295. Shadowing Intonation, Rhythm and Tone of Voice with THE WHITE LOTUS

Welcome to the Influency Podcast. I'm Hadar and this is episode number 295. And today we are going to practice intonation, rhythm and tone of voice with Tanya from the White Lotus. Hey. Hey, everyone. Welcome back. Thank you so much for being here with me today. So do you like TV shows? Are you a fan of watching television? Do you like binging on different shows on Netflix and HBO and Disney and Apple and Amazon Prime? I'm just getting tired thinking about all the different options and possibilities for good, mediocre and bad television. I am not a fan of television, actually. Up until two years ago, I didn't even have a TV set in my apartment and I caved to the family only because the television looks like a painting because it has this nice frame, so it's like a fake painting. And I don't feel like I have this big television in front of me all day, every day. So I don't love tv, but I like good shows. I really do. And every now and then I find a really good show and then I am addicted. So it's kind of like all or nothing. Either I don't watch any television, any movies, nothing, or I get hooked on a show and then I cannot stop thinking, when can I watch the next episode? And usually I binge watch and finish everything within a few days and sometimes a couple of nights. And that has been the case with the show the White Lotus. If you haven't seen it, then know that this show was created for HBO and it's an American black comedy drama. And it is so good. Good. First of all, the acting is so realistic. The actors are really incredible, and the dialogue is so funny and smart. And the situations are like, ah, this is so good. Everything, the music, the editing, the directing. So as you can notice, I highly recommend it. But also, as English learners, you know, we're always looking for fun ways to practice and improve and develop. And finding good sources to work with is a good opportunity. And this is what I'm presenting you with today. Because in the show there is a character called Tanya and she is hilarious. She was actually in both seasons, the first and second season of the White Lotus. She's the only character who returned in season number two, and she is portrayed by Jennifer Coolidge. So you can look her up if you don't know who she is. And some of her dialogues on the show were so funny. And in particular, how she uses her voice to convey an emotion. And her tone is always very distinct and her rhythm teaches us a lot about the music of. Of English and what works and what doesn't work. So I figure that would be an exciting opportunity for us to practice with Tanya, who is actually Jennifer Coolidge from the White Lotus. This episode is also on video, can be found on video. And I'm going to link to the actual video in the show notes. And there's also a PDF that goes along with this practice if you want to go a little deeper, if you want to listen to it and see the notes and kind of like have a visual. Visual representation of all the things that I talk about. When it comes to intonation and rhythm, some people find it very helpful, especially visual learners or if you're the type of person who learns better with writing notes and taking notes. So that is a resource that is going to be helpful. It's absolutely free, and I'm going to link to it in the description as well. All right. I am hoping that you are going to enjoy this episode. I definitely enjoyed recording it. All right, so let's go ahead and listen to it.

Today we are going to practice American intonation and rhythm. I'm going to teach you how to stress words in English and how to use the melody of your voice to do that. And we are going to do that while analyzing some scenes, please, played by Jennifer Coolidge, who is playing Tanya in the White Lotus. Now, before we start analyzing the speeches, I want to tell you something about the intonation and the rhythm of English. The intonation and rhythm of English are designed to serve the message of the speaker, meaning that the words that are more important are going to stay stick out differently than the words that are a little less important, that are there just to connect the main ideas. So words that are more important, that drive the meaning, also called stressed words or operative words, are usually stretched out and are different in pitch so that they are captured by the listener. Whereas words that are reduced are reduced to a schwa. The vowel itself is reduced and they're connected. Let's look at the first scene and see what that looks like.

My poor mother.

My poor mother. Now here all the words are stressed, so she stretches each one of them and even takes small breaks in between. My poor mother.

She died in June.

She died in June. Now listen to the rhythm. It's not she died in June. Not every word receives the same beat, but the stressed words are longer and the reduced words are shorter. She died in June. In is reduced. She died in June. It's very melodic. She's almost singing it. And she loved the ocean and she loved the. The ocean. Now, the word loved obviously sticks out here. And how does she do that? She goes higher in pitch. And she loved the ocean. And she stretches it not only by elongating the vowel, but also elongating the consonants. Loved. Loved. So you can use all the sounds in a given word to emphasize it. And she loved the ocean. And she. And she. And she. Right, that is a little faster.

Just loved it.

Just loved it. And again it is reduced. Ta da, da. Right. So the word loved is longer, has more volume and higher in pitch.

My poor mother. She had a beautiful house in Carmel.

My poor mother. She repeats what she just said, but a little faster. Had a beautiful house in Carmel. Beautiful house, Carmel. It's really easy to detect the words that are stressed. Beautiful house, Carmel.

