Read My Lips: A Need For Accent Modification
Recently, I worked with a client who is in the medical profession and had a strong foreign accent. She related an interesting story to me about how her accent had interfered with communicating with a deaf patient. One might wonder if the patient were unable to hear her, what difference would her accent make?
This patient could read lips; however, he had much difficulty making out what she was saying. As it turned out, the patient could easily read the lips of her assistant, who spoke American Standard English and ended up serving as a “translator”. In this particular case, my client was substituting ‘v’ for ‘w’ and ‘w’ for ‘v’, which are two very visible sounds.
For example, if she said, “You’re doing very well, and your next visit will be on Wednesday”, it would appear as if she said, “You’re doing wery vell, and your next wisit vill be on Vednesday.”
This was a wake-up call to her. She had been considering working on reducing her accent for a while, and it gave her the incentive to begin actively pursuing this goal.
If you have a similar story of being misunderstood in your workplace, you aren’t alone! Many professionals speaking English as a second language struggle with confidence and correctly pronouncing English words.
My Accent Modification Program might just be right for you. You will start and end with a speech and pronunciation test to see how you improved throughout the 13-week training. Clients who attend all sessions and practice diligently can expect to achieve clear, understandable speech and at least a 50% improvement in reducing their accent by the end of the training.
No two individuals are the same. The rate and degree of improvement depend on several factors, such as the extent of the foreign accent or regional dialect, additional needs such as voice projection training and grammatical correction, and commitment to the program. Your accent may never completely disappear, but the goal is to reduce it enough for you to be fully understood by your peers.
I promise you won’t regret improving the strength of your accent! Enroll in the program today.
About Derra Huxley, Speech and Language Pathologist
I am a California-licensed Speech-Language Pathologist in Los Angeles. I earned my Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in Communicative Disorders from California State University, Northridge. I work as a Preferred Trainer with LDS & Associates – Accent Modification Program, and I am a member of CORSPAN (Corporate Speech Pathology Network). I collaborate with people of all ages to improve their communication and pronunciation skills in schools, hospitals, and private practice settings. To learn more or to contact me, complete this form or reach me at 818-421-7444. I look forward to hearing from you!