Accent Reduction for speakers of Southeast Asian languages
Southeast Asia is a linguistically interesting region of the world. It is home to diverse set of languages and a great variety of accents and also has a significant portion of proficient English users who will speak fairly fluently, albeit with their local accent.
Still, there are enough commonalities to create general focus areas. Some examples: The rhythm of many of these languages is syllable-timed and its staccato nature differs from English’s syllable-timed rhythm. In many languages partially or fully lack aspirated plosives. Finally, often consonant clusters as commonly found in English often are absent or restricted in these languages.
Language-specific areas of focus
Singaporean & Malaysian English
Singaporean and Malaysian accented English is highly syllabic so learning proper English stress patterns and rhythms will be a main goal. Also, consonant clusters and diphthongs are often simplified, with sound segments omitted. Finally, because of the influence of Chinese languages, speakers often assign a “tone” to syllables, resulting in a distinct melody.
“Adrian's approach is scientific and specific. He is an excellent accent coach in articulating the nuances in different sounds and demonstrate them clearly to help me understand what and how I can improve the way I pronounce.”
— Jen, Singapore
“Attentive and knowledgeable - great for conversation practice & pronunciation improvement.”
— Don, Malaysia
Philippine English Speakers
As is common for SE Asian accented English, speakers often speak in syllable-timed rhythm, giving a staccato rhythm that differs from standard English’s more uneven cadence. Sound-wise, speakers often have problems with aspirated sounds and certain fricatives like /f/, /v/, and /z/. Vowels are also difficult in that speakers often do not reduce vowels as standard English speakers would, instead producing the full vowel.
“I have researched who to choose for my language coach and I have found that adrian is the best person to help me with my… tagalog accent… I'm very impressed with him…yes it is a bit pricey but the lessons are very helpful also he is very smart. it's worth every penny.”
— Bridgitte, California
Vietnamese
Beside having a syllabic-timed rhythm where all syllables general have the same duration, speakers often speak English with simplified sound sequences under influence from Vietnamese’ stricter phonology. Consonant clusters like /kl/ and /kr/ may become [k]. Complex vowels may become simple vowels. The /p/ sound is also not aspirated.
“Excellent accent coach. Adrian was very good in catching my mistakes, and he was also very patient in helping me to improve my accent!”
— An, California
“I'm very impressed with my first lesson. Adrian did an accent diagnostic for me, which is really helpful because I can't spot them myself. He then drilled down and found out my problem, which is the `pr` sound. We then spent the rest of the lesson going over different exercises. It was really good!”
— Bryan, Ho Chih Minh City