Book Description
This highly sought after program with an international following provides thorough instruction on the intonation, stress, rhythm, and the sounds that work together to give American English its distinct "accent".
Produced by a speech-language pathologist with expertise at training all components of American English speech, this program imparts a wealth of insights and techniques, accompanied by clear graphics.
This new edition includes 8 CDs featuring a variety of male and female voices, and more conversational exercises. Interactive exercises use everyday language of social-casual to professional-business-technical situations.
The American Accent Guide is highly relevant to speakers of all language backgrounds who want to attain mastery on all aspects of English as commonly spoken in North America.
Customer Reviews:
It's the best!.......2007-03-14
I recently purchased this product. I haven't got immensed into it but from listening to the CDs, it's concise, and applicable to daily conversations. I especially like the fact that it used the voices of both male and female. Other products I've perused only use one gender. I would recommend this product to anyone who wants to speak standard American English.
A complement to Ann Cook's American Accent Training.......2007-01-17
I bought this book because although I can pronounce words perfectly in English, I still have some problems with intonation. I have used Ann Cook's American Accent Training but there were still things not really covered in her book. The American Accent Guide has only two chapters on the subject but the last chapter on Intonation is covered in a way that I had never seen and goes beyond Cooks' book. It's really good. I highly recommend it but if your main interest is on intonation, you should also buy the American Accent Training since the latter has more exercises on intonation. However, if you also have problems with the sounds of English, The American Accent Guide is the perfect book for you. Maybe the only one you will ever neeed. My wife who is a U.S. born American is not happy with the book because I'm really losing my Brazilian accent which she thinks is very sexy. She says I sound too much American now. Well, if you're like me, that's not a bad thing, is it? We can always work on the sexy part some other way.
An Excellent Work.......2007-01-09
This is a complete and well rounded work. Eventhough I have been living in the US for over 17 years and earned an AS and a BS, I found myself having difficulties in the pronunciation of the english words. I have gotten a lot of helps from my kids, however after applying the American Accent Guide to my daily routines for a couple months, I have been feeling a lot more confident to express myself. The digital media is professionally prepared and the speakers are pleasant and very well articulated. I used the cds in my car and also ripped them into my mp3 player to listen to when I am excercising and riding with someone.
The Accent guide has helped me to be more aware of the subtle nature of the English Language. If you would like to speak the American Idiom better and more fluently this is a great resource to have. It works!!!!
In terms of bang-per-buck, I think one will be hard-pressed to find a better investment........2007-01-05
This book and CD program provides a systematic and intuitive approach for ESL learners who wish to improve their English at their own pace. Good investment for the price.
First, my native language is Chinese. I have been in the US for six years; and have had no intensive training in English. I consider myself an average, or slightly above average, ESL learner. Like many native speakers of syllabic languages, I had a tendency to apply the stress and intonation patterns of my first language when speaking English. In addition, I used certain vowels interchangeably. Listening to radio or hiring a tutor did not help much because I still couldn't figure out what to listen for and how I should sound. I always felt uncertain when speaking English.
The American Accent Guide has definitely been a big help and is the most insightful material I have used. The lessons can work as individual modules, but if you go through them in order a few times you will see that the organization is integral to gradually raising your awareness of how the speech factors work together to form the American accent.
The American Accent Guide also does a great job in conveying the ideas through integrating visual and audio aids. The Rhythm section is a good example: the practice sentences come with markings to show the stress in sentences, and the CD walks you through sets of sentences that have the same rhythm structure, which brilliantly demonstrate the idea of how to use stress and rhythm to improve the flow of speaking. It's really a very intuitive and effective approach that helps with both speaking and listening comprehension.
Another strength of the material is that the practice sentences are quite useful in daily life, unlike many ESL textbooks with phrases that have little practical use and get boring after a few repetitions.
In short, the American Accent Guide is a well thought-out and executed study guide for ESL students of all levels One can listen to it again and again and each time learn something new to work on. In terms of bang-per-buck, I think one will be hard-pressed to find a better investment.
A very good treatment of intonation.......2006-11-23
After looking through the contents of the book and the amount of information it contained I was more than eager to buy it. After all, all that I needed for my pronunciation classes was there: comprehensive charts and graphs , streamlined layout, IPA symbols, grapheme-phoneme correspondence tables for problem areas such as the long / i / sound, and on top of that, a package with 8 CD's in a neatly-enclosed folder. Yet, oddly enough, I felt like something was missing. Then I reached the last chapters. "Boy, there's something new here," I thought. Very few authors have treated intonation this well: The attitudinal / emotional aspect of intonation is explored at length: higher pitch tones for heightened emotions and politeness. Swinging pitch inflections and slightly rising inflections for casualness. Longer pauses for the expression of meaning. So, although I think some of the sound discrimination exercises may lack creativity and sometimes fall short of raising students'awareness , the last chapters saved the day and may explain why shelling out over US$ 60 for this manual might have been a good decision after all.
