American Accent Training – A guide to speaking and pronouncing colloquial American English Second – Studocu
Nội Dung Chính
A guide to speaking and pronouncing colloquial
American English
Second Edition Ann Cook
Illustrated by Holly Forsyth Audio by Busy Signal Studios
BARRON’S
This book is dedicated to Nate Cook.
Also, my special thanks for their extensive contributions to my editor, Dimitry
Popow, Carolyn Jaeckin, Dr. Maria Bruno, Karina Lombard, Dr. Hyouk-Keun
Kim, Ph., Karl Althaus, Adrian Wong, Sergey Korshunov, and Jerry Danielson
at Busy Signal Studios.
####### © Copyright 2000 by Ann Cook, americanaccent
####### Prior edition copyright © 1991 by Ann Cook.
####### Portions of this book were previously published by Matrix Press.
####### © Copyright 1989 by Matrix Press
####### All right reserved.
####### No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by photostat, microfilm, xerography, or any other means, or
####### incorporated into any information retrieval system, electronic or mechanical, without the written permission of the
####### publisher.
####### All inquiries should be addressed to: Barron’s Educational Series, Inc. 250 Wireless Boulevard
####### Hauppauge,NY11788 http://www. barronseduc. com
####### International Standard Book No. 0-7641-1429-8 Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 99-
####### PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 987654321
####### Желательно иметь шрифт WP Phonetic
####### Table of Contents
Read This First CD 1 Track 1
####### What Is Accent?
####### Can I Learn a New Accent?
####### Accent versus Pronunciation
####### “Which Accent Is Correct?”
####### “Why Is My Accent So Bad?”
####### Less Than It Appears … More Than It Appears
####### Language Is Fluent and Fluid
A Few Words On Pronunciation CD 1 Track 2
####### Tense Vowels? Lax Vowels?
####### Voiced Consonants? Unvoiced Consonants?
####### Pronunciation Points
Telephone Tutoring
Preliminary Diagnostic Analysis CD 1 Track 3
Chapter 1 American Intonation
The American Speech Music CD 1 Track 4
####### What to Do with Your Mouth to Sound American
####### American Intonation Do’s and Don’ts
####### What Exactly Is Staircase Intonation?
####### Three Ways to Make Intonation
####### Exercise 1-1: Rubber Band Practice with Nonsense Syllables CD 1 Track 5
Staircase Intonation CD 1 Track 6
####### Statement Intonation with Nouns
####### Statement Intonation with Pronouns CD 1 Track 8
####### Exercise 1 – 3; Noun and Pronoun Intonation CD 1 Track 9
####### Statement Versus Question Intonation CD 1 Track 10
####### Emotional or Rhetorical Question Intonation
####### Exercise 1 – 4: Sentence Intonation Test CD 1 Track 11
####### Exercise 1-5: Four Main Reasons for Intonation CD 1 Track 12
- New Information
- Opinion
- Contrast
- Can’t
####### Exercise 1-6: Pitch and Meaning Change CD 1 Track 13
####### Exercise 1-7: Individual Practice CD 1 Track 14
####### Exercise 1-8: Meaning of “Pretty” CD 1 Track 15
####### Exercise 1-9: Inflection CD 1 Track 16
####### Exercise 1-10; Individual Practice CD 1 Track 17
####### Exercise 1-40: Intonation in Your Own Sentence CD 2 Track 9
####### Exercise 1 – 40: Intonation in Hour Own Sentence continued CD 2 Track 9
####### 1 – 40: Intonation in Your Own Sentence continued CD 2 Track 9
####### Exercise 1-41: Supporting Words CD 2 Track 10
####### Exercise 1 – 42: Contrast Practice CD 2 Track 11
####### Exercise 1 – 43; Yes, You Can or No, You Can’t? CD 2 Track 12
####### Exercise 1 – 44: Building an Intonation Sentence CD 2 Track 13
####### Exercise 1 – 46: Regular Transitions of Nouns and Verbs CD 2 Track 15
####### Exercise 1-47: Regular Transitions of Adjectives and Verbs CD 2 Track n
####### Exercise 1-48; Regular Transitions of Adjectives and Verbs CD 2 Track 17
The Miracle Technique CD 2 Track 18
####### A Child Can Learn Any Language
####### Exercise 1 – 49: Tell Me Wədai Say! CD 2 Track 19
####### Exercise 1-50: Listening for Pure Sounds CD 2 Track 21
####### Exercise 1-51 : Extended Listening Practice CD 2 Track 22
Reduced Sounds CD 2 Track 24
####### Reduced Sounds Are “Valleys”
####### Exercise 1 – 52; Reducing Articles CD 2 Track 25
####### Exercise 1-53: Reduced Sounds CD 2 Track 26
####### Exercise 1-53: Reduced Sounds continued CD 2 Track 26
####### Exercise 1-53; Reduced Sounds continued CD 2 Track 26
####### Exercise 1-53: Reduced Sounds continued CD 2 Track 26
####### Exercise 1-53: Reduced Sounds continued CD 2 Track 26
####### Exercise 1 – 53: Reduced Sounds continued CD 2 Track 26
####### Exercise 1-54: Intonation and Pronunciation of “That” CD 2 Track 27
####### Exercise 1-55: Crossing Out Reduced Sounds CD 2 Track 28
####### Exercise 1-56; Reading Reduced Sounds CD 2 Track 29
Word Groups and Phrasing CD 2 Track 30
####### Pauses for Related Thoughts, Ideas, or for Breathing
####### Exercise 1-57: Phrasing CD Track 31
####### Exercise 1-58: Creating Word Groups CD 2 Track 32
####### Exercise 1-59: Practicing Word Groups CD 2 Track 33
####### Exercise 1-60: Tag Endings CD 2 Track 34
####### Intonation
####### Pronunciation
Chapter 2. Word Connections CD 2 Track 35
####### Exercise 2-1 : Spelling and Pronunciation CD 2 Track 36
Liaison Rule 1 : Consonant / Vowel
####### Exercise 2-2: Word Connections CD 2 Track 37
####### Exercise 2-3: Spelling and Number Connections CD 2 Track 38
####### What’s the Difference Between a Vowel and a Consonant?
