 Hello, I'm John Russell. Imagine that language is like this ball. The ball can go up or the ball can fall down. Intonation, the pitch of the voice, can rise or go down, much like the up and down motion of the ball. Americans use different kinds of intonation in different situations. Let's explore some ways that Americans use falling intonation. Falling intonation is common in simple statements. You know, the kind of statements you first learn about when you study English. For example, My name is John. It's nice to meet you. Have a nice afternoon. Have a nice afternoon. In each of these statements, my intonation fell toward the end of the sentence. Listen again. My name is John. My name is John. It's nice to meet you. It's nice to meet you. Similarly, Americans often use falling intonation in questions that involve words such as why, who, when, where, or how. For example, someone might ask, what's your name, what's your name, how are you doing, how are you doing, where do you come from, where do you come from. In all of these cases, I used falling intonation. My voice drops a little bit, almost like gravity pulling down the ball. In future episodes, we will explore rising intonation. That's all for today. Keep up the good work.