[.ca] American Accent Training (ISBN 0764173693)

Helpful for people who can't pronounce most sounds correctly:
Most accent training programs would tell you that you may speak like an American after several months' practice (of course, using their books and CDs). However, those programs actually deliver less than they promise. They would primarily focus on how to differentiate several similar sounds. You would want to say "I think you are right" instead of "I sink you are light." Similarly, you may say: "I caught a cat and cut its tail" (sounds cruel by the way) instead of "I cut a cut and cut its tail." So the programs are good for those who are influenced by their own native language and those who can not tell the difference between similiar sounds (at least to them). If you can not make yourself understood because of the confusion of the sounds, those books might work for you. Thus far, you will be understood by the Americans or others who speak English. Remember that language is more a vehicle of communication and less a symbol of education or status. However, some people would still want to sound like a native speaker. Whether you would be able to speak like a native speaker depends on several factors: (1) When you start learning English, (2) How much you are influenced by your native language, and (3)how hard you are trying to improved your accent and how talented you are. The right guidance from the very beginning (e.g., teachers from the U.S., the right training program) would defintely help. If you have experts to help you with your pronunciation and give you feedback, you might be able to pronounce every sound exactly the same. However, the accent reduction training programs put the responsibilities on yourself, i.e., you need to hear the sound right and pronouce it right. But you really do not know whether you are pronouncing every sound exactly the same or not. In a sense, those training programs are not different from tape recording of just 48 English consonants and vowels. I did my undergraduate studies in English back in my home country. At that time I was fervent in improving my accent. I went throgh some training programs and practiced hard. We even had several books teaching us how to pronounce every constant and vowel, with illustrations showing where to put the tounge and where the sounds come from. And then I came to the United States. After a couple of years' studying in the states, I was told by some foreign students that I spoke like a native speaker. The native speakers, however, see a big difference. The point I would like to put across is that it is easy to correct your pronunciation, however, it is harder to pronounce every sound exactly like an American does. The book will definitely help if you have problems with "correct" pronunciations. However, it is not every useful if you would like to improve your "less perfect" pronunciation to "exactly the same." You may want to get some Americans to help you with every sound if you still want to achieve the "perfect" pronunication. The exactly the same pronounciation would take years to learn. And even if you pronounce every sound exactly the same, the way you deliver your speech or the organs you use to pronounce a sound are still every much influenced by you own way of speaking. You wound still sound foreign to Americans. An additional note: American intonation is relatively easy to learn. The book has some bonus chapters about how to do it, which I believe is helpful to some extent. Personnaly, I would prefer people to learn it by listening to tapes more often (e.g., audio books) or talking to Americans if you the luxury.

The greatest accent training book ever!!!:
I am an ESL teacher and have had a great deal of success with this book. I have found that those students who make the techniques taught in this book into habits, and honestly put forth the effort to implement them into their everyday speech, are able to almost completely eliminate their accents over time. The techniques truly work. I had a whole library full of books at my disposal, but this is the one I have stuck with!!! It is not a one-time-read miracle book, but rather a handbook that, if reviewed often, can help a student get rid of their accent.

Great book but CDs are incomplete:
I think this is a good book for non-English native speaker. I'm practicing and hoping it can help me improve my spoken English. You can find a lot of good points in this book from other customers' review. One thing that bothers me is that CDs skip several explanatory paragraphs from the book. There are important techniques or examples in those missing parts too. I don't know if it is intentional or not. But it smoothly proceeds to the next section. I did ask the author by email given in the book but no any response. Yet, all exercises are still in CDs.

my style:
Before you start this training, you need to record and hear your own voice. Record your voice every week you use the training to see the transformation in your accent. The book told me to call someone but it was expensive.

american accent training:
It's a great book and CD, well prepared and very clear voice. Worth the money. I like her intonation and explaination. Also her voice is very clear. You should have this. The price is so reasonable. I highly recommend.