You Need More than Reading and Writing Most traditional English as a Second Language programs focus on reading and writing-not on speaking.  This usually results in being able to communicate better through writing.  This is a problem.  It is not your fault.  It is not the fault of the instructors.  It is not even important […]

What are Challenge Sounds? Do you experience “Challenge Sounds”?  Non-native Speakers of English sometimes encounter difficulty pronouncing specific English speech sounds. When accented speakers encounter this, for our purposes, we will call these “challenge sounds.”  These challenge sounds are English speech sounds that consistently give you trouble.  They are sounds that are not in your […]

Pride: Positives and Negatives I recently was thinking about how my mother and father have provided me with so many wonderful gifts.  I am thankful that I can give them back the gift of pride in the work that I do.  Pride can be a complex concept.  There are negative aspects as well as positive […]

Commonalities of People with Different Language Backgrounds 3  COMMONALITIES when English is spoken between people of different language backgrounds are: We all want communication to be easy.  We can make it easy with some mindful auditory and visual listening strategies. Our bodies don’t usually lie when we don’t understand something.  Facial expressions and body language […]

6 Traditional Communication Tips As an accented professional  you have many tools available to improve your communication.  There are many ways to increase communication effectiveness between individuals with different language backgrounds.  Here are seven tips that both non-native and native English speakers can apply to improve communication effectiveness. Speak (or request the other person to speak) more […]

Effects of Communication Breakdown In the blog titled “Partnership between Accented Professionals and their Consumers”, we suggested ways for bridging the gap between individuals with different native language backgrounds.  In this blog, we offer ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS. I was recently discussing communication repair strategies with a colleague of mine, Drew Sissleman.  Drew brought up some very […]

Procrastination Factors “It’s never too late to procrastinate.”  My daughter pointed out a message on a humorous sign at Chicago restaurant.   The message is very true.  HUMAN NATURE can be to procrastinate.  I procrastinate.  Have you ever procrastinated with: projects at work, cleaning the house, hiring someone to clean the house, or perhaps looking for a […]

Straight-forward Psychology Behind Foreign Accents Communicating with a professional who speaks with a foreign accent can be frustrating.  You can overcome accent barriers in your work environment.  There is a psychology behind accent reduction.    It’s practical psychology worth discussing.  Both the person with the accent and the person with whom the accented professional is […]

If you’ve been caught in this situation, you’re not alone.  Do you ever notice someone being ridiculed, degraded, stereotyped, or discounted due to judgment; due to someone’s opinion of them?  This is in fact what a pulmonologist shared with me at a recent presentation that I gave.  His comment was different than those that are […]

Signs of International Communication Barriers You’ve probably been in this position.  You are trying to communicate with an intelligent professional who speaks with a strong accent.  You are expending more and more effort trying to understand them.  You lose focus on what they’re saying and start focusing on HOW they’re saying it.  You try to […]