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Archive for the ‘online learning’ Category

Free Accent Reduction Training Courses

Wednesday, March 27th, 2013

As a business owner, do you struggle with communication issues related to customer service? Communication with employees? Clarity of speech? If so, L2 Accent wants you to know about our accent reduction or voice projection courses, worth up to $1500, that are being offered for free through BC Chamber of Commerce. In order to be eligible:

Your business must:

As an owner you must:

have fewer than 5 employees

Have no provincially, nationally, or internationally recognized certifications

Have no university or post-secondary degree or diploma

Additional Requirements

A resident of British Columbia

Legally entitled to work in Canada

19 years of age or older

Not a full-time post-secondary student

Not a high-school student

Not participating in another LMA funded program

Have a valid municipal business license or an Incorporation Number, or a CRA Tax Number

If you are eligible and interested, go to http://www.bcmicrobusiness.com/eligibility to apply.

L2 Accent is offering:

Communication Skills for Business Professionals

In this course, we will be exploring different topics to train the muscles of the mouth to produce North American sounds based on the problem areas of the client. These proven clinical techniques will result in the acquisition of an excellent professionally and socially enhancing North American accent that will help individuals to speak clearer and relate better at work and in social situations. It will help business owners to have the confidence they need to communicate in everyday business environments. (Duration and Value: 8 sessions – $1250.00; 10 sessions – $1500.00)

L2 Speak Clearer Program – Online

This program will help you produce the correct techniques by watching and listening to high quality video and audio instructional video. Once you have mastered the technique, you will be asked to submit your recordings. A Speech Professional will then analyze your recordings and provide you with helpful techniques to correct any problems you may have. (Duration and Value: Up to one year of access to 24/7 online content – $550.00)

You will learn:

Clearer production of consonant and vowel sounds
Rhythm, stress, and intonation patterns of native speakers
Strategies to produce clear speech

Presentation Skills for Business Professionals

This course provides communication solutions for those who have problems giving good presentations. This is mainly due to breathing techniques and how one is able to project, modulate and manipulate their voice to deliver entertaining presentations without damaging the vocal chords. Work with renowned voice coach Jan Cooper from Pump Records. (Duration and Value: 8 sessions – $1250.00; 10 sessions – $1500.00)

Writing Skills for Business Professionals

This writing course will help business owners to gain confidence in their writing abilities. With written output, we help refine a person’s writing by identifying weaknesses in structure and by developing strategies to “code switch” between formal and informal registers to reduce both instances of communication breakdowns and conflicts that result from incorrect assumptions connected to using the wrong tone of voice. (Duration and Value: 3 months – $350.00; 6 months – $650.00)

How will this course help?

Writing training makes use of an editing service so that clients improve their performance through practice that is both meaningful and in context to their business.
Clients can send an unlimited number of documents or emails to have corrected and edited.

Tags: accent reduction class, accent reduction courses, accent reduction training, free accent reduction, Vancouver, voice training courses
Posted in Accent Reduction For Businesses, online learning, Voice Training | Comments Off

Micro Businesspersons Allotted $3.1 Million of Business Training, says Premier Christy Clark – L2 Accent Reduction Provides Free Coaching to British Columbians

Monday, March 11th, 2013

Premier Christy Clark has recently announced the allocation of $3.1 million under the ‘Canada Starts Here: The BC Jobs Plan’. These funds are aimed at fueling the training pilot program which will focus on the skills enhancement of British Columbian micro business owners. There are over 1.200 micro businesspersons eligible under the Labor Market Agreement, each of whom will have $1,500 worth of business training that will aid in the progress of their business, and consequently contribute in the long-term advancement of the state. http://www.newsroom.gov.bc.ca/2012/05/premier-announces-skills-training-for-micro-businesses.htm

L2 Accent Reduction Centre is an excellent training provider for the Micro Business Program as many business owners have a great need to communicate well both in business writing and every day speaking tasks.

L2 Accent Reduction Centre is offering courses with no charge to the business owner; these funds will be covered through the Microbusiness Program. These courses include accent reduction training, which is essential to clear communication, especially when dealing with customer service issues. Similarly, voice projection training and writing courses would greatly improve the oral and written discourse of business for these small-business owners.

Business owners, who would like to take advantage of the world-class oral and written training provided by L2 Accent Reduction Centre, can contact http://www.chamberlearningnetwork.com/. However, the candidates need to comply with all the conditions set by the province for being entitled to free training by L2 Accent Reduction Centre.

Tags: accent reduction courses, accent reduction training, English as a Second Language, Jeff Madigan, pronunciation, pronunciation training
Posted in Accent Reduction For Businesses, Accent Reduction Specialist, Accent Reduction Tools, Jeff Madigan, online learning | Comments Off

L2 Accent Reduction Launches new Accent Reduction Course in China to Prepare Students

Wednesday, February 27th, 2013

L2 Accent Reduction Centre has launched a new accent reduction online product through an innovative e learning platform created by ClevrU, an Ontario based tech firm. L2 Director, Jeff Madigan, states that there has been a lot of interest from consultants who help people prepare for their new life in Canada. “This platform will make accent and communication preparation available to pretty much anyone who is interested,” Madigan says.

