PHOTO BY DANIEL LIPPITT
PHOTO BY DANIEL LIPPI
Accent Reduction Inc. in
Bingham Farms
(810) 788-1643
The 13-week course requires a
$95 materials and registration
fee in addition to $900 in tuition
for students who take a group
class of up to five people. Indi-
vidual lessons cost $2,000.
Wiliam Beaumont Hospital
in Royal Oak
Speech and Language
Pathology
(800) 633-7377, (810) 551-
2100
Speech
pathologists
are coming to the
rescue of
\_ non-native
speakers who
need a bit of
linguistic spit
and polish.
1 1
hen Dr. Maya Naz-
Mian first joined the
staff of Sinai Hospital
as a psychiatric resi-
dent three years ago,
she encountered an
obstacle she hadn't
anticipated: being un-
derstood by several of
her patients.
"I learned English as a child in
Pakistan, with a British accent,"
she said. "Many of my patients
complained they couldn't under-
stand me well. I had some trou-
ble putting the wrong emphasis
on syllables and with slang and
grammar."
Olivier Morisot's problems
tended to occur in social settings
rather than at his office, which is
multilingual. He moved to Michi-
gan last October from the French
town of Aluze to work for Engi-
neering Systems International
(ESI) in Troy.
"When I went somewhere on
weekends, or after work, I had
a hard time making myself un-
A consultation with Dr. Rick
Merson is required before an
individual can sign up for the
program. Cost of the 13-week
accent-reduction course is
$1,300 for individuals, $800
each for a group of two to five;
a shortened program of six ses-
sions is $600.
The programs use as a
derstood," Mr. Morisot recalled.
While social and professional base the Compton P-ESL
Sinai Hospital in Detroit
lives may suffer from poor in- curriculum, a system
Speech Pathology and Au-
flection or a heavy accent, there whereby the client's lan-
diology Department
also is a potential for life-threat- guage patterns are record-
ed and analyzed for aspects
13) 493-6315 to reach Lori
ening consequences.
Vski
"Think of the emergency room like inflection and enuncia-
0) 661-9400 to reach
where a foreign accent can be and tion. Depending on the in-
Schall
has been a genuine liability," said structor's style, other speech
00Cvfee covers individual
Dr. Rick Merson, a speech pathology methods are in-
evaluation, materials and a 16-
pathologist from William Beau- corporated into the pro-
ourse. Participants
wee
t i in
mont Hospital in Royal Oak. grams as well.
group sessions are charged,
One such program, Ac-
"When time is of the essence, you
$700 each.
can't afford to be misunderstood." cent Reduction Inc., was
The ramifications of being mis- launched last year in Bing-
understood are felt by the large ham Farms by veteran
Left:
body of highly educated people speech and language pathologists
with superb credentials who have Linda Jacobs and Ellen Fair- Dr. Asadollah Shahideh, a pediatric
immigrated to the United States brother, who together have a allergist, speaks into a microphone
from Asia, the Middle East and combined 48 years of experience during a recent consultation as
Dr. Rick Merson watches.
in speech pathology.
Russia in the past 10 years.
"Our
classes
are
designed
to
But, like many others, Dr.
Top:
Naz-Mian and Mr. Morisot are take up where English as a Sec-
Dr. Anna Fraymovich feels more
now finding that their commu- ond Language (ESL) programs confident with her English skills.
nication skills have taken strides typically stop," explained Ms. Ja-
since they enrolled in one of a cobs. "We're not trying to elimi- Above:
Linda Jacobs and Ellen Fairbrother,
handful of local language-polish- nate a foreign accent," Ms.
speech
and language pathologists,
said.
"That
can
be
-
Fairbrother
ing programs offered through
operate Accent Reduction Inc.
hospitals and private groups.
ACCENTS page 72