Wednesday, April 4, 2018 // The Statement
4B
Wednesday, April 4, 2018 // The Statement 
 
5B

Finding their voice: Inside an American 

accent workshop

by Maya Goldman, Daily News Editor

I

n an ivy-covered building hid-
den in the depths of the medi-
cal campus, a big wooden table 
sits in the center of a small blue 

room. At the head of the table sits Senior 
Speech-Language Pathologist Gordon 
Krainen, who leads a workshop titled 
“Speaking American English: A Com-
munication Skills Workshop for English 
Language Learners.” Surrounding him 
are five participants from across the 
world, and with Krainen’s help, they’re 
all trying to master the American accent.

This is the third week of the seminar, 

and they’re working on the differences 
between “s” and “z” sounds. It’s a differ-
ence that can seem obvious to a native 
English speaker.

“I didn’t know about these things until 

I started studying this,” Krainen assures 
the group.

But many non-English languages don’t 

distinguish between the two sounds. 
They have other sounds native English 
speakers might not pick up on at first, too. 
According to the Linguistic Society of 
America, this is part of the reason speak-
ers of different languages have different 
accents. While humans are born with the 

capability to produce and perceive all the 
sounds available in the world, they learn 
early on which ones are used in their own 
languages and which ones not to worry 
about.

“The older you get, the harder it 

becomes to learn the sounds that are part 
of a different language,” the Society’s 
website reads.

This is exactly the task the six reg-

istered course participants — Krainen 
shies away from using the word “stu-
dents” because he sees them as his equals 
— are trying to accomplish through 
this 10-week course. Each participant 
has been learning English for at least a 
decade, so they all have a strong com-
mand of the language, but none of them 
previously 
practiced 
speaking 
much 

until they came to the United States. And 
while every participant has their own 
reason for taking the course, all are cen-
tered around the same theme: building 
confidence.

Zoey, an LSA sophomore from China 

studying computer science, asked not to 
have her last name printed—she hasn’t 
brought up the fact that she’s taking the 
class with her friends yet. Smiling from 

the moment she hurries into the room 
with a bulging backpack and headphones 
around her neck, it’s difficult to imag-
ine her classifying herself as shy. But 
she came to the workshop because she 
found herself too nervous to speak in his-
tory discussions. She worried her profes-
sor wouldn’t be able to understand her 
accent.

“I’m afraid of speaking out because 

they cannot understand what I’m say-
ing,” she said. “And I have the idea that 
my pronunciation is somewhat different 
from the standard American accent, but 
I cannot tell where I should improve, so 
I took this class to see what’s wrong with 
my pronunciation.”

Next to her sits Sandra, a Spanish lan-

guage lecturer in the Residential Col-
lege from Peru who also didn’t want her 
last name printed. Because she speaks 
Spanish at work and at home, she hasn’t 
had much time to practice her American 
accent. When she has to clarify a word 
for her students in English, she worries 
they can’t tell what she’s saying.

“If I need to clarify a word, I need to be 

speaking english and the student is clue-
less!” Sandra said. “Sometimes they’re 

like what? So I have to repeat the same 
thing.”

On the other side of the table is Lau-

rent Burlion, a quiet visiting aerospace 
engineering scholar from France with a 
friendly face. He says his wife suggested 
he take the class so he would feel more 
comfortable speaking up— in English or 
in his native French.

“I’m here to learn to open my mouth,” 

Burlion said. “But I think it’s also use-
ful for my French because my wife also 
thinks that I don’t open my mouth… And 
also I have remarked that here in the 
U.S., often people ask me to repeat. So 
I’m here to improve my speech so I don’t 
have to repeat all the time.”
K

rainen is a mild-mannered guy 
who readily doles out positive 
reinforcements to his clients. 

He’s a trained speech pathologist and 
became interested in accent modifica-
tion about 25 years ago. While speech 
pathologists often treat people who have 
communication or neurological disorders 
that affect their speech, Krainen found 
himself drawn to helping people who had 
a social desire to alter their speech. After 
noticing a need for an accent modifica-
tion workshop on the University of Mich-
igan’s campus two years ago, Krainen 
decided to started the workshop.

Most of the workshop’s participants 

find out about it through word-of-mouth 
recommendations or some limited adver-
tising around the University and online. 
According to Jennifer Corey, Clinic Man-
ager for the University Center for Lan-
guage and Literacy, the department in 
which the workshop is housed, some of 
the online advertising caused the work-
shop to come under fire this past winter 
for being potentially “insensitive.” While 
the UCLL did not disclose much infor-
mation about the pushback, Corey said 
she remembered it having to do with an 
angry Facebook comment.

“A person may have thought that we’re 

trying to change something that’s part of 
someone, and why do you want to change 
this person when you’re perfectly fine 
the way they are?” Corey said.

Indeed, it’s easy to imagine why some 

might question the motives of this work-
shop. What’s wrong with an accent? But 
Corey explained goal of the workshop is 
not to paint any accent as “incorrect” or 
to minimize anyone’s culture. It’s a self-
selecting course that seeks to help inter-

ested people communicate with their 
peers.

“We’re not trying to change someone,” 

Corey explained. “That person is coming 
to us, because they’re having difficulty in 
whatever situation they’re in… we’re not 
going to get rid of their accent. We value 
everybody’s accent.”

Despite some pushback, the workshop 

continues to grow in popularity. Krainen 
still wants to keep it small, though—it’s 
more impactful that way, he says.

The small size also makes sense consid-

ering how labor-intensive the class is for 
Krainen. During the first hour-long class 
of the seminar, he has each participant 
complete a small video-taped assessment 
so he can analyze their speech patterns. 
He guides them through what an accent 
is, how they acquired their accent and 
the reason their languages’ sound sys-
tems are different from the one English 
employs.

The next week, after he’s analyzed 

the tapes, Krainen makes a list of goals 
for each person, complete with all the 
sounds he thinks they need to work on. 
Sometimes the modifications are more 
grammar-based, like making sure to tack 
an “s” sound on the end of a plural noun, 
and other times they’re specific vowels or 
consonants he thinks could be improved. 
Sometimes the group has similar things 
to work on; sometimes each person has a 
totally different curriculum.

Krainen 
doesn’t 
mind 
the 
work, 

though. He says the real challenge is 
keeping up with the progress his partici-
pants make.

“They’re so bright, so motivated,” he 

said. “I’ve got to stay somewhat ahead of 
them just to say well, ‘Oh OK, you guys 
are challenging me now.’ But it’s a real 
fun experience and I’m hoping to see it 
keep on going.”

It seems like one would have to be 

bright and motivated to commit them-
selves to the accent modification process. 
Krainen recommends 15-20 minutes of 
practice outside of class every day.

To him, it’s like playing the piano. 
“I play piano, and you have to learn 

some basic chords, basic scales to learn 
the tune and then to get really good 
you’ve got to do it for a long time and 
really go over these things,” he said. “You 
could take lessons for almost forever and 
keep on improving… it’s the same idea of 
fine tuning.”

Burlion agrees constant practice is the 

only way he would actually be able to 
develop a more American accent. Even if 
he does that, though, he knows it could 
take him a long time to get to where he’d 
like to be.

“I feel mistakes, but it’s step by step,” 

Burlion said. “I think I need to practice a 
lot. But I have realized that I can do it. I 
can practice, and step by step it’ll come.”

Sometimes, though, practicing itself 

is a daunting task for Burlion. He says 
he’s finding the class valuable, but now 
instead of feeling more able to open his 

mouth, his new knowledge of American 
pronunciation makes him want to keep 
it shut all the more. In class, Gordon 
stresses the importance of exaggerating 
certain vowels, but Burlion worries about 
overdoing it.

“I’m afraid to exaggerate and make 

people laugh, you know? If I say I need 
to SOOOOlve the PROOOOOBlem, people 
will laugh,” he said.

Even if he doesn’t practice his own 

accent much at work, Burlion finds him-
self paying close attention to how his col-
leagues speak.

“Now every time I go to a seminar, I 

understand the math or something like 
that — it’s very interesting — but I’m 
focused on the accent! I’m like ‘Oh wow, 
they speak so well!,’” he said. “I could not 
do any seminar! Not because of the math 
or engineering stuff, but because of my 
accent. I find everybody — they speak so 
well!”

