Southern British accent. I don't know why so many bookstores carry Grammar in Use and Vocabulary in Use but not Pronunciation in Use, since it's just as good or better. And I would consider pronunciation more important than grammar or vocabulary.
There's a lot of fun included with the instruction. Try this: "Where are the pears?" "Bears?!!! Did you say bears?" "No, pears. You know, fruit!" "Oh, I see. Pears with a P! They're in the pack." "What? In the back of the truck?" "No, in the pack. You know, with a P" "Oh, I see. Pack with a P! Would you like one?" "No, I'll have a peach, please." "A beach?" Or this: "There was a young waiter named Dwight, Who didn't like being polite. If you asked him for food, He was terrible rude, and invited you out for a fight."From the author about minimum pairs: "The units in Section A are not presented as minimal pairs. Vowels are paired according to their spelling, not their potential for being confused with one another. Consonants are paired mainly where they share the same place of articulation. The units were not organized as minimal pairs for two reasons: - Any sound can form a minimal pair with a number of other sounds, not just one. Organising units according to minimal pairs would therefore lead to a huge number of units and a lot of duplication. - Many minimal pairs will be redundant for any given learner, so learners need to be selective. Potentially confusing minimal pairs are gathered together in Section D4, Sound Pairs. Learners are encouraged to select from these according to their own needs." The appendix includes a list of useful and dispensable units for 26 languages. For extensive minimum pair work, see Pronunciation Contrasts in English, by Don and Alleen Nilsen, Waveland Press.
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