Accent Reduction
 

Everyone has an accent. Even native born speakers often have an accent reflecting the region where they were born or where they have lived. Accents can be appealing, distinctive, and part of your identity. However, when your accent interferes with getting your message across, it can be a liability.

An accent can be an occupational hindrance, ultimately costing you thousands of dollars of lost income. It can affect interpersonal and professional relationships. In extreme instances it can be a safety issue. Accent reduction training helps you learn the sounds and speech patterns of American English to help you become a more effective communicator.

 

Accent Reduction FAQs

1.       How long does it take?

There is no set answer to this question. It depends on several things:

  • What is the client’s accent modification goal? The larger the goal, the longer it may take to reach it.

  • The amount of practice that the client does on his/her own time. Like any skill, practice improves performance and rate of improvement. Home practice is a must.

  • Frequency of sessions and consistency of attendance. Those who schedule sessions at least once-a-week and attend routinely tend to make faster progress.

2.       What are the steps involved?

  • First is the Evaluation. This usually consists of in-depth articulation testing, hearing screening, and video recording of a speech sample.

  • Next, the speech-language pathologist analyzes the evaluation data.

  • Then the speech-language pathologist goes over the evaluation information with the client and discusses the client’s program goal(s).

  • Sessions are then scheduled to begin the individualized program.

3.       What are some “reasonable goals”?

Totally getting rid of a foreign accent is a lofty, frequently unattainable goal. More reasonable and attainable goals include improving the intelligibility of frequently used work-related terminology or improving the production of certain sounds that are frequently misarticulated in one’s daily speech. Other goals could focus on improving speech rate, rhythm and intonation.

4.       How much will this cost?

A one-hour individual session is $100. SpeechCare takes VISA, MasterCard and Discover. If your accent is affecting your work performance you might want to check with your employer to see if they would help with the cost of your sessions.

5.       How do I increase the odds of successful accent reduction?

Practice, practice, practice and regular attendance at scheduled sessions.

6.       How do I get started?

Call SpeechCare at (717) 569-8972 and ask to talk to Roberta Kornfield, M.S., CCC/SLP.

 

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