American Accent Training 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 daB er das geld gestohlen hat, you would change the stress to Ich habe nicht gesagt daB er das geld gestohlen hat, or Ich habe nicht gesagt dab er das geld gestohlen hat If you translated it into French, you would say, Je n'ai pas dit qu'il a vole largent, or Je n pas dit qu'il a vole largent. 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 imasen deshita Or perhaps, Watashi wa kare ga okane o nusunda to wa imasen 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 differ ent 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 x 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 be tween 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 x Pause the Cd and repeat the sentences Exercise 1-12: Create Your own Intonation Contrast CD 1 Track 19 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
Chapter 1/ American Intonation Exercise 1-13: Variable Stress CD 1 Track 20 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 non 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? 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. You can' t believe what you heard: "I'd like strawberry jam on my asparagus What would you like?” i Turn off the Cd and repeat the four sentences Exercise 1-14: Make a Variable Stress Sentence CD 1 Track 21 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 23456
American Accent Training Application of Intonation CD 1 Track 22 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) K Pause the CD and work on the paragraph below. Exercise 1-15: Application of Stress CD 1 Track 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 Im 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 Note If 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 encour- age your pitch change. This may strike you as unusual, but trust me, it work x Pause the CD and practice reading the paragraph out loud three times on your own
Chapter 1/ American intonation How You Talk Indicates to People How You Are CD1 Track 24 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 dont know who is on the other end Or when you go into a house and you don't know whos there because you dont 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 youd 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 such-and-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. Ive been paying attention to pitch, too. I think r'm quite wonderful An earnest, hard-working person might emphasize words this way: Im taking ameri can 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 easier to understand(but I think they 're just being polite). Exercise 1-16: Paragraph Intonation Practice CD 1 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 x Back up the Cd and practice this paragraph three times Pause the Cd and practice three times on your own
American Accent Tra Exercise 1-17: Staircase Intonation Practice CD 1 Track 26 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. Hello. My Accent name Training taking American lot h enJoyable V Write out the rest of the staircases x Turn the Cd back on to check your staircases with the way i read the paragraph x Pause the Cd again to check your staircases in the Answer Key, beginning on page 193 x Back up the CD, and listen and repeat my reading of the paragraph while following the staircases in the answer Key