Accent Reduction Training
Speak clearly and people will listen...
Today clear, effective English is essential in the UK and in International
Business. Does yours let you down? We offer one-to-one tuition and courses
to help you ensure that it doesn't.
STOP PRESS! NEW EVENING
COURSE AVAILABLE
STARTING TUESDAY 17TH FEBRUARY IN MAYFAIR
More details here...
Why do you have an accent?
We learn to speak through mimicry. We copy the precise sounds of a language
from the people around us. We do this by copying the exact muscle movements
needed to make those sounds. Because the brain is efficient, it begins
to focus exclusively on what it knows. It no longer identifies speech
sounds outside the original set. And the speech muscles become locked
into the original patterns of movement. So you keep your accent in new
languages or cannot change it at will.
 So
how can I change my accent?
By retraining the brain to hear sounds and differences outside of its
original patterns. Also by loosening and re-educating the movements
of your speech muscles.
You will not lose your normal accent in your native language. And you
will maintain the ability to speak in your regional accent whenever
you wish. However, you will now have a new choice. You will hear the
sounds of RP accurately, outside of the filter of your native accent.
And you will be able to make these sounds accurately.
Who can help me do this?
You need a voice and accent coach, preferably one trained at CSSD (Central
School of Speech and Drama, London), the leading training institution
for this kind of teacher. An English language teacher will help you
with grammar and vocabulary, but they have very limited ability to change
your accent at this level. Whilst a speech therapist is appropriate
when there is a serious inability to form speech in general. To speak
in a new accent, you need an accent coach trained in both phonetics
and voice production.
All our coaches are CSSD trained as well as widely experienced in accent
reduction. They are also trained in the use of Morwenna Rowe's Speak
Easily Method - a comprehensive and efficient accent reduction training
course distilled from over a decade's experience.
Read more about our coaches
CALL us to find out more. Tel: 0207 7179649
Or email us
How we work with you
We work on your vowel sounds
Vowels are the open sounds we make in the middle of syllables. In English
we have 20 of them. Most accents have less. We also have long, short
and moving vowels (called diphthongs). Get these wrong and you simply
say an alternative word. For example in cup, cap, carp and cape, the
only difference is the vowel.
We work on stress and intonation
Stress is when a syllable is louder, longer and higher. If you get the
stress wrong in a word, we can't understand it. But more than that,
if you don't stress as we do in English throughout the whole sentence,
that also obscures the meaning. You also need to learn to emphasise
the key words as we do to really communicate and begin to have a native
rhythm and expression. These three interlocking layers of emphasis are
the difference between being understood or leaving your listener totally
confused.
We work with your consonants
These are the sounds that form a barrier in your mouth. Every accent
and language has a slightly different set of consonants. For example
'th' doesn't exist in most languages and yet is one of the commonest
sounds in English. We train you to pronounce English consonants easily
and precisely.
We work with your 'posture'
Every accent has a kind of facial expression which is logical to produce
all the speech sounds in that accent effortlessly. This posture also
gives the 'resonance' or particular sound quality of the accent. Using
physical exercises and our unique 3D vowel system, we can train you
to speak English RP as if you had learned it as a child. It will become
effortless and sound as close to native as possible.
The result of all this precise work in the hands of our skilled coaches?
Accurate listening. Muscles that adapt to English sounds. And the skills
to continue to improve and refine your accent for years to come.
CALL us to find out more. Tel: 0207 7179649
Or email us
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