Meaning, a Brief Grasp for Foreign Speakers
Accent is one of the vital parts to dominate if we wish to get and replicate native-like spoken English. It amounts to one of the main factors that will assist us in understanding that dreaded quick talking every foreigner states to have difficulty deciphering. Here is one vital nugget of information that will help us solve what seems to bewilder every non-native speaker. What you must understand is that intonation is a characteristic attribute of each language.

There are 3 parts to systematically grasping a language. Grammar is one aspect, semantics is another, and phonetics the last one. Accent falls into the semantic aspect of language. As a result, it is effortless to deduce that albeit a student might hold a rather all-encompassing knowledge of English vocabulary, and even in the assumption he gets to build rather proper grammatically accurate structures, if he lacks the right control of intonation, he will never systematically control the English language.

Let us try the following easy exercise. Take a phrase like, “I am not walking to school tomorrow”.
1. The regular intonation would be attained by stressing the word “school”. This is merely one of several options. It is a simple firm phrase, a portion of information, about what he is planning to do tomorrow.
2. Try inserting the stress on “walking”. Now the sense is different. I am contrasting “walking” to other modes of transportation. For example, I plan to ride my bike to school tomorrow. Thus, the complete phrase might be, “I am not walking to school tomorrow; I'll ride my bike ”.
3. Now place the stress on I : “I am not walking to school tomorrow”. Here, the variation is set up on who is walking to school tomorrow. For example: “I am not walking to school tomorrow; Peter is.”
4. Finally, stress the word “school”, i.e: “I am not walking to school tomorrow”. The idea might be concluded like this “...nevertheless, I am walking to my gym class”.

As you see, it is a really easy exercise that will help you convey the right sense of your sentences.

Another aspect to consider is falling or rising intonation in the sentences. Let's check it with, “I do” -don't get your hopes up; I am not planning to walk you down the aisle. “I do”, with a falling intonation states a clear truth, is a declarative phrase, a report, while “I do”, with a rising intonation presents a question, an answer stated in incredulity, amazement or shock. “I do? Come on, you know better than that!”

Configurations known as question tags, also have a different intonation. Not like simple questions, that have a rising intonation, question tags copy a question, when they are merely emphasizers, meant for confirmation from the listener. For example: “That is your wife, isn't she?” This states, I have a great feeling that that lady over there is your wife, due to the manner she looks at you, etc. I am merely seeking confirmation from you. In consequence, question tags never carry a rising intonation.

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