「最近になってやっと、日本語を話す時、正しいイントネーションで発音する事の重要さが分かってきました。」 = "Only recently have I begun to understand the importance of pronouncing things with the correct intonation when I`m speaking in Japanese."
"Only recently" = 「最近になって」
If you said 「最近だけ」 then, as in my case, you need a good scolding by your Japanese teacher