####### Exercise 2-4: Consonant / Vowel Liaison Practice CD 2 Track 39
####### Exercise 2 – 4: Consonant / Vowel Liaison Practice continued CD 2 Track 39
####### Liaison Rule 2: Consonant / Consonant
####### Exercise 2-5: Consonant /Consonant Liaisons CD 2 Track 40
####### Exercise 2-6: Consonant / Consonant Liaisons CD 2 Track 41
Consonants
####### Exercise 2-7: Liaisons with TH Combination CD 2 Track 42
####### Exercise 2-8: Consonant / Consonant Liaison Practice CD 2 Track 43
####### Liaison Rule 3: Vowel / Vowel
####### Exercise 2-9: Vowel / Vowel Liaison Practice CD 2 Track 44
####### Liaison Rule 4: T, D, S, or Z + Y
####### Exercise 2-10; T, D, S, or Z + Y Liaisons CD 2 Track 45
T + Y = CH
####### Exercise 2-10: T, D, S, or Z + Y Liaisons continued CD 2 Track 45
####### D + Y = J
####### S + Y = SH
####### Z + Y = ZH
####### Exercise 2-10: T, D, S, or Z + Y Liaisons continued CD 2 Track 45
####### Exercise 2-11:T, D, S, or Z + Y Liaison Practice CD 2 Track 46
####### Exercise 2-12; Finding Liaisons and Glides CD 2 Track 47
####### Exercise 2-13: Practicing Liaisons CD 3 Track 1
####### Exercise 2-14: Additional Liaison Practice CD 3 Track 2
####### Exercise 2-15: Colloquial Reductions and Liaisons CD 3 Track 3
####### Exercise 2 – 15: Colloquial Reductions and Liaisons continued CD 3 Track 3
####### Spoon or Sboon?
####### Exercise 2-16: Liaison Staircases CD 3 Track 4
Chapter 3. Cat? Caught? Cut? CD 3 Track 5
The [æ] Sound
The [ä] Sound
The Schwa [ə] Sound
Silent or Neutral?
Vowel Chart
####### Exercise 3-1 : Word-by-Word and in a Sentence CD 3 Track 6
####### Exercise 3-2: Finding [æ], [ä], and [ə] Sounds CD 3 Track 7
####### Exercise 3-3: Vowel-Sound Differentiation CD 3 Track 8
####### Exercise 3-4: Reading the [æ] Sound CD 3 Track 9
The Tæn Mæn
####### Exercise 3-5: Reading the [ä] Sound CD strack 10
A Lät of Läng, Hät Walks in the Garden
####### Exercise 3-6: Reading the [ə] Sound CD 3 Track 11
What Must the Sun Above Wonder About?
