Intonation in terms of North American English refers to the music of speech. Have you ever heard the expression "to read between the lines"? Unlike, for instance, Chinese, which uses intonation--pitch changes in speech--to indicate content or meaning changes, Americans use pitch changes in speech to indicate emotion. So for instance to an American, there is a difference between "I have to go to the library..." (irritated) and "I have to go to the library!" (excited). We convey that difference via pitch changes and emphasis/stress changes.

Here's an example of "I have to go to the library..."with the speaker conveying to the listener that he is irritated about it.

Click here to download I have to go to the library (irritated).mp3

Here's an example of "I have to go to the library!" with the speaker conveying to
the listener that he is excited and happy about it.

Click here to download I have to go to the library (excited).mp3

It's important because if you don't intonate the sentence correctly, an American won't know how to react to it--in other words if it sounds like this:

Click here to download I have to go to the library (no intonation).mp3

Then you haven't conveyed to the American listener how you feel emotionally about it, and he won't know how to respond. An American responds partially on how you feel about it; it's very important to an American. If you can't convey it with your tone, you miss out on a big part of ordinary communication with Americans.

For Chinese folks, I have an easier explanation. Say out loud, the Chinese words for "mother", "horse", "hemp" and "scold". There is a difference, right? You have made sounds and pitched those sounds differently for each word--but the actual *sounds* are the same. (To an American ear, they all sound like "ma"). In America we don't change pitches for content--we change them to indicate emotion. Emotional content is very important to us in our speech.

If you'd like some information about the specific rules and system of intonation in North American English (because there really are specific codified rules and a specific system) feel free to give me a call at (732) 776-7964 OR buzz me on Skype at david.berlin.esl or just drop me an email at david.berlin.esl@gmail.com to chat about accent reduction and to set up an appointment. There's no long term commitment necessary; you can pay me on a per session basis for as long as you like--although I do give a discount of $5/hour for a monthlong commitment.

Take care everybody and enjoy the summer!