Accent reduction course
Though not a native speaker of English, I do speak and write English well enough for people not to have any problem understanding me in normal day to day conversations. However, I do speak with an accent typical of the people from my home country.
It can be quite nerve wrecking to speak publicly or to give a lecture to a group of native speakers. That’s why I am not looking forward to go back to teach in the university without first going through an accent reduction course to get rid of my accent. Are you in a similar predicament? You may want to check out the accent reduction course at ELT. It is designed to help non-native American English speakers tackle American English language skills and improve their American accent.
I know too well how critical the students can be of an instructor who have an accent. In the former university that I was teaching, we have instructors and professors from many different countries, thus many different types of accents. The students themselves are not native speakers, may speak with an accent and may not speak perfect English (in fact, many of them speak lousy English), but they always blame the accents of their instructors for their academic failures. I won’t want to be the scapegoat and lame excuse for their indiscipline and laziness.