Chapter 4. The American T CD 3 Track 12
####### Exercise 4-1 ; Stressed and Unstressed T CD 3 Thick 13
####### Exercise 4-2: Betty Bought a Bit of Better Butter CD 3 Track 14
Betty Bought a Bit of Better Butter
####### Exercise 4-3: Rute 1—Top of the Staircase CD 3 Track 15
####### Exercise 4-3; Rule 1—Top of the Staircase continued CD 3Track 15
####### Exercise 4-4: Rule 2—Middle of the Staircase CD 3 Track 16
####### Exercise 4-5: Rule 3—Bottom of the Staircase CD3 Track 17
####### Exercise 4-5: Rule 3—Bottom of the Staircase continued CD 3 Track 17
####### Exercise 4-6: Rule 4—”Held T” Before N CD 3 Track 18
####### Exercise 4-7: Rule 5—The Silent T CD 3 Track 19
####### Exercise 4 – 9: Karina’s T Connections CD 3 Track 21
####### Exercise 4 – 10: Combinations in Context CD 3 Track 2:
####### Exercise 4-11 : Voiced and Unvoiced Sounds with T
####### Exercise 4-12: Finding American T Sounds CD 3 Track 24
####### Voiced Consonants and Reduced Vowels
- Reduced vowels
- Voiced consonants
- Like sound with like sound
- R’lææææææææææx
Chapter 5. The El CD 3 Track 25
L and Foreign Speakers of English
####### Location of Language in the Mouth
####### The Compound Sound of L
####### L Compared with T, D, and N
T and D
N
####### Exercise 5-1 : Sounds Comparing L with T, D, and N CD 3 Track 26
T/D Plosive
####### Exercise 5-1 ; Sounds Comparing L with T, D and N continued CD 3 Track 26
####### Exercise 5-2; Sounds Comparing L with T, D, and N CD 3 Track 27
What Are All Those Extra Sounds I’m Hearing?
####### Exercise 5-3: Final El with Schwa CD 3 Track 28
####### Exercise 5-4: Many Final Els CD 3 Track 29
####### Exercise 5-5: Liaise the Ls CD 3 Track 30
####### Exercise 5-6: Finding L Sounds CD 3 Track 31
####### Exercise 5-7: Silent Ls CD3Track
####### Exercise 5-8: Hold Your Tongue! CD 3 Track 33
####### Exercise 5-9: Little Lola CD 3 Track 34
####### Exercise 5-11 : Final L Practice CD 3 Track 36
####### Exercise 5-12: Thirty Little Turtles In a Bottle of Bottled Water CD 3 Track 37
####### Exercise 5-13: Speed-reading CD 3 Track »
####### Exercise 5-14: Tandem Reading CD 3 Track 39
Voice Quality CD 3 Track 40
####### Exercise 8-1 : Comparing [u] and [ü] CD 4 Track 15
####### Exercise 8-2: Lax Vowels CD 4 Track 16
####### Exercise 8-3; Bit or Beat? CD 4 Track 17
####### Exercise 8-4: Bit or Beat? Bid or Bead? CD 4 Track 18
####### Exercise 8-5: Tense and Lax Vowel Exercise CD 4Track 19
####### Exercise 8-6: The Middle “I” List CD 4 Track 20
####### Exercise 8 – 7: Reduction Options CD 4 Track 21
####### Exercise 8-8: Finding Reduced Sounds CD 4 Track 22
####### Exercise 8-9: How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck? CD 4 Track 23
####### Exercise 8-10; Büker Wülsey’s Cükbük CD 4 Track 24
####### Exercise 8-11: A True Fool CD 4 Track 25
Intonation and Attitude
####### Exercise 8-12: Nonverbal Intonation CD 4 Track 26
Chapter 9. “V” as in Victory CD 4 Track 27
####### Exercise 9-1 : Mind Your Vees CD 4 Track 28
####### Exercise 9-2: The Vile VIP CD 4 Track 29
####### Exercise 9-3: Finding V Sounds CD 4 Track 30
Chapter 10. S or Z?
####### Exercise 10-1 : When S Becomes Z CD 4 Track 31
####### Exercise 10-2: A Surly Sergeant Socked an Insolent Sailor CD 4 Track 32
####### Exercise 10-3: Allz Well That Endz Well CD 4 Track 33
####### Exercise 10-4: Voiced and Unvoiced Endings in the Past Tense CD 4 Track 34
####### Exercise 10-5: Finding S and Z Sounds CD 4 Track 35
####### Exercise 10-4; Application Steps with S and Z CD 4 Track 36
####### Exercise 10-7: Your Own Application Steps with S and Z CD 4 Track 37
Chapter 11. Tense and Lax Vowels
####### Exercise 11-1; Tense Vowels CD 4 Track 38
####### Exercise 11 – 2: Tense Vowels Practice Paragraph CD 4 Track 39