Many students, who relocate to Canada, or other parts of the English speaking world, have trouble communicating because of problems that may be carried over from their first language. These courses will improve their pronunciation so that unintelligible communication barriers are eliminated. Students will have better understanding of the lectures, and asking questions in class will also become easier.

The courses will promote an on-the-go experience in the sense that they will be made available on smartphones as well as tablets. No need to be confined to a lecture hall. Whether or not an individual chooses to study in Canada or remain in China, they will still have access to world class courses.

Tags: accent reduction, accent reduction courses, accent reduction online training, accent reduction training, pronunciation training
Posted in Accent Reduction Specialist, Jeff Madigan, online learning | Comments Off

Accent Reduction Courses – The Troublesome R

Monday, August 20th, 2012

The English /r/ can be one of the most challenging sounds to master for non-native speakers of the language. The situation is only further complicated when the /r/ is used in combination with other consonants, often in commonly used words such as “practice”, “drink” or “crisis”. However, once the /r/ sound has been mastered, the rest of the consonant-R blends should not be too hard to achieve with the right technique and a little bit of practice!

Start by forming the /r/ sound and holding it. While still holding your tongue in position, articulate the other consonant in the combination and release the /r/. For example, for the word “practice”, start by making and holding an /r/ sound. Next, while still making a continuous /r/ sound and holding your tongue in the /r/ position, close your lips and make the appropriate /p/ sound. Release the /r/ and proceed with the rest of the sounds in the word.

Here are some practice words:

practice

price

brief

bridge

dream

draw

frame

fresh

Granville

grin

crowd

crime

tree

troll

through

thread

If you find you’re having trouble forming the /r/ sound altogether, you may want to consider purchasing the R Speech Buddy. It’s a tool designed to give you the physical manipulation and tactile feedback that some learners require to achieve the difficult /r/ sound. For more information, visit this web-site to learn more about how Speech Buddies work!

Accent Reduction Courses The Troublesome R

The R tool was very effective for me!

Tags: accent reduction, accent reduction courses, accent reduction tools, accent reduction training, foreign accents, mispronouncing, speech buddies
Posted in Accent Reduction Techniques, Accent Reduction Tools, Jeff Madigan, online learning | Comments Off

Oat in a Boat!?!? – Proper English Pronunciation

Thursday, July 19th, 2012

At L2 Accent Reduction Centre we offer many different accent reduction courses, including online and one-on-one training to help you speak Proper English Pronunciations.

Here’s a short story about Proper English Pronunciation:

The way Canadians pronounce their diphthongs (double vowels), especially in the word “about” has been the butt of many American jokes. We are often fabled to pronounce the word as aboot or aboat. The particularly humorous phrase “oat and aboat in a boat” is frequently attributed to our quirky Canadian accents. On the northern side of the 49^th Parallel, most Canadians are clueless as to why Americans continue to relentlessly poke fun at them while repeating the word “about” in a preposterous accent. Most Canadians will agree that they do not say the word ‘out’ as oot or oat. Here, at L2 Accent Reduction Centre, clients frequently ask our specialists about the difference between words such as ‘rider’ and ‘writer’. Often, the environment in which they learned English did not distinguish between the vowels in these words, and it often comes as a surprise when Canadians have trouble understanding their speech because of the lack of vowel distinctions.

Oat in a Boat!?!? Proper English Pronunciation

Canadian Pop Culture

However, the truth is that Canadians do pronounce their vowels differently from Americans and what results from this difference is the perception of the Canadian accent that has served as a common stereotype the world over. That being said, what Canadians are not doing is saying ‘about’ as aboat or ‘house’ as hoose. In the linguistic phenomenon called Canadian Raising, vowel combinations such as the /ay/ sound in the word ‘five’ and the /aw/ sound in the word ‘crowd’ are raised to the higher vowel combinations /Ãy/ and /Ãw/ respectively before a voiceless consonant, such as /t/, /s/, f/, etc. This results in a vowel differentiation between the words ‘writer’ and ‘rider’ or ‘house’ (verb) and ‘house’ (noun). Americans may perceive this vowel difference to be more exaggerated than it truly is and hear the high vowels /o/ or /u/ when Canadians are engaging in their characteristic vowel raising. Of course, there are other aspects that distinguish Canadian English from General American English, but Canadian Raising is perhaps the most salient and well-known characteristic of Canadian speech. As always, it is important to remember that, just like everywhere else, it’s unwise to generalize and Canadian accents can vary widely from coast to coast.

At L2 Accent Reduction Centre we offer many different accent reduction courses, including online and one-on-one training to help you speak Proper English Pronunciations.

Tags: accent reduction courses, accent reduction training, American accent, Canadian Accent, foreign accents, Jeff Madigan, mispronouncing, online english training, pronucation, pronunciation, pronunciation training
Posted in Accent Reduction For Businesses, Accent Reduction Techniques, Jeff Madigan, Language and Culture, online learning | Comments Off