Intro:

Hi, everyone. It’s Vivian here, and Melissa!!! I’m just super excited to be your host again this fall. I really enjoyed sharing songs, useful expressions and cultural differences with you guys. It makes me feel fulfilled! So… happy to be back! ____________ (Your feelings about being back on the podcast…)

真的非常开心，新学期又可以跟大家分享实用有趣的英文知识，陪伴大家成长。如果你们觉得EIU Online的存在有陪伴到你的话，那我想说，这种感觉是相互的。从大家的关注、留言、点赞和转发当中，我们感受到了自己的价值感和幸福感。这也是为什么，虽然这个学期Melissa回美国陪伴家人，隔着太平洋还愿意每周跟大家在EIU Online上相聚！

(Your feelings about the podcast project and IVE, how you feel in America right now… )

新的学期，新的开始，我们希望这个秋季能为更多想学好英文的听众带来收获，增强你们学英文的兴趣和动力，为你们未来不管是出国留学、旅行、工作等等可能用到英文的场合做一些知识储备。

 (Ending: personal goals for this fall- maybe how you want your Chinese to be at the end of this school year… motivate everyone a bit… )

很多人问我，Vivian，你的发音为什么可以这么好听……跟美国人的语音那么接近……有什么秘诀？

……“社会我V哥，人好话不多”……这个学期我就为大家带来12堂语音小课，带你一步步走近标准的美语发音……

上个学期，我们通过了12期英文歌曲来学习了很多发音知识。大家都还记得吗，没听过的小伙伴……我希望是上个学期你还没遇见我们……每一期都很精彩啦，可以在公众号下方分类里的线上课程找。言归正传，这个学期，我们要达到的目标基本相同，但所用的材料会大不相同哦，真的挺难的……你说呢。

所以……我决定请出我多年前提升语音的一本书籍，亚马逊No.1语音书- American Accent Traning……超级专业、受认可的书……

Alright. Let’s begin the first lesson.

首先要给大家引入一个新的概念，accent，口音。狭义上的口音，大家都知道，比如fu南的塑普，si川的川普……大家懂的。而今天我要告诉，广义上的口音，其实包含了三个部分：发音（元音、辅音等）、连音（词的连读），还有语调（你说话时的音调、起伏）。Pronunciation, liaisons, and intonation. Wow,… 惊不惊喜，意不意外？

那有小伙们可能还有点疑惑，那口音和发音到底有什么区别呢？

其实美国这么大，从东海岸到西海岸，从南部各州到北部各州，人们的发音是有差异的，但是连读和语调基本是一致的。（就像在国内，我们判断人的口音其实也是由发音和语调决定，少了连读这个部分……）

而且大家也不用纠结哪个口音好哪个口音坏，哪个口音对哪个错。反而有很多口音会成为一种特色。（就比如生活大爆炸里的Raj）不过，做为一个语言学校，浸泡村当然要教大家普遍来说最为标准的美语。

发音和连音上学期讲得比较多，今天我们从语调开始。

First, let’s talk about Do’s and Dont’s.

1. Don’t speak word by word. 不要逐字发音

我们都知道中文讲究的是字正腔圆，是Da Da Da Da 这样点式韵律，而美式英语，更像是一条灵动的河流，I’m on the phone right now… 是流线式的韵律。是截然不同的。

所以，如果你还在逐字的念英文，stop it now.

那我们该怎么做呢？

2. Connect words to form sound groups. 连接单词，形成音群。

This is where you’re going to start doing something completely different than what you have done in your previous English studies. And it is not easy. But be patient, you can do it.

音群会使句子变得流畅，比如 Up until now, get up early,

当然音群也要由义群来决定。这个我们之后再展开分享～

3. Use staircase intonation. 使用阶梯状语调。

What Exactly Is Staircase Intonation?

In saying your words, imagine that they came out as if they were bounding lightly down a flight of stairs. Every so often, one jumps up to another level, and then starts down again.

We go up and down staircases. 在阶梯上上下下。

We start high and end low. 以高音开始、以低音结束。

Every time we want to stress a word or an idea, we just start a new staircase.

Statement Intonation with Nouns 带名词的陈述句语调

Intonation or pitch change is primarily used to introduce new information. This means that when you are making a statement for the first time, you will stress the nouns.

语调或音高的变化主要是用来引出新信息。第一次陈述，一般会强调名词。

Dogs eat bones.

Jerry likes music.

Elsa wants a book.

Statement Intonation with Pronouns 带代词的陈述句语调

When you replace the nouns with pronouns (i.e., old information), stress the verb.

当你用代词（旧信息）代替名词时，强调动词。

Dogs eat bones. They eat them.

Jane sells cars. She sells them.

Kids like toys. They like them.

As we have seen, nouns are new information; pronouns are old information. In a nutshell, these are the two basic intonation patterns.

Statement Versus Question intonation 陈述句语调与疑问句语调对比

You may have learned at some point that questions have a rising intonation. They do, but usually a question will step upward until the very end, where it takes one quick little downward step. A question rises a little higher than a statement with the same intonation pattern.

Here is my car. Where is my car?

Emotional or Rhetorical Question Intonation 表达情绪的问句或反问句语调

If you know that your car is parked outside, however, and someone doesn't see it and asks you where it is, you might think that it has been stolen and your emotion will show in your intonation as you repeat the question. As your feelings rise in an emotional situation, your intonation rises up along with them.

Where is my car? Why? Is it gone?

你是否有听过到这样的英语：…. Da Da Da Da… 有什么特点？每个单词一样重，调也是平的～

而其实英文应该是有起有伏，有ups and downs…

Reasons for & Effects of Using Staircase Intonation

1. Four Main Reasons for Intonation

Depending on the situation, a word nay be stressed for any of the following reasons:

New Information              Opinion              Contrast              "Can't"

1. New information

It sounds like rain.

Rain is the new information. It's the mast important word in that sentence and you could replace everything else with duh-duh-duh. Duh-duh-duh rain will still let you get your point across.

Repeat: Duh-duh-duh rain / It sounds like rain.

Make rain very musical and put it on two notes: ray-ayn.

Duh-duh-duh ray-ayn / It sounds like ray-ayn.

2. Opinion

It sounds like rain. but I don't think it is.

In this case, intonation makes the meaning the opposite of what the words say: It looks like a diamond, but I think it's a zircon. It smells like Chanel, but at that price, it's a knack-off. It feels like... It tastes like... These examples all give the impression that you mean the opposite of what your senses tell you.

3. Contrast

He likes rain, but he hates snow.

Like and hate are contrasted and are the stronger words in the sentence.

4. Can't

It can't rain when there're no clouds.

Contractions (shouldn't, wouldn't) and negatives (no, not, never) are important words since they totally negate the meaning of a sentence, but they are not usually stressed.

Can't is the exception.

5. Pitch and Meaning Change

Practice saying the four sentences after me. Pay close attention to the changes in pitch that you must make to convey the different meanings intended. The words to be stressed are indicated in bold face.