####### Exercise 11-3: Lax Vowels CD 4 Track 40
####### Exercise 11-4: Lax Vowels Practice Paragraph CD 4 Track 41
####### Exercise 11-5: Take a High-Tech Tack CD 4 Track 42
####### Exercise 11 – 6: Pick a Peak CD 4 Track 43
Grammar in a Bigger Nutshell
####### Exercise 11-7: Compound Nouns and Complex Verbs CD 4 Track 44
####### Exercise 11-7: Compound Nouns and Complex Verbs continued CD 4 Track 44
####### Exercise 11-7; Compound Nouns and Complex Verbs continued CD 4Track 44
####### Exercise 11-8: Your Own Compound Nouns CD 4 Track 45
####### Exercise 11-9: Your Compound Nouns and Complex Verbs CD 4 Track 46
####### Exercise 11-10: Practical Application—U./Japan Trade Friction CD 4 Track 47
####### The Letter A
####### Exercise 11-11: Presidential Candidates’ Debate CD 4 Track 48
Chapter 12. Nasal Consonants CD 4 Track 49
####### Exercise 12-1: Nasal Consonants CD 4 Track 50
####### Exercise 12-2: Ending Nasal Consonants CD 4 Track 51
####### Exercise 12-3: Reading Nasal Consonant Sounds CD 4 Track 52
####### Exercise 12-4: Finding [n] and [ng] Sounds CD 4 Track 53
Chapter 13. Throaty Consonants
####### Exercise 13-1: Throaty Consonants CD 4 Track 54
####### Exercise 13-2: The Letter X CD 4 Track 55
####### Exercise 13-3: Reading the H, K, G, NG, and R sounds CD 4 Track 56
H
K
G
NG
R
####### Exercise 13-4: Glottal Consonant Practice Paragraph CD 4 Track 57
Telephone Tutoring
Final Diagnostic Analysis CD 4 Track 58
Chapters 1-13. Review and Expansion
####### Review Exercise 1-1: Rubber Band Practice with Nonsense Syllables
####### Review Exercise 1-2; Noun Intonation
####### Review Exercise 1-3: Noun and Pronoun Intonation
####### Review Exercise 1-4: Sentence Intonation Test
####### Review Exercise 1-6: Pitch and Meaning Change
####### Review Exercise 1-7: Individual Practice
####### Review Exercise 1-8: Meaning of “Pretty,” “Sort of,” “Kind of,” and “Little”
####### Review Exercise 1-9: Inflection
####### Review Exercise 1-10: Individual Practice
####### Review Exercise 1-11: Translation
####### Review Exercise 1-12: Create Your Own Intonation Contrast
####### Review Exercise 1-13: Variable Stress
####### Review Exercise 1-14: Make a Variable Stress Sentence
####### Review Exercise 1-15: Application of Stress
####### Review Exercise 1-17: Staircase Intonation Practice
####### Review Exercise 1-18: Reading with Staircase Intonation
####### Review Exercise 1-19: Spelling and Numbers
####### Review Exercise 1-20: Sound/Meaning Shifts
####### Review Exercise 1-21: Squeezed-Out Syllables
####### Review Exercise 1-22: Syllable Patterns
####### Review Exercise 1-25: Sentence Stress with Descriptive Phrases
####### Review Exercise 1-23: Syllable Count Test
####### Review Exercise 1-24: Single-Word Phrases
####### Review Exercise 1-26: Two Types of Descriptive Phrases
####### Review Exercise 1-27: Descriptive Phrase Story—Snow White and The Seven Dwarves
####### Review Exercise 1-28: Sentence Stress with Set Phrases
####### Review Exercise 1-29: Making Set Phrases
####### Review Exercise 1-30: Set Phrase Story—Our Mailman
####### Review Exercise 1-31: Contrasting Descriptive and Set Phrases
####### Review Exercise 1-32: Two-Word Stress
####### Review Exercise 1-34: Contrasting Descriptive and Set Phrases
####### Review Exercise 1-35: Contrast of Compound Nouns
####### Review Exercise 1-36: Description and Set Phrase Test
####### Review Exercise 1-38: Consistent Noun Stress in Changing Verb Tenses (5 disk)
####### Review Exercise 1-39: Consistent Pronoun Stress in Changing Verb Tenses
####### Review Execise 1 – 40: Intonation in Your Own Sentence
####### Review Exercise 1-41: Supporting Words
####### Review Exercise 1-42: Contrast Practice
####### Review Exercise 1-43: Yes, You Can or No, You Can’t?
