex. 1-43 for negatives.)
Depending on the situation, a word may be stressed for any of the following reasons: New Information Opinion Contrast "Can't"
1. New Information It sounds like rain. Rain is the new information. It's the most important word in that sentence and you could replace everything else with duh-duh-duh. Duh-duh-duh rain will still let you get your point across
Repeat: Duh-duh-duh rain It sounds like rain.
Make rain very musical and put it on two notes: ray-ayn. Duh-duh-duh ray-ayn / It sounds like ray-ayn.
2. Opinion It sounds like rain, but I don't think it is.
In this case, intonation makes the meaning the opposite of what the words say: It looks like a diamond, but I think it's a zircon. It smells like Chanel, but at that price, it's a knock-off. It feels like... It tastes like... These examples all give the impression that you mean the opposite of what your senses tell you.
Practice the intonation difference between new information and opinion: It sounds like rain. (It's rain.) It sounds like rain, (but it's not.)
3. Contrast He likes rain, but he hates snow. Like and hate are contrasted and are the stronger words in the sentence.
4. Can't It can't rain when there're no clouds.
Contractions (shouldn't, wouldn't) and negatives (no, not, never) are important words since they totally negate the meaning of a sentence, but they are not usually stressed. Can't is the exception.
Pause the CD and underline or highlight the words that you think should be stressed. Check Answer Key, beginning on page 193.
1. Sam sees Bill.
2. She wants one.
3. Betty likes English.
4. They play with them.
5. Children play with toys.
6. Bob and I call you and Bill.
1. You and Bill read the news.
8. It tells one.
9. Bernard works in a restaurant.
10. He works in one.
11. He sees him.
12. Mary wants a car.
13. She likes it.
14. They eat some.
15. Len and Joe eat some pizza.
16. We call you.
17. You read it.
18. The news tells a story.
19. Mark lived in France.
20. He lived there.
Answer Key on page 193
1. Sam sees Bill.
2. She wants one.
3. Betty likes English.
4. They play with them.
5. Children play with toys.
6. Bob and I call you and Bill.
1. You and Bill read the news.
8. It tells one.
9. Bernard works in a restaurant.
10. He works in one.
11. He sees him.
12. Mary wants a car.
13. She likes it.
14. They eat some.
15. Len and Joe eat some pizza.
16. We call you.
17. You read it.
18. The news tells a story.
19. Mark lived in France.
20. He lived there.
You may have learned at some point that questions have a rising intonation. They do, but usually a question will step upward until the very end, where it takes one quick little downward step. A question rises a little higher than a statement with the same intonation pattern.
Emotional or Rhetorical Question Intonation
If you know that your car is parked outside, however, and someone doesn't see it and asks you where it is, you might think that it has been stolen and your emotion will show in your intonation as you repeat the question. As your feelings rise in an emotional situation, your intonation rises up along with them.
In the first column, stress the nouns. In the second column, stress the verb. Fill in your own examples at the bottom.
1. Bob sees Betty._____1. He sees her.
2. Betty knows Bob._____2. She knows him.
3. Ann and Ed call the kids._____3. They call them.
4. Jan sells some apples._____4. She sells some.
5. Jean sells cars._____5. She sells them.
6. Bill and I fix the bikes._____6. We fix them.
7. Carl hears Bob and me._____7. He hears us.
8. Dogs eat bones._____8. They eat them.
9. The girls have a choice._____9. They have one.
10. The kids like the candy._____10. They like it.
11. The boys need some help._____11. They need something.
12. Ellen should call her sister._____12. She should call someone.
13. The murderer killed the plumber._____13. He killed a man.
14. The tourists went shopping._____14. They bought stuff.
15. ______________________ 15. ______________________
16. ______________________ 16. ______________________
17. ______________________ 17. ______________________
18. ______________________ 18. ______________________
19. ______________________ 19. ______________________
20. ______________________ 20. _____________________
