If you have a strong accent, chances are you might be familiar with the struggles of being understood by other people, whether at interviews or get-togethers with your friends.
Although accents are a part of our personal identity, strong accents can often prove to be a hindrance in numerous situations. In fact, many people believe that they are unable to get jobs due to their accent or are discriminated against on the basis of how they speak.
And even if you have never faced any major issues due to your accent, you would agree that the inability to be understood can be a source of major frustration.
This is where accent and speech therapy comes in. Working with a professional speech therapist allows you to understand the details of how you can change your pronunciation or intonation to modify your accent.
But before you hire the services of a professional, it would be helpful to know some of the basic terms that you will hear in the course of your training.
1. What is an accent?
It is the manner of pronunciation familiar to the location or nation of one’s first language.
2. Best intonation practices
In American English, meaning is shown in your sentences with your rises and falls, known as intonation.
For example,
She got a dog.
She got a dog?
In both, “dog” is emphasized, but in the first sentence, the statement, there was a falling pitch at the end.
In the second sentence, the question, there was a rising pitch at the end.
Intonation in sentences show:
– meanings
– emotions
– expressions
3. What is Speech Therapy?
When a professional provides treatment for people experiencing speech challenges and communication problems. It is helpful for several problems in both children and adults.
Speech is the way we form words with the muscles in our mouths. A speech disorder is a condition in which a person is unable to form or create the sounds that are necessary to communicate with others. This makes it difficult for them to be understood. A speech disorder can develop in many ways. Some of the common ones are articulation disorders, phonological disorders, disfluency, and so on. They are generally caused by emotional stress, brain trauma or infection, genetic abnormalities, hearing loss, throat cancer, and problems with the palate, among others. This condition can affect both children and adults. Depending on each person’s disorder or delay, they are treated in different ways, from exercises to training how to make specific sounds. Speech therapy can also help those with accents learn how to speak American English more clearly.
Language is the words, spoken and written, and the methods of combining them used and understood by a community. People suffering from language disorder find it challenging to express themselves or understand what others say. Although it is common in young children, it can also affect adults. A language disorder usually occurs due to some type of brain damage, damage to the central nervous system, autism, hearing loss, and so on. Treatment includes ways to alleviate possible troubles with word finding, comprehension, problem-solving, reasoning, and memory.
4. What is grammar?
It is the set of rules that govern the form of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language.
Speech or language problems have many causes behind them. They usually make it difficult for adults to communicate with others in the community. They also hinder children’s speech and language skills development. Clear Accent Speech Therapy can help them improve significantly through adult language therapy and child speech therapy.
If you want to learn more, get in touch with us at Clear Accent Speech Therapy. We offer accent reduction training and speech therapy services, which will help you speak confidently so that you are heard and understood. Browse through our website to know all about the benefits of our accent and speech services.
