Introduction

Elena wanted to soften her accent and had wished she had known about accent softening as well as The Elocution Coach years ago.  She had tried learning on her own, but:

“…going with a coach who is a professional made a massive difference.  Learning by myself, I didn’t know what was right or wrong.  (I needed) someone to actually listen, and help me with mouth positions, sounds……”

The Story of Elena

Elena was born in Angola, where she grew up speaking Portuguese.  She has lived in the UK for 22 years; however, despite working by herself towards making her English clearer, she had little success, as she was unsure of what she really needed to practise and how to make certain sounds which did not occur in her native language. She has completed the initial programme, and intends to continue her practise and keep in touch with our coaching programme.

The Challenge Elena Faced Before Her Elocution Programme

From the start, Elena had wanted to soften her Portuguese accent. She had previously identified the differences between Portuguese and English; however, implementing the changes proved far more difficult.  Following her Voice Assessment, she felt she properly understood problems she needed to resolve and working firstly with Shaunagh and more recently with Kate, she found that she could make the sounds she could hear in English but not articulate. 

Why Elena Chose Us For Elocution Training

The combination of one-to-one support, a fully developed and thorough programme in combination with unlimited feedback was the main reason Elena was attracted to the weekly coaching option.

“I felt like it was designed personally for me and understood my weaknesses.”

How We Helped During Her Elocution Course

Shaunagh and Kate worked with Elena on developing her intonation, which was different to the change in pitch associated with English-speaking. Elena liked the expression ‘like putting butter on toast’.  She was encouraged to read aloud and record herself, send in, receive feedback, then re-record and notice the differences.

“I don’t like listening to the sound of my own voice, but when I did I could tell the difference…Whenever I had to pronounce something I would make the effort but was not positioning the jaw the right way…I did the exercises Kate sent and practised getting the jaw looser”

The Results From Her Elocution Lessons

Overall Elena feels she has found a way to accomplish her goal of speaking with far less of her original accent.  She will continue to practise and is keeping in touch to use The Elocution Coach to stay on track. She has learnt how to position her tongue, lips and jaw to produce the correct sound and has found the guidance and correct tips to improve. 

How You Can Improve Your Speaking Skills