Our accents reflect our heritage and culture; they remind us of who we are and where we come from. Accent training, sometimes called accent reduction, is not the process of taking away an accent. It is actually the process of learning a new accent. At BeyondClear, we understand the importance of culture. Our goal is to help you learn a new way of speaking that is clear to your listeners and less frustrating for you.

If you have an accent that causes native English speakers to strain to understand you, it becomes tiring and eventually they will stop listening. Your accent can even cause you to be stigmatized as less intelligent, educated, or credible than you are. Accent training allows people to easily listen to your ideas and see you as the competent professional you are.

You will start making changes in how you communicate within 1-2 sessions. Your rate of progress will depend on your desire to change, your practice outside of sessions, and your natural language-learning abilities. With practice, many of our clients with strong accents have seen long-lasting changes to their accent within a few months.

Many people start working on their accent by buying an accent reduction book or watching videos on YouTube. These resources can be a good first step to changing your accent because they can teach you about the speech sounds, stress, and intonation patterns of American English. Unfortunately, even armed with this new information, your accent will probably not change much. That is because in order to produce meaningful change, you need: 1) an assessment that identifies your specific areas of difficulty so your practice is efficient and effective 2) awareness training to help you hear the subtle differences between your speech pattern and the American speech pattern 3) external feedback and pronunciation cues to make sure you are producing the rhythm and sounds of American English correctly.

​We know how difficult it can be for our clients to find the time to work on their accent. To make your practice easier, we provide an e-learning platform that is customized for your specific needs. The site is mobile-friendly so it’s easy to access your practice materials wherever you are.

We provide accent, speech and voice training for professional development purposes. Although your training will be conducted by a speech-language pathologist, it will not be covered by your health insurance.

Yes! We are happy to provide sessions online via Zoom or through your preferred video conferencing software.

Companies often support communication skills training because it can lead to greater workplace satisfaction and productivity. Talk with your employer or HR specialist about using your company's personal development or continuing education funds. We would also be happy to speak to your employer to explain the benefits of accent training.

Your employees want to view their role in your company as meaningful and fulfilling, not just as a means to pay the bills. Providing them with opportunities to develop new skills shows your employees that you have a vested interest in their career path. They will have greater job satisfaction and you will benefit from increased productivity and retention. And if your company regularly hires non-native English speakers, accent training can be an important onboarding tool to help them feel comfortable in the workplace and communicate effectively from the start.

The best approach is to have a one-on-one meeting to discuss your employee's work and the value they bring to your company. Ask them how they feel about their current communication skills and if they would like the opportunity to develop those skills through accent training. Let them know you want to invest in them and support their growth. If your employee understands that accent coaching reflects your commitment and faith in them, they will be more open and motivated to try it.