Book Description
A revised and expanded version of the highly successful and innovative pronunciation text for intermediate to high-intermediate students of North American English. The Clear Speech, Third Edition, Student's Book provides learners with visual representations of important pronunciation features, such as voicing and syllable length. It features a reordered table of contents, a greater emphasis on listening recognition, and more coverage of vowel sounds. It also contains a Student Audio CD, so students can practice many of the exercises on their own.
Customer Reviews:
CLEAR SPEECH.......2007-10-01
THIS PROGRAM IS GOOD FOR PEOPLE WHO WANT TO LEARN ENGLISH. IT IS A GOOD WAY TO LEARN A PERFECT ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION. TRY IT.
A great book for non-native speakers.......2007-07-23
The book starts from clear listening tests which made sense. Introduction to syllable(s) and sound(s) by listening to the CD is very useful, plus the pics show how the lips change when the alphabet vowel sounds are being said.
Improved my English. .......2006-07-22
"Clear Speech" is the best. First, I use the text book & CD at a college, and I brought the Class Audio CDS for self-study at home. You need it, because CDs coming with Student's or Teacher's books don't include all listening dialogs.
Clear speech-teacher edition.......2006-03-17
The product contains mainly the answer key for the acutal student exercise book, and if you don't have that to refer to, it's not as useful. The teacher editon should contain the student workbook for easier reference. There is a CD that comes with it but again without being able to see the corresponding exercises in the student workbook, you feel as if you're working blind.
Good for speaking AND understanding.......2005-05-09
Clear Speech is a well-conceived pronunciation text that, in my experience, students have found very pleasant to use. It covers individual sounds, as well as speech rhythm and intonation, in a very fluid way. It can help instructors teach ESL students to pronounce well not only word by word, but also to arrive at more natural-sounding sentence flow. I have found that the exercises in the book benefit students beyond their own pronunciation, and actually help them to understand native English speakers better. The third edition is a vast improvement over the previous one, because it guides students in deciphering English spelling and provides more practice in specific, troublesome sounds. The new edition also includes a practice CD, which is something many students using the second edition often wished for. The graphic simplicity of the book is a huge advantage over other pronunciation texts available. All in all, I think Clear Speech is one of the best - if not THE best - choice for teaching pronunciation.
Book Description
Speaking Clearly provides practical, proven, and class tested methods for the Voice and Diction course. With over 35 years of experience, this team of authors successfully guides students through the obstacles of speech improvement.
Customer Reviews:
For beginners!.......2007-06-27
It wasn't what I waas looking for. I was hoping for a more advanced self-teaching book.
Great CDs for Practicing Diction.......2007-01-09
My speech was getting sloppy--wasn't enunciating clearly & my mouth felt lazy. So I bought this book & CD set. I play the CDs in my car while commuting to & from work, & I find they are wonderful. The exercises involve repeating words that are grouped by vowel & consonant sounds, then progressing to repeating phrases, then to repeating sentences. The pace is fast (so you don't lose interest), the sentences are pretty complex (so you have to be attentive & not lazy) and there are are several CDs too, (so you don't get bored). Doing the CD exercises has definitely helped remove the marbles from my mouth, and to iron out certain bad habits I was getting into pronunciation-wise. I'm sure the book is great too, though I haven't used it yet (I picked this package mainly for the CDs, as I'm forever buying "Improve Your Speech" books & not doing much with them). I'm a native English speaker, so I've no idea how helpful this set would be to someone who is switching from another language.
Indespensible for actors and singers too, not just speech therapists!.......2005-11-14
I didn't realize before I used this book how many things I mispronounced, even though I am a native English speaker. This book really helped me work on many weaknesses in my diction. This belongs on the shelf of every actor and singer.
A reviewer recommended this book for speech therapists, but I would also recommend it for actors, singers, frequent public speakers, and for other people who use their voice professionally, and even for help with stuff like accent elimination.
This book also helped me learn IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet), which I've found to be a tremendously helpful tool.