####### Review Exercise 1-44: Building an Intonation Sentence
####### Review Exercise 1-45: Building Your Own intonation Sentences
####### Review Exercise 1-46: Regular Transitions of Nouns and Verbs
####### Review Exercise 1-47: Regular Transitions of Adjectives and Verbs
####### Review Exercise 1-48; Regular Transitions of Adjectives and Verbs
####### Review Exercise 1-51; Extended Listening Practice
####### Review Exercise 1-53: Reduced Sounds
####### Review Exercise 1-55: Crossing Out Reduced Sounds
####### Review Exercise 1-56: Reading Reduced Sounds
####### Review Exercise 1-57: Phrasing
####### Review Exercise 1 – 60: Tag Endings
####### Review Exercise 2-1: Spelling and Pronunciation
####### Review Exercise 2-4: Consonant / Vowel Liaison Practice
####### Review Exercise 2-8: Consonant/Consonant Liaison Practice
####### Review Exercise 2-9: Vowel / Vowel Liaison Practice
####### Review Exercise 2-11: T, D, S, or Z + Y Liaison Practice
####### Review Exercise 2-12: Finding Liaisons and Glides
####### Review Exercise 2-13: Practicing Liaisons
####### Review Exercise 3-1: Word-by-Word and in a Sentence
####### Review Exercise 3-3: Vowel-Sound Differentiation
####### Review Exercise 3-4: Finding the æ, ä, ə Sounds
####### Review Exercise 3-5: Reading the [æ] Sound
####### Review Exercise 3-6: Reading the [ä] Sound
####### Review Exercise 3-7: Reading the [ə] Sound
####### Review Exercise 4-1 : Stressed and Unstressed T
####### Review Exercise 4-3: Rule 1—Top of the Staircase
####### Review Exercise 4-4: Rule 2—Middle of the Staircase
####### Review Exercise 4-5: Rule 3—Bottom of the Staircase
####### Review Exercise 4-6: Rule 4—”Held T” Before N
####### Review Exercise 4-7: Rule 5—The Silent T
####### Review Exercise 4 – 1 0: T Combinations in Context
####### Review Exercise 4-11: Voiced and Unvoiced Sounds with T
####### The Japanese R = The American T
Location of the Language
Spanish
Intonation
Liaisons
Word Endings
Pronunciation
####### The Spanish S = The American S, But…
####### The Spanish R = The American T
####### The – ed Ending
####### The Final T
####### The Spanish D = The American Th (voiced)
####### The Spanish of Spain Z or C = The American Th (unvoiced)
####### The Spanish I = The American Y (not j)
####### The Doubled Spanish A Sound = The American O, All or AW Spelling
####### The Spanish O = The American OU
Location of the Language
Indian
Intonation
Liaisons
Pronunciation
Location of the Language
Russian
Intonation
Liaisons
Pronunciation
The Russian R = The American Т
French
Intonation
Liaisons
Pronunciation
Location in the Mouth
German
Intonation
Liaisons
Pronunciation
Korean
Intonation
Word Connections
Pronunciation
####### The Korean R = The American T
Answer Key
####### Exercise 1 – 4: Sentence Intonation Test
####### Exercise 1 – 15: Application of Stress
####### Exercise 1-17: Staircase Intonation Practice
####### Exercise 1 – 29: Making Set Phrases
####### Exercise 1 – 35: Contrast of Compound Nouns
####### Exercise 1 – 36: Description and Set Phrase Test
####### Exercise 1-48: Regular Transitions of Adj. and Verbs
####### Exercise 1-23: Syllable Count Test
####### Exercise 1-51: Extended Listening Practice
####### Exercise 1 – 60: Tag Endings
####### Exercise 2 – 4: Consonant / Vowel Liaisons
####### Exercise 2 – 8: Consonant / Consonant Liaisons
####### Exercise 2 – 9: Vowel / Vowel Liaisons
####### Exercise 2-11 : T, D, S, or Z Liaisons
####### Exercise 2 – 12: Finding Liaisons and Glides
####### Exercise 2-16: Liaison Staircases
####### Exercise 3-2: Finding [æ], [ä] and [ə] Sounds
####### Exercise 4-12: Finding American T Sounds
####### Exercise 1-51: Extended Listening Practice
####### Exercise 5-6: Finding L Sounds
####### Exercise 6-7: Finding the R Sound
####### Review Exercise B: Intonation Review Test
####### Exercise 7 – 2: Targeting the TH Sound
####### Exercise 8-8: Finding Reduced Sounds
####### Exercise 9-3: Finding V Sounds
####### Exercise 10-5: Finding S and Z Sounds
####### Exercise 11-2 and 11-4: Finding Tense (a, e, æ) and Lax Vowel Sounds (i, ə)
####### Exercise 12-4: Finding [n] and [ng] Sounds
####### Exercise 13-4: Glottal Consonant Practice
Review Section Answer Key
####### Review Ex. 1 – 4: Sentence Intonation Test
####### Review Ex. 1-35: Contrast of Compound Nouns
####### Review Ex. 1-36: Description and Set Phrase Test
####### Review Ex. 1-48: Adjective and Verb Transitions
####### Review Ex. 1-51: Extended Listening Practice
####### Review Ex. 1 – 60: Tag Endings
####### Review Ex. 2-4: Cons. / Vowel Liaison Practice
####### Review Ex. 2-8: Cons. / Cons. Liaison Practice
####### Review Ex. 2-9: Vowel / Vowel Liaison Practice
####### Review Ex. 2-11 : T, D, S, or Z Liaison Practice
####### Review Ex. 2-12: Finding Liaisons and Glides
####### Review Ex. 3-4: Finding the æ, ä, ə, and d Sounds
Index
Symbols
A B C D E F G H I K L М N О P Q R S T U V W Y X Z
Table of Contents
Introduction: Read This First……………………… iv
A Few Words On Pronunciation …………………………… vii
Preliminary Diagnostic Analysis ……………………………. x
Chapter 1 American Intonation ………………………………
Staircase Intonation ……………………………………………… 5
Syllable Stress …………………………………………………… 19
Complex Intonation……………………………………………. 23
Two-Word Phrases……………………………………………… 24
Grammar in a Nutshell ……………………………………….. 35
The Miracle Technique ……………………………………….. 46
Reduced Sounds ………………………………………………… 48
possible. Can classical musicians play jazz? If they practice, of course they can! For your American
accent, it’s just a matter of learning and practicing techniques this book and CD set will teach you. It
is up to you to use them or not. How well you do depends mainly on how open and willing you are
to sounding different from the way you have sounded all your life.
