The American Accent Guide, Second Edition: A Complete and Comprehensive Course on the Pronunciation and Speaking Style of American English for Individuals of All Language Backgrounds / book and 8 CDs (Paperback)

~ Beverly A. Lujan (Author) "The American Accent Guide, Second Edition, is a complete book and audio instructional program on the sound system of American English..." (more)
Key Phrases: applying proper stress, voiceless endings, voiced endings, American English, United States, The American Accent Guide (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

I aced the listening section of the TOEFL, thanks to this program. It is amazingly helpful with many valuable insights. -- Qais Salem, Ghaza Translation Company, Saudi Arabia

I now speak English more confidence, and even my grammar is now better. The instruction is very clear.. -- Bo Chen, Vancouver, B.C., Canada

The most comprehensive resource. It has all the tools necessary to reduce accent and to develop American rhythm and pronunciation. -- Lakshmi Venkatachulam, LAKSH Institute for Language and Accent Training, Bombay

Product Description

This highly sought after program with an international following provides thorough instruction on the intonation, stress, rhythm, and the sounds that work together to give American English its distinct "accent".

Produced by a speech-language pathologist with expertise at training all components of American English speech, this program imparts a wealth of insights and techniques, accompanied by clear graphics.

This new edition includes 8 CDs featuring a variety of male and female voices, and more conversational exercises. Interactive exercises use everyday language of social-casual to professional-business-technical situations.

The American Accent Guide is highly relevant to speakers of all language backgrounds who want to attain mastery on all aspects of English as commonly spoken in North America.

Product Details

• Paperback: 230 pages
• Publisher: Lingual Arts; Book and CD edition (January 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0963413945
• ISBN-13: 978-0963413949
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 7.3 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #262,581 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #64 in	Books > Reference > Foreign Languages > Instruction > English as a Foreign Language > Pronunciation & Conversational English
  #88 in	Books > Reference > Words & Language > Phonetics & Phonics

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you want a solid fundamental, August 26, 2004

By	S. Lam "A tech guy" (Oakland, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book & CDs are use to build a solid fundamental for American English speaking, and I put the CDs at the car and listen while I drive.
Most content in the book are include in the CD, it's all simple English so if you study the book once you know what words they're speaking for. Why I said this because many single words in the CDs share same / similiar pronunciation, if you don't read the book first you can't distinguish it.
The CD voices are articulate / high quality. I found it especially good for Asian because most learn British English under their education systems.
Don't expect you will improve your English level by finish this book. As the title suggest, it'll only improve your speaking style. You still need to watch TV, listen to radio, do more reading, and talk as much as you can.
Thank you for all previous reviewers' opinions because I don't have time and money to try every products in the market.

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simple and organized, October 11, 2005

By	T. Cartier (U.S.A.) - See all my reviews

As an ESL tutor, working primarily in accent reduction, I have found this book and its accompanying CD's to be perfect for working with business professionals trying to "Americanize" their accents. It supplies me with short, ready-made lessons, and I can leave the CD's with the clients so they can practice on their own. Someone had written a review stating the book was incomprehensible; I think they must be talking about a different book. The American Accent Guide is no more difficult than a phonics book or a speller, and is organized much the same way. You do need to have a cursory knowledge of linguistics and the IPA, but anyone teaching or studying another language should know these things. I've done extensive research on ESL resources, and this book and its CD's are better than anything I've found on the web. I highly recommend it. ~TC

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good but requires effort, March 21, 2006

By	B. Raina (Chicago, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

My writing and vocabulary skills are quite developed, however, native speakers can sense the trace of an accent when I speak.
It gets worse on the phone as the listener can neither see your hands nor your facial expression and is totally dependent on your pronunciation and intonation to make sense of what you are saying.

The guide does a good job of helping you become aware of common speech patterns in conversational english and which syllable to stress depending on what you want to convey. The guide is great to carry along esp. if you have a 6 disc CD changer in your car and you drive alone most of the time. The best way to test your progress is to record your conversations on a quality portable digital recorder. Hearing your own voice over and over again will make you painfully aware of how bad your accent sounds to others and which words need more work. Furthermore, speak with native speakers as much as possible.

Despite what anyone might say, speaking like a native is essential to fit in the business and corporate world here where communication skills are far more important than in Asian cultures.