In a recent US News article by Catherine Groux, the author writes, “For the past few years, the number of Chinese students studying in the U.S. has continued to rise. In 2012, Chinese student enrollments rose by 23% overall, and by 31% at the undergraduate level in particular, according to the Institute of International Education’s Open Doors report.”
The enormous influx of Chinese students to US colleges and universities means two things. First, because there is “safety in numbers,” many of these students will feel secure among their own cultural groups, and have a lesser chance of reaching out to others outside their community. This brings us to the second item: Chinese and other foreign students who do not assimilate into the whole culture of the environment they are in are less likely to improve spoken English because they are not surrounding themselves with native American English speakers. Because of this, their understanding of English and ability to read and write English may likely be phenomenal, but their ability to interact socially, give a good presentation in English, or be able to communicate well with colleagues, patients, or clients once they have graduated will be hampered by a non-native English accent.
In 2010, vice president at the Institute of International Education, Peggy Blumenthal suggested that Chinese students will invest in what they feel gives them any edge over competition, and to that end will work hard on their English fluency while also attending school. But fluency in English goes beyond comprehension. To wit, if you are a Chinese student or career professional, can people comprehend YOU?
The answer to that question may likely guide Chinese students and career-minded individuals to look for a quality online accent reduction program that can help to reduce a Chinese accent in English and help them sound like a native American English speaker. And the research indicates that everyone from patients to colleagues, and students to coworkers find it easier to communicate, and therefore forge long lasting working relationships with Chinese students and professionals who have been able to reduce foreign accents in spoken English with the help of a trained English speech pathologist and/or American English pronunciation training course online.
At PronunciationPro.com, we work with Chinese students and professionals to reduce thick accents and enhance pronunciation in English to sound like native English speakers. For more information, visit our Prices and Packages page, or try our 7-day FREE trial to get a feel for what we offer Chinese and other foreign students and professionals.
