The Center for Confident American English Communication

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital has developed an on site accent reduction program. That way employees don’t have to go off-campus or pay expensive tuition at local universities or private schools for such training. Participation is voluntary, however participants must pay about $2,300 to cover materials, software and equipment.  The most common issue for participants is that they’re imposing

Read more →

Yoko Matsuka, a veteran English instructor from Japan who specializes in phonics for younger learners says that it’s waste of time to pursue “perfect English pronunciation,” a goal that has long distracted parents in Korea. “There is no such thing as perfect English accent,” she said. Even native English speakers have a wide range of

Read more →

“The Speeches of Barack Obama”, President Barack Obama’s book of speeches and accompanying CD has sold 420,000 copies in Japan since its release on Nov. 20. Obama’s book of speeches surged to No. 2 in Japan’s main best-seller list this week.  The 95-page book compiles Obama’s speeches including the one at the 2004 convention, many from the

Read more →

Actors are often called to use an American accent in their roles on stage and film and this can be very difficult. Tanera Marshall, assistant professor of performing arts at the University of Illinois, has been a dialect coach for actors from a variety of countries. In this article she gives specific advice on how actors

Read more →