English Speech Services - Accent Reduction

Accent Reduction

Do you want to reduce the difference between your current speech and an accent that you'd rather have, such as standard British or American? Modifying your accent towards a contemporary native-speaker standard is widely known as “accent reduction”.

A 'perfect' native accent is an unrealistic goal for most non-native adult learners, but noticeable modification is possible. Your long-standing speech habits probably feel quite comfortable, so it may feel a little unusual as we begin to modify them. Accent reduction, like playing a musical instrument, involves practice and a high degree of motivation, especially as you integrate your new speech habits into daily life.

Dialect Coaching for Actors

I can help you to produce any target dialect. I understand speech not just technically but also from the perspective of extensive professional experience in TV and film.

I've lived in the USA, England and Scotland, and have knowledge of a wide range of accents, both contemporary and period. If the target dialect is relatively uncommon, it may be advisable that I do additional research.

We begin with key features which differ from your own speech, training both your mouth and your ear. If you are preparing a specific text, we can build to key phrases and sentences, or a complete marked-up script; if you prefer to develop the target accent before learning lines, I can devise tailored substitute material.

Perfect accents require practice, but it’s possible to achieve noticeable results quite quickly. For Discovery Channel's Celebrity Doubles, I had just one hour to help each of the lookalikes pass for the originals in encounters with the public. Other clips here.

• coaching available wherever you are in the world by Skype, phone, etc.
• discounts available for pre-paid packages of sessions
• supplementary text materials emailed at no extra cost
• work with or without video as you choose
• audio recordings of sessions can be made available as mp3s
• payment accepted via PayPal
• current rates available on request