"This series has been designed to help students of English understand spoken language as it is encountered in everyday business and social situations in English speaking environments aroudn the world."--Back cover.

For those who are familiar with the first edition, it will be convenient to have some indication of where the main changes lie. Chapter one has been largely rewritten to give an outline of current approaches to a model of comprehension of spoken language. Chapter two has a new initial section but otherwise remains as it was. Chapter three incorporates a new section on "pause" and how this interacts with rhythm, and rather more on the function of stress. Chapter four has an extended initial section but otherwise remains largely as it was. Chapter five on intonation contains several sections which have been rewritten to varying extents. Chapter six of the first edition has disappeared: in 1977, very little work had been published on "fillers" and it seemed worthwhile incorporating a chapter that sat rather oddly with the phonetic/phonological interests of the rest of the book. Not that there is a great industry of descriptions of the forms and functions of these and similar phenomena there seems no reason to retain this early but admittedly primitive account. The chapter on "paralinguistic vocal features", now chapter six, has some rewriting in the early part but considerable rewriting in the last sections. The final chapter on "teaching listening comprehension" has grown greatly in length. It still incorporates some material from the original chapter but most of it is completely rewritten.

Do you know a bit of English, and want to improve without a teacher? Whether you're a student, a traveller, or you just want to learn basic English, this plain-speaking guide will help you pick up the essentials so you'll be understanding and speaking English in no time. Improve your grammar, speech, vocabulary and pronunciation at your own pace, and prepare yourself to get around in any English-speaking country comfortably - and without embarrassment! Learning English as a Foreign Language For Dummies includes: Part I: Getting Started Chapter 1: You Already Know a Little English Chapter 2: Basic English Grammar Chapter 3: Greetings and Introductions Part II: English in Action Chapter 4: Shopping and Numbers Chapter 5: Eating Out Chapter 6: Out on the Town Chapter 7: Hobbies and Free Time Chapter 8: Talking on the Phone Chapter 9: At the Office and Around the House Chapter 10: Written English - Newspapers and Signs Part III: English on the Go Chapter 11: Money Chapter 12: Checking into a Hotel Chapter 13: Asking Directions and Getting Around Chapter 14: Handling Emergencies Part IV: The Part of Tens Chapter 15: Ten Ways to Speak English Quickly Chapter 16: Ten Favourite English Expressions Chapter 17: Ten Holidays to Remember Chapter 18: Ten Phrases That Make You Sound Fluent in English Part V: Appendices Appendix A: Phrasal verbs explained Appendix B: Common Verbs [Agree, Can / be able, Come, Do, Go, Have, Make , Need, Put, Think] English Irregular Verbs Appendix C: About the Downloadable Content

First published in 1987. Most introductory textbooks in phonetics are designed to turn the people who use them into phoneticians. People who take phonetics courses, on the other hand, do not in general wish to become specialists, but rather need to know what the study of phonetics has to offer in some other field. This book is intended for those involved in any way with the study of the English language: for students of linguistics or literature, teachers of English, and those involved with the study of literacy, or the analysis of dis course or conversation.

Welcome to True Spoken English. This course book presents the text of the 22 video lessons from the True Spoken English DVDs and available as a internet based course at www.truespokenenglish.com. You can use the course book to refer to the lessons which watching them on your computer or from a DVD player. These simple lessons will teach you secrets to speaking English found in the True Spoken English course. They will teach you common pronunciation changes that English speakers make. These changes are informal and rarely taught to a person learning English. But these changes are made by almost all English speakers. By learning these changes, you'll understand English more easily, and your English will sound more like a native speaker. You'll find these changes easy to learn and they will speed up your speaking and fluency. You'll learn these changes by watching simple movies. As you watch the movies, you can listen to the lessons and practice speaking English. The lessons are easy, and you don't need to know a lot of English in order to take them. True Spoken English provides 22 lessons and over 97 video exercises that present common pronunciation changes. These are everyday changes that English speakers make in conversation. And you need to know them to speak English well. Learning the pronunciation changes will help you better understand informal English conversations, increase the fluency and speed of your speech, and help you sound more like a native speaker.

This book is designed to help students of English understand spoken language as it is encountered in everyday business and social situations in English speaking environments around the world. It provides information about the social and business conventions of spoken English such as, talking about plans and intentions, agreeing and disagreeing politely, checking meaning and giving feedback and using telephoning and interview strategies.

"This series has been designed to help students of English understand spoken language as it is encountered in everyday business and social situations in English speaking environments aroudn the world."--Back cover.