The Sounds of Spoken English, A Manual of Ear Training for English Students (Illustrated)

It was in teaching the pronunciation of foreign languages that I first realised how important it is to acquire a knowledge of the sounds of the mother tongue. Before the learner can acquire the fresh habits of speech peculiar to the foreign language, his teacher must know clearly what distinguishes the new sounds from those familiar in the mother tongue, for only then can the foreign pronunciation be imparted in a methodical way. It has been shown convincingly that it is vain to trust altogether to imitation, however correct and clear may be the pronunciation of the teacher.

My object has not been to write on voice production, though occasional reference to the subject has been made. It has not been my aim to say how the language ought to be spoken, to improve upon the ordinary speech of our day, but to represent it to the best of my ability, and to enable others to distinguish speech sounds when they hear them. If it be desirable to improve upon our speech, its present condition and tendencies must first be determined.