A very important thing you need to remember is that you can use your accent to say what you mean
and how you mean it. Word stress conveys meaning through tone or feeling, which can be much
more important than the actual words that you use. We’ll cover the expression of these feelings
through intonation in the first lesson.
You may have noticed that I talk fast and often run my words together. You’ve probably heard
enough “English-teacher English”—where … everything … is … pronounced without having to listen
too carefully. That’s why on the CDs we’re going to talk just like the native speakers that we are, in a
normal conversational tone.
Native speakers may often tell people who are learning English to “slow down” and to “speak
clearly.” This is meant with the best of intentions, but it is exactly the opposite of what a student
really needs to do. If you speak fairly quickly and with strong intonation, you will be understood
more easily. To illustrate this point, you will hear a Vietnamese student first trying to speak slowly
and carefully and then repeating the same words quickly and with strong intonation. Studying, this
exercise took her only about two minutes to practice, but the difference makes her sound as if she
had been in America for many years.
V Please listen. You will hear the same words twice. Hello, my name is Muoi. I’m taking American
Accent Training.
iv
You may have to listen to this CD a couple of times to catch everything. To help you, every word on
the CD is also written in the book. By seeing and hearing simultaneously, you’ll learn to reconcile
the differences between the appearance of English (spelling) and the sound of English
(pronunciation and the other aspects of accent).
The CD leaves a rather short pause for you to repeat into. The point of this is to get you responding
quickly and without spending too much time thinking about your response.
Accent versus Pronunciation
Many people equate accent with pronunciation. I don’t feel this to be true at all. America is a big
country, and while the pronunciation varies from the East Coast to the West Coast, from the southern
to the northern states, two components that are uniquely American stay basically the same—the
speech music, or intonation, and the word connections or liaisons. Throughout this program, we will
focus on them. In the latter part of the book we will work on pronunciation concepts, such as Cat?
Caught? Cut? and Betty Bought a Bit of Better Butter; we also will work our way through some of
the difficult sounds, such as TH, the American R, the L, V, and Z.
“Which Accent Is Correct?”
American Accent Training was created to help people “sound American” for lectures, interviews,
teaching, business situations, and general daily communication. Although America has many
regional pronunciation differences, the accent you will learn is that of standard American English as
spoken and understood by the majority of educated native speakers in the United States. Don’t worry
that you will sound slangy or too casual because you most definitely won’t. This is the way a
professor lectures to a class, the way a national newscaster broadcasts, the way that is most
comfortable and familiar to the majority of native speakers.
“Why Is My Accent So Bad?”
Learners can be seriously hampered by a negative outlook, so I’ll address this very important point
early. First, your accent is not bad; it is nonstandard to the American ear. There is a joke that goes:
What do you call a person who can speak three languages? Trilingual. What do you call a person
who can speak two languages? Bilingual. What do you call a person who can only speak one
language? American.
Every language is equally valid or good, so every accent is good. The average American, however,
truly does have a hard time understanding a nonstandard accent. George Bernard Shaw said that the
English and Americans are two people divided by the same language!
Some students learn to overpronounce English because they naturally want to say the word as it is
written. Too often an English teacher may allow this, perhaps thinking that colloquial American
English is unsophisticated, unrefined, or even incorrect. Not so at all! Just as you don’t say the T in
listen, the TT in better is pronounced D, bedder. Any other pronunciation will sound foreign,
strange, wrong, or different to a native speaker.
v
Less Than It Appears … More Than It Appears
As you will see in Exercise 1-21, Squeezed-Out Syllables, on page 18, some words appear to
have three or more syllables, but all of them are not actually spoken. For example, business is
not (bi/zi/ness), but rather (birz/ness).
Just when you get used to eliminating whole syllables from words, you’re going to come across
other words that look as if they have only one syllable, but really need to be said with as many as
three! In addition, the inserted syllables are filled with letters that are not in the written word. I’ll
give you two examples of this strange phenomenon. Pool looks like a nice, one-syllable word,
but if you say it this way, at best, it will sound like pull, and at worst will be unintelligible to
your listener. For clear comprehension, you need to say three syllables (pu/wuh/luh). Where did
that W come from? It’s certainly not written down anywhere, but it is there just as definitely as
the P is there. The second example is a word like feel. If you say just the letters that you see, it
will sound more like fill. You need to say (fee/yuh/luh). Is that really a Y? Yes. These
mysterious semivowels are explained under Liaisons in Chapter 2. They can appear either inside
a word as you have seen, or between words as you will learn.