And she tried very, very hard to be a really good mother.

And she tried very, very hard.

So.

And she tried is one unit. Tried is the keyword here. And she tried and she tried. So tried is longer than enchi that are reduced. Very, very hard. Look at all the emotion that she puts in into those stressed words. Very, very hard. Hard is more stressed than the very and the very. Right. Very, very hard. But all of it is stress. There's a lot of weight that goes into it. And she tried very, very hard to.

Be a really good mother.

To be a really good mother. To be a. To be a. To be a. That's reduced. To be a. To be a Dabia. Really good mother. Because to be a is not that important as really good mother. And these words are stressed, they're longer, they're pronounced clearly. Now, why is it important? Because every language has its own. Own rhythm and stress and intonation patterns. Now, you have a unique rhythm for your language. Your first language, if it's not English, and there it is perfectly fine. But sometimes if you bring that into English, it might change the quality of the speech and maybe the message is not going to be delivered as quickly if you don't use the rhythm of English or the intonation where you change the pitch and you make the word longer when it's important. Let's look at another scene.

Yeah, he likes the first layer.

Yeah, he likes the first layer. Yeah, yeah. Notice this intonation. It's kind of like. Yeah, maybe, right? That is. It's like up, down, up. He likes the first layer.

So.

Layer is stress. So it's going to be longer than the rest. Yeah, he likes the first layer. That type of intonation or tone of voice is somewhat doubting, right? Or uncertain, maybe.

I don't know.

Right? Same thing here. Maybe.

I don't know. But what about the second layer?

But what about the second layer? What about. What about. What about. Right. That is reduced. What about the second layer? Second layer. These two words are stressed.

And the third layer?

And the third layer. Let's practice the word third, third, third th to an R. Third.

And then every step along the way.

And then every step along the way. And then. And then. And then Reduced every step. Stressed, stressed. Along the way. Stressed, stressed. And then every step along the way. Now try to really imitate the melody and the rhythm. Don't just repeat the words. This is how you start changing your rhythmic habits, right? That you carry from your own language and give yourself this freedom to try out new things and play. Play with your voice. That's what makes it interesting. And that's how you start discovering new things as well.

I have to worry about.

I have to worry about. I have to worry about, you know.

Is he gonna like the next layer?

You know?

You know, that's a common filler phrase. You know, is he gonna like the next layer? Let's try that with our voice, right? Like this exaggeration, you know, you charge it with emotion, and then that changes your voice. Is he gonna like the next layer? This is fun, isn't it? Let's try another scene.

You're on vacation now.

Here. She's pissed off. You're on vacation, right? The tone goes up here. What do you want? Why are you doing this? You're on vacation. Which word is stressed here? Vacay. Vacation. You're on vacation.

Yeah.

You insisted that we come to Sicily and have this romantic week.

Insisted. Sicily, romantic week. These are the stressed words. You insisted, right? So she really raises her pitch here to stress the word insisted, right? I don't know what you're saying. Imagine that she just said it like this. You insisted that we come to Sicily and have this romantic week. It wouldn't have the same impact, right? So you use your voice to tell the other person what it is that you're feeling. You insisted that we come to Sicily, right? And the words that are stressed are longer and higher in pitch. And have this romantic week. Try it out. All right, let's do one more line from the show.

Listen, I'm in desperate need of a massage.

Now, I think that's a sentence that we should all memorize. I'm in desperate need of a massage. I'm in desperate need of a massage. Of a ma. Of a. Of a massage.

Is that possible?

Is that possible? Is that possible? She's asking, but she's also demanding. Can you hear it from her tone of voice? It's not really a question. Is that possible? She's dropping her pitch down. She doesn't say, is that possible? Is that possible? Is that possible?

Right.

There is something about this tone and intonation that shows that she knows that her request is going to be answered. Something that we should all practice every now and then. All right, that's it. Now, we have collected for you a bunch of different sentences from from the different scenes with links to the scenes and a phonetic transcript which means that you will see in front of you the stress words and the reduced words so that you can practice effectively with Jennifer Coolidge, who is also Tanya from White Lotus. I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please consider sharing it with others. Don't forget to download the PDF that we have prepared for you and I cannot wait to hear what you think. So let me know in the comments below.

Below.

If you enjoyed this episode, check out my website@hadarshemish.com for many more and many other resources for you. You can also follow me on Instagram at hadar Accentsway. Have a beautiful, beautiful rest of the week and I will see you next week in the next video.

Bye.