benefits of accent reduction
Some Good Reasons to Take an Accent Reduction Class
Are you a non-native English speaker, living in the US, and engaged in US business? If you have an accent, you might want to consider taking an accent reduction class from an ESL program. Why? There are many reasons why reducing your audible accent will improve your business success.
For starters, if you are misunderstood by your colleagues, customers, or business partners – issues that arise can be costly. Many times they are embarrassed to ask you to repeat what you said, and will just make assumptions and then proceed to act upon those assumptions. The possibilities for problems are endless.
Secondly, having an accent makes it tough for people to stay focused on what you are saying. This is especially pronounced when you are giving a presentation in front of a business audience, or are using technical terms that are already difficult to pronounce for native speakers. You want your potential customers or colleagues to hear, process, and understand what you are saying without their minds drifting to tonight’s dinner, their families, or how their golf game will be this weekend!
It also helps you in daily interactions, such as ordering food at a restaurant, making hotel or airplane reservations, and asking for directions to be clear and concise in your speech. It can be very frustrating to be misunderstood when trying to accomplish simple tasks and the possibility for time-wasting mix-ups is high. Remember – time is money!
Last but not least, the world is full of prejudice – although the US is better than many other places – it still exists. Removing or lessening your accent will help even the playing field, so that you don’t have to experience the discrimination some foreign nationals do.
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