| Accent and Meaning, a Brief Grasp for Foreign | | | | 3. Now place the stress on I : “I am not walking to |
| Speakers | | | | school tomorrow”. Here, the variation is set up on |
| Accent is one of the vital parts to dominate if we wish | | | | who is walking to school tomorrow. For example: “I |
| to get and replicate native-like spoken English. It | | | | am not walking to school tomorrow; Peter is.” |
| amounts to one of the main factors that will assist us | | | | 4. Finally, stress the word “school”, i.e: “I am |
| in understanding that dreaded quick talking every | | | | not walking to school tomorrow”. The idea might be |
| foreigner states to have difficulty deciphering. Here is | | | | concluded like this “...nevertheless, I am walking to |
| one vital nugget of information that will help us solve | | | | my gym class”. |
| what seems to bewilder every non-native speaker. | | | | As you see, it is a really easy exercise that will help |
| What you must understand is that intonation is a | | | | you convey the right sense of your sentences. |
| characteristic attribute of each language. | | | | Another aspect to consider is falling or rising intonation |
| There are 3 parts to systematically grasping a | | | | in the sentences. Let's check it with, “I do” -don't |
| language. Grammar is one aspect, semantics is | | | | get your hopes up; I am not planning to walk you down |
| another, and phonetics the last one. Accent falls into | | | | the aisle. “I do”, with a falling intonation states a |
| the semantic aspect of language. As a result, it is | | | | clear truth, is a declarative phrase, a report, while “I |
| effortless to deduce that albeit a student might hold a | | | | do”, with a rising intonation presents a question, an |
| rather all-encompassing knowledge of English | | | | answer stated in incredulity, amazement or shock. “I |
| vocabulary, and even in the assumption he gets to | | | | do? Come on, you know better than that!” |
| build rather proper grammatically accurate structures, if | | | | Configurations known as question tags, also have a |
| he lacks the right control of intonation, he will never | | | | different intonation. Not like simple questions, that have |
| systematically control the English language. | | | | a rising intonation, question tags copy a question, when |
| Let us try the following easy exercise. Take a phrase | | | | they are merely emphasizers, meant for confirmation |
| like, “I am not walking to school tomorrow”. | | | | from the listener. For example: “That is your wife, |
| 1. The regular intonation would be attained by stressing | | | | isn't she?” This states, I have a great feeling that |
| the word “school”. This is merely one of several | | | | that lady over there is your wife, due to the manner |
| options. It is a simple firm phrase, a portion of | | | | she looks at you, etc. I am merely seeking confirmation |
| information, about what he is planning to do tomorrow. | | | | from you. In consequence, question tags never carry a |
| 2. Try inserting the stress on “walking”. Now the | | | | rising intonation. |
| sense is different. I am contrasting “walking” to | | | | If you’re taking ESL lessons, you must read more |
| other modes of transportation. For example, I plan to | | | | great articles in our blog. |
| ride my bike to school tomorrow. Thus, the complete | | | | If you enjoyed this article, please feel free to post it to |
| phrase might be, “I am not walking to school | | | | your site or blog and forward this link to your friends. |
| tomorrow; I'll ride my bike ”. | | | | Have a great day! |