Accent Modification

Improve your speaking skills with accent modification coaching. Boost your confidence and clear any communication confusion.

Also known as Accent Reduction or Accent Softening, this work focuses on eliminating any confusion in your speech so that listeners can understand you clearly.

Our individual accents are a fundamental part of our identity, and all accents should be valued equally. It’s important to remember that an accent is not a reflection of intelligence, importance, or value. While it’s natural to have personal preferences for certain accents, the problem arises when we start to judge people’s intelligence or personality based on the way they speak. An accent is not a reflection of character it is simply a way of speaking a particular language.

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That being said, to ensure we are easily understood when speaking English and not causing confusion for listeners, it is important to produce distinct speech sounds for each of the 44 English phonemes (sounds). If you hear the same word twice when reading the pairs below, you might be using a single sound for two different English phonemes. This could mean you are unintentionally saying a word you didn't intend to.

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Examples:

• 'Day' and 'They'

• 'Tin' and 'Thin'

• 'First' and 'Thirst'

• 'Sheep' and 'Ship'

• 'Luke' and 'Look'

• 'Sat' and 'Set'

• 'Mate' and 'Met'

• 'Mud' and 'Mad'

• 'Rage' and 'Wage'

• 'Gnaw' and 'Know'

• 'Lesson' and 'Listen'

• 'Back' and 'Bag'

• 'Great' and 'Grade'​

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There may also be prosodic aspects (stress and intonation) that are helpful to address. For example:

• Are we making statements sound like questions when we don’t intend to?

• Are we stressing every syllable in a multi-syllabic words, saying' PHO TOG RA PHY' instead of 'pho TOG ra phy'?

• Are we placing stress on the wrong syllable, such as saying ‘DEsert’ when we mean to describe a barren stretch of land, instead of ‘desERT’ when talking about abandoning something?

• Are we emphasizing a word in a phrase unintentionally, which changes the implied meaning? For instance, in the sentence "I never said she took my book," emphasis on different words changes the interpretation:

  • I never said she took my book. (Someone else might have said it.)

  • I never said she took my book. (I didn’t say it at any time.)

  • I never said she took my book. (I might have implied it, but didn’t actually say it.)

  • I never said she took my book. (Maybe someone else took it.)

  • I never said she took my book. (She might have borrowed it or found it.)

  • I never said she took my book. (She might have taken someone else’s book.)

  • I never said she took my book. (She might have taken something else of mine.)

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We will discuss the phonology (sound system) and prosodic tendencies of your native language(s) versus English and explore how they differ. There is likely to be significant overlap, and where speech sounds occur in both languages, there is usually no issue. However, for ‘new’ sounds, you might find that, when speaking quickly, you substitute a more familiar sound from your first language.

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Before our first session, I’ll gather information about your language background and ask you to record a short reading. This allows me to gain a detailed understanding of your speech tendencies and identify the highest priority areas for us to work on.

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We’ll focus on key sounds, and I'll help you hear and produce the difference between the vowels and consonants you habitually use and those of the accent we’re working towards. I’ll teach you how to produce any new sounds and provide exercises to help you incorporate them into your everyday speech.

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Minimizing confusion and ensuring clarity is our top priority. However, depending on your goals, we can also work to modify your accent completely towards a specific English accent of your choice, such as Standard Southern British English/Modern RP or General American. This deeper work often involves analyzing the vocal qualities of particular accents and languages and understanding how they differ.

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We typically work through Skype or Zoom. These platforms are convenient for screen sharing and sharing practice resources. We may use software that allows for recording and slowing down speech, as well as observing intonation and stress patterns. If working on Skype, we can easily record short sections of the class, which can be very useful for creating personalized practice materials.

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My rate is £75 per hour, with a discounted rate of £105 for an hour and a half. I find that the extra time is particularly valuable in the initial sessions, as there is often a lot of content to cover before we can start integrating the work into your everyday speech and practicing vowel contrasts.

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Accent modification requires practice and dedication, but with my guidance, combined with your determination and consistent practice, I can help you eliminate any clarity issues in your speech.