The Slangman Guide to Street Speak 1: The Complete Course in American Slang and Idioms » (Abridged, 2 CDs)

This self-teaching guide to the colorful world of American slang and idiom is an essential text for nonnative speakers, teachers of English as a second language, or anyone interested in the nuances of colloquial speech. Dialogues, word games, crossword puzzles, word matches, true & false exercises, and other innovative techniques are used to familiarize readers with common terms and illustrate how they are used in a variety of contexts, such as at a restaurant, at the movies, at school, etc. Sections on "real speak" show students the shortcuts in pronunciation-"gonna," "should'a"-that make even familiar phrases difficult to follow. Illustrations depicting the literal interpretation of each term ("to run a fever" shows a marathon runner on the back of a thermometer with the mercury ready to explode) can be used as teaching tools or mnemonic devices.