Services for Organizations
One-on-one, In-person, Accent Reduction Coaching
You have already determined that you have employees who could use some help communicating more effectively. Now what do you do?
English Accent Tutor provides one-on-one accent improvement coaching tailored to meet your employees' needs for improving their speech. The first session will involve reviewing an individual employee's case history (i.e. his/her background learning and speaking English), as well as evaluating crucial components of the pronunciation of General American English (GAE). These will include:
After meeting with your employees, English Accent Tutor will review the evaluations and determine how to best help your employees individually modify their accents to improve their speech.
English Accent Tutor provides one-on-one accent improvement coaching tailored to meet your employees' needs for improving their speech. The first session will involve reviewing an individual employee's case history (i.e. his/her background learning and speaking English), as well as evaluating crucial components of the pronunciation of General American English (GAE). These will include:
- Consonant and vowel perception and production
- Stress and intonation patterns
After meeting with your employees, English Accent Tutor will review the evaluations and determine how to best help your employees individually modify their accents to improve their speech.
Accent Reduction Sessions
During the second session, English Accent Tutor will discuss goals with your employees - based on their needs. The employees will help decide which areas of speech are most important in improving their communication.
Practice may include:
Colleagues who work closely with employees may also be surveyed at the beginning, middle and end of the process in order to determine the impact of accent reduction services.
- Perception – hearing the difference between American English sounds, words, stress and intonation patterns and those of another's speech
- Articulation – moving lips, teeth, tongue and jaw to produce sounds
- Stress Pattern – emphasizing certain sounds and words in speech
- Intonation – a certain rising and falling pattern of speech
Colleagues who work closely with employees may also be surveyed at the beginning, middle and end of the process in order to determine the impact of accent reduction services.
Goals
Above all, our goal is to make your employees' time with English Accent Tutor practical. Each individual will be asked to keep a list of words that he or she struggles to pronounce or is frequently asked to repeat. If scheduled to give a presentation (live or over the phone), your employee can bring in the speech and particular terminology to practice. English Accent Tutor will work on making employees feel more confident during their presentation.
Accent improvement sessions may be scheduled once or twice a week at a time and location that is convenient for your employees. The location of each session is based on their preference, but many organizations reserve a conference room at their office for a day and schedule their employees during that time.
Fees vary by meeting time and location.
Our ultimate goal is for your employees to be able to speak with an improved General American English accent so that others can easily understand them.
Above all, our goal is to make your employees' time with English Accent Tutor practical. Each individual will be asked to keep a list of words that he or she struggles to pronounce or is frequently asked to repeat. If scheduled to give a presentation (live or over the phone), your employee can bring in the speech and particular terminology to practice. English Accent Tutor will work on making employees feel more confident during their presentation.
Accent improvement sessions may be scheduled once or twice a week at a time and location that is convenient for your employees. The location of each session is based on their preference, but many organizations reserve a conference room at their office for a day and schedule their employees during that time.
Fees vary by meeting time and location.
Our ultimate goal is for your employees to be able to speak with an improved General American English accent so that others can easily understand them.
Informational Workshops
While many employees may be aware that their colleagues have an accent, they're sometimes unsure what to do about it. Should they speak to their supervisor? Should they talk to HR? They don't want to seem unkind, but realize that their colleague's accent may cause communication issues from time to time. What should be done?
English Accent Tutor believes that it is important for an organization to address both sides of the communication issue:
1) Listener aspect: Have someone present a workshop about unconscious bias and how it affects the workplace. Recruiting Manager, Lorne Epstein hosts workshops to educate people about how their biases can affect everything from hiring qualified talent to daily decision-making in meetings.
2) Speaker aspect:
English Accent Tutor believes that it is important for an organization to address both sides of the communication issue:
1) Listener aspect: Have someone present a workshop about unconscious bias and how it affects the workplace. Recruiting Manager, Lorne Epstein hosts workshops to educate people about how their biases can affect everything from hiring qualified talent to daily decision-making in meetings.
2) Speaker aspect:
- Create a program that supports your non-native English speakers (financially, or by allowing them time to work with someone during the work day)
- Inform your employees that you support their endeavor to communicate more effectively
Interactive Accent Reduction Workshop
English Accent Tutor addresses the speaker aspect through a 3-hour, interactive workshop. This workshop can be hosted as a brown bag lunch or a more formal meeting. During this workshop, attendees will learn:
Pre-workshop questionnaire: English Accent Tutor will require the completion of a pre-workshop questionnaire for all participants so that the workshop may be tailored to individuals’ native languages as much as possible.
Attendees will receive a “before and after” questionnaire to assess knowledge gained from the workshop.
The ideal workshop size is 10-24 people, but accommodations may be made for fewer or more.
- Research about accents
- Why English pronunciation is difficult
- The sounds of English
- Common English sounds that many non-native speakers target when learning American English
- Evaluation and coaching process for accent modification services
- Speech perception
- Pronunciation
- Stress
- Intonation
- Types of learning settings for accent modification (independently, with a teacher online, in-person)
- What to ask potential instructors before starting accent modification
- Practice activities for reducing an accent
- Helpful resources
Pre-workshop questionnaire: English Accent Tutor will require the completion of a pre-workshop questionnaire for all participants so that the workshop may be tailored to individuals’ native languages as much as possible.
Attendees will receive a “before and after” questionnaire to assess knowledge gained from the workshop.
The ideal workshop size is 10-24 people, but accommodations may be made for fewer or more.