Guiding non-native speakers of Standard American English to speak clearly, expressively, and confidently
Here’s How We Work Together
In our one-on-one Zoom lessons, our priority is to develop the new pronunciation habits that result in you speaking Standard American English clearly, expressively, and confidently. I introduce the components of the accent, Sounds and Structure, and my systematic approach to teaching each of them. My ABCI™ Model of Accent Refinement provides the overall structure to our work. We use practice materials and systems I’ve developed over many years of teaching. We develop a solid foundation of new and integrated pronunciation habits.
While we’re serious about your goals, I make the process of reaching them engaging and enjoyable.
My goal is to coach you to the integration of your new accent habits so they’re automatic, rather than simply pointing out what needs to change. Many years of teaching have shown me that the structure of my lesson package of 16 50-minute weekly lessons provides both the commitment and timeframe for developing and integrating these pronunciation habits.
Meeting weekly builds momentum for learning, while flexibility is built in to accommodate vacation, work events, illness, etc.
Your Communication Goals
Each client communicates their goals for our work in the Accent Survey they complete before our first lesson. I use this information to adapt my teaching to best help you reach your goals.
You can choose any or all of the following goals:
Feeling confident speaking English in any setting and with anyone
Continually improving your English to improve your chances for career advancement
Sounding like a native speaker of Standard American English
Just wanting to be sure that you’re speaking so others can understand you easily
Any other goals you’d like to share
Measuring Progress
Each client makes two initial Speech Sample recordings, which become a beginning baseline of your accent, as well as providing the language I need to assess the habits we’ll develop. The Speech Samples are then set aside as you learn about the components of the accent and develop new habits. At the end of the lesson series, you’ll use what you learned to record your final Speech Samples; I don’t coach the samples. Check out the Speech Samples page for before-and-after recordings to hear client progress.
Success Story: Lolo, Product Designer
The goals of this Chinese-speaking client were to feel confident speaking English in any setting and with anyone, improve her chances for career advancement, ensure others can easily understand her, and sound like a native speaker of Standard American English.
“I worked with Grace for almost a year. Taking classes with her is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
In 2021, after living in the US for eight years, I realized that a good accent wouldn’t come to me naturally. I got anxious whenever someone said “pardon” because after I repeated myself the other person seemed even more confused. Luckily, I found Grace from her website and started my accent journey.
Grace has a great system of learning materials, from evaluation to exercises, which helped me understand my accent from multiple perspectives. She could identify my pronunciation mistakes very quickly and gave me different solutions to correct them. Her knowledge of pronunciation always blows my mind!
By the end of the course, I couldn’t believe the progress I’d made. I now feel confident speaking up at work and in my everyday life. More importantly, I now find interpersonal interactions more enjoyable.
I wholeheartedly recommend that any of my friends who want to work on their accent learn with Grace. (I’ve done this already, and those friends love Grace’s lessons, too.)”
The Learning Experience
The teaching and learning experience is highly interactive, with honest, direct feedback shared with kindness and respect. One aspect of my teaching that sets me apart is my ability to laser focus in on exactly which habits need to be developed and how to coach you in making those changes. I can hear how you are physically creating your speech and guide you in making the subtle changes that transform the accent.
My decades of teaching have made it easy for me to know exactly how to guide you in developing a strong foundation and reaching your goals. I’m highly structured in my approach, but within this structured approach, I allow for spontaneity. This includes responsiveness to your questions, concerns, and curiosities; what’s going on in the world; upcoming opportunities and work tasks; discovered interests; and my intuitive sense of what information, exercises or topics will take you to the next level.
I wrote the course text and created the accompanying practice recordings which are used for your weekly homework practice sessions. I also use a variety of additional teaching resources, based on client needs and interests, such as improv games, video clips of examples of engaging presentation delivery, articulation practice with songs from the Broadway musical, Hamilton, acting scenes and poetry.
Zoom audio and video recordings of each lesson are provided and are a great way to reinforce your learning and progress.
What’s Included in the Lesson Package
Working one-on-one is the best way to make the most progress most quickly. I offer an initial 16-lesson package of 50-minute Zoom video sessions that includes:
Initial Speech Sample recording and assessment of challenges to be addressed
Course text and accompanying practice recordings
Zoom audio and video recordings of each lesson
Focused feedback in highly interactive lessons
Homework practice exercises from the course text
Customization to your professional or personal interests
Final Speech Sample recording and analysis to measure progress
Presentation skills and other Advanced Coaching topics may be included in the initial Lesson Package. Please contact me to set up a consultation to discuss those details.
Success Story: SW, Finance Professional, Private Equity
This Chinese and Singaporean-English-speaking client wanted to feel confident speaking English in any setting and with anyone, improve her chances for career advancement, be sure others can easily understand her, sound like a native speaker of Standard American English, and improve her presentation skills.
“Grace is an exceptional accent coach who has helped me make clear, noticeable improvements in my pronunciation. Her structured and personalized approach made each session both effective and focused on my specific needs. Grace’s dedication and keen attention to detail have truly boosted my confidence in speaking. I highly recommend her to anyone looking to refine their accent with expert, targeted guidance—working with Grace has been a valuable experience.”
Beyond the Foundation
Once the foundation is built, there are many options for further customization of our work. Learn all about this on the Advanced Coaching page.
Free 30-Minute Consultation
Let's set up a free consultation on Zoom to discuss working together.
“It has been almost 20 years since I came to the U.S., but I had never taken an English class outside of Japan. Now, I find myself wishing I had taken this class much earlier. Grace has many years of experience teaching pronunciation and accent reduction, and I felt I could truly rely on her guidance. She was always encouraging and enthusiastic, which made the classes both supportive and enjoyable.
What I especially appreciate is her honesty. She provided constructive, professional feedback when I didn’t perform well, which helped me clearly understand where I needed to improve. Through these lessons, I’ve gained a much better awareness of the specific areas I need to focus on to speak with greater confidence.”
“I really enjoyed this class. Grace is an excellent professor in this field. She really helped me to improve my English. Her method of teaching English is very simple, but it was a kind of revelation for me. I really needed a simplified method to learn English. Attending this class has been an unforgettable experience for me. Thank you very much, Grace.”
“Grace is an empowering mentor. She knows the techniques to modify your accent and motivate you to challenge yourself. With hard work, you will see improvement. I have gained a lot by learning from Grace. Her teaching helps me improve my daily conversation, teaching, presentation, and listening. I am more confident in using English and treat it as a tool to navigate my future. If you are motivated, what you need is a professional teacher with the right tools to guide you—Grace is the right person!”