Buy Products for Self-Study
Would you like to improve your speech, but private one-on-one sessions aren’t the best fit for you? Listening to and repeating out loud the audio lessons can significantly improve your speech. Supplemental textbooks for the audio lessons are also available. And if you prefer to learn by watching, video courses are available as well.
Remember that in doing any speech work, you want to be sure to listen and repeat the sounds and words you hear out loud. Consistency is key to progress. Try to keep a regular routine in your approach to the learning material. Many learners find it useful to listen to the material first thing in the morning, or later in the evening, at the end of their workday.
AUDIOBOOKS
Most of the audio courses are made up primarily of listen-and-repeat drills, and some lecture material. Be sure to repeat the sounds and words you hear out loud for success.
TEXTBOOKS
Most of textbooks are designed to accompany the audio books, although some of them also provide valuable information and drills that could be used independently.
VIDEO COURSES
Many people like the audio-visual component of the video courses. Again, for the drilling section, it’s important to listen and repeat the sounds and words you hear out loud.
Audiobooks
Audio, text, and video products are available for your self-study. Below you will find information and links to AUDIO products.
Accent Reduction The Eric Thal Way: Course One — Sound and Word Drills
“Accent Reduction The Eric Thal Way: Course One — Sound and Word Drills” is the first audiobook created by Eric Thal. This self-teaching audio system focuses on establishing a solid foundation of accurate pronunciation of all of the vowels and consonants of English. The five-hour course is made up of 51 short audio lessons, most of which are between 6 and 8 minutes long. While a few lessons give important introductory or instructional information in the form of lectures, most of the lessons are made up almost entirely of drills. This is an interactive course. Learners must listen and repeat the sounds and words out loud as they hear them. Learners from all over the world have benefited from this program.
7 Book Series: Understanding FAST Spelling in Spoken English
“Understanding FAST Spelling in Spoken English” is a complete program of 7 related textbooks and corresponding audiobooks that teach and train in the areas of accent reduction and spoken English. In order to teach advanced concepts of accent reduction for American English including word connection, reduction, and intonation, several different approaches are taken in the 7 different books. (Use all 7 or just choose the ones that work best for your particular learning style.) We are using one very specific scenario — how quickly speakers will spell a word when speaking — for example, spelling their name or street name — and from it exploring many concepts that occur constantly in everyday spoken English. If you have a job such as customer support or any other profession that involves interacting with people who may spell things such as their name, this course may be a very specific help for you. But the concepts are much larger than just understanding fast spelling. Listening to the lectures as well as listening and repeating the drills out loud will significantly improve your comprehension of others’ speaking and your own abilities in speaking English.
Textbooks
Audio, text, and video products are available for your self-study. Below you will find information and links to TEXTBOOKS.
Accent Reduction The Eric Thal Way: Course One — Sound and Word Drills
This is the textbook version that accompanies the audiobook “Accent Reduction The Eric Thal Way: Course One — Sound and Word Drills” – the first audiobook created by Eric Thal. This self-teaching system focuses on establishing a solid foundation of accurate pronunciation of all of the vowels and consonants of English. The five-hour course (not included with this textbook) is made up of 51 short audio lessons, most of which are between 6 and 8 minutes long. While a few lessons give important introductory or instructional information in the form of lectures, most of the lessons are made up almost entirely of drills. This is an interactive course. Learners must listen and repeat the sounds and words out loud as they hear them. Learners from all over the world have benefited from this program.
7 Book Series: Understanding FAST Spelling in Spoken English
“Understanding FAST Spelling in Spoken English” is a complete program of 7 related textbooks and corresponding audiobooks that teach and train in the areas of accent reduction and spoken English. In order to teach advanced concepts of accent reduction for American English including word connection, reduction, and intonation, several different approaches are taken in the 7 different books. (Use all 7 or just choose the ones that work best for your particular learning style.) We are using one very specific scenario — how quickly speakers will spell a word when speaking — for example, spelling their name or street name — and from it exploring many concepts that occur constantly in everyday spoken English. If you have a job such as customer support or any other profession that involves interacting with people who may spell things such as their name, this course may be a very specific help for you. But the concepts are much larger than just understanding fast spelling. Listening to the lectures as well as listening and repeating the drills out loud will significantly improve your comprehension of others’ speaking and your own abilities in speaking English.
Video Courses
Audio, text, and video products are available for your self-study. Below you will find information and links to VIDEO COURSES.
American English Pronunciation: Sound & Word Drills: VOWELS
This is the course to take if you want a solid foundation of pronunciation in American English.
This course is based on the first half of “Accent Reduction The Eric Thal Way: Course One — Sound and Word Drills,” and covers all of the vowels. It provides the same audio drills as the audio course, with the sounds and words written out on the screen.
The drilling material is supplemented with an in-depth examination of spelling rules and exceptions that indicate when these specific sounds should be used. Spelling in English can be challenging for many learners. The spelling videos, worksheets, and short quizzes that follow the drilling sections in the course are designed to solidify your understanding of the relationship between these English sounds and the written word.
The drills explore first the target sounds by themselves, and then in combination with consonant sounds before and then after them. This isolated approach builds an understanding of the sounds before they are introduced into words. Once the sounds are explored, words are introduced and drilled, as well as a few short sentences for each target sound.
No understanding of the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) letters is required to take the course. All lessons are presented with the sounds written out with letters of the alphabet. However, the IPA is introduced and explored during the course, so that you will know all of the vowel IPA symbols by the time you finish the course. Understanding the IPA is valuable for advanced speech work.
Intonation in American English: Syllables and Words
This course takes a magnifying glass to intonation in English, zooming in on the pitch and the individual syllables of words.
Pitch, syllable length, and ratio between stressed and unstressed syllables are all thoroughly examined and explained, followed by drills to be spoken out loud by students — from single-syllable words to five-syllable words.
Words are drilled one at a time; no phrases or sentences are drilled in this course. Our focus is on making sure that our word intonation is precise in order to allow our speech to flow effortlessly.
This course was created by me as the result of two decades of teaching students one on one. This is my original approach; I don’t know of any other courses like it.
If you feel comfortable with your pronunciation in English (as a second language) but feel there is something missing, or that your speech is over-pronounced, or that you become fatigued or out of breath when speaking, this could be just the course you need.
All levels are welcomed to take this course. The topic is very specific and detailed and may most benefit learners who have a very high level of English, but have speech that is not flowing exactly the way they would like it to.
Understanding Spelling in English: A mini-course of drills
Have you ever noticed how quickly people spell in English? This mini-course takes the mystery out of how people spell and why it can be so difficult to understand them. By using the interactive drills (you must listen and repeat out loud!), you will not only be able to understand the words that people are spelling, you’ll be able to say spelled words yourself in a way that flows naturally and is easy to understand. The drills are useful not just for this specific goal, but for general English comprehension, clear speech, and accent reduction.
This mini-course targets a very specific topic that he has discussed with some of his private clients — how difficult it is to understand when people spell a word quickly. This detail is important, because it is not uncommon for someone to spell a word — either if they are not being understood, or to provide exact information, such as their first or last name or a street name.
The mini course is made up of short interactive drills. Listen and repeat out loud and you should notice a shift in your understanding and abilities immediately. A quick, fun, and informative course! The first five quick videos explain some concepts, including the reason spoken spelled words sound the way they do, and instructions on how to understand and get the most out of the drills. The rest of the course is made up of short drills — designed with precision to quickly get you understanding and speaking these letter combinations and sounds.