Newest Breakthrough on How to Eliminate an Accent!

Accent Reduction 101: A Complete Program to Improve American and Career Speech for Busy Professionals on the Go! (Peterson, Elizabeth. 2008). 

This program is uniquely organized into four units.  It has not been arranged by pairs of sounds or order of the alphabet. Instead, it has been arranged by typical accented behaviors and speech habits speakers have when English is not their first language. After your habits have been identified the lessons will teach you how to produce the sounds correctly at the word and sentence level and then progress to real life conversation. A unique feature in this program is the Set Yourself Up for Success unit, which offers a variety of techniques and strategies for advancing your new speech skills into habit at the conversational level.

Unit I. Set Yourself Up for Success
In order to experience success with accent reduction, you must practice these new skills so they are reinforced and become habit. Many individuals are busy and finding time to practice may be difficult. This unit eliminates the challenge of practicing, and helps you naturally plan practice into your day while providing guidelines for evaluating success.

• How to Set Yourself Up for Success
• Your Personal Speech Notebook
• Using Speech Triggers
• Evaluating Your Success
• Self-Assessment Quick Check
• Weekly Goal Tracking

Unit II. American Speech Melody

In order to speak with clarity, it is critical to master the American speech rhythm known as intonation. If your American speech is not spoken in the American style, the result will be accented speech. The unit on intonation will teach you the skills required to speak with the American melody which will captivate your listener’s attention while significantly reducing your accent. Begin with this unit so you can speak with professional sounding intonation while practicing your sounds at the sentence level.

Unit III. American Consonant Sounds

The consonant sounds are arranged by accented habits. Identifying your habits is the first step toward improving your awareness for the speech skills you want to achieve. Covered in this unit are:

• Voiced ending sounds
• Voiceless plosive ending sounds
• Consonant blends in the beginnings and ends of words
• Contractions
• New consonant sounds /th, ing, ch, sh/
• Plosive sounds in the beginning position of words
• Common sound substitutions
• The expanded American /r/ program
• The expanded American /l/ program
• Uncommon accented sounds
• The /s/ program

Unit IV. American Vowel Sounds
Vowel sounds shape words by providing a specific sound image.  Words cannot exist in the English language without a vowel.

• Front vowel sounds
• Central vowel sounds
• Back vowel sounds
• Diphthongs
• Comparing the different front vowel sounds
• Comparing the different back vowel sounds

Advanced Practice!  Throughout your book is this Advanced Practice note.  It is there to encourage you to take the single words you have been practicing and create sentences with them to imitate conversational and spontaneous speech. This is considered to be advanced practice because making up sentences is close to making up conversational speech. Once you have learned the basic skill of sounds, begin working at the conversational and spontaneous speech level to transform these new skills into habit.

Getting Started Today

This program is comprehensive and has identified the primary habits related to accented American speech.  Successful and dedicated practice will improve your awareness and provide opportunities for you to own your new skills of speaking Standard American Speech with clarity and confidence.