Claudette Roche is an accent correction courses in the Vero Beach, FL area. She teaches foreign and American accents to actors and business persons/executives. In 2010 she was named as one of The Top 5 Voice Coaches by Hollywood Weekly Magazine. theaccentcoach.com

1. Common Myths about Accents
There are a lot of opinions and stereotypes where accents are concerned. Some are viewed as romantic while others
are seen as rough or uneducated. Many times, an accent can keep you from being understood, approached or
included. However, not all information and ideas about accents and accent reduction is true.
You Can’t Change Your Accent
This first myth is false. You can make your accent less noticeable and even make it disappear altogether. You’ve
probably seen many actors who don’t speak with any recognizable accent and then you learn they came from a foreign
country. It’s possible through accent modification and accent reduction to alter just about any accent.
You Can’t Learn a New Accent
Just like you can alter your accent, it’s possible to learn a new one. Many actors who play British or Australian
characters come from the US with no trace of the character’s accent. They may work with an accent coach who teaches
them how to master the accent like a native.
Most People Don’t Have Accents
Many people believe that if you have an accent, you won’t be understood by people in other regions or countries.
Everyone has an accent. For most people, they don’t realize this because they stay in the same area of the country
where everyone talks like them. When someone new comes to town, that person is seen to have the accent. However,
if they were to go to another part of the country or sometimes even in the same state, they would hear other people
speak differently. They would be the ones with an accent even though they didn’t travel very far.
Accent Has Nothing to Do with Grammar
An accent is simply the way a person pronounces a word. Nothing more or less. Some accents roll their R’s while others
skip over them completely. To change an accent means to alter the pronunciation of letters and words. Grammar is an
essential part of understanding accents and enunciation will help you modify your accent.
If you listen carefully to someone you perceive to have an accent, you’ll hear certain sounds pronounced differently.
It’s possible to train yourself to speak with a less noticeable accent, but the problem is that most people don’t
recognize which sounds aren’t the same as other people. They hear the overall conversation instead of each individual
sound, which makes it hard to make the correct alterations.
An accent reduction coach is trained to know which sounds must be changed and what areas of enunciation must be
improved to reduce the accent. They can give you exercises to work on that will give the desired effect.
Accents are neither good nor bad, right or wrong. They provide a unique flavor to speech and should be considered an
interesting quality about a person. However, there may be times when modifying the accent is essential to help the
person be understood by those they must work and associate with. Accent reduction can assist with that goal without
losing the uniqueness of the person.