Pronunciation Review - American Accent Training by Ann Cook(ZT)
By Kenneth Beare, About.com Guide
American Accent Training by Ann Cook and published by Barron's provides a self study course that is sure to improve any advanced level student's pronunciation. This course includes a course book and five audio CDs. The book includes all the exercises, quiz material and reference material that are found on the audio CDs. In this way, learners follow their course by reading, listening and repeating materials that are oral in nature, but also provided in print.
The course takes what is termed a 'pure-sound' approach to learning standard American pronunciation. To put it simply, this course focuses on learning the 'music' of English as it spoken in the USA. The stress-timed nature of English is put emphasized with correct intonation, stress and liaison used to develop natural sounding speech patterns. These speech patterns are then combined with specific vowel and consonant patterns in connected speech in exercises which lead to improved, natural American sounding, pronunciation.
Here is a rough overview of how American Accent Training is developed:
- Introduction to American Intonation
This section helps the learner become aware of the music of English as it is spoken in America. Students learn about intonation and liaison.
- Refining your pronunciation - specific pronunciation problems including various vowel and consonant sounds.
- Nationality Guides - these guides help specific nationalities with particular problems arising from their linguistic background. The nationality guides include:
- Chinese
- Japanese
- Spanish
- Indian
- Russian
- French
- German
- Korean
- Periodic diagnostic analysis and continuing review and expansion throughout the package
http://esl.about.com/od/englishlearningreviews/a/am_accent.htm
