Whaddaya Say: Guided Practice in Relaxed Spoken English [Paperback]

Nina Weinstein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1982 | ISBN-10: 0139517081 | ISBN-13: 978-0139517082

Whaddaya Say? is the result of 25 years of research on reduced forms. Since 1981, it has helped thousands of students around the world understand English s it is really spoken. This easy-to-use listening book introduces students to the most common reduced forms of spoken English for going to, want to, have to, and more - fully contextualized in conversations that are both practical and entertaining. Each of the text's 30 lessons include a auto segment that introduces new reduced forms, followed by comprehension questions and practice exercises.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This is a great book to improve your spoken English and better understand everyday language spoken in the USA. As an English teacher, I do recommend this book to those who are interested in understanding and communicating in English in a more natural way. Review on amazon.com

December 16, 2008 By Marcos Victor (Brazil): Great resource!

October 3, 2008 By Kathy (Texas): This is an absolutely outstanding resource for helping students improve their listening skills. Overall, it's a great resource and my students love it!

September 10, 2007 By Javier G. Longo (Rosario, Santa Fe Argentina): It changed my life. I've used this GREAT book before my last trip to the USA. It's amazing the difference it made to my English. I had several business meetings with Americans and I understood everything, I mean everything they said. That didn't happen to me before using Whaddaya say?. I also learned to use reduced forms to improve my speed. But the most important thing is the almost magical change in my understanding. A suggestion is to follow carefully the instructions, then listen to each conversation and repeat it many times. The book is also great source of expressions and uses, not just reduced forms. A must have ! Thank you Nina !!!!! --reviews on amazon.com

English speaking and listening improvement, December 16, 2008 By Marcos Victor (Brazil) - See all my reviews This review is from: Whaddaya Say?: Guided Practice in Relaxed Speech (Audio Cassette) This is a great book to improve your spoken English and better understand every day language spoken in the USA. As an English teacher, I do reccommend this book to those who are interested in understanding and communicating in English in a more natural way. --reviews on amazon.com --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From the Back Cover

Audiocassettes are available for this book.  Click here to order.

 

Whaddaya Say?, 2nd edition, by Nina Weinstein, helps intermediate to high-intermediate students understand English as it is really spoken.  This easy-to-use listening program familiarizes students with the rapid speech commonly used in everyday life. In particular, the book introduces students to the most common reduced forms — such as *gonna (“going to” + verb), *wanna (natural speed pronunciation for “want to”), and *hafta (“have to”) — fully contextualized in conversations that are both practical and entertaining.

 

Using language students encounter in everyday situations, Whaddaya Say? explains the most common pronunciation changes that occur when English speakers talk at a natural speed. This allows all students to improve their comprehension of spoken English, both inside and outside the classroom.

 

Each of the text’s 30 lessons includes an audio segment that introduces new reduced forms, followed by comprehension questions and practice questions.

 

The book also includes short listening tests for extra practice and self-assessment.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 80 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall College Div (June 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0139517081
• ISBN-13: 978-0139517082
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6.7 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #584,949 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Second Edition of Whaddaya Say is fantastic!, October 22, 2002

By 

aliza (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Whaddaya Say? Guided Practice in Relaxed Speech, Second Edition (Paperback)

I've used the First Edition of Whaddaya Say for almost twenty years. Nothing I've used to teach students to understand spoken English has ever been better. I was very pleasantly surprised to use the Second Edition, which was published in 2001, and find that all of the lessons that made listening comprehension easier for my students were included along with an additional ten lessons. The fun conversations are even better, and the tapes are really great. I didn't know tests could be useful as well as funny, but there's a wonderful test at the end of the book that was a lot of fun. I want my students to know how English is really pronounced (*wanna for "want to", *hafta for "have to", *gonna for "going to + verb", etc.). When they don't know the real pronunciations, they have a really hard time understanding spoken English.

I'm amazed by one thing in particular -- although the Second Edition of Whaddaya Say has 30% more pages and there are three cassettes now instead of two, the price hasn't gone up. I don't know why the price hasn't increased, but it seems like a great bargain to get a beautifully updated bestselling listening book for the same price as the prior version!

I don't see how anyone can really learn listening comprehension without this book.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fast-Spoken English in a Fast-Moving World, August 16, 2000

By 

Clifford E. Noble "Cliff Noble, EdD" (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Whaddya say is a practical book for serious-minded second language learners of English who want to communicate quickly in real world settings.

Formal English listening/speaking training in pre-college classrooms prepares students to carefully articulate prepared speeches, but it lacks in preparing English language learners to listen and respond to real world conversations in dynamic domains. Typical examples (although, not included in the present book) might include conversations that take place in the stock market and conversations between pilots and air traffic controllers. In both situations, the verbal component of communications is time sensitive. Nina Weinstein's book and tapes focus on enhancing listening and speaking skills using both slow and relaxed, fast-spoken English.

Nina Weinstein outlines the most commonly used reduced forms of English sounds in twenty short chapters, introducing the most simple reduced sounds (like you --> ya) to the more complex reduced sounds that are found in advanced grammatical structures (coulda, woulda, mighta).

Whaddaya say incorporates short, yet practical conversational exercises at the end of each chapter. The exercises require the Whaddaya say cassette tape. Completion of this book, accompanied with a professional ESL instructor, will result in an increased situational and linguistic awareness of the ESL learner's surroundings.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A pricey good book, December 10, 2001

By 

john roberts (Manitowoc) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Whaddaya Say: Guided Practice in Relaxed Spoken English (Paperback)

It is a good book for those who never learned how to say "what do you want to do?" in a natural way. This book shows you 20 and only 20 most common short forms. The content is well organized. But it is pricey for a book that has only 68 papges. For the most part, you may do a search and find them somewhere in the internet. But then again it is a good deal for those who do not care about the price.