Indispensable for speech therapists.......2003-03-20
Here is the clearest, must helpful book on articulation that I have ever read. Although the voice section is a bit weak, the diction section (4/5 of the book) contains clear placement information, common problems of misarticulation and solutions, and helpful drills. The judgment calls of the authors regarding standard and non-standard speech are astute. The authors know their material and can explain it clearly. A clearer, more informative text cannot be found. I only wish that they had either expanded the voice section or eliminated it and just accepted that this was a book on diction.
Speaking clearly - Clearly written - Clearly helpful.......2002-02-08
I used it for my Accent reducing classes at NYU. Takinng such a course can be challenging and it helps to have this comprehensive but not intimidating book. Even now, long after I have completed the course I find myself picking the book up time and again.
Book Description
This book and CD set is designed to help native Spanish speakers achieve greater fluency in American English. The set contains over 300 of today's most commonly used idioms and phrases. Idioms are presented in 25 lively dialogues which tell the entertaining story of an American family. Idioms are defined in both English and Spanish. The set is appropriate for intermediate to advanced students of English of all ages. The book comes with an audio CD of all of the dialogues. Contains dozens of helpful exercises to reinforce the material, with convenient answer key for self-study.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Idiom Starter.......2007-06-27
This is an excellent book and CD to acquaint beginners with many American idioms. The way it is put together so coherently in short stories makes it simple to learn but at the same time efficient. The CD is also very well done. Even advanced students of English as a second language can find something to learn here.
Brilliant (Brillante).......2007-04-07
I believe this book is a must for the ESL classroom, since it is effective even while not being that expensive.
Language education.............2006-02-22
I bought this book for my girlfriend in Panama and this book has been very helpful. She knew some basic English but now is speaking English better and knows more words. She really likes the CD which she listens to in her car.
A highly recommended self-teaching tool.......2004-04-04
Amy Gillett's Speak English Like An American For Native Spanish Speakers is a combination book and audio CD especially appropriate for native Spanish speakers who are familiar with the English language, yet who seek to take their fluency to new heights by mastering common English idioms. Over 300 of the most-used American English idioms and phrases are presented, complete with examples, definitions, and engaging dialogues that serve to tell an entertaining family story punctuated with amusing cartoons. A highly recommended self-teaching tool for advance native Spanish students of English as a second language, Speak English Like An American For Native Spanish Speakers is an especially appropriate and effective supplemental resource for personal, school, and community library Language Studies resource collections.
Fun way to study English.......2003-07-04
I can recommend Speak English Like an American to you. It is a very good way to learn important and useful American English idioms and expressions. I like the fact that the idioms are used in a story, then you get another example in a sentence, and then definitions in Spanish. There are good exercises also. This is a very interesting way how to study the language. I am using some of these expressions at work and people at my office are saying, "Oh Juanita, your English is improving!"
Book Description
Ideal for a complete course or as a pronunciation supplement, PRONOUNCING AMERICAN ENGLISH provides extensive activities to help college-bound students develop clear speech and appropriate intonation.
Customer Reviews:
Text book in my pronunciation class.......2006-02-25
It was very helpful because I is the text book of my pronunciation class and we used it every class.
Question?.......2000-07-04
I believe this os the best book for pronouncing american english because this book includes intonation. Q:I went to heinle publishers' site.They said The last publish of this book is for 3 years ago How do you have the 99 December?
[Additional] tape cost not included!.......2000-03-18
Though the book is good, there is no mention of the [additional] cost for the tapes! There are other books that are good enough and come with tapes. The tapes are good to have, but not at that price. There are plenty of other books available that come with tapes...
Excelent book to teach or to learn English phonetics.......1999-03-27
I have found this book very clear and easy to follow by anyone wishing to improve his English pronunciation. The examples and exercises are excellent, specially the contrast ones. The explanations and practices about stress and intonation are very useful and easy to understand. This book was given to me without the tapes which I have not been able to get. I am sure that these tapes are a necessary complement to this book.
Book Description
This is a comprehensive introduction to teaching the pronunciation of North American English. It includes an illustrated description of the sound system of English, ideas for overcoming pronunciation problems specific to fifteen different languages, and a variety of approaches and techniques for use in the classroom.
Customer Reviews:
More accessible than Celce-Murcia.......2007-08-17
I was asssigned this book in a non-credit ESL pronunciation course, and found it a bit less complex than the "bible" on the subject, Celce-Murcia. Good clear explanations throughout. This subject involves some memorization and study to master it properly, but as a teacher you'll be amply rewarded when with a few tips on lip and tongue placement the correct sound magically emerges from your student's mouth. Has a good section on specific problems depending on the L1 of the student.
overall good but could be better.......2007-07-18
the book has a great section on pronunciation problem for specific first-language groups (for example, the problems that many Taiwanese or Spanish speakers face), but it could have more pictures about mouth shape and how to make the pronunciation sounds
A great pronunciation reference.......2006-12-09
I use this book quite a bit when teaching pronunciation. While this smaller volume isn't as thorough as Celce-Murcia, et al.'s Teaching Pronunciation... I find that it's a very good supplement. I use the two books together. A practical and very classroom-oriented guide for teachers. Recommended.
