Improve Your American Accent

by Charlsie Childs

Overview

Sound like a native English speaker in six easy lessons

Even though you know the vocabulary and the endless grammar rules, you still find it difficult to pronounce English words correctly. This struggle with your new language can make communicating with native English speakers a frustrating experience for both you and them. Now you can gain confidence in your English skills and speak like an American with this focused, nonintimidating program.

Improve Your American English Accent is an easy and enjoyable way to learn and master the most challenging American English speech characteristics, such as:

• The most troublesome of sixteen American English vowel sounds
• The duration of vowel sounds
• Differences in stressed and unstressed syllables and words
• How a sound is changed by the sounds that come before and after it
• Stress in words and phrases and how it influences timing

The CDs present six 35-minute lessons, each one covering key obstacles faced by nonnative English speakers. Author Charlsie Childs is your own personal tutor, talking you through her proven methods for overcoming the tricks of English pronunciation. Accompanying the CDs is a booklet containing written pronunciation guidelines and transcriptions of the sounds, words, and sentences you encounter on the recording.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780071428095
Publisher:	McGraw-Hill Professional Publishing
Publication date:	12/10/2003
Edition description:	Audio CD
Pages:	64
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 7.50(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Charlsie Childs is a specialist in foreign accent reduction with many years of teaching experience.

Table of Contents

Introduction
A quick review of grammar terms
Points of speech articulation
Major North American English vowels
SESSION ONE
1.1 Introduction to Improve Your American English Accent
1.2 What's in Session One
1.3 The vowels 6 and 10
1.4 Vowel sound 11
1.5 Syllables
1.6 Syllable stress
1.7 Consonants: Stops and continuants
1.8 The glottal stop: An important extra stop sound
1.9 Voicing and vowel duration
1.10 Stress in abbreviations and initials
1.11 Let's try to apply this information
1.12 Assignment
SESSION TWO
1.13 What's in Session Two
1.14 The vowels: Review of vowels 6 and 11
1.15 The vowels: Introducing vowels 3, 4, and 5
1.16 Different ways to pronounce stops
1.17 linking words together (as the native speakers do)
1.18 Three variations of -s|-es noun and verb endings
1.19 Syllable stress with suffixes -ion, -sian, -tion
1.20 Word stress in adjective + noun phrases
1.21 Let's try to apply all this information
1.22 Assignment
SESSION THREE
2.1 What's in Session Three
2.2 The vowels: 1 and 2
2.3 The vowels: Front vowels 1, 2, 3, and 4
2.4 The vowels: Vowel 12
2.5 The three -ed verb endings (the regular endings for simple past and past participle forms)
2.6 Practice using the -ed endings
2.7 The between-vowel (intervocalic) d or t flap
2.8 Practice using the d or t flap
2.9 Stress in adjectives with -al, -ial, or -ual suffixes
2.10 Stress in noun + noun phrases
2.11 To stress or not to stress: the schwa
2.12 Stress and non-stress in some useful words
2.13 Let's try to apply all this information
2.14 Assignment
SESSION FOUR
2.15 What's in Session Four
2.16 Vowels: Vowel sound 8
2.17 Vowels: Back vowels 8, 9, and 10
2.18 Contractions: Is
2.19 Contractions: Are
2.20 Contractions: Does
2.21 Contractions: Did
2.22 Contractions: Will
2.23 Contractions: Would
2.24 Contractions: Can and can't
2.25 Reducing the h in words that are not important
2.26 Stress with the common suffix -ity
2.27 Assignment
SESSION FIVE
3.1 What's in Session Five
3.2 The vowels: lower vowels 6, 7, 8, and 11
3.3 Practicing stress, pitch. linking. and reductions in declarative sentences
3.4 Practicing non-stress
3.5 Summary of some important speech aspects
3.6 When joining a front vowel to another vowel
3.7 When joining a back vowel to another vowel
3.8 Forming new sounds by joining sounds together
3.9 linking words with the same (or closely related) sounds
3.10 Practice with some common helping verbs
3.11 Assignment
SESSION SIX
3.12 What's in Session Six
3.13 Pitch pattern change after a subject has been introduced
3.14 Usual pitch patterns in English information questions
3.15 Usual pitch patterns in North American English yes/no questions
3.16 Usual pitch patterns in North American English either/or (choice) questions
3.17 Usual pitch patterns in North American English attached questions
3.18 Breaking the rules of stress in special situations
3.19 Let's try to apply all this information
3.20 Assignment