Of course, the intricacies of an Ameri-

can accent can’t be learned in just 10 
weeks. Jason, a Chinese engineer who 
isn’t affiliated with the University, found 
out about the workshop through his boss 
at Chrysler. He found the course so help-
ful that he’s currently taking it for the 
third time.

“I think the first purpose (of taking the 

class) is to improve (my) work relation-
ship with my co-workers, because they 
are all Americans,” Jason said. “I think 
the second purpose is also life, because 
I’m living in the U.S., and it’s an English-
speaking country. When I watch TV or 
read the news or read books, I have to 
speak English. So it’s much better for me 
to improve my English.”

Chan Jong Na, an enthusiastic and 

talkative LSA sophomore who goes by 
CJ, is on his second time through the 
workshop. Originally from Korea, he 

spent two years of high school in Michi-
gan but came to Krainen because he felt 
like he could only improve so much on 
his own. Na is so dedicated to modify-
ing his accent that he also pursued other 
avenues of working on it.

“I took an Intro to Acting class last 

semester,” Na said. “I think it helped me 
speak better English. It’s more vibrant, 
acting— it’s lively English.”

Na and Zoey, who are taking this class 

on top of their regular academic sched-
ule, say finding the time to practice is 
almost an impossible task. While Zoey 
hopes to continue working on her accent 
next year, she thinks it’ll be easier for her 
to practice on her own from the textbook 
all course participants get for the work-
shop.

“For the next year, I think I’ll have 

more difficult courses, and (it’ll be) hard 
for me to make time for this course,” she 
said. “But I think I may follow the book 
and practice following the recording and 
try to speak more English.”

Na agrees it can be overwhelming to 

work on his accent at the same time as 
his schoolwork, but he says it helps to 
remember why he’s taking the class in 
the first place.

“(In the past) my friends would point 

out, ‘Hey, you said that again,’” he said. 
“But now I don’t hear that that much, so I 
have more confidence.”
I

t’s the last session of the class, a 
cold and dreary Michigan day at 
the end of March. The class start-

ed with six participants, but attendance 
has dwindled. Only Na, Zoey and Sandra 
could make it this week. According to 
Krainen, past workshops have had more 
consistent attendance, but he under-
stands it can be difficult to find time.

Krainen begins the session by record-

ing each person saying a list of words. 

With a small handheld camera and a 
little black tripod, he video-tapes each 
person reciting their list. Just like at the 
beginning of the workshop, he plans on 
analyzing the recording and emailing 
everyone a list of sounds they could con-
tinue to improve on if they choose to keep 
practicing.

“I want to say, I’m really impressed 

with all of you and the work you’ve 
done,” he tells them at the end of the 
class. Krainen is always quick to chime 
in with positive reinforcement, and this 
is no exception.”

“You’ve showed progress. It’s not an 

overnight process, it’s a gradual process, 
and you’ve got to immerse yourself. Con-
gratulations, you guys, you did a great 
job.”

The class is over, but the participants 

want to keep improving. Sandra says she 
feels like she still struggles with many 
parts of the American accent, but she’s 
beginning to recognize her mistakes. 
Na says he knows he’s getting better but 
isn’t ready to stop working at it. He might 
come back for a third go at the class next 
fall.

“I’m definitely getting my points 

across, but the thing is, whenever I 
make a mistake I know it, and it’s kind of 
embarrassing,” he said. “So I’m trying to 
make that happen less often.”

Zoey feels more confident now, though 

speaking up in her history discussion is 
still scary.

“I’m still scared, even today!” she said. 

“I think basically it’s the information, 
and I’m not quite sure how the Ameri-
can students can speak up so quickly, and 
how they can organize their sentences in 
such a short time.”

“Oh, but if we were to learn Chinese we 

would be kind of slow too, to respond,” 
Krainen assures her.

Amelia Cacchione/Daily 

The class practices reading sentences from a workbook during a Speaking American English workshop.

Amelia Cacchione/Daily 

LSA sophomore CJ Na reads from a workbook at the Speaking American English workshop.

