During the 2014 Academy Awards, John Travolta now famously mispronounced musical performer Idina Menzel‘s name, calling her Adele Dazeem. While many people found this cringeworthy and amusing, with Conan O’Brian making light of the instance and Slate creating an Adele Dazeem Generator: Travoltify Your Name, the truth is, that being amused by improper pronunciation is not funny, and is one of the leading reasons why non-native English speakers are intimidated to practice speaking with an American accent in public.
Foreign language anxiety, or xenoglossophobia, is the feeling of uneasiness, worry, nervousness and apprehension experienced by nonnative speakers when learning or using a second or foreign language. While John Travolta mispronounced a name in his native language, for many nonnative English speakers, the public amusement by his temporary “error” brings back many hurtful memories of their own struggle to pronounce English words correctly. Being afraid of the public’s response to your English when communicating as a nonnative speaker is natural, yet unfortunate, as foreign language anxiety can cause a detrimental effect on foreigners’ confidence and self-esteem.
While speaking with others in real-world situations is ideal, if anxiety about speaking with an American accent is preventing you from practicing correct English pronunciation, online training with a speech pathologist can be a great way to continue working on your English pronunciation in a more relaxed setting. The online American English pronunciation and accent reduction company PronunciationPro.com offers online webinars, mp3 files, and even one-on-one time with online speech pathologist Annie Ruden to help students improve their American English pronunciation and fluency in just 12 weeks with a one week free trial offered as well!
In practicing your American English pronunciation online, you can study in your own time, move at your own speed, and work towards improving your confidence while lowering any foreign language anxiety you may have. When classes are just between you and your speech pathologist instructor, you never have to fear having an Adele Dazeem moment if you don’t want to! Learn more today about online American English pronunciation and accent reduction classes at Pronunciation Pro to start your 12 week process towards a more confident you, with higher self-esteem, and increased courage to show off what you’ve learned!
