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 […]

One of the main reasons that former clients have hesitated to purse accent modification is “I don’t have enough time”.  Do you have the attitude,” I want to completely and fully commit to accent modification so I do it right!  I don’t’ have enough time right now in my life to be able to do […]

Visual Learning Watch and Practice!  View the VIDEO to this blog by clicking here:  http://masteryouraccent.com/videos-2/pronunciation-instruction-and-practice-for-voiced-th/. 2 Commonly Mispronounced Sounds Two of the most common English sounds that challenge English as a second language learners are the two sounds made by the combination of two letters; “t” and “h.” Those two sounds are /θ/ as in the word […]