Teacher Discussion Forums

I am tutoring a professional from Beijing who is interested in losing her British accent. She says it interferes in communicating with her American co-workers. Is this a problem for English for Business students working in American companies? Is American English becoming the standard Business dialect?

Sounds like she has an awful Chinese accent and her American colleagues are being polite to me. Either that or she was taught by someone with a strong accent from Newcastle, Glasgow or Belfast??

When I worked in the US, a fairly standard British accent was a great advantage for me! (Especially with the girls)

I think the problem may simply be poor pronunciation in general and (s)he is trying to save face. This word may come in handy, say that you are going to help him with "Accent neutralisation" i.e. To help them speak standard English. In reality you will just be trying to get them to pronounce with less of a strong Chinese accent, which is more than likely to be the real problem.

James

Thanks for your feedback. Turns out it was mostly inflection and a few vowel differences. This has taken some practice. Not sure if she actually incorporates it at work, but my student seems happy with her progress.