STREET TALK

Street Speak I: The Best of American Slang & Idioms (Classroom & Self-Teaching Series) "Slangman" David Burke and David Harrington. Caslon Books, Studio City, California, 1999, Paperback, 148 pp. $16.95.
and Street Speak II: American Slang & Idioms Used by Everyone
(Classroom & Self-Teaching Series) "Slangman" David Burke.
Slangman Publishing, Studio City, California, 1999, Paperback, 211 pp. $18.95.

The first book in this series is Street Speak I (SS I), which introduces the learner to close to 200 slang/idiom concepts. Wonderful animation, by Ty Semaka, is included on every page that adds to the ease of using this book and increases its affect on understanding and retention. Slang has been thought to be "one of those things that everybody can recognize and nobody can define." (Roberts, 1958, 342). However, with the help of the Slangman David Burke, slang is demystified. They provide a beginning dictionary, of not only universally accepted terms, with an approach to language acquisition that is interesting while being very informative.
Subject matters chosen for the ten lessons cross race and class lines and are vital for daily communications with native speakers. Assuming the L2 learner wants to truly become engrossed in the nuances of everyday spoken English.

While presenting slang/idioms to the learner it also includes the Standard English translation and the "Real Speak" translation. Consequently, the L2 learner is not only gaining a familiarity with the slang, but an understanding of the rules of English grammar AND how the words are actually pronounced through a type of Slangman phonics. Throughout this book grammatical rules are artfully disguised within the context of the multiple slang terminology. Thus grammar rules seem less daunting to the learner as he completes the lessons.

In the second book of this series, Street Speak II (SS II), Slangman provides a powerful continuation from the first book. SS II offers a more comprehensive look at the slang terminology native English speakers (Americans) take for granted in our daily communications with others. This book is basically set up as the first, yet it has an invaluable addition that makes it a must have resource; a section termed "Slangman’s Close Up Look At..." In this section the Slangman supplements the lesson with a dictionary of additional terms give the learner at minimum 20 extra terms to add to their repertoire. I cannot wait for SS III to come out!
The terms taught in this book border on the hilarious and are reinforced with the wonderful animation.

Reference: Roberts, P. Understanding English. New York: Harper & Row (1958).

Elizabeth J. Beardmore is a doctoral student in the Adult Continuing Education Department at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois.