Whaddaya Say? is the result of 25 years of research on reduced forms. Since 1981, it has helped thousands of students around the world understand English s it is really spoken. This easy-to-use listening book introduces students to the most common reduced forms of spoken English for going to, want to, have to, and more - fully contextualized in conversations that are both practical and entertaining. Each of the text's 30 lessons include a auto segment that introduces new reduced forms, followed by comprehension questions and practice exercises.

This combination book and audio instructional program is designed to diminish the accents of men and women who speak English as their second language. It will help them speak standard American English with clarity, confidence, and accuracy. Specific exercises concentrate on vowel sounds, problematic consonants such as V, W, B, TH, and the American R, employ correct syllable stress, link words for smoother speech flow, use common word contractions such as wonat instead of will not, and more. Additional topics that often confuse ESL students are also discussed and explained. They include distinguishing between casual and formal speech, homophones (for instance, theyare and there), recognizing words with silent letters (comb, receipt, and others), and avoiding embarrassing pronunciation mistakes, such as mixing up party and potty. Students are familiarized with many irregular English spelling rules and exceptions, and are shown how such irregularities can contribute to pronunciation errors. A native language guide references problematic accent issues of 13 different language backgrounds. Correct lip and tongue positions for all sounds are discussed in detail. Enclosed with the book are four compact discs that use male and female voices to coach correct American-style pronunciation.