Kumar * was a recent client in my accent reduction coaching program.
He worked in IT as a programmer for a health care organization in the Southeastern United States. Kumar was involved in assisting his organization to implement an enterprise software system.
Due to his native language (Telegu) Kumar had what is considered a “heavy” Indian accent. He spoke English very quickly, which made his speech very difficult for his colleagues to understand.
Kumar frequently stressed the wrong syllables in words including: development, software, infrastructure and industry.
He spoke with heavy T sounds which gave his speech a choppy melody.
He didn’t differentiate between the /v/ sound and the /w/ sound.
He didn’t articulate the sounds of the letter S (there are more than one) clearly.
He didn’t ask questions in a way that natives understood.
In his private coaching sessions, Kumar learned the secrets for slowing down his rate of speech. He did very well in this aspect of his training and it made a huge difference in the way he was treated and valued by his colleagues.
His new speaking pace made him sound more friendly and more knowledgeable (since others could now understand him).
Kumar learned to speak using the 3 American T sounds. This made his speech sound smoother.
He learned to say the words deve→lopment, so→ftware, i→nfrastructure and i→ndustry with the correct syllable stress. He actually learned the correct stress pattern for many words. This accomplishment made a significant difference in his comprehensibility!
At the end of his course, Kumar still spoke with an accent. But, his work relationships were significantly better. Due to his increased interactions with others, he felt more valued for his high level of expertise.
Kumar now understands what his accent related problems are. He has techniques he can use when conversations breakdown. He has strategies he can use to practice.
Kumar continues to see me once a month to keep up with his progress. He’s pleased with his success!
* I’ve changed his name to protect his privacy.