American Accent Training (Book and Audio CD, 2nd Edition) (Paperback)

by Ann Cook (Author) "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..." (more)
Key Phrases: reduced sounds, set phrase, sentence stress, Review Exercise, American Accent Training, American English (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
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.

Product Details

• Paperback: 210 pages
• Publisher: Barron's Educational Series; 2 edition (September 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764173693
• ISBN-13: 978-0764173691
• Product Dimensions: 12.2 x 9.9 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (93 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,400 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

77 of 78 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars very good; get a computer program to record yourself, January 2, 2005

By	+++ (CA, United States) - See all my reviews

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.

164 of 175 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book from all books on the market that I've seen, May 20, 2001

By	reader (MI) - See all my reviews

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!

62 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book!!!, March 26, 2001

By	Mr. Carlos Cumberbatch "CNC" (United Kingdom) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is one of the best books i've seen on the market today!! I've been buying alot of these types of books and this is the only book I think I can safely say, I was glad to spend the money on.

Let me say that English is my first language, but living in a foreign country, i find that most people may not understand an accent not British or American... so since everyone watches american tv I tried for fun to sound american.

This book is packed with all types of tricks to sound american which really works!! I pronounce and link my words like americans do, but I don't sound american so oblivously, all the other titles concentrating on this area were of no use to me.. But this book really gets to the areas that send you on your way to an american accent (you'll have to buy the book to find out!!)

One of the greatest things about the book, is the 'after I bought this book' service. The book provides details how to have Ann test to see how american your accent is.. Now, you always see stuff about how much experience the authors have, blah, blah, etc but how do we really know all of this?! The fact that she interacts with folks proves to me that she has the means to get feedback about the strengh and weaknesses of most people are and write good books about it, in which she did!

What I like about it too, is that it comes with CD's rather than tapes, so if i want to hear something again.. I know exactly where to find it.. That's modern day thinking for you and I like folks that think.

Another thing I like about it, is that I am greated with a voice that has a strong american accent. With other titles, you had to listen hard to hear the american accent.. if fact they sounded like folks from a documentary or something... now how many people on the american streets talk like that?? It was thus refreshing to hear this strong accent and have voice to which to look forward to sounding like.

This book is so detailed that it is for everyone from advance speakers and downward. So if you want to improve your english, I guess you can risk other books but i don't think you'll find something better. On the other hand, if you want to SOUND american, this book is the bomb!! buy another book and you could have well be tossing your money in a wishing well!!...