Accent Reduction

What is an accent?

Everyone speaks differently, and one of the main differences is their accent. Some people have a strong regional accent, others a milder one. The differences between the way someone from Georgia sounds to someone from Maine are striking, and there are many variations even within states.

Accents develop over time among the people of a specific area. Their pronunciation then identifies them as being from that area. If you move around a lot or live in other countries, you might pick up different ways of speaking that mix to form a unique accent.

Having an accent is natural when you use spoken language. Accents are also a rich source of cultural diversity, and people are often very proud of their pronunciation. Nobody's accent is better or worse than anyone else's, and having an accent is not a speech or language disorder.

What is accent reduction?

Accent reduction is something that you may be interested in if your accent affects your ability to communicate. Your accent may be hard for other people to understand, making it challenging to have a conversation.

It can be frustrating to continually repeat what you say, talk more slowly, and try to make yourself understood. It can also be distressing if people are paying more attention to your accent than your words.

These difficulties can make school and work-life more challenging, and you might feel that if your accent were less pronounced, you'd be able to communicate better. Accent reduction is a way of achieving this using expert help from the speech-language pathologists at Celebrations Speech Group.

What's involved in accent reduction?

Successful accent reduction takes practice and effort, but working with a speech-language pathologist (SLP) is the most effective way of changing your accent. It's how actors learn to speak in different dialects for new roles.

Your SLP first needs to study how you make different sounds and what you sound like when you talk. They need to familiarise themselves with the rhythm of your speech, and which sounds you put more stress on.

You need to read certain words and sentences and have a conversation so your SLP can analyze your speech. They use the information they gather from these exercises to develop a program that helps you alter your accent.

If you're thinking about accent reduction, discuss it with the experts at Celebrations Speech Group. Call their office or book an appointment online today.