Compact disc

Introduction -- 1: Vowel Sounds -- Main vowel sounds of American English -- Production of vowels -- as in meet -- as in sit -- as in take -- as in get -- as in fat -- as in father -- as in fun -- as in saw -- as in boat -- as in good -- as in too -- as in bird -- as in time -- as in house -- as in boy -- 2: Vowels In Detail -- Review of /I/ and /i/ sounds -- Review of /e/ and /ae/ sounds -- Problematic o -- American sound -- Review of /u/ and /u/ sounds -- Comparing /u/ and /yu/ -- Vowels followed by the /r/ sound -- 3: Consonants -- Forming American consonants -- Voiceless and voiced consonants -- Vowel length and voiced and voiceless consonants -- Stops and continuants -- 4: Problematic Consonants -- Various t sounds of American English -- Fast d sound -- tfr sound: tr -- d3r sound: dr -- d3 sound: du and d + y -- tf sound: tu and t + y -- Words ending in -ed -- th sound -- American /r/ -- American /I/ -- Understanding /I/ versus /r/ -- v sound -- Understanding /b/ versus /v/ -- w sound -- Understanding /v/ versus /w/ -- s and z sounds -- ng sound: pronouncing ng -- Consonant clusters -- 5: Syllable Stress -- Stressed and reduced vowels -- Dangers of stressing the wrong syllable -- General rules for stress placement -- Two-syllable words -- Noun and verb pairs -- Words ending in -tion and -ate -- -ate endings of verbs and nouns -- More stressed suffixes -- Rules for prefixes -- Syllable stress changes -- Reduced vowels for review -- 6: Word Stress -- Compound nouns -- Proper stress with adjectives -- Phrasal verbs -- Noun forms of phrasal verbs -- Abbreviations and numbers -- Names of places and people -- Word stress within a sentence -- Lengthening the main vowel in stressed words -- Which words should I stress? -- Content words -- Content words in detail: verbs -- Stress nouns but not pronouns -- Content words in detail: adjectives -- Reducing vowels in unstressed words -- Weak forms -- Strong forms -- Thought groups and focus words -- Contrastive stress -- 7: Intonation -- Falling intonation -- Statements -- Questions -- Rising intonation -- Non-final intonation -- Unfinished thoughts -- Introductory words -- Series of words -- Expressing choices -- Wavering intonation -- 8: Sound Like A True Native Speaker -- Linking words for smoother speech flow -- Rules for linking -- Linking consonant to vowel -- Linking consonant to same consonant -- Final stop between consonants -- Linking vowel to vowel -- Linking vowels within a word -- Reducing pronouns -- Contractions -- Commonly contracted words -- Conditional tense and contractions -- Casual versus formal speech -- Rules and patterns of casual speech -- Commonly confused words -- 9: Memorizing The Exceptions -- Same spelling, different pronunciation -- Two correct pronunciations -- Especially difficult words -- Words with dropped syllables -- Words with silent letters -- Homophones -- Native language guide -- Chinese -- Farsi -- Filipino languages -- French -- German -- Indian languages -- Indonesian -- Japanese -- Korean -- Portuguese -- Russian -- Spanish -- Vietnamese -- Index

From the Publisher: This combination book and audio instructional program is designed to diminish the accents of men and women who speak English as their second language. It will help them speak standard American English with clarity, confidence, and accuracy. Specific exercises concentrate on vowel sounds, problematic consonants such as V, W, B, TH, and the American R, employ correct syllable stress, link words for smoother speech flow, use common word contractions such as won't instead of will not, and more. Additional topics that often confuse ESL students are also discussed and explained. They include distinguishing between casual and formal speech, homophones (for instance, they're and there), recognizing words with silent letters (comb, receipt, and others), and avoiding embarrassing pronunciation mistakes, such as mixing up party and potty. Students are familiarized with many irregular English spelling rules and exceptions, and are shown how such irregularities can contribute to pronunciation errors. A native language guide references problematic accent issues of 13 different language backgrounds. Correct lip and tongue positions for all sounds are discussed in detail. Enclosed with the book are four compact discs that use male and female voices to coach correct American-style pronunciation