I don't fully understand what a contraction is. So if I put an 's, 'll, 'd, 've, etc after any word does it make it a contraction? Only in spoken English. But in written English, some contractions are not usually written that

The only way to hear a difference is listening to contrasting pairs, in my opinion. Minimal pairs, you know. Beat - bit fool - full etc. If you have such major problems, then maybe you could start with an accent reduction course. For American

Of course both those books have CD's. Without CD's those books would be worthless... Both books are especially about intonation, linking words, reduced sounds and something about pronunciation you can hardly find in books on American

Yes, the accent (and even vocabulary) of American English differs from region to region of the country. Some people respectfully and humbly suggest that foreign students try to speak like native speakers who live on the West Coast (Washington,

Hi Freekarol, I'm not familiar with either of those books, but I'd say the most helpful part of any "accent training" book will be the CDs that come with the book. There are many different ways of learning about the sound of

Danny-K, Thanks a lot Number 3 is incorrect because "are an example" mixes plural and singular. I remember seeing many native American English speaker using something like this. Even I found it a bit weird initially

Hi Yoong Liat, I don't know about what you were taught, but I myself am not sure that sentence is correct in British English. Let's see: The football team have done well this season. All their players have trained very hard

1. Oh my god, biscuit in gravy What does it mean? 02:54 Listen carefully starting at about 02:36. He is explaining that Brits visiting America would be horrified at the thought of seeing an item called "biscuits in gravy" on a menu

Language teachers, could you tell us about some ways in which you are providing "learners with the tools to cope with 'real-life' communication ..."? Here in my country, they don't. And I heard it's so in most other

Unfortunately, I don't think I have the material you want, but it depends on what kind of English you are interested in. If you are interested in British English rather than in American English, you can find a lot of free stuff on the BBC