The American Accent Guide, 2nd Edition, consists of a 237-page book accompanied by nearly 8 hours of audio. In this version the audio is on 8 CDs. Reading the reviews for both versions is recommended. This internationally acclaimed accent reduction program is the most comprehensive of its kind, yet simple and concise due to its organization. It addresses the entire sound system of English speech, giving focus to all the elements: intonation, stress, rhythm and each of the individual speech sounds. Lessons build upon previous lessons, resulting in new skills building upon newly trained skills. In addition to more articulate speech, the learner attains better comprehension of the language as spoken and improved grammar skills. Through engaging interactive exercises, the learner gains a better understanding of the English sound system and a grasp of its underlying rules. Valuable new insights facilitate rapid progress and promote training across whole speech patterns. The exercises use everyday language of situations from casual/social to professional/business/technical and include many idiomatic expressions.
Twenty years ago I began creating materials for my accent reduction students and clients, and this eventually evolved into what is "The American Accent Guide". "The American Accent Guide" was borne out of my deep interest in phonology and a desire to share my knowledge and experience by creating a comprehensive accent reduction program.
The approach and content of "The American Accent Guide" reflect the foundation of my undergraduate work in linguistics at San Diego State University and applied studies while earning a Master's Degree in Speech-Language Pathology at the University of Utah. The variety of interactive exercises in "The American Accent Guide" comes from my experience in making learning fun and engaging in my work with diverse populations from public schools, private corporate settings, individual clients, and other institutions.
My motivation to create "The American Accent Guide" was driven also by the intrinsic value I receive in serving a population of interesting and motivated individuals from diverse language and cultural backgrounds and in their achievement as a result of reaching accent goals.
I founded the Lingual Arts Institute for accent reduction training and I have supervised university graduate students mentoring them in applying my methods and techniques.
