The Power of Voice

A person with a flat, dull voice which neither rises nor falls sounds like a flat and dull person! But they may not be! A person can give the impression that they are bored, indignant, friendly or angry just by the sound of their voice.

A French friend of mine once said to me, "Your accent in French is excellent but you will never sound like a Frenchman until you put all your heart into your voice. It is a pity because you are a lively person and yet you don't sound lively to a Frenchman!"

We learn the grammar and vocabulary and even the correct pronunciation of the foreign language but we may forget the important emotional effect of the music of our speech. For British people the intonation of some languages is attractive. Unfortunately, the intonation of some other countries can communicate the wrong meaning. British people are sometimes offended because they think the other person is unfriendly even though they have spoken a perfect English sentence! And this failure of communication can also happen between British people. Some British people think the intonation in the Birmingham accent seems to express bored indignation!

If you want to communicate successfully with another person, you may have to think about the music of your own voice. At the same time if you meet someone from a different part of your country or from another country, BE CAREFUL! Don't judge them only by their intonation.