Language Is Fluent and Fluid
Just like your own language, conversational English has a very smooth, fluid sound. Imagine that
you are walking along a dry riverbed with your eyes closed. Every time you come to a rock, you
trip over it, stop, continue, and trip over the next rock. This is how the average foreigner speaks
English. It is slow, awkward, and even painful. Now imagine that you are a great river rushing
through that same riverbed—rocks are no problem, are they? You just slide over and around
them without ever breaking your smooth flow. It is this feeling that I want you to capture in
English.
Changing your old speech habits is very similar to changing from a stick shift to an automatic
transmission. Yes, you continue to reach for the gearshift for a while and your foot still tries to
find the clutch pedal, but this soon phases itself out. In the same way, you may still say
“telephone call” (kohl) instead of (kahl) for a while, but this too will soon pass.
You will also have to think about your speech more than you do now. In the same way that you
were very aware and self-conscious when you first learned to drive, you will eventually relax
and deal with the various components simultaneously.
A new accent is an adventure. Be bold! Exaggerate wildly! You may worry that Americans will
laugh at you for putting on an accent, but I guarantee you, they won’t even notice. They’ll just
think that you’ve finally learned to “talk right.” Good luck with your new accent!
vi
A Few Words On Pronunciation CD 1
Track 2
I’d like to introduce you to the pronunciation guide outlines in the following chart. There aren’t
too many characters that are different from the standard alphabet, but just so you’ll be familiar
with them, look at the chart. It shows eight tense vowels and six lax vowels and semivowels.
Tense Vowels? Lax Vowels?
viii
Pronunciation Points
1. In many dictionaries, you may find a character that looks like an upside down V, [A] and
another character that is an upside-down e [ə], the schwa. There is a linguistic distinction
between the two, but they are pronounced exactly the same. Since you can’t hear the difference
between these two sounds, we’ll just be using the upside-down e to indicate the schwa sound. It
is pronounced uh.
2. The second point is that we do not differentiate between [ä] and []]. The [ä] is pronounced
ah. The backwards C []] is more or less pronounced aw. This aw sound has a “back East”
sound to it, and as it’s not common to the entire United States, it won’t be included here.
3. R can be considered a semivowel. One characteristic of a vowel is that nothing in the mouth
touches anything else. R definitely falls into that category. So in the exercises throughout the
book it will be treated not so much as a consonant, but as a vowel.
4. The ow sound is usually indicated by [äu], which would be ah + ooh. This may have been
accurate at some point in some locations, but the sound is now generally [æo]. Town is [tæon],
how is [hæo], loud is [læod], and so on.
5. Besides voiced and unvoiced, there are two words that come up in pronunciation. These are
sibilant and plosive. When you say the [s] sound, you can feel the air sliding out over the tip of
your tongue—this is a sibilant. When you say the [p] sound, you can feel the air popping out
from between your lips—this is a plosive. Be aware that there are two sounds that are sometimes
mistakenly taught as sibilants, but are actually plosives: [th] and [v].
6. For particular points of pronunciation that pertain to your own language, refer to the
Nationality Guides on page 172.
parry bury apple able mop mob
ferry very afraid avoid off of
stew zoo races raises face phase
sheet pressure pleasure crush garage
two do petal pedal not nod
choke joke gaucho gouger rich ridge
think that ether either tooth smooth
come gum bicker bigger pick pig
accent exit tax tags
yes player day
wool shower now
his ahead
late collect towel
rate correct tower
me swimmer same
next connect man
finger ring
Throughout this text, we will be using three symbols to indicate three separate actions:
V Indicates a command or a suggestion.
+ Indicates the beep tone.
+ Indicates that you need to turn the CD on or off, back up, or pause.
ix
Telephone Tutoring
Preliminary Diagnostic Analysis CD 1 Track 3
This is a speech analysis to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your American accent. If
you are studying American Accent Training on your own, please contact toll-free (800) 457-
4255 or americanaccent for a referral to a qualified telephone analyst. The
diagnostic analysis is designed to evaluate your current speech patterns to let you know where
your accent is standard and nonstandard.
Hello, my name is______. I’m taking American Accent Training. There’s a lot to learn,
but I hope to make it as enjoyable as possible. I should pick up on the American intonation
pattern pretty easily, although the only way to get it is to practice all of the time.
1. all, long, caught 5. ice, I’ll, sky 9. come, front, indicate 13. out, house,
round
2. cat, matter, laugh 6. it, milk, sin 10. smooth, too, shoe 14. boy, oil, toy
3. take, say, fail 7. eat, me, seen 11. took, full, would
4. get, egg, any 8. work, girl, bird 12. told, so, roll
A B C D E F
1. pit 1. bit 1. staple 1. stable 1. cap 1. cab
2. fear 2. veer 2. refers 2. reverse 2. half 2. have
3. sue 3. zoo 3. faces 3. phases 3. race 3. raise
4. sheer 4. din 4. cashew 4. casual 4. rush 4. rouge
5. tin 5. gin 5. metal 5. medal 5. hat 5. had
6. chin 6. then 6. catcher 6. cadger 6. rich 6. ridge
7. thin 7. gut 7. ether 7. either 7. bath 7. bathe
8. cut 8. race 8. bicker 8. bigger 8. tack 8. tag
9. yellow 9. breed 9. million 9. correction 9. say 9. sore
10. would 10. man 10. coward 10. surprise 10. how 10. peeper
11. him 11. name 11. reheat 11. summer 11. soul 11. palm
12. lace 12. collection 12. runner 12. people 12. can
13. bleed 13. supplies 13. kingdom 13. sing
1. Go upstairs. 1. Betty bought a bit of better
butter.
