Advanced Accent Training

Alida V.
(Spanish speaker, Atlanta)

I am a Spanish speaker from Mexico. I first met Jon in Atlanta in September of 2015.  I was thinking about changing my career and felt that I needed to improve my accent first. Advanced Accent Training was reasonably priced and very honest. I explained my goals and decided to try it out. The accent audio lab was very helpful to hear my accent and to record and compare it to the professionals. Jon is an experienced accent instructor with so much knowledge, patience, and the ability to explain things clearly each week. I am now working in a completely different career with a level of success and confidence that I did not think would be possible.

Daniela P.

(San Diego, California IT professional)

Jon is a great accent coach and teacher. He helped me to improve my English pronunciation in 7 weeks by Skype in the Fall of 2015. I had a problem finding a job because I was not speaking clearly or aware of the best way to improve my English. Finally I was told by one interviewer that my accent was difficult to understand. Jon focused on helping to make my accent less noticeable and he also gave me feedback about my spoken English and grammar. We practiced my work vocabulary and typical questions and answers for job interviews. Jon cares about his client`s success, because he always contacted me after my job interviews. He asked how the interviews went and suggested how I can improve for the next one. I am really lucky to find Jon Berton. After four meetings, I was able to find a great job in my area of expertise.  I highly recommend Jon Berton and Advanced Accent Training to anybody who wants a professional accent coach.

Evan

(Manager at Fortune 500 company, Southeast Region) 

I have wanted to do something about my Southern dialect since I graduated college and got my first job. I had to do a fair amount of business travel, and would often get asked where I was from, which at first didn't bother me. After I went to work for a larger company, I started to get strange looks and felt like my credibility and education was being questioned. Honestly, I feel blessed to have found Advanced Accent Training in August of 2015. Jon was quick to clearly explain issues in the screening which he did by phone. It was like a light bulb went off. After the online assessment, there were so many things that I found out can be changed. When I travel for business, I know people are focusing on my message and not distracted by the way I am delivering it. it's been about four or five months now and nobody has asked me where I was from. I highly recommend Advanced Accent Training for regional dialect modification.

(Atlanta, CEO small to midsize company)

I cannot speak highly enough about the effectiveness of the accent modification training I took in Atlanta with Advanced Accent Training in 2012. They customized an affordable accent program for me, which combined several face to face meetings in Atlanta, with five online accent lessons. My online coach sent me recordings of difficult words I needed to know for important presentations and he also provided a group session at the Sandy Springs location, a kind of "toastmasters for accented speakers". This was exactly what I was looking for to improve my English.

(Nigerian professional)

Advanced Accent Training helped me to learn correct American pronunciation over a three to four month period in 2015. I am from Nigeria, so my native language is English, but I also speak Yoruba. I had tried in the past to learn to make a correct "r" sound, but my teacher did not seem to know how to help me. In addition to being an accent trainer, Jon is a speech pathologist who works with so many to learn to correctly pronounce American sounds. His techniques were extremely effective. I was honestly surprised how quickly I could change my speech and learn to use the American "r" sound, as well as the other vowels and consonants that either sounded very British, or different from standard American English. This is the course I wish I had taken ten years ago.

(Nurse, Ohio)

I first met Jon in the summer of 2013.  As a nurse, I was aware that patients and family members sometimes could not understand me as well as I would like.  Having frequent 12 hour shifts and a family at home, I never had the time to go out and take a class to improve my English. When I found out I could do weekly lessons from home via Skype, I signed up right away. I have wanted to improve my accent for over twenty years. Jon is a very thorough teacher. I learned something new that I never understood before about how to speak English correctly.  I am now on to the Accent 2 program and it is very helpful.

(Emory graduate, now attending Medical school in Georgia)

Advanced Accent Training helped me to prepare for my medical school interviews. I also needed help with the written applications. Jon had excellent suggestions for improving my written essays, and my pronunciation. I was so pleased to be accepted into the first medical school that I interviewed with. The time I spent preparing was invaluable.

Tom L.

(New York)

I attended a group pronunciation class some years ago in New York, but I never really got the individual attention to make lasting changes.  After finding Advanced Accent Training in Atlanta, I signed up for the online private program with Jon Berton. One company in Manhattan wanted $5,000 for a three month accent program. Jon provided excellent training, without the inflated prices. I have recommended Advanced Accent Training to several of my colleagues.

T. Zhu,

Senior Software Engineer  (Cupertino)

After completing the accent improvement course, I  became more aware of my pronunciation. As a Chinese speaker who had a noticeable accent, I always wanted to improve my pronunciation.  At first, I was not sure about how much I could really change my accent, but I could see progress with each week. I would like others to know that this has really worked for me.  Thank you so much.

