Sound Scripting - Word Stress and Intonation

Sound Scripting - Word Stress and Intonation Word stress and intonation within sentences is very important to correct English pronunciation. In Mark Powells book Presenting in English, there are sound scripting exercises which help learners become more expressive by taking sentence intonation skills to the next level. These examples use a method of bolding key content words and CAPITALIZING the most important words chosen for the best emotional impact. This starts off with a simple sentence paragraph that an intermediate student might use to practice and ends with a more advanced selection that is typical of a presentation. Paragraph 1 Our school is the best in town. The teachers are friendly, and very knowledgeable about English. Ive studied at the school for two years and my English is becoming very good. I hope you will visit our school and try an English class. Maybe we can become friends, too! Paragraph 1 With Sound Scripting Markup Our school is the BEST in town. The teachers are friendly, and VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE about English. Ive studied at the school for two years and my English is becoming VERY GOOD. I hope you will visit our school and try an English class. MAYBE we can become FRIENDS! Listen to Example Paragraph 2 In this day and age, facts, statistics, and other numbers are used to prove everything. Intuition, gut feelings and personal preferences are all out the door. Of course, there are some who are trying to battle this trend. Recently, Malcolm Gladwell wrote Blink, a best-seller which explores the usefulness of making split-second decisions based on intuition rather than careful consideration of all the facts and figures. In this book, Gladwell argues that initial impressions - or gut-feelings - are quite rational. However, that this split-second thinking process moves faster than what we usually associate with thinking. If you are one of these people - and there are many of us - Blink provides proof that youre actually quite a rational human being. Paragraph 2 With Sound Scripting Markup In this day and age, facts, statistics and other numbers are used to prove EVERYTHING. Intuition, gut feelings and personal preferences are all OUT THE DOOR. Of course, there ARE some who are trying to battle this trend. Recently, Malcolm Gladwell wrote BLINK, a best-seller which explores the USEFULNESS of making SPLIT-SECOND DECISIONS based on INTUITION rather than careful consideration of all the facts and figures. In his book, Gladwell argues that INITIAL IMPRESSIONS - or GUT-FEELINGS - are quite rational. However, that this split-second thinking process moves FASTER than what we usually associate with thinking. If YOU are one of these people - and there are MANY of us - Blink provides PROOF that youre actually quite a RATIONAL HUMAN BEING. Listen to Example You can  practice this type of exercise further with help from our lesson on using a focus word to help with English pronunciation in general.