Accent Coaching and ESL
Whether you need more standard American pronunciation to communicate at school, in contact with the public, or at work, or you just want to be more in control of the impression you give others when you speak English, I can be of help. My courses teach individuals to hear and produce American English, guide them into using their new accents in everyday speech. and dramatically increase their ability to understand others' English.
I am a PhD, author and accent coach with 33 years' experience in American English pronunciation and advanced ESL training. I have developed original methods and materials; I custom-design courses for each language, individual student or small group, including in corporate settings. I've worked extensively with native speakers of a very wide range of languages and understand very well the specific challenges understanding and speaking American English poses to non-native speakers.
People’s accents have an enormous impact on the impression they make. It’s not about “losing one’s accent;” it’s just incredibly valuable to be able to control this aspect of one's image. My students find our sessions revealing, educational and pleasant, and from the very first class learn to take control of their accents and make profound discoveries about American speech patterns. Issues of pronunciation that seem opaque and intimidating are broken down into clear and absolutely feasible steps. The system is very effective and requires no more than several minutes of practice per day. If desired, I can add units on advanced issues of English grammar, idioms and expressions and conversation.
I provide all materials and can hold training sessions virtually or at any Chicago or nearby location convenient to you or your employees as well as on Zoom. I typically work with groups of one to five individuals, but can provide larger classes when needed.
I would welcome the opportunity to discuss how I could be of service.
“Today I had the pleasure of sitting in a class taught by Dale Pesmen . . . The students clapped after the 90-minute class, which focused mainly on only one sound (th). Dale has an amazing way with students, and the way she explains it, they get it. I’ve never seen anything like it. She is a rare resource. I’ve studied pronunciation . . . and I’ve talked to the professors . . . about resources for teaching it, and never have encountered anyone as effective as she is. I truly believe — based on what I have observed of her technique, its uniqueness and its reception now from multiple students — that anyone who is serious about improving his or her American accent needs to have at least one session working with her and they will come away hooked. I think there is no better way of teaching Accent Reduction.”
Russian - English Translation & Interpretation
I have experience translating a very wide range of topics from Russian and provide intelligent, fluent, carefully edited, ready-to-publish English language texts. See "About" page on this site for more detail.
For information on Russian-English literary, business, legal, or other translation,
