Advice for Success in the American Corporate World

A majority of my students are educated professionals. They are MBA’s, engineers, research scientists, lawyers. Some of them had already achieved a level of success and professional respect in their native countries before coming to the US. Others got their graduate degrees here.

They are able to express themselves in a sophisticated and eloquent way in their native languages. Even though Americans regularly compliment them on their fluent English, (and indeed, they are very fluent) they are secretly frustrated inside because they know that their ability to communicate in English limits them.

One of the common themes that I hear from them is their frustration about not being able to express themselves the same complex way in English. They struggle to search for the right word to accurately express their ideas and they worry that native speakers may not recognize their intelligence and expertise because of this. I get this question over and over again: “How can you help me to express myself more like educated native speakers?”


I have many suggestions about fixing this problem. For many years when I used to teach at Santa Monica College I focused on vocabulary development and business communication. I will share my suggestions to you in the coming blogs that I plan to write.

Right now I want to tell you about a product that I recently discovered when one of my students brought it to class. It’s the best vocabulary book for professionals that I have come across. I am very critical of language books and I don’t recommend them unless I really believe in them. So many books end up being a waste of money. I have a collection of ESL and business English books in my personal library, and I am familiar with the good ones and the bad ones. I used to sit on various book selection committees at the colleges where I taught.

If you are serious about improving your ability to communicate with more confidence in the American corporate environment, I strongly suggest that you get this book. It's got very useful vocabulary that is used by successful executives. The link is below. Actually, now they sell it as CD audio set so that you can hear the words and the example sentences. It’s great to listen while you drive. It also comes with software with exercises. (My student showed me the old version which used to be in book form. It’s the same material, but now just on CD)

It's actually designed for Americans who don’t feel comfortable about their ability to express themselves well due to a lack of powerful and educated vocabulary. So, you should already be an advanced speaker of English. Otherwise, don't buy it because it will be too advanced for you.

Here's a quote from the website that summarizes it:

"A Human Engineering Laboratory Study tested the vocabularies of thousands of people in various careers and age groups, and found that the people drawing the highest salaries scored highest on the vocabulary test. In fact, their results were so consistent that the researchers declared there was only one trait common to all successful people: A superior vocabulary."

Here is the website so check it out. It's kind of expensive but it's worth the price. If you get it, let me know what you think of it. http://www.executive-vocabulary.com/

Your Accent on a Job Interview

When you are competing with other job applicants, all other things being equal, the person with good communication skills will get the job.

Many of my students are taking accent reduction courses because they want to be better prepared for job interviews. They are worried that they might not get hired if their accent is too strong. This is particularly true for sales positions or any kind of job that requires giving presentations or interacting with the public.

In today’s economy and competitive job seeking environment, working on your communication skills is a must.

During a job interview, it’s possible that your accent will be even stronger than usual. This is normal. When nervous, we all tend to speak faster or hesitate and stutter. But the more you prepare the better you will sound.

Here are some of my tips for preparing for a job interview if you are concerned about your accent:

1. You MUST learn to pronounce the name of the company correctly.

2. You MUST pronounce the name of the interviewer correctly. If you get his or her name in advance, learn to say it. So many of my students don’t know how to correctly pronounce common American names. For example, the female names “Joan” and “Joanne” are not the same. Also, “Susan” and “Suzanne” are pronounced differently. I once had a student whose boss’ name was Doug. My student pronounced it as “dog.” Not a good idea!!!

3. You need to become an expert at pronouncing the common words related to your field. You will have to use them during an interview. Make a list of these words and practice saying them. If you practice them in advance with a native speaker, you will feel more confident. Have a native speaker record them for you and then listen and repeat. Some of the errors that I have heard from my students include:

• A student who had a job interview with the advertising firm Ogilvy and Mather who could not pronounce the name of this company.
• A Russian doctor whose patients never understood her when she asked them if they would like a “refill.”
• A Chinese structural engineer who could not say the word “structural” because of the dropped “r” and “l”.
• A university professor of statistics who could not say the word “statistics.”
• A Chinese pain doctor who pronounced the word “pain” as “pan” or “pen.”

In most situations, the fact that you have an accent won't be a problem. It's generally only a problem if the employer worries that your coworkers or clients won't understand you.

Do Singers Have Accents?

I have several students who are singers. When they sing in front of an audience, generally no one knows that they are not American. Then, when they talk between the songs, people are shocked to hear their accent. This is common.


Here is a very interesting podcast discussion on this subject by several linguists. I think you will enjoy it.

http://www.waywordradio.org/do-singers-have-accents-minicast/

I love working with singers because they almost intuitively know how to produce the new sounds that I introduce to them. They understand how a slight change in tongue position can alter a vowel sound and they can easily understand the difference between voiced and voiceless consonants.

If you have no talent for singing, it does not mean that you will not be able to change your accent. Many people who cannot sing well also learn very quickly. Motivation and regular practice are the two most essential elements to success.

Which American Accent Should I Learn?

Your goal should be to learn the Standard American Accent. Some people call it "broadcaster English." It's the kind of standard, neutral speech you hear on CNN for example. It's a non-regional American accent, meaning that people don't associate this accent with any particular part of the United States. This is the accent that I teach.

Some people have opinions about accents that are non-Standard Americans. People from Brooklyn or Texas or Georgia all have a certain way of speaking. Some dialects can be charming and others rather annoying.

American versus British Accent

A lot of my students ask me: "I studied the British accent in my country. How is the American accent different?"

Some of the major differences between the American and British accents are the pronunciation of several vowel sounds, and the pronunciation of the letters “r” and “t.” The pronunciation of the vowels /ɔ/ as in “all” “awful,” and /æ/ as in “last” and “class” are the most noticeable vowel differences.

Also, Americans pronounce all of the “r”s, whereas in British English the final “r” and an “r” before another consonant are often silent. For example, the words "for" sounds like "foe" in British, and the word "morning" sounds like "moaning."

The letter “t” in the words “better” and “water” is pronounced differently in the two accents. The "t" between two vowels usually sounds similar to a "d" in American English. Thus, "latter" and "ladder" sound exactly the same. Also, "atom" and "Adam" are pronounced the same in American English. (The second vowel in each of these words is reduced. That's why the "o" of atom and the second "a" of Adam sound exactly the same.)

Several verbs in the past tense are spelled with “ed” in American English and “t” in British English and are thus pronounced differently. For example Americans say “learned” and “burned” whereas British speakers say “learnt” and “burnt.”

accent reduction training

I teach accent reduction in the Los Angeles area. I have a company called Accurate English. On this blog I will be giving tips on how to reduce your accent. I will be giving my advice to people who want to improve their accents and will be answering your questions about speaking American English.

I have taught accent reduction to students from all over the world. Most of my students are successful professionals who live in the LA area. They are MBA's working in the corporate world, medical professionals who need to communicate clearly with their patients, foreign born actors in Hollywood, graduate students, etc. They all really inspire me because they are driven to succeed. They want to be all that they can be and do not want their foreing accent to hold them back.