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.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
132 of 134 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I do agree with the other reviewers that it is an excellent book written by a professional with extensive experience. It comes with 6 CD and almost 200-page book with detailed explanations of intonation patterns and sounds. Additionally, in the appendix Ann Cook discusses in detail what are the typical accents of native speakers of common languages, and what specifically the native speakers of these languages should work on.
The chief difficulty with working with a course like this is that the learner should not only repeat after the speaker, but should also be able to hear his/her own words to make the necessary corrections. If you keep on repeating the same mistake, but do not hear it and cannot correct yourself - what's the point of practicing? My solution is to practice with a computer. I tried a simple sound recorder on a computer as well as a tape recorder, and it did not work - too complicated, invoves too much button pressing. You need a program which plays a phrase, then records you repeating it, then repeats the native speaker, then plays your recording, and does it all over again in a loop until you are satisfied. It turned out that it is not easy to find a program like this; after a long search, I found a shareware program called FollowMe, its trial version can be downloaded from tarsoft's site or shareware servers (perhaps there are other programs like this which I did not come across, I am talking about the learning concept here). For me personally working with a computer and using a program like described above made a tremendous difference, I really feel that I am getting the most from this book. I can hear my mistakes and I feel that I am correcting them.
While with a course like this the price is much less important than the result and productivity of learning, this book (in my opinion) satisfies both, good quality and reasonable price. Recommended.
The chief difficulty with working with a course like this is that the learner should not only repeat after the speaker, but should also be able to hear his/her own words to make the necessary corrections. If you keep on repeating the same mistake, but do not hear it and cannot correct yourself - what's the point of practicing? My solution is to practice with a computer. I tried a simple sound recorder on a computer as well as a tape recorder, and it did not work - too complicated, invoves too much button pressing. You need a program which plays a phrase, then records you repeating it, then repeats the native speaker, then plays your recording, and does it all over again in a loop until you are satisfied. It turned out that it is not easy to find a program like this; after a long search, I found a shareware program called FollowMe, its trial version can be downloaded from tarsoft's site or shareware servers (perhaps there are other programs like this which I did not come across, I am talking about the learning concept here). For me personally working with a computer and using a program like described above made a tremendous difference, I really feel that I am getting the most from this book. I can hear my mistakes and I feel that I am correcting them.
While with a course like this the price is much less important than the result and productivity of learning, this book (in my opinion) satisfies both, good quality and reasonable price. Recommended.
186 of 197 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This is a fantastic book. HIGHLY recommended. It even moved me to write my first review on Amazon. I had no idea that improving my accent would be so much fun and so interesting. The main strengh of the book is in the system. The first one third of the course is devoted to the intonation training, which builds a good foundation for the individual sound training that is to come later. Instead of focusing on particular sounds from the beginning, you learn to think large and change your actual speech flow.
There are a couple of books on the market with a price tag of $100+ that get good reviews - I am not familiar with them, they might be good too - but in the price leage of this book ($30+) you can't get anything better for the money.
Of course, what matters the most is how committed you are and how much actual time you spend practicing. I think this book provides a good foundation for my work on my accent reduction. If I need more excersises on particular sounds in the future, I might think about getting some other books as additional study aids, but to pick just one book for $40, nothing can beat Ann Cook's book.
Plus, the course includes CDs, not tapes, which is of tremendous convenience. I tend to repeat each exercise lots of times until I feel I am ready to move on to the next one. You can't do it so easily with the tapes.
The only drawback is the packaging. When I got the book, some of the CDs where scratched and not playable. I had to exchande them not even once, but twice. So, maybe buying it online isn't such a good idea - be warned! At least, my local book store could order 3 new sets for me and let me open them and pick the good CDs. If you buy online, the last think you want to do is to deal with returns and exchanges.
Overall, great book! I am recommending it to all my friends and family members.
If you are like me and sick of being asked all the time where you are from as soon as you open your mouth, this book is for you. Hope you'll benefit from it too. Good luck to you all!
70 of 74 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Ann Cook has put together the clearest, most insightful program for acquiring an American accent that I have found. You get 5 very useful CD's all cued to the manual, a small mirror, markers, and an excellent manual. Quite a value! She understands the American accent perfectly and masterfully explains the ingredients that make up that accent. I am a native speaker/speech therapist and I learned a good deal from this package. I do have one small reservation: a few of her examples of American speech which she considers standard (spoken by educated speakers) sound, to my ears, like mumbling and non-standard speech (ex: "didee" for "did he", "wooden knee" for "wouldn't he"). I prefer a bit more clarity where consonants are concerned. Dropping consonants has always been a sign of low socio-economic American speech, not standard American speech. This is a minor complaint about an otherwise excellent package.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
American Accent Training
I recomend it. It is a good way to improve our communication in English. All of the items were in excellente conditions.I recived it in less time that I hoped.
Published 1 month ago by nuncavencida
American Accent Training
Good book and tool to reduce my accent. Download the software named "FollowMe" to slow down the speaking and to repeat it if you want. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Milpitas Man
NOOOOOOOOOOO
I have received the book with the CDs in good conditions, but when I checked the first CD I found out is not what you expect to benefit from it.
Published 7 months ago by Reem
Absolutely awesome, Buy it worth every penny
Hi, i usually shy away from writing reviews unless the products are excellent or atrocious.This one is in the former category. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Raj
It is amazing
I have tried different accent books but I feel that this one has a magic scientific and lovely figure that satisfy my needs. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Nobody
really good
very good training. she explains very well and give us enough material to train and develop.. comes with colorful pens and a mirror, yeeee
Published 10 months ago by thalescr
Useful but not so much
If you already have a good accent and are just trying to improve it: forget this book. It doesn't worth the amount of time you are suppose to spend on it.
Published 12 months ago by Ricardo Alvares Goulart
Very good, but worthless. Try another book.
This book, although it's very good, it's worthless. The CDs leave a pause that's too short to repeat into, plus sometimes the narrator (who also wrote the book)* speaks much too... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Marcelo Esteban Mauricio
Very useful
I have been using this book and I found it very useful, easy to follow and clear. The combination between writing and listening is essential. Read more
Published 13 months ago by lawida
A solid advanced workbook on the American accent
I checked out this book for some friends, comparing it with "Mastering the American Accent." Both books are quite good. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Paul K.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
One of the main differences between the way an American talks and the way the rest of the world talks is that we don't really move our lips. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
reduced sounds, set phrase, sentence stress, sophisticated electronic eavesdropping equipment, better water heater, unvoiced final consonants, accent training, old lighthouse keepers, picketed gate, peak picker, strong intonation, radioactive milk, dogs eat bones, placing your bets, lax vowels, intonation more, contract battle, tense vowels, duh duh duh, drop your jaw, recent nationwide survey Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Review Exercise, American Accent Training, American English, Review Chapters, American Intonation Exercise, Answer Key, The Spanish, National Science Foundation, Nationality Guides, Paul Branan, Little Red Riding Hood, New York, East Peoria, Lät of Lang, Liaison Rule, San Francisco, Syllable Patterns, Sounds Comparing, Little Lola, The Korean, Long Beach, Word Connections Exercise, Descriptive Phrases, Los Angeles New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
One of the main differences between the way an American talks and the way the rest of the world talks is that we don't really move our lips. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
reduced sounds, set phrase, sentence stress, sophisticated electronic eavesdropping equipment, better water heater, unvoiced final consonants, accent training, old lighthouse keepers, picketed gate, peak picker, strong intonation, radioactive milk, dogs eat bones, placing your bets, lax vowels, intonation more, contract battle, tense vowels, duh duh duh, drop your jaw, recent nationwide survey Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Review Exercise, American Accent Training, American English, Review Chapters, American Intonation Exercise, Answer Key, The Spanish, National Science Foundation, Nationality Guides, Paul Branan, Little Red Riding Hood, New York, East Peoria, Lät of Lang, Liaison Rule, San Francisco, Syllable Patterns, Sounds Comparing, Little Lola, The Korean, Long Beach, Word Connections Exercise, Descriptive Phrases, Los Angeles New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
2
books
cite this book:
- Pronuncie bien el Ingles by Fortunato Brown in Back Matter
- Business English: A Complete Guide to Developing an Effective Business Writing Style by Andrea B. Geffner in Back Matter
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