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Dear Readers,
If you think like most global citizens, you know that English is
at the heart of international communication. Over the last 30
years, a tremendous number of people worldwide have been
studying English to increase their opportunities for professional
success. According to the British Council, the United
Kingdoms international organization for educational
opportunities and cultural relations, there have been as many
as 1 billion people studying English as a second language
since the year 2000.1 Yet, multi-national organizations feel the
pain of cross-cultural communication effectiveness. Service
providers are being employed to help increase the language
skills of the global workforce which leads to improved
reading, writing, vocabulary, grammar, and speaking and
listening.
This is important because we all know that without these
strong skills, we can get lost in the conversation. We need
industry-specific terms to help us in our conference calls; we
need a variety of grammatical structures in order to give
dynamic presentations; and we need high-level
comprehension skills to follow the nuances found in both social
and business dialogues.
In order to really succeed in business, however, second
language English speakers need more than the basic
competencies to compete. They need English skills that get
them understood. That means learning the accent. Having a
proficiency in the rhythm and intonation patterns of English
leads to a much more confident communicator which helps
lessen gaps of differences amongst cultures.
Jill Diamond
President & Founder of ACCENT ACE SM
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Table of Contents
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Music Lesson
11.
12.
Return on Investment
13.
Congratulations!
14.
Who We Are
15.
What We Offer
16.
17.
References
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There is a
confident
way to
speak
English.
2014 Accent Ace, Inc. 245 East 24th Street, Suite 17J, New York, New York, 10010. 212-206-3900. All rights reserved. No part of
this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without written permission from Accent Ace, Inc.
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Magazine 4
Without shifting the paradigm of how foreign nationals are seen by native English speakers,
all second language English speakers will continue to face an uphill battle
in their quest to achieve professional success.
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Time
"I don't have
any to spare."
Native
Language
"It all seems
backwards to me."
WARNING: When adopting a new skill, it is easy to feel
like you are getting worse before you get betterthe
one step forward, two steps back syndrome. Making
improvements to your accent may cause you to hesitate
before you speak. Thats ok. In fact, it is good. If you
didnt have a new awareness, you probably wouldnt be
manifesting change. Two steps backwards will never
mean you can't attain three steps forward.
Support
"No one I know is
taking this class."
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7. Set realistic goals: Make sure your goals are measurable, simple
and effective. For example, once a week, listen to a podcast in
English on a subject that interests you or agree to head your next
department meeting. Whatever it is, make sure its something you
will commit to with little effort.
8. Measure progress: Set benchmarks that you can check off as
you go. Write one hard-to-pronounce word a day on a Post-It Note
and put it on your computer. Use the word at least three times. A
habit like this will help you stay on track.
9. Match your learning environment to your learning style: Use and
engage in what works for you. Anything else can be counterproductive. And if you dont know what kind of learner you
are, click here to find out.
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10. Pat yourself on the back: Happy with the way you performed in
class? Celebrate it with a night out with friends! Listen to a record!
Go dancing! Acknowledge your progress!
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Time:
I dont have any to spare.
Remember to set realistic goals (#7) and spend just 5 minutes a day reviewing
what youve learned.
Frustration:
I still have trouble being understood.
Read and record new vocabulary (#4) in order to identify one aspect of your
language that needs improvement.
Motivation:
Why am I doing this?
Do you like music? (#2) Find the lyrics to your favorite tune and sing along. It
might not feel like studying.
Native Language:
It all seems backwards to me.
If you dont already know the primary differences between your language
and English, use technology (#6) to learn what they are. Here is a site where
you can learn.
Support:
No one I know is taking this class.
Whatever you do, remember why you started your communication initiative. It can mean the difference
between perseverance and giving up on your new skills.
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SOUND
FLOW
SYLLABLE
L2*
COMMUNICATION
WORD
*Second Language.
THOUGHT
CHUNK
SENTENCE
66
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Music Lesson
Anthony Brandt
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Rhythm
Music is comprised of notes that create its rhythm. Notes have different values but the four
basic notes for our purpose are:
Rhythm
Melody
Pausing
To help you understand
the correlation between
music and language,
listen to popular songs to
practice the elements you
will learn in this brief
music lesson.
