Practical American English Pronunciation and Intonation

Author: Foreign Language Press
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-08-01
Features: To meet the urgent demand of English enthusiasts for learning American pronunciation, we have specifically compiled the Practical American English Pronunciation textbook. Its purpose is to help you understand General American pronunciation and learn or further improve your ability to use American pronunciation through the various exercises provided in the book. We have specially invited native American pronunciation experts, Professor Leslie Barratt and Will Barratt from Indiana University, to record accompanying tapes for you to imitate repeatedly and study carefully. Check the accompanying tape. This book mainly explains the pronunciation of 42 phonemes in American English, which is a crucial foundation for learning American pronunciation. In terms of phonemes, American English and British English are largely similar, with most of the phonemes used being the same. This book has a total of 23 lessons, each of which can be divided into two parts. The first part consists of 1. Words, 2. Q&A, and 3. Dialogues. It can be used by beginners with stronger imitation skills to try learning American pronunciation directly by looking at the textbook and listening to the recording (meaning completely without looking at the subsequent phonetic explanations). The second part focuses on "Phonetic Explanations and Exercises," which includes simple explanations of the pronunciation of each phoneme and phonetic exercises for practicing these phonemes (such as discrimination exercises for easily confused phonemes, phrases and short sentences containing key phonemes, short dialogues, poems, etc.). The materials in the second part are available for readers who have studied English and are interested in American pronunciation. To meet the needs of this group of readers, we have focused on explaining the pronunciation of certain American phonemes that differ significantly from English. Readers can combine their own questions to select relevant phonetic explanations and exercises.