Book Description
This 1999 has been replaced by the graded title, "The American Accent Guide, 2nd Edition" released in 2004, which includes CDs instead of audio cassettes.
For those who prefer audio cassettes, this version of "The American Accent Guide" provides you most of the exercises and the same high quality of the 2nd Edition.
Customer Reviews:
Buy The American Accent Guide, 2nd Edition.......2004-06-23
Be aware that The American Accent Guide, 2nd Edition, released in 2004, is an upgraded version of this book and features CDs instead of cassettes. It sells for $99.00. No need to pay $190.00 for an old, used version.
Check out new improved version of this book with CD's.......2004-06-23
The American Accent Guide, 2nd Edition, released in 2004 is an upgraded version of this book and includes CDs instead of audio cassettes. It sells for $99.00.
most comprehensive and accurate I've found.......2004-06-04
(Note: There's a second edition out on CD now.)
I checked out all the accent training materials I could find from the library and I believe this one to be the best. (I looked at the following: American Accent Guide, American Accent Training, Pronounce It Perfectly in English, American English Pronunciation Program, How to Speak English without an Accent, and EasyAccent. I also looked at Well Said, and do not recommend it for self-teaching.)
So you know who this review is coming from: I'm a native speaker of American English and lifelong linguistics enthusiast. I investigated these accent reduction systems at the request of a non-native speaker looking to improve his accent, and I became fascinated with the variety of offerings out there (many of which were woefully incomplete). Although I have not personally used these systems, I hope my analysis as a native speaker will be helpful to some! Perhaps I'll have more to add later when I see it put to use.
Of the materials I looked at, I prefer Lujan's (the item being reviewed) for the following reasons:
1. It is at the top in comprehensiveness. The only other program I found in the self-teaching category that was comparable was Ann Cook's American Accent Training. (Note: I did not look at Donna Hope's American English Pronunciation, which was mentioned by another reviewer--that may be good as well.) All the others described individual sounds (some less helpfully than others), but in the areas of linking, rhythm, and intonation, their coverage ranged from partial to non-existent, and was sometimes misleading.
2. It has the most accurate and complete method of explaining and transcribing rhythm and intonation, in my opinion. As mentioned, none of the other methods but Cook's covered this area extensively, and I believe it to be extremely important. Both Lujan and Cook indicate the great importance of rhythm and intonation in accent, but have devised different methods of explanation and transcription. I felt Lujan's was more complete, and when I read the examples aloud (and listened to the audio), the transcription matched perfectly in all cases. I did not feel quite as comfortable with Cook's in that regard.
3. It does a good job of offering examples of regional speech which the reader might encounter, while letting the reader know they are non-standard. This is arguably valuable, but what I think is particularly important is *not encouraging* the reader to use unnecessary speech patterns. This is one thing I did not like about Cook's presentation and part of the reason I prefer Lujan's. Cook has a section on merging words together and gives examples and exercises along the lines of "pronounce 'did you' as 'didju'." This is definitely not necessary, and as a native speaker, I do not make these links and find them annoying to hear. Anyone reading Cook's book would do well to ignore this section.
My overall recommendation:
Get Lujan's American Accent Guide. If you are really into it and want something else--which wouldn't be necessary, by the way--or you need a pep talk, get Cook's as well. (But don't start saying "didju"!) I probably wouldn't try to reconcile the chapters on intonation from both of those--I'd just stick with Lujan's. If you are not super motivated to go through a comprehensive program, or want some "light listening" on your off days, you might also get Pronounce It Perfectly in English from the library. It is lacking, but not that bad for basic information (though again, I believe the intonation part is a little inconsistent).
Bottom line:
If you're only going to get one book on improving your accent, get the American Accent Guide. It's good stuff.
Best of the Bests.......2003-07-19
I have studied through many American English pronunciation guides and programs and own many of the relavant products. I found the following extremely useful:
1. The American Accent Guide (the one being reviewed) by Beverly Lujan, edited by C. J. S. Wallia of U.C. Berkely. This is one of the authorities existed in the market. It is extremely comprehensive and clear. You will learn every essential thing here! Although a bit expensive, worth owning one!!
2. Donna Hope's American English Pronunciation helps you step by step the pronunciation of every English phoneme in an extremely detailed format! The great asset is that it clarifies the similar phonemes in great detail. After you finish the book, you will be able to speak like a native English speaker! (Of course, you must be a diligent learner)
3. Ann Cook's American Accent Training contains 5 good quality CDs. She doesn't teach you how to pronounce every phoneme but does emphasize on the important ones! Extremely clear voice! My favorite!
A linguists should definitely own AT LEAST one of the above!!
just what is needed to improve pronunciation.......2002-03-15
This guide to american accent is simply amazing. I had previously tried different methods to improve my pronunciation but none of them worked. This book contains the essential information that is needed in order to understand all the facts of the american english pronunciation and intonation. Very simple, very easy to work with. I strongly recommend it!
Book Description
*What elements make a speaking activity successful?
*Which tasks or activities really help build speaking fluency?
*What does the research show regarding speaking activities?
*What mistakes do ESL teachers often make in speaking activity design?
In this highly accessible and practical resource, Keith S. Folse provides a wealth of information to help ESL/EFL teachers design and use speaking tasks that will actually improve students' speaking fluency. The book presents and discusses the relevant research and assessment issues and includes case studies from twenty different settings and classrooms around the world so that readers learn from others about the problems and successes of using various speaking activities.
Teachers will find the chapters on Twenty Successful Activities and Ten Unsuccessful Activities particularly valuable. The successful activities are provided for classroom use and are reproducible. The book also contains five appendixes that explain what teachers need to know about vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar and how they affect the teaching of speaking. Samples of successful lesson plans and a list of resources useful for teaching speaking are also included.
Keith S. Folse, Ph.D., is Coordinator, TESOL Programs, University of Central Florida (Orlando). He is the author of Vocabulary Myths (University of Michigan Press, 2004) and more than 35 second language textbooks, including texts on grammar, reading, speaking, listening, and writing.
Book Description
This comprehensive pronunciation text encourages students to set their own learning agenda and practice in and outside the classroom. The text uses a communicative approach and clear explanations to build pronunciation awareness and provides extensive practice for all aspects of pronunciation.
Customer Reviews:
Great Book.......2007-09-06
I purchased this book for my brother-in-law and he loves 'cause it's so easy to use.
This a great step-by-step approach to pronunciation.......2003-03-15
I am a workplace English instructor and find Targeting Pronunciation and the audiocassette package of to be very useful in business settings as well as the classroom as a tool for teaching more effective presentation skills.
It has a fun and clear approach to covering all the essential pronunciation features such as word stress, rhythm patterns, and thought groups, as well as consonant and vowel sounds.
Students enjoy using this book and tapes because of the engaging and varied activities. Whether you are experienced or inexperienced at teaching pronunciation, Targeting Pronunciation a great book to teach from. I recommend the book and audiocassette package: ISBN 0-395-94540-2. It's the best deal and each student has a set of tapes for home practice.
Caution!.......2002-09-25
This is a really good book, but be careful. Don't buy the $33 version of this book (ISBN 0-395-90331-9). It ONLY includes the Book. Buy the $42 version of this book (ISBN 0-395-94540-2). That is the Package Edition, and includes both the Book and the Audiocassettes.
Sue Miller is specifc and detailed.......2002-06-20
We've been working on a lot of material on voice and accent for Indian Call Centers dealing with the American market.
This appears to be the best book I have come across.
It is very detailed and easy to understand and beats the current book and CD offerings like American Accent training.
A definite must buy if you are into accent reduction for individuals or training.
Ian Stern
Holistic Enterprise
Sue Miller is specifc and detailed.......2002-06-20
We've been working on a lot of material on voice and accent for Indian Call Centers dealing with the American market.
This appears to be the best book I have come across.
It is very detailed and easy to understand and beats the current book and CD offerings like American Accent training.
A definite must buy if you are into accent reduction for individuals or training.
Ian Stern
Holistic Enterprise
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Language Experience Approach
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American Accent Training: A Guide to Speaking and Pronouncing American English for Anyone Who Speaks English as a Second Language, 2nd Edition (Book and Audio CD Edition)
Speak English Like an American (Book & Audio CD set)
Speak Business English Like an American: Learn the Idioms & Expressions You Need to Succeed On The Job! (Book & Audio CD)
Lose Your Accent in 28 Days (CD-ROM, Audio CD, and Workbook)
NTC's Dictionary of Everyday American English Expressions
