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For your personal and professional life
For your personal and professional life
Open up opportunities for your life in English-speaking North America by training to identify and reproduce the sounds, rhythm, and melody of English as it is spoken here.
Sometimes a foreign accent or regional dialect can change how people perceive you in a way that you may not want them to. Or it can make it difficult for people to understand you. Training your mouth and throat to produce the sounds you want means having the power in your hands to produce a foreign accent or regional dialect when and where you want. Your accent should be your choice, and I want to give you that power.
From a language learner
From a language learner
I'm very familiar with trying to learn the system of sounds of a new language. I actually love to give myself the challenge of learning new languages all the time. I have studied and been tested in five languages as an adult and I've dabbled in others. I know how hard it can be, and I'm here to be encouraging and have a clear plan for how to help you achieve your goals. I have studied the science behind it all and will strive to make that knowledge accessible to you.
Made systematic and accessible
Made systematic and accessible
Believe it or not, learning a new accent isn't impossible. Singers and actors do it every day. I've been doing this since 2014, and I can help diagnose your areas of difficulty and develop a personalized plan to get you speaking like an American. It most likely will require patience, but with some determination, you will get there without having to plan it all out yourself.
Experience
Experience
I have taught General American pronunciation to speakers of:
Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese, French, German, Swedish, Russian, Belarusian, Polish, Farsi, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Telugu, Malayalam, Tamil, Estonian, Turkish, Kyrgyz, Hebrew, Modern Standard Arabic, Darija, Yoruba, Ewondo, Thai, Mandarin Chinese, Taiwanese Hokkien, Shanghainese, Cantonese, Japanese, Korean, and other dialects of English.
I have also taught a sort of neutral Latin American pronunciation to speakers of:
English, French, German, Polish, Turkish, Cantonese, and Mandarin Chinese.
For actors, I currently coach Broad Kiwi (rural New Zealand), African-American Vernacular English, Californian English, North Central American English, New York City English, Received Pronunciation (Standard British English), several foreign-language-influenced accents, and of course General American. If you are a beginner in another accent not listed here, I can probably help you get started.
FAQs
FAQs
Will I lose my accent forever?
No, you won't. "Accent Reduction" is the industry term for what I do, but it's not an accurate description of what actually happens. It's important to me (and should be important to anyone working in the field) that you keep your cultural identity. Learning to speak another accent is like learning to dance a new kind of dance. When a classically trained dancer learns hip hop we don't call it "Ballet Reduction". Similarly, your accent or dialect is yours. Learning to speak a North American variety of English is just adding another dialect to your toolbelt. This is why I prefer to call it "Accent Acquisition". Once you've learned the skills I teach you, you should have the choice to speak with the phonological system of your native language if you like.
Will I lose my accent forever?
No, you won't. "Accent Reduction" is the industry term for what I do, but it's not an accurate description of what actually happens. It's important to me (and should be important to anyone working in the field) that you keep your cultural identity. Learning to speak another accent is like learning to dance a new kind of dance. When a classically trained dancer learns hip hop we don't call it "Ballet Reduction". Similarly, your accent or dialect is yours. Learning to speak a North American variety of English is just adding another dialect to your toolbelt. This is why I prefer to call it "Accent Acquisition". Once you've learned the skills I teach you, you should have the choice to speak with the phonological system of your native language if you like.
How do you know what I need to learn?
How do you know what I need to learn?
I will use one or more diagnostic tools to measure where your idiolect (how you speak as an individual) differs from General American English (a neutral variety that is similar to most dialects of North American English). After using the diagnostic tools, I will create a curriculum tailored specifically to you.
What does the program look like?
What does the program look like?
We work on several exercises that I call stages. The first stages are the isolation stages. This is where you learn to hear the difference between sounds that may be difficult to distinguish, how to produce these new sounds in short words, and then how to pronounce them in context of short sentences. The intermediate stages are the reading stages. This is where you learn to pronounce the sounds in the context of a paragraph and how to be aware of and reproduce the rhythm and melody of the accent. The advanced stages are the speaking stages. This is where you learn to not be dependent on reading to pronounce words accurate to the accent. We practice the advanced stages through speeches, recitation, and conversation. And that's about it! It's a simple process but one that requires patience and feeling a little bit silly at times.
Will I have homework?
Will I have homework?
Depends on you. Most students greatly benefit from serious focus on additional practice. How quickly do you want to graduate from the program? If you want to move along more quickly it will require outside practice.
How often will I need lessons?
How often will I need lessons?
I recommend taking lessons more than once a week until we have discussed all the sounds that need work, then move to weekly until pronunciation is good in cold readings, then to twice a month until pronunciation and prosody are good in conversation. After you have graduated, it is helpful to take a free follow-up diagnostic some months later to see if you need a refresher course. Every student is unique and the frequency and number of lessons needed varies greatly.
Check out my hours on the contact page, but feel free to ask about tutoring outside of my normal workday if you really need it.
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Not what you're looking for?
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