Customer Reviews

Speak American: A Survival Guide to the Language and Culture of the U.S.A.

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this book as a gift for an ESL student I am tutoring. My student had a lot of fun browsing though it.
The book is small, but packs a lot of information into its pages. And it's the perfect size for carrying around.

There's lots of detail in the information the author provides too, particularly cultural things. For example, the author goes extensively into how to order food at a restaurant and what is considered appropriate (eg sending food back if it's not to your liking). There's also lots of information about the US school system and other topics as well.

There are example phrases throughout that the English use but Americans don't. And the author even gives the reader grammar tips and explains why it doesn't sound right in American English. There's also a huge word list in the back of the book listing American/English equivalents and the American pronunciations.

I think this would also be a good book for Americans travelling to England.

I'm a Japanese English learner. I often see past perfects and simple pasts on many text books. Sadly they are not consistantly used. But this book taught me that's because sometimes they were written by American style. There were much more things this book cleared away ambiguity for me. If you are Japanese, I strongly recommend this instructive book for your further English study. nakamimo mirerukara douzo check site mite kudasai, koukou eigo de aimaina tokoromo wakattari simasuyo.

I got this book from our ISS (International Student Service) office and at first, I only treat it as some reading materials while I am waiting for my laundry.
However, after I really went into the book, I realized it was the book I have been long seeking for: brief, clear and ultimately helpful. Yes, it is short, but since I have no intention to be a sociologist about American society, the simple and everyday facts and words are what I need to know.
The book covers many categories of American society like food, sports, education, transportation, etc., very comprehensively. The best of all is there is a list of frequently encountered words and phrases within this category at the end of each chapter.
After reading the book, I can now fully understand what the person said when I called in to order my pancake with eggs. This is the book you can finish in two weeks while still getting to know the essentials, not an enclyclopedia that takes forever. Actually, I finished it in 1 week and I no longer stutter while I am ordering food because I just didn't know which word I should use.
My suggestion to INS: include this nice booklet in your brochure to the new immigrants.

This book is very entertaining and an easy read. It made me laugh several times, but also taught me a lot about the American society, even though maybe not all of it should be taken too seriously. I would recommend this book to anyone planning a trip to the U.S. It will not only give you a good time reading it before going, but also give you some useful hints on how to interact with the people of the country

Language and culture go together, and I was happy to see this book emphasize both. My students live in the United States and need to understand how Americans speak, so this book was really helpful. I also use Whaddaya Say, 2nd Edition with them so they understand how these idioms are really said.

Newcomers to the United States and American-style English should make this pocket tote a part of their daily lives: Speak American focuses on vocabulary that newcomers need to know and provides a subject arrangement which includes information on basic cultural and linguistic differences between British and American English. Packed with clear explanations on expression and definition.

I recently purchased this book for an english resource center at a secondary school in Ukraine. While the book brings up many good points, I found misleading information when reading through it. I think perhaps part of the problem is that I was raised in a southern state, where as all know, the usage of English can be rather different from other parts of the country! Of course ouraccent is different, but the word usage and phrases are also often a bit different, and our dialects are known to be closer to British English than those of most other regions of the U.S. There at least should be a disclaimer mentioning that if they are planning on spending time in certain areas of the country, many of the "Americans don't say..." sections are not simply not correct.

This book is different from that I expected. I thought about a classical Idioms Dictionary. Althought it's a good book that introduce not only American idioms but American way of life too.
You can also lern idioms but are greater the advices ( Thanks to teach me to give tips!!!!!)

This book gets four stars because it's made for people from English speaking countries. It pionts out the differences between American English and British/ Australian English (advanced English). I like the explenations of the basic issues - how do you buy a house, where do you send you kid to school, etc. The book is pocket size and so are the chapters. It's not an America history book.

As a matter of fact, I couldn't clearly tell the specific difference between US and UK or Australian usage until I bought this. One day a British man I know felt perplexed when I used "a stickler" meaning a difficult problem. At first, I didn't get why that happened. Of course, I explained the meaning to him. However, I felt as if I made a big mistake and wondered why he looked confused at the same time. Consequently, he found out what I meant in his dictionary and I got relieved. Here's why; I didn't notice a stickler I used doesn't make sense in his home country. It's an American informal expression, in short! After all, this reference can help me understand the clear-cut definition between US and UK or Australian usage. And this reference indicates that so informatively. The bottom line is this; this reference is for Non-Americans as well as Non-English speakers. You'll get burned if you take this for granted!