2, I am going to the other
room.
Connect Words to Form Sound Groups
Use Staircase Intonation
Start a new staircase
when you want to emphasize
that information, generally a noun.
+ Do not speak word by word.
If you speak word by word, as many people who learned “printed” English do, you’ll end up
sounding mechanical and foreign. You may have noticed the same thing happens in your own
language: When someone reads a speech, even a native speaker, it sounds stiff and stilted, quite
different from a normal conversational tone.
+ Connect words to form sound groups.
This is where you’re going to start doing something completely different than what you have
done in your previous English studies. This part is the most difficult for many people because it
goes against everything they’ve been taught. Instead of thinking of each word as a unit, think of
sound units. These sound units may or may not correspond to a word written on a page. Native
speakers don’t say Bob is on the phone, but say [bäbizän the foun]. Sound units make a sentence
flow smoothly, like peanut butter— never really ending and never really starting, just flowing
along. Even chunky peanut butter is acceptable. So long as you don’t try to put plain peanuts
directly onto your bread, you’ll be OK.
2
+ Use staircase intonation.
Let those sound groups floating on the wavy river in the figure flow downhill and you’ll get the
staircase. Staircase intonation not only gives you that American sound, it also makes you sound
much more confident. Not every American uses the downward staircase. A certain segment of
the population uses rising staircases—generally, teenagers on their way to a shopping mall: “Hi,
my name is Tiffany. I live in La Canada. I’m on the pep squad.”
What Exactly Is Staircase Intonation?
In saying your words, imagine that they come out as if they were bounding lightly down a flight
of stairs. Every so often, one jumps up to another level, and then starts down again. Americans
tend to stretch out their sounds longer than you may think is natural. So to lengthen your vowel
sounds, put them on two stairsteps instead of just one.
We’re here. I
The sound of an American speaking a foreign language is very distinctive, because we double
sounds that should be single. For example, in Japanese or Spanish, the word no is, to our ear,
clipped or abbreviated.
Bä foun.
/////////// bi /////////
////////// ///////// zän /////////
////////// //////// ///////// the /////////
///////// ///////// ///////// ///////// /////////
We
///////// ‘re
///////// ///////// he
///////// ///////// ///////// re.
####### ///////// ///////// ///////// /////////
No
/////////
####### Standard American
When you have a word ending in an unvoiced consonant—one that you “whisper” (t, k, s, x, f,
sh)—you will notice that the preceding vowel is said quite quickly, and on a single stairstep.
When a word ends in a vowel or a voiced consonant—one that you “say” (b, d, g, z, v, zh, j), the
preceding vowel is said more slowly, and on a double stairstep.
There are two main consequences of not doubling the second category of words: Either your
listener will hear the wrong word, or even worse, you will always sound upset.
3
Consider that the words curt, short, terse, abrupt, and clipped all literally mean short. When applied
to a person or to language, they take on the meaning of upset or rude. For example, in the
expressions “His curt reply …,” “Her terse response…” or “He was very short with me” all indicate a
less than sunny situation.
Three Ways to Make Intonation
About this time, you’re coming to the point where you may be wondering, what exactly are the
mechanics of intonation? What changes when you go to the top of the staircase or when you put
stress on a word? There are three ways to stress a word.
+ The first way is to just get louder or raise the volume. This is not a very sophisticated way of doing
it, but it will definitely command attention.
+ The second way is to streeeeetch the word out or lengthen the word that you want to draw
attention to (which sounds very insinuating).
+ The third way, which is the most refined, is to change pitch. Although pausing just before
changing the pitch is effective, you don’t want to do it every time, because then it becomes an
obvious technique. However, it will make your audience stop and listen because they think you’re
going to say something interesting.
Exercise 1-1: Rubber Band Practice with Nonsense Syllables CD 1 Track 5
Take a rubber band and hold it with your two thumbs. Every time you want to stress a word by
changing pitch, pull on the rubber band. Stretch it out gently, don’ t jerk it sharply. Make a looping °
° figure with it and do the same with your voice. Use the rubber band and stretch it out every time
you change pitch. Read first across, then down.
Read each column down, keeping the same intonation pattern.
####### Clipped
No
///////// ou
####### ///////// /////////
seat
####### ////////////
####### Unvoiced
see
///////// eed
####### ///////// /////////
####### Voiced
