About Accent Shine

What is Accent Shine?  Accent Shine offers English pronunciation training to anyone anywhere in the world.  We help intermediate and advanced non-native speakers of English improve their spoken English and English pronunciation so that they speak more clearly and naturally and can express themselves more confidently.

Is this an accent reduction service?  See the post on “Everyone Speaks With an Accent” to read my thoughts on accents.  In summary, there is no such thing as English spoken without an accent. So, I don’t like the term “accent reduction”.  Someone recently used the expression “accent swapping”, and I like that!  I’ve spent my life in the western U.S., so I teach what I know best–the western North America English accent.  If you want a British, Australian, Irish, New York or southern U.S.A. accent when you speak English, I’m not the right teacher for you!

Why did you create Accent Shine?  Teaching pronunciation is often neglected or ignored in English language instruction.  The result is that many people with intermediate and advanced levels of English are difficult to understand when they speak.  Difficult-to-understand (or boring, monotone) English makes it harder to advance at work, at school, and in social situations.  I wanted to help people who already know English but who want to improve their spoken English.

Why should you choose Accent Shine?  Rita Berberian, the owner of Accent Shine, has many years of experience teaching English to adult speakers of other languages, and she has a graduate degree in linguistics.   In graduate school, she studied and focused on teaching English pronunciation to speakers of other languages.  English pronunciation instruction is her specialty, and if you are looking for a pronunciation teacher, Rita can help you.

How does it work?  I identify the problems that interfere with communication or make you sound unnatural when you speak. Then we work to fix them. That’s why it’s accent “shine”–-we work together to improve your pronunciation so that listeners have less difficulty understanding your English, and YOU feel more confident when you speak English.

Click Here to send me a message, and let’s start shining up your accent today!

Sincerely,

Rita the Linguist Teacher

 

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Before my lessons started I was a little scared to speak English. In class, Rita often encouraged and praised me. I found it’s really relaxing when talking with Rita. During that period I was looking forward to learning from Rita on Friday afternoons. It’s so much fun. Now I have gotten rid of the common pronunciation problems and I’ve become more confident speaking English.

Z.Z., China

Rita is such a wonderful pronunciation teacher. She has a systematic and comprehensive teaching strategy to improve students’ pronunciation. She will also read a student’s performance and tailor the teaching approach accordingly. This is of great importance. Take myself as an example, I never realize that I have a problem with the glided vowels, final “er” before. And I never know the “linking silent h” before. I have been learning English with Rita for eight months. It’s really a great experience for me. She’s a very nice person and often encourages me. I feel very comfortable when I talk with her. I really appreciate Rita’s great help. Now, I feel like I have not only improved my pronunciation but also improved my listening skills a lot. I feel more confident and comfortable when I talk with other English speakers. 

L.S., China