Whistle Stopper - American Accent Training (Book and Audio CD, 2nd Edition)

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Binding: Paperback Dewey Decimal Number: 401 EAN: 9780764173691 ISBN: 0764173693 Label: Barron's Educational Series Manufacturer: Barron's Educational Series Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 210 Publication Date: 2000-09-01 Publisher: Barron's Educational Series Studio: Barron's Educational Series
Accessories Pronounce It Perfectly in English with Audio CDs (Pronounce It Perfectly)
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Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: useless incompetent misleading book Comment: I purchased this book hoping to learn American pronunciation. My background: Previously I have been studying British pronunciation for 2 years and know the subject. In the United States I have been studying American pronunciation with a private tutor for almost one year. About the book: The book mixes the sounds together which are infact completely different sounds. Therefore it is not consistent. For example page 75: the words "talk", "chalk", "pawn" are in the same pronunciation column as words "bond", "hot", "con". But the pronunciation of those two groups is different!!!! I will not go through all other things, but there are quite few of them. And the biggest disadvantage of the book is: the IPA is not used here. The author invented her own phonetic transcription (with umlauts, and other fancy symbols), which are used. Conclusion: If you want to study American Pronunciation professionally - never buy this book!!! Customer Rating: Summary: A Good Book~~ Comment: This book may be very helpful to readers who want to learn American Accent!! I'm also learning english as a second language. I realized that the "Accent" is very difficult for ESL students but, it is very important for talking. After I purchased this book,I'm studying for myself with the book and CDs. I believe that this book will change me~~ I hope I'm good at "Accent" through this book^^ Customer Rating: Summary: Necessary for all non-native English speakers - but you still might have an accent - here's why Comment: This superb book and CD series is excellent and I use this for my ESL students. However, many are stating that they still have their accent. Granted, for many of my students, they are just beginning their English studies. An accent is a very difficult thing to overcome. However, I believe this book is commonly used in 'accent reduction' training, meaning, that it can help reduce the foreign accent in speakers. More important than trying to eliminate the foreign accent, the user of this book and CD will find they are able to communicate much better than before. Native English speakers often do not realize how we communicate in subtle ways in English. In English, it is perfectly understandable to say, "Not every white house is The White House." A European or an Asian speaker of English usually does not understand this sentence until it is explained to them, as the intonations and inflections of English are subtle. But it is exactly this subtlety that this book addresses. By emphasizing speech in a native manner, the non-native English speaker will be understood much more clearly. This is very important. When non-native speakers emphasis words improperly, they are often not understood - or, even worse, they might be understood as angry or hostile. This book is a must for all non-native speakers. It is a book to keep for one's lifetime and to review periodically. Using this book and CD series for a brief period is not going to produce the necessary results, but returning to this book over and over again, (and by listening to the tapes and repeating the words over and over again, will.) Customer Rating: Summary: Great book, but one thing to bear in mind Comment: This books is great for those who are tyring to have an better English accent. I have no dobut you will be satisfied with the outcome of studying with the book. However, don't ever buy the book in the hope of getting rid of your accent. you can reduce it, but it is impossible to remove your accent if English is not your first language. As long as you keep my advice in mind, this book will be the perfect guide to improving your English accent. Customer Rating: Summary: Not very easy Comment: American accent could be very difficult to learn if you already speak English. I have an African-British accent. I bought this book 7 yrs ago and tried everything in there but I still found myself reverting back to my old accent..I took the class training on the book and my instructor took me through the required drills for 4 months.. yet I still have a pretty heavy accent. The problem? There are too many instructions in the book to remember..too many things to remember in every conversations and often too complex for an average mind I guess..especially if you already speak english... But could there be some key things that could make siginificant impact on one accent instead of having to learn hundreds of instructions to be remembered in every conversations? Maybe someone ought to check that? There is certainly need for a different book for people like me. I have noticed that its a lot easier for non-english speakers to learn american accent once they get to united states. Perhaps, just having conversations with Americans, listening carefully and imitating works better on the long term than any book..or maybe developing a mindset to re-learn every pronouciation and sentence if you already speak english because what you already know makes it even more difficult to learn American accent. I am still looking for ways around things..I will probably write a simple holy grail book on accent training when I eventually succeed. Perhaps, a book on the TRICKS of learning american accent and not DETAILS of learning American accent.. More Reviews
Editorial Reviews: The second edition of the highly acclaimed American Accent Training, now on 5 audio CDs, is for foreign-born students and business people working, traveling or studying in the United States and Canada. Through extensive intonation and pronunciation exercises, students learn how to speak with a standard American Accent. At the same time, listening comprehension improves dramatically. Supplementary materials included detailed nationality guides for eight languages (Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Spanish, French, German, Russian and Korean), access to a comprehensive website, and referral to a qualified telephone analyst for an individual diagnostic speech analysis. Also included are colored markers for written exercises, and a mirror to practice accurate pronunciation.