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If you are a foreign born professional, we would like to hear from you. We are very interested in the story of how you are overcoming self-doubt and learning new skills.
We would be happy to feature your story in a future issue.
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trOur Mission is to help our clients transform their accents from a communication barrier to a charming cultural flavor using "listener friendly" speech that is as close to Standard English as possible for them.
Order Mastering Meaning from Amazon.com or Lulu.com today online. The price is reduced from $19.99 to $10.00 + S & H and applicable sales taxes.
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We provide the resources, instruction and daily recorded feedback and our clients who practice as directed significantly reduce their accents.
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Triangle Speech Services
is the private, professional practice of Judith L. Bergman, a licensed speech-language pathologist (SLP) who specializes in foreign accent and regional dialect modification and related communication skills. I offer customized, individual tutorials to corporate-sponsored and self-enrolled individuals who speak English fluently but with moderate to severe accents that create challenges and frustrations in the workplace.
"Older is not always wiser" but I have had many years to make many choices and many opportunities to learn from my decisions in many areas. I've also been watching my adult son and many of my clients in his age bracket go through the process of making important career decisions. For my potential and actual clients, this includes the decision to enroll or not to enroll in an accent modification training program with me or another provider.
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"Failure isn't missing the shot. It's when you never take it." *
*Stephen
Malik, Bull City Venture Partners, Medifusion.
We always have to weigh the risks versus the benefits and our current responsibilities in making important choices. It is doubtful that our risks are really as life threatening as they seem for this rock climber. But who is really in control of our choices? We all have a loud voice inside of us saying, "You really shouldn't try this! You must never make a mistake! You're really not as smart as others think you are!" or "You're too old to change...or learn something new!"
But we also have a voice which I am currently calling my "Wisdom Keeper." This voice speaks very quietly. Martha Beck, a counselor and coach, writes,
"All I ever say is that if you get quiet enough to hear your true self it will always tell you what to do." (The O Magazine, October, 2015, p. 43)
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Understanding the "Failure Mindset" vs. "The Growth Mindset."
What happened to our joy of learning, to our curiosity, to our enthusiasm for new experiences? Does "growing up" mean losing this natural, optimistic approach to life?
Carol Dweck writes about the "Failure Mindset vs. the Growth Mindset" in her book discussed in a Raleigh News and Observer article by Christopher Gergen and Stephen Martin in the 6/20/2015 Business section titled, Doing Better: Resources for Finding Meaning in Life and Making Everyday Count.
In the past two months at least four individuals have read the Triangle Speech Services website and contacted us for their FREE thirty-minute phone consult and then never confirmed the appointment time and never called. At least one more had the consult, made the appointment and then cancelled the day before!! What is going on here, especially when only a FREE phone consult is involved?
During their phone consultation and, if they take the next step, during their Information Session, here are some things I say to all individuals considering enrolling in accent modification training:
#1. You are already bilingual or multi-lingual. You are already linguistically superior to me! My modern Greek (this year's pre-trip learning experience) has pretty much melted away except for "Thank-you" and "It's too expensive" but my college French is coming back rapidly thanks to daily work, listening carefully and repeating (mostly while driving) using an audio-CD series (for next year's trip to Paris). BUT, I am fluent only in English!! I could never live, work and raise a family in a different country from where I grew up!
#2 You ARE smart enough to benefit from systematic step by step accent modification training although you will probably never totally LOSE your accent and this is fine! An accent is a cultural flavor, a sign that this person speaks more than one language! You can reduce it A LOT, so that you can be more easily understood, if you enroll, follow directions and practice daily with the online program.
#3 You are NOT TOO OLD to grow and learn. (Then I remind them that that I still love learning (Tai Chi, basic French and new hand bell music) and I have a 46 year old son!
# 4 IF you have the time and motivation to practice an hour daily and IF you can afford the training (unless your company pays for it--and I can help with that) then
YOU CAN DO THIS!!
To recap: The only failure is never taking the shot, never even having the phone consult and coming for the "try-out" Information Session!
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We invite you to click on
Triangle Speech Services to visit our informative website. Our goal is always to provide information, inspiration and encouragement since these are essential components of any successful learning experience.
If you are seriously considering enrolling yourself or an employee in an individual tutorial with us or simply want to talk to us about our programs, please contact us through the contact page of our
web site.
Sincerely,
Judith L. Bergman M.A. CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist and Corporate Speech Trainer
Founder & Director of Triangle Speech Services |
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