Speak Like a Native: The Benefits of Online Accent Reduction Training

Learning to reduce a strong accent or even learning how to speak like a native will change your life, guaranteed! Leaving aside the questions of legalities and racism for a moment, people make instant judgements about the way you present yourself and the way you sound. Studies show that you only have seven seconds to make a first impression. Your career and your business depend on you making the most of that brief time.

Here are five benefits of online accent reduction training:

• Better Job Opportunities

It should go without saying that better communication skills will give you more opportunities, whether that be in your career or your business. The BBC, that venerable British institution, used to insist that presenters used standard pronunciation or RP (Received Pronunciation).

That practice persisted well into the 1980s when more regional and international accents became acceptable. However, the perception still exists and many still associate standard accents with intelligence and social status. Take a look at this article from the BBC: does your accent make you sound smarter?

• Improved Communication

If only because you’re thinking about what you say and the way that you say it, working on your accent will automatically improve your communication skills. Better pacing, articulation, intonation, stress, and rhythm, along with posture and breathing skills will make you a more confident speaker. This is not just in English but in your own native language as well.

• Reduced Misunderstandings

English can be a tricky language, especially if you’re coming at it from a more structured and formal language, like Hindi, Spanish, or Mandarin Chinese. In English, a lot depends on the intent of the speaker. Words alone are not sufficient, the same sentence can be spoken in several different ways and can convey completely different meanings. Spellings and the way you pronounce words can be so confusing. For example, how do you pronounce bow? Is it an “o” as in crow or an “o” as in how? If you hear “bow” as in how, how do you spell it, bow or bough?

There is also the problem of vowel sound confusion which can cause embarrassment. Be careful how you say words like man/men, ran/run, and rice/rise. Be especially careful with “sheet”, “third” and “get”. Using the wrong sound can be disastrous.

• Enhanced Social Skills & Self Confidence

Working on your accent will improve your relationships with native speakers and improve your connectedness with friends and colleagues. A strong accent will create a significant barrier especially in countries where English is the only means of communication like Australia. It’s a sad comment, in countries like these native speakers will become lazy about their own language skills and will quickly assign someone with a strong accent to the “too hard basket”. This puts the onus on you to be the adult in the room.

• Build Life-Long Skills

Working with an accent reduction trainer will build lifelong study skills which will serve you well even if you move to another country. The principles to modify an accent to a specific locality are the same in whichever region you find yourself in. Sure! The vocabulary, vowel sounds, and rhythms change but the skills to learn these things are the same.

Online accent reduction training is a convenient and effective way to improve your English pronunciation skills and gives you so many advantages in the bargain. Many programs will allow you to add one-on-one coaching which will provide personalised feedback and a more

flexible schedule. Some programs are self-paced meaning you can fit your learning around your own schedule.

What are you waiting for? Change your accent and change your life now! We have plenty of resources for online learners wanting to reduce a strong accent here: Accent Reduction.