Intonation

How important is intonation, well fairly. At Accent Master I find many of my ESL learners find the up and down, sing song typical of American English challenging to imitate in conversational speech.

Intonation carries the implied meaning in a sentence.  The general pattern of your speech can imply that you are down, or very excited or that you are asking a question.
for example if you say the

"I can write the report" it is a simple statement.

If you say

"I can write the REPORT" with a rising inflection, you may sound incredulous or questioning.  So if you want to come off as sure and capable, but you use a rising intonation you may actually sound unsure and incapable.

So we can safely say that intonation is as important as any other aspect of advanced spoken American English.  You don't want to be implying the wrong message. 

Practice stressing the highlighted words in each sentence:  Stress the words by making them slightly louder, longer and higher pitch.

You told him not to speak to the press.

1.    You told him not to speak to the press.  -  Implying that it was all there idea

2.    You told him not to speak to the press.    - More natural stress pattern

3.    You told him not to speak to the press.-  Contrastive you told him, but not someone else

4.    You told him not to speak to the press. - Clarification

5.    You told him not to speak to the press.    -Contrastive you told him not to speak to the press, but you didn’t say anything about writing a letter.

6.    You told him not to speak to the press.   - Contrastive he’s not to speak to the press but maybe he could speak to another person

Write down some common sentences from your daily life and practice changing the stress pattern.  Practice is key! 

Lynn Founder of
Accent Master