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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.
Order Mastering Meaning from Lulu.com today online. For an autographed copy contact Judith Bergman through our web site. (Pay for autographed copies with check by mail or credit card phone order only). $19.99 + S & H and applicable sales taxes.
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If it is the "right season" for you to "polish your pronunciation of English," we can help!
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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.
Pete Seeger, an iconic folk singer now in his 90's, took the Biblical verses from The Book of Ecclesiastes and created a song that almost anyone from this culture can sing. In 1965 a version of the song by a folk rock band,The Byrds, reached #1 on the Billboard top 100 chart.
"To everything,
Turn! Turn! Turn!
There is a season.
Turn! Turn! Turn
And a time to every purpose under the heaven."
A time to be born; a time to die..."
We often carry around promises we have made to ourselves a long time ago and, being realistic and responsible adults, we can only hope that we will be able to fulfill these promises when the time is right, when it is the "right season." T.Y. , an engineer who grew up in Ethiopia speaking Amharic, came to us with a mild accent and recently completed the 7-session version of the Compton P-ESL (Pronouncing English As a Second Language) Accent Modification Program. She surprised me with this story, told as her "Final Presentation" during her post-testing session. What follows, with her review and permission, is a verbatim transcript of this recorded presentation.
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An Engineer Decides To Enter Nursing School
"I grew up in a third world country where usually parents  encouraged their children to become an engineer, a lawyer or a doctor. So my parents thought I would make a good engineer because I used to fix things around the house. So I became an engineer to fulfill my parents' dream for me.
"I was an engineer for the last ten years. I liked the work and the challenges that came with it, but eventually I became dissatisfied because the job is not rewarding or fulfilling anymore. So I have decided to go back to school and become a nurse to fulfill this time, my own dream.
"Growing up in Africa, I witnessed first hand what basic health care and social problems looked like. I lived through it and witnessed the challenges such as lack of health care systems and children dying from malnutrition and communicable diseases and numerous people suffering from AIDS and infectious diseases.
"These experiences created a long lasting desire in me to become a health professional and help people with their health-care related problems.
"So, why now? Well, what a better time than now because my current job is moving to Charlotte and I'm not moving. So, if I don't do it now--I mean, I could very easily get another engineering job and be unhappy for the rest of my life or I could go back to school, study nursing and have a fulfilling occupation for life. So that is why I decided to become a nurse."
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| Accent Modification Training "Paved The Way" for T.Y.
Here is T.Y.''s feedback:
"This accent modification course helped me tremendously by boosting my confidence in speaking at work, with friends and at social gatherings.
"This has been a life changing experience for me and I thank you so much for all the help."
| T.Y., with the support and encouragement of her husband, also from Ethiopia (and a former client of ours) who is a professional in a different field, and of her teen-age children, has decided that "this is the right season" to fulfill her dreams. We recommended that she work with another program, Medically Speaking: Accent Modification for the Medical Professional in a self-study format to continue to enhance her intonation and pronunciation of medically related vocabulary and to review common idioms heard in a medical setting, while she pursues her nursing studies.
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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 have the time, motivation and energy to devote to an intensive program of accent modification, this might be the "right season" for you. 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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