Hello, Advanced English learners. Welcome back. Recently in our community we talked about how to do active listening and making mental notes of what people say without going overboard and multitasking. It was an eye-opening discussion, and if you would like to take part in those, I would encourage you to join our Community Explearning Academy and you can sign up at academy.explearning.co. We would love to have you. 

In this lesson, we're going to discuss how to improve intonation as an L2 English Speaker. If you're ready, let's get into it. 

Intonation is the rise and fall of pitch in Speech, and it is an important part of effective communication in English. As an L2 English speaker, it can be challenging to master intonation, but with practice and guidance, it is definitely possible to improve.

I would be remiss if we didn't mention prosody in this context. So what is prosody? Prosody is the rhythm, stress, and intonation of speech. It is the way that we use our voice to convey meaning and emotion, and it is an important aspect of communication in all languages. In English, prosody involves the way that we use stress, pitch and rhythm to convey meaning and emphasis. For example, we might use stress to highlight important words or ideas, or we might use pitch to indicate emotions or attitudes. Prosody is an important aspect of English pronunciation as it can affect how the listener interprets and responds to what is being said. It can also affect the overall tone and atmosphere of a conversation.

Improving your prosody can help you communicate more effectively and fluently in English. So now that you have this background information, let's jump into the strategies.

Listen closely to native speakers and pay attention to their intonation patterns. Try to listen to different people speaking English and pay attention to how their pitch changes in different sentences. For example, notice how the pitch of a statement is different from a question. 

Listen to podcasts, news and songs, and try to identify the intonation patterns. 

Record yourself speaking and listen back to your own intonation. Use a voice recording app on your phone or computer to record yourself speaking. Then listen to the recording and pay attention to how you use intonation. Compare your intonation to that of a native speaker.

Practice with a community of people, a community of practice, and work on what you've been learning. A community is a phenomenal resource for language learning because a community can provide feedback, accountability for you to stick with your goals, provide motivation for when you don't have that intrinsic motivation and a host of other things. So I highly encourage you to join a community. 

Study and practice intonation patterns through exercises such as tongue twisters and dialogues. There are many exercises and activities that can help you practice intonation. For example, try saying tongue twisters, such as she sells seashells by the seashore. She sells seashells by the seashore. Or practice short dialogues with a partner and pay specific attention to intonation patterns used in those conversations. You can even find a dialogue or some sort of interaction between two of your favorite characters in a show or a movie that you're watching, and just try to repeat it the way they do on screen.

Try to understand the meaning and the context of the sentence and use intonation accordingly, because intonation is also related to the meaning and the context of the overall sentence and the message. For example, if you are asking a question, use a rising intonation at the end of the sentence. If you're making a statement, use a falling intonation.

Are you ready to put this into practice? Well, I have a quest for you as well as some challenges that you can do when practicing these concepts and strategies. You'll be able to access those resources when you join our private Community Explearning Academy. So be sure to check out academy.explearning.co for those quests, challenges, the discussion that goes along with it, and an opportunity to submit questions or ask me live, in real time. So sign up, like I said, by going to academy.explearning.co, or just check out the link in the description. 

In conclusion, intonation is an essential aspect of effective communication in English, especially for L2 English speakers.

Improving intonation takes patience and practice, but with the right approach, it is definitely 100% possible. The key is to pay attention to L1 native speakers, record yourself speaking, practice with a native speaker, practice in a community, study intonation patterns through specific exercises like tongue twisters, and try to understand the meaning of the context of the sentence, and use intonation accordingly to imbue those sentences with meaning.

Remember that improving intonation is a gradual process and it will take time and patience to achieve mastery. Keep working at it and don't get discouraged if you don't see immediate results. With time, effort, and dedication, you will be able to master intonation and improve your English communication and social fluency.

All right. That's it for me today. Thank you so much for joining me. I really appreciate you taking the time to spend it here with me by listening to this podcast and watching this video on the YouTube channel and checking out our blog. Be sure to show the podcast and the YouTube channel some love so that we can get it out to as many people as possible and help improve their English communication skills and social fluency.

I will see you right here for the next one, if not sooner, in my Academy, if you join Exploring Academy, our very own community. All right, see you in the next one. Bye for now.

About the Author and the Explearning Academy:

Mary Daphne is an expert in communication, executive skills and professional development. She is the founder of the Explearning Academy, a platform dedicated to helping individuals enhance their social fluency, boost their careers, and elevate their social game. Through immersive group coaching programs like the Executive Communication Lab and self-guided journeys, participants gain the social superpowers and career catapults they've been searching for. If you're ready to take your negotiation skills to the next level and connect with like-minded individuals, visit academy.explearning.co and explore the various plans available. Join the Explearning Academy community and unlock your full potential.

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