Shadowing Practice: A Step-by-Step Guide to Perfect British Intonation - Learn English Speaking with Video

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You're in a hurry and you need to have perfect British intonation now.
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You could spend a year in Britain listening in to people's conversations.
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Or you, are you spying on us?
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Why don't you mind your own business?
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Get lost!
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Or watching endless British dramas.
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Are you a student of architecture?
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Absolutely.
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Then I do hope you'll come and inspect my little cottage.
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The attics?
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Yes.
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Yes, married to the Duke up to the Attic.
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Or you could watch this 15 minute video.
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Having good pronunciation is not enough.
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I'm sure you do have good pronunciation already.
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You should have if you've watched this video.
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You've got to get the pitch, the tone, the rhythm correct to convey your meaning and emotion
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and there are rules and today you're going to learn 10 rules of perfect British intonation.
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By the end of this video you'll sound more British than the love child of David Attingborough and Judi Dench.
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Are you ready for that?
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Then let's go.
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Hello and welcome to Let Them Talk.
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Let's start with some open questions.
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These are the wh questions maybe the how questions which have open-ended answers and these have a falling tone.
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For example what are you doing?
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What are you doing?
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Where are you going?
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Where are you going?
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How was the show?
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how are you?
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Now of course you can break this rule for example to show surprise
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if you haven't seen the person for many years you might
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say how are you to show surprise we'll look at surprise
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later in this video but yeah how are you rising tone
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if it's supposed but normally normally it's a falling tone
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and falling tone sounds a bit more serious a rising tone sometimes sounds a bit and a bit needy.
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How are you?
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No, it didn't sound better to say how are you?
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Okay, so forwarding tone for those type of questions.
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Now it's your turn.
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Read what's on the screen using the correct intonation.
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Where's the station?
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Where's the station?
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Who's that guy I saw you talking to?
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questions with a yes no answer and with a rising tone
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so for example was it difficult was it difficult do you
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want some coffee a rising tone why are you bleeding have you been in a fight
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so there are two questions together there the open-ended question
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which has a falling tone
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and then the rising question for the yes no question why are you bleeding have you been in a fight
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okay you got it now it's your turn try this
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did you enjoy the show are you waiting for someone
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if you use this tone correctly sometimes you don't need to use the auxiliary verb the verb to be
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or or do in do you want questions because it's clear from the context, from the intonation that you're asking a question.
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So for example, you're going out tonight.
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I don't need to say, are you going out tonight.
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You're going out tonight that's enough.
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You also don't need a pronoun if it's clear from the context.
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Want some tea?
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I'm clearly speaking to you so the intonation can save you time.
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You don't need to say do you want some tea?
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Just want some tea?
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Now it's your turn put the correct intonation here.
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Want some more?
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Are you hungry?
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Well I could just say hungry.
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Question tags.
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Gosh it's very cold in here isn't it?
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Air conditioning keeps these things cool.
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Yes what are they?
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I have no idea.
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Now question tags have a rising tone if it's a real question and a falling tone if it's just said for confirmation.
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So for example beautiful day isn't it?
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Now that's not a question.
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You can peek out the window and you can see it's a beautiful day.
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The sun is shining.
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No you wouldn't say beautiful day isn't it?
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Unlikely.
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What about this?
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The meeting starts at 5 pm doesn't it?
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Now I said that as if it's a real question and I'm waiting for a response.
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If not I'd just say the meeting starts at 5 pm doesn't it?
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Maybe I'm expecting a confirmation but maybe not.
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Now you decide if it's a real question or just a confirmation here.
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he missed the train didn't he okay confirmation he missed the train didn't he real question
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she's got a new job hasn't she real question she's got a new job hasn't she okay just confirmation
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only stress the content words not the helper words content words are the verbs
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except possibly the verb to be and have adjectives nouns and adverbs helper words
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are well sometimes the verb to be prepositions conjunctions articles sometimes
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pronouns now these words are usually unstressed in a sentence and the content words are stressed so for example
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I'm making scones for my friends at school.
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In this sentence making scones,
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friends, school are the content words and you notice I put an emphasis on those words whereas for my,
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at, the are helper words.
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I don't emphasize those words.
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I'm making scones for my friends at school.
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Look at this sentence I fell over on the street
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because it was icy the content words or fell over okay over is a
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preposition but here it's part of the verb part of the phrasal verb to fall over
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so that's the content word and remember with a phrasal verb you usually stress the preposition street is a content word.
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Icy is a content word.
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On the because it was or just helper words.
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So let's try it again stressing the content words.
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I fell over on the street because it was icy.
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I fell over on the street because it was icy.
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You got it?
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And now it's your turn.
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Put the stress on the content words.
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I'm going to the shop to buy a few things.
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However sometimes in a sentence one word is more important than another and what do you do in that situation?
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Well simply you stress it.
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Normally a statement will have a falling intonation but you need to leave room for a spike to emphasize a key word.
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So in a neutral sentence would be something like she promised to give me a cheese and tomato sandwich.
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She promised to give me a cheese
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and tomato sandwich okay with a sort of folding tone isn't it and in normal conversation that's how you'd say it.
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However sometimes you want to stress to the listener
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that one part of the sentence one word is more important than another
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so each word in that sentence could be stressed to change its meaning
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so for example she promised to give me a cheese and tomato sandwich?
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Not him why has he given me it to me?
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She promised to give me a cheese and tomato sandwich
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but she didn't keep her promise she promised to give me cheese and tomato sandwich.
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Give not sell.
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She promised to give me a cheese and tomato sandwich not ham and tomato
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she promised to give me a cheese and tomato sandwich not cheese and cucumber.
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she promised to give me a cheese and tomato sandwich not a cheese and tomato
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something else that I can't think of right now.
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But yes you get what I want to say okay you
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can always leave a spike for the important word in a sentence okay
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so it's pretty simple in English if you want to emphasize something then you emphasize it.
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You don't need to add extra words as sometimes you do in other languages.
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So anyway try this at home with your own keyword spike.
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I'll say in a flat way and you can try the different versions at home.
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I promise to buy her a bunch of red roses.
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I promise to buy her a bunch of red roses.
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Next let's move on to lists.
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There are two ways to give the items in a list.
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You could go down, down, down, up for the final item or up, up, up, down.
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The important thing is to change the tone at the end to indicate to the listener
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that there are no more items on the list.
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So for example I I went to town to buy a hat, some gloves, a dictionary and a toothbrush.
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Okay, that one rising tone at the end.
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It could equally work with a falling tone at the end.
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I went to town to buy a hat, some gloves, a dictionary and a toothbrush.
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Now it's your turn.
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I went to town to buy a coat, some shoes, a pair of scissors and a bottle of wine.
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I went to town to buy a coat, some shoes, a pair of scissors and a bottle of wine.
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Now let's move on to a few ways that you can use intonation to express emotion.
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And first of all surprise, shock or disbelief but in a good way
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and for this you will need to increase the volume of
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your speech speak with a steady raised tone until the last
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content word where you will raise the tone even more
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and elongate the syllable of the stressed part of that word and then drop it off.
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Does that make any sense?
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Probably not.
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Probably not.
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I'm even more confused than you I'm sure but
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but you'll see it'll become perfectly clear if I give you some examples and here's the first one.
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I don't believe it.
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I don't believe it.
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So I don't believe it.
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I've just been accepted into Oxford University.
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This is unbelievable.
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Now it's your turn.
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This is amazing!
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I just won the lottery.
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However sometimes you're surprised in a negative way and this is kind of the opposite.
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Instead of rising tone you keep it flat and aggressive
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then you lengthen the stressed syllable of the last content word but with negativity it goes down
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rather than up once again it'll be much easy
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if I just give you some examples this is unbelievable this
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is unbelievable okay I don't believe it I don't believe it oh god oh god okay now it's your turn
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This is ridiculous.
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Anger.
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Fast aggressive tone which drops on the last content word for example.
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I wish to speak to the manager.
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I wish to speak to the manager.
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Da da da da da da da da da da.
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Are you the manager?
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I am the owner madam.
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What?
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I am the owner.
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I want to speak to the manager.
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Get me some coffee.
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I told you not to do that.
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Now it's your turn.
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Why don't you leave me alone?
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Just get lost.
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Sarcasm.
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Now this usually has an up down up down tone.
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I won't go into this in great detail I'll just give you an example.
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Oh look at your CV you know Microsoft Windows.
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And you've got GCSE in German.
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Aren't you clever? this is up and down tone
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but we don't like being sarcastic so you know I won't give you any
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exercises on that one but just be familiar with that tone
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and we'll move on to the next one which is fury
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if you're absolutely furious you could try this the slow but aggressive slow slow fast fast Okay,
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for example, you'll like this.
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I told you not to do that.
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These people drive me crazy.
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Now you try it.
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Why don't you listen?
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Why won't they answer?
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Oh no, it's the end of the video.
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Now go out, take a red, double-decker bus, your favorite pub drink some warm beer enjoy a marmite sandwich while listening to the
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beetles to celebrate your newly acquired Britishness it's unbelievable goodbye

Context & Background

This video is designed for English learners who aspire to master British intonation in a structured and fun manner. The speaker emphasizes that having good pronunciation alone is not sufficient; it’s crucial to understand the nuances of pitch, tone, and rhythm to convey accurate meanings and emotions. The guide focuses on teaching viewers the essential rules of British intonation, which can significantly enhance their ability to communicate effectively in English. By following along with the lessons, learners can adopt a more authentic British accent, making their speech more engaging and impactful.

Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication

  • What are you doing? - An open-ended question that typically employs a falling tone.
  • Where are you going? - Another open question that encourages detailed responses.
  • How are you? - Usually presented with a falling tone unless expressing surprise.
  • Was it difficult? - A yes-no question that should have a rising tone.
  • Do you want some coffee? - This question also follows the rising intonation pattern.

Step-by-step Shadowing Guide

To effectively grasp the concepts presented in this video, follow this step-by-step guide to tackle British intonation through shadowspeak. This technique is particularly useful for improving English pronunciation and enhancing your overall English speaking practice:

  1. Watch and Listen: Begin by watching the video without attempting to mimic the speaker. Focus on their intonation patterns — notice when their voice rises and falls.
  2. Repeat in Synchrony: Play short segments of the video and pause after each phrase. Imitate the speaker’s tone and rhythm as closely as possible. Pay attention to the shadow speak technique.
  3. Practice Open and Closed Questions: Use the phrases shared above in conversations or daily practices. Remember, open questions like “How are you?” often use a falling tone, while closed questions like “Was it difficult?” should have a rising tone.
  4. Record Yourself: Take advantage of technology by recording your practice sessions. Compare your intonation to that of the speaker in the video, making adjustments where necessary to improve your pronunciation.
  5. Engage with Content: To further solidify your skills, immerse yourself in British dramas or podcasts. This not only aids in practicing but also helps you pick up on various intonation nuances, enriching your shadowspeaks journey.

By diligently following these steps and incorporating the highlighted phrases into your daily conversations, you'll find yourself becoming more confident in your ability to convey emotions and meanings through the art of intonation.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.