English Speech Services - Accent Reduction

Accent Reduction

”…we have never seen such an amazing response. Nearly
100% (and they all returned the questionnaires!) say that
the training completely exceeded their expectations"
– British Council, Tallinn

Do you want to reduce the difference between your current accent and a target accent that you'd rather have, such as standard British or American? If so, you're looking for what's widely called “accent reduction”. This term suggests that you'll end up with little or no accent at all, but in reality, everyone has an accent. So “accent reduction” really means accent modification.

I can also help you improve your competence in English at any level. I hold the internationally recognised Trinity College TESOL Certificate.

I can coach you wherever you are in the world via Skype, Yahoo Messenger, etc.

Online Accent Reduction: what's involved
ASSESSMENT SESSION We begin with a no-commitment online session to establish your accent reduction goals; in addition, I will analyse your current accent to establish the features that we’ll be modifying. FOCUS ON SOUNDS Our accent work starts by focusing on those aspects of your current accent which are furthest away from your desired target accent – not just the vowels and consonants, but the rhythm, melody and the overall "resonance" of your speech. It’s important to train not only your mouth (e.g. with mirror work) but also your ears, so that you create an aural image of the sounds you'll use in communication. FOCUS ON COMMUNICATION We then apply our work with target sounds to words and to communicative sentences. BACKUP It’s important to reinforce our work together with your own practice. To assist you in this I can provide the following:
	• recordings of our sessions • purpose-made practice materials
Of course you need to extend your new pronunciations into your daily life. The way you’re currently speaking English probably feels quite comfortable to you; the modifications we make to your pronunciation will probably feel a little unusual at first. Accent reduction involves practice, so motivation is important.

Payment
Discounts are available for pre-paid packages of sessions. I accept payment via PayPal (for which you DO NOT need a PayPal account). Please contact me for a quote, stating your first language.