Accent Reduction: Understanding how a Trainer Benefits the Student-Part 1

Greater Success

Understanding how an accent coach, trainer, teacher, or instructor benefits you as a student can help you make the choice to hire an accent trainer.  The benefits of working with an accent instructor can mean the difference between reducing your accent a little or a lot.  It can mean the difference between tearing your hair out trying to learn by yourself with the help of videos, books, and online programs without active feedback.  For those who are committed and motivated to modifying their native accent to be better understood by others, it is a wise decision to consider hiring a trainer.  The benefits are numerous.  Many people who choose to independently study the American accent via books or audio or video alone experience gaps in their learning.  They may gain knowledge regarding how to reduce their accents and they may make gains. However, they frequently don’t’ access critical instructional information and feedback, therefore suffering a much slow rate of progress than they would have otherwise had they hired a trainer.

Active Participation for your Achievement

An accent trainer provides active feedback, which can be described as follows.  It means that as you’re following the instruction of your American accent trainer with the materials and cues she’s providing, she is actively participating in advancing your skills and awareness to meet your goals.  She is analyzing your awareness and ability to complete the tasks presented to you. As you progress, she is increasing the complexity of the tasks she presents to you so as to challenge you.  She fades the cues (help) she is providing as you become more aware and skilled in the target speech behaviors. She gives you wings to fly on your own.  She is there to remind you of your past successes when you encounter challenge or doubt.  She supports you in refresher trainings when you need them.

Critical Accent Analysis

A trainer implements an analysis of your current accent as a starting point. This is critical for maximizing the comprehensiveness of your learning in addition to speeding your progress.  Chances are that you didn’t arrive at the career or education program (if you’re a student) you’re in without your supervisor or in cases where you are your own boss, yourself analyzing the skills and experience necessary to perform that job.  Your college training program or your mentors and supervisors before you have completed analyses, or reviews, whether informal or formal, of your competencies.  So it is with accent modification.  Competent accent modification or accent reduction trainers, coaches, instructors are skilled and experienced in analyzing your current native language speech behaviors that differ from the American accent speech behaviors.  They will ask you to provide a speech sample.

Summary

In summary, the benefits of working with an accent trainer for the student include enhanced comprehensiveness and speed of progress for maximal gains.  Specifically, the accent trainer actively participates in your programming for individualizing your training based on your accent analysis.  This is a critical component and forms a starting point for reducing your accent.

To your success and enjoyment in choosing an accent trainer,

Cher