Accent reduction course

If someone WANTS to take the class then I think it can be a good idea. When I was in college for Spanish, those who wanted the full degree had to go through a phonetics course that was geared towards helping us to reduce our accents. While I was one of the students who had less of a problem, I wanted very much to learn.

Not sure you could force someone though--although the article doesn't imply this lady was forced to, especially given the CEO's initial worries.
 
If you apply for a job that require English then you should know from the very beginning what are you getting into. You should deliver what you were asked for, and agreed to do.

Some jobs does not requite perfect English skills, some do.

I think it was VERY nice of the company to suggest language improvement course instead of just firing the lady and hire someone who can do the same job and speak clear English.

Fuzzy
 
I don't think it hurts to take an accent reduction course. If it works, way to go. Who wants to go through life being asked, "what?!" if you have an option to soften your accent? It can help improve the quality of your life with people. I admire accent reduction therapists. I think the company was very nice to the lady instead of fire her.

There are some harsh people in the world who want accents reduced completely or those who hate to hear words pronounced differently or those who judge you for it. They are closed-minded people.
 
ClearSky said:
There are some harsh people in the world who want accents reduced completely or those who hate to hear words pronounced differently or those who judge you for it. They are closed-minded people.
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That is true, and I wouldn't even say they're "harsh," just "ignorant." Absolutely you will still get stereotyped in this country (I can't speak for elsewhere) if you do not have a bland Midwestern accent -- people with Southern accents are dumb hicks, with Brooklyn accents are thugs, with Southern California accents are airheads...and that's just across the U.S.! Never mind the perceptions and stereotypes that are caused by "foreign" accents.

It may not be pleasant, but it's reality that in business management, a heavy accent will likely work against you. Personally I'm amazed that this is still the case given the skyrocketing rate of globalization in American business, but somehow it persists. Certainly ESL classes are trending away from focusing on pronunciation, but it is still very much an issue in today's world.
 
I hate the accent stereotypes, but sadly they are VERY pervasive. I have the ability to switch mine from New Jersey to Midwest to Alabama at will, and as sad as this is to admit, unless I interview for a company that has a lot of pride in the region, I'm going to keep my Southern accent very firmly in the "OFF" position when I interview.
 
If I got so tired of talking to my boss or telling him repeatedly, I guess I'll get fired for trying to use sign language to communicate with him. (lol) At least he'll know how I feel when he talks to me in voice.
 
http://www.alldeaf.com/showthread.php?p=565957#post565957 Read this! I told the truth and know what I am talking about in a very honest approach. ;)

Ahh, it makes sense many jobs are being so discriminated toward deaf oralist people that d/ Deaf oralist people struggled to get a job. No wonder it shows the true colors. ** shaking my head **

You cannot expected us to speak perfectly like hearing people does. Scoffs!

Thanks! ;)
Sweetmind
 
Sweetmind said:
http://www.alldeaf.com/showthread.php?p=565957#post565957 Read this! I told the truth and know what I am talking about in a very honest approach. ;)
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Debatable. I've a feeling your opinions have become your truths.

Anyway - as for accent reduction - I'm told I sound British at times, and others have told me that I'm also guilty of "adopting" brit-speak at times, but I simply just blame that on the few friends I have from the UK that I keep in touch with on a regular basis.

Also I'm told that when I speak "normally" (which by that I mean without being VERY careful to enunciate) I have a New York accent.

Wouldn't know what other accents sound like in order to modify mine to sound like anything otherwise.

Interesting thread, Reba!
 
One thing is clear. Nobody wants to deal with someone whose speech is unintelligible.

Deaf pple does not like when someone wear mustache or a beard because it obscures lips and thus causes difficulty understanding speech.
same with hearing pple- they have too much stress at work to have to deal with someone's bad accent on top of it, and if that is fixable then why not fix it.

Who is really benefiting from the fix- of course the person who improved her speech.
Everyone else is having clear speech anyway.

Fuzzy
 
Audiofuzzy said:
One thing is clear. Nobody wants to deal with someone whose speech is unintelligible.

Deaf pple does not like when someone wear mustache or a beard because it obscures lips and thus causes difficulty understanding speech.
same with hearing pple- they have too much stress at work to have to deal with someone's bad accent on top of it, and if that is fixable then why not fix it.

Who is really benefiting from the fix- of course the person who improved her speech.
Everyone else is having clear speech anyway.

Fuzzy
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I prefer signing with deaf people anyway. If I can't understand their speech and they can't sign, I try writing. If I can't understand their speech, they can't sign, and they can't write, then I start to have communication problems. That's why I want deaf people to have signing and literacy skills. If they are just left with bad speech, I can't communicate at all with them.
 
gnulinuxman said:
I prefer signing with deaf people anyway. If I can't understand their speech and they can't sign, I try writing. If I can't understand their speech, they can't sign, and they can't write, then I start to have communication problems. That's why I want deaf people to have signing and literacy skills. If they are just left with bad speech, I can't communicate at all with them.
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Thank you so much! Also oral speaking is more limitation for many of us because they dont want to take their time to listen to us or have a good communication skills between Deaf and Hearing as usual. Thats the barrier of communication that we are not the blamed for 100 percent. I m so sick of their lame excuses about our deafness that can turned into a hearing children.
They are narrowmind as well as we are ability in our hands to communicate and can do anything except hear all along and did the best we could speak in our deaf voices.
 
Sweetmind said:
Thank you so much! Also oral speaking is more limitation for many of us because they dont want to take their time to listen to us or have a good communication skills between Deaf and Hearing as usual. Thats the barrier of communication that we are not the blamed for 100 percent. I m so sick of their lame excuses about our deafness that can turned into a hearing children.
They are narrowmind as well as we are ability in our hands to communicate and can do anything except hear all along and did the best we could speak in our deaf voices.
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I pray tell what does this have to do with accent reduction??? Too many non sequiturs...
 
I prefer signing with deaf people anyway. If I can't understand their speech and they can't sign, I try writing.
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Also oral speaking is more limitation for many of us because they dont want to take their time to listen to us or have a good communication skills between Deaf and Hearing as usual.
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What does oral, deaf, signing, got to do with the accent reduction, pray tell?

take a chill pill, SM and Gnu.


Fuzzy
 
Audiofuzzy said:
What does oral, deaf, signing, got to do with the accent reduction, pray tell?
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Ever hear/read about the deaf accent?
Audiofuzzy said:
take a chill pill, SM and Gnu.


Fuzzy
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You hate anyone who says anything bad about CI's or oral speech. Try taking your own advice.
 
Did you know that Sign Language do have
their own accent, too ? We rarely correct or
change their accent in sign language to
respect theirs.

In the same meantime, this topic reminds me
of Reese Witherspoon who had to change
her Southern accent for the movie "Sweet Home Alabama"
Did she become famous and successful
by change her accent
and/or keep her accent the same as before ?
 
Y said:
Did you know that Sign Language do have
their own accent, too ? We rarely correct or
change their accent in sign language to
respect theirs.
...
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Well, I can imagine that is true (I don't know sign). But when it comes to spoken accents, it is important if enough native intonations are provided for a native speaker to understand a non-native speaker. If not, then there is a great deal of difficulty in understanding the non-native speaker which begs the question..."At what point does communication becomes untenable?" Correct intonations are very critical for clear and concise spoken communication. If a non-native speaker own language intrudes into spoken English, then it is either extremely difficult if not impossible to understand the person. That was the whole point about accent reduction...improve communications and hence better job prospects.

FYI - Heck, the Chinese basically use one written language but have many dialects. Most of the dialects are so different as to be defacto langauges in their own right. Mandarian Chinese is the official language of China while in Hong Kong the native language is Cantonese (also known as Guangzhou). The difference is simply how they speak the intonations.
 
Y said:
Did she become famous and successful
by change her accent
and/or keep her accent the same as before ?
Click to expand...

It's the job of actors to use different accents for different roles. It's not really comparable to everyday life.
 
may I remind the topic is about hearing person, not deaf? I was even wondering why it is here not in "On topic debates" or something like that. Unless Reba had hidden agenda..... and looks like it worked.


I am sure when it comes to hiring deaf person nobody in his/her right mind is going to ask for accent reduction course. Because there is big difference between disability and immigration.

Fuzzy
 
The accent reduction course sounds like an excellent investment for everyone's benefit, as long as the employers pay for the course in the best interests of the employee and the company. In the past, employees with foreign accents that rendered their speech overtly unintelligible got laid off, fired, or passed over by younger, less qualifed employees. So I can appreciate how employers can find a creative solution for this sort of a problem.

But if they offered an accent reduction course for deaf people, that's an entirely different matter!
 
May I point out accent reduction course is in the best interest of the person who needs this course?

Even if the employer does not provide financial coverage for such services.

This is not the employer's responsibility to provide clear accent of his employee.

It's a free country, and many people are searching for jobs they want. The potential employers have plenty of applicants to choose from.

It's survival of the fittest, and in certain jobs it means best education, best job skills, and if clear speech too - then whoever needs it, better take care of it.
You can't always count on having a nice and generous boss, but you can count on that out there is someone else with your skills and better speech wanting your position.

Fuzzy
 
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