A. Atanacio,

Executive Assistant 
(San Francisco)

Having Learned English in the Philippines, I had no trouble communicating in English. Yet people at work sometimes asked me to repeat myself.  It is frustrating when you know what you want to say but are not understood.  (Mr. Berton's) pronunciation class helped me learn how to  sound more like a native speaker, and I gained the confidence I need to communicate more effectively at work.

Applied Materials

Japan employee (San Jose)

I am a Japanese employee working in (the) United States for 2 years. Mr. Berton provided excellent teaching and he understands Japanese culture and business very well. He also speaks Japanese. My company asked Berton-san to teach the accent reduction training and English conversation classes to my co-workers. I highly recommend Mr. Berton's pronunciation and language training programs.

H. Nguyen,

Mortgage Broker  
(Sandy Springs)

The accent reduction class was so helpful for my business and sales.  I was always repeating things because clients did not understand my accent on the phone. I have lived in the United States for more than ten years, after coming here from Vietnam. I signed up for the Accent 1 program in the summer of 2014. I am glad I finally did something to improve my accent.

Supervisor

(Mid-size high-tech company
in Fremont, CA)

The English language classes at our company met all of our expectations. We have a diverse group of employees from Spain, France and Germany.  Mr. Berton is professional and well organized.  I strongly support this training for others who have employees that struggle with being understood on the job.

Speaker from India

I took the basic accent training course and have since received many compliments about my English. Jon has much experience in bringing together the cultural aspect of communication and ways to increase social awareness and informal conversation. I am from India, so I have not had difficulty with vocabulary and grammar, because I was taught English from a young age. I am planning to continue with this valuable training in 2016.

M. Viernes, 

Nurse
(San Francisco Hospital)

My problem was my foreign accent.  Patients sometimes could not understand me well.  Other times, co-workers would giggle when I mispronounced a word or medical term. It can be dangerous if you are misunderstood in the hospital profession.  For example, the difference between "can" and "can't" could be life threatening!  As a result of this training, I can also understand my co-workers who have different accents too.  I am more confident now, especially when speaking with my patients and physicians.

Native English speaker

with Southern Dialect
(Atlanta)

I have traveled around the world in the shipping industry.  I grew up in South Georgia and always felt a little self conscious about my speech and some of the grammatical differences that I learned as a child.  I sometimes felt judged by the way I talk. Jon helped me to learn Standard American English and become aware of some of those pronunciation and grammar differences with my Southern dialect.  I was happy to learn ways to improve my voice and speech.

Marketing Administrator

for European Products,
Finnigan MAT

I am grateful that I was able to have my company enroll me in this program. It was more than worth the cost and I plan to take future classes at my own expense. I learned more in two or three weeks than at some English classes that lasted a year. Co-workers have commented that they can understand me better now. I have a tremendous feeling of accomplishment and confidence.

F. Conway

(Finnegan Corporation)

I am one of the employees who took the accent training offered by Mr. Berton at our company. Over the course of 10 weeks, my general communication skills have dramatically improved. The confidence that I have for speaking at meetings in expressing my viewpoint, opinion, ideas, and giving constructive comments, is tremendous because I am aware that I am already speaking with the proper sounds of almost all English words, as well as the right intonation pattern of English.  Knowing and speaking English with the right pronunciation, gives me the assurance of being clearly understood.  It makes me more assertive in dealing and speaking with the public that we are interacting everyday at work. This foreign accent improvement course has greatly helped me in getting a passing grade in the oral portion of the Court Clerk Civil service examinations. Mr. Berton's systematic, effective, and unique method of teaching, is responsible for my dramatic improvement in communication skills and productivity on the job.

Vice President,

ILWU-FSC
Federal Credit Union (online)

Thank you very much for the opportunity to further my English skills through the P-ESL program. I thought I could never improve my accent after twenty years of speaking English.  However, with the techniques that I have learned, I know I will be able to achieve a goal that I thought was not possible.  Just recently a co-worker commented on the clarity of a presentation that I made earlier this month.  I understand my mistakes and feel certain that I can correct them.  Thank you again for your special effort.

Project Manager,

WYSE Technology
(Silicon Valley)

Dear Mr. Berton. I was extremely satisfied with the Accent Improvement training which I attended at your office. I have taken a variety of language courses over the years, but by far your unique background and knowledge of the material made all the difference.  I have learned invaluable communication skills, not just pronunciation, which have made an impact on my professional life. I will be recommending your training to my colleagues and friends.  

Sincerely,  M. Liang.

Arthur J. Compton,

Ph.D, Executive Director of ILP

Mr. Berton, as marketing director and accent trainer, successfully coordinated assessments and taught both individuals and groups of company employees at the Institute of Language and Phonology and on-site at a variety of large corporations throughout the Bay Area... I can in good faith strongly recommend Mr. Berton as one of our most competent group accent reduction trainers who has worked with me during the past twenty years.