The Whole Note | The Half Note | The Quarter Note | The Eighth Note
The whole note is held for four counts. The half note is held for two. The quarter note is held for
one, and the eighth note is held for half a count. We can apply these note values to our speech by
the length of time we hold a syllable in a word. Stressed syllables get a longer value. Unstressed
syllables a shorter value. We dont use the four musical notes as precisely in speech as we do in
music, but we certainly could if we wanted to. It is best to think of half a beat (the eighth note) for
unstressed syllables and one beat (the quarter note) for stressed syllables. Here is a musical
notation of the word manager:
Ma na ger
When teaching the rhythm of English, we use simple dashes and dots to indicate the stressed
versus unstressed syllables. The first syllable of the word manager is long and the last two are
short. We can illustrate that like this:
Ma na ger
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Melody
After rhythm, comes melody. In music we have the scales
and keys. Each scale has eight notes. Every scale
represents a key. Some keys sound joyful while others are
melancholic. We will just concern ourselves with the most
neutral sounding keyC Major. Lets have a look at the eight
notes that comprise its scale:
C major key scale
When most people speak, they use about four notes with
their voice. However, it is important to say that a dynamic
speaker will emphasize words by using as many as eight
notes. In accent training, you learn to step up and down a
scale, skipping over notes; or you learn how to glide through
notes, intoning each note as you move up or down the scale.
For example, statements have a melody that steps up on the
focus word and glides down on the same word to end the
statement in the affirmative. YES/NO questions on the other
hand, have an upward, gliding inflection at the end of the
sentence to let others know you have asked a question. By
using melody correctly in your speech, you begin to indicate
the correct intonation patterns of words and sentences.
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Pause
Finally, we have the pause or rest
note, as we say in musical terms.
Pauses are essential to clear
messaging. They communicate the
punctuation in our sentences. Lets
look at the musical rest notes and
show you how they are used in your
speech.
The Whole Note Rest | The Half Note Rest | The Quarter Note Rest
(Four counts of silence)
If the musician rushes through any of the rests, there is the potential to create chaos amongst the other musicians. The silent
notes are part of the composition. They are never overlooked. The same has to be true in our speech. Pausing indicates confidence
and helps both the speaker and the listener to concentrate. See how the quarter note rest is used after a comma and the half note
rest is used after the period:
When the manager got to the meeting, the presentation had already begun.
One slash (/) equals one count of silence, two slashes (//) represent two counts of silence and three slashes (///) can indicate three
or more counts of silence. See how they are simply used here:
When the manager got to the meeting, / the presentation had already begun. //
We dont need to take our musical lesson any further in order for you to start to
apply these simple terms to your American English. In fact, we can summarize
For more information about the relationship between
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what youve just learned like this: Indicate your stressed syllables and words by
music and accent, read some ACCENT ACE
making them longer. Use rising and falling tone appropriately by knowing the
blogposts:
five sentence types in English. (See this YouTube video to learn them.) And,
pause long enough between words and sentences in order to communiRhythm Is The Heart of Language Duck, Duck, Duck, Goose
cate your thoughts clearly. Think about yourself as the conductor of an orchesFinish That Thought Morse Code
tra and let music influence the way you speak American English.
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Return on Investment
According to a global report from
April 2012, almost half of executives,
of which 572 were surveyed, admit
that communication
misunderstandings and messages lost
in translation have stood in the way of
major international business deals
and resulted in significant losses for
their company.
The Economist Intelligence
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ROI
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Congratulations!
You made it through Communication Confidence: An Inside Look at Accent Modification.
For more information about the author and ACCENT ACE, continue onto the next pages.
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Who we are
Jill Diamond: Author
Jill has a background in performance, education and
business and has been working as an Accent
Modification and Communication Specialist since 1993.
Jills training as an actor and singer along with her
Masters in Education from Lesley University allows her to
deliver speaking tools with precision and a level of
creativity that has made her an expert facilitator and
leader in her field. Her aspiration to build communication
pathways between speakers of different languages has
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led her to create The ACCENT ACE Program. Jill
knows that mastering a second language is one thing
and that communicating in it is another.
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What We Offer
The ACCENT ACE Program
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Accentation
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The Accentation program trains professionals in the skills necessary for strong
public speaking. It compliments our accent training by adding in the non-verbal
and organizational elements of communication. It is also available for native
English speakers.
Accent Addition
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Visit
Call
212.206.3900
Contact
info@accentace.com
212.206.3900
info@accentace.com
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The Company
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Recognition
ACCENT ACESM is certified by the Womens Business Enterprise
National Council (WBENC) which is the largest third-party certifier of
businesses owned, controlled, and operated by women in the United
States. ACCENT ACE SM is also certified as a woman-owned business by
the city and state of New York. Jill Diamond is actively involved with The
Women Presidents Educational Organization (WPEO) where in 2008,
she led the company in being recognized with the WBE Leadership
Award as having created the most Done Deals with corporations in the
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New York region. ACCENT ACE (while under the name Lanartco) was
a runner up in the Count Me In: Make Mine a Million competition in
2006.
212.206.3900
info@accentace.com
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References
British Council. Frequently Asked Questions About The English Language. Retrieved from http://www.britishcouncil.org/learningfaq-the-english-language.htm
Sol Sabater, Maria-Josep (1991). Stress and Rhythm in English. Revista Alicantina de Estudios Ingleses 4 (1991): 145-62.
Universidad Autnoma de Barcelona. Retrieved from http://rua.ua.es/dspace/bitstream/10045/5496/1/RAEI_04_13.pdf
Lev-Ari, Shiri & Keysar, Boaz . Why Don't We Believe Non-Native Speakers? The Influence Of Accent On Credibility. Journal of
Experimental Social Psychology 46 (2010) 10931096. Retrieved from http://psychology.uchicago.edu/people/faculty/LevAriKeysar.pdf
Huang, L. Frideger, M., & Pearce, Jone L. (2014, June). How Non-Native Speakers Can Crack the Glass Ceiling. Harvard
Business Review, The Magazine. Retrieved from http://hbr.org/2014/06/how-non-native-speakers-can-crack-the-glass-ceiling/ar/1
Zatorre, Robert J. & Salimpoor, Valerie N. (June 2013). Why Music Makes Our Brain Sing. The New York Times Sunday
Review. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/09/opinion/sunday/why-music-makes-our-brain-sing.html?_r=0
Yongqi Gu, Peter. (2003) Vocabulary Learning in a Second Language: Person, Task, Context and Strategies. TESL-EJ, volume 7, Number
2. Retrieved from http://www.tesl-ej.org/wordpress/issues/volume7/ej26/ej26a4/
Brandt, A., Gebrian, M. & Slevc , L. Robert. (2012) Music and Early Language Acquisition. Frontiers in Auditory Cognitive Neuroscience
11. Retrieved from http://www.neurosciencenews.com/theory-music-underlies-language-acquisition/
A report from the Economist Intelligence Unit. (April 2012). Competing Across Borders: How cultural and communication
barriers affect business. Retrieved from http://www.ef.com.br/competing-across-borders/
Towers Watson. (2009/2010). Capitalizing on Effective Communication: How Courage, Innovation and Discipline Drive Business
Results in Challenging Times. Retrieved from http://www.towerswatson.com/en-US/Insights/IC-Types/Survey-ResearchResults/2009/12/ 20092010-Communication-ROI-Study-Report-Capitalizing-on-Effective-Communication
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Tenzer, H., Pudelko, M., & Harzing, Anne-Wil. (2014). The Impact of Language Barriers on Trust Formation in Multinational
Teams. Journal of International Business Studies, 45, 508-535. Retrieved from http://www.harzing.com/download/mnt.pdf
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Sinden, John. 2014, July 9th. The Importance of Intercultural Communication Training to the Global Workforce. Retrieved from
http://www.astd.org/Publications/Blogs/Global-HRD-Blog/2014/07/The-Importance-of-Intercultural-Communication-Training-to-the-GlobalW orkforceblog-Article?mktcops=c.global-hrd&mktcois=c.training-for-multiple-cultures~c.training-and-development~c.coaching~c.globalworkf orce-development
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