According to a recent article on PRNewswire, “multi-national corporations and companies have found that consistency in communication organization-wide is essential. All English speakers have accents, but the problem arises when it results in reduced intelligibility and comprehensibility in communication.”
The article was discussing the ways in which employers can benefit from offering accent reduction courses to their international employees who are not native English speakers. While it’s a nice advantage for large, multinational companies, most small to medium-sized businesses do not offer a chance to improve English online or offline at a cost they themselves are willing to underwrite.
The reason most companies do not offer the chance to learn how to speak English like an American as an added benefit is that: a) they do not have enough employees with this need to justify the cost, or b) they have not done the research to find quality, affordable English pronunciation training for employees.
In either instance, this often means that employees who want to advance in their careers will have to take matters into their own hands. The biggest component to empowering yourself as a foreigner in the United States is learning to read and write in English, and learning how to speak English fluently without an accent.
Those who come to the US or who work abroad but work in position where English is the dominant language will need to perfect English pronunciation in order to advance. Why? Because those who struggle through phone conversations, presentations, speeches, and everyday work conversations in English are often overlooked when it comes time to fill a higher position. While they may be as qualified or more qualified than their native English-speaking counterpart, a thick foreign accent will keep them at a disadvantage.
But there is good news for those who work for companies who cannot afford accent reduction and English pronunciation classes. For just $19.97 per month, PronunciationPro.com offers a comprehensive 12-week class taught by a speech pathologist and American English trainers who teach non-native English speakers how to pronounce better using accent reduction exercises and mp3 recordings (among other things) to ensure each student reduces their accent by 50-75% or more.
For companies who wish to offer English pronunciation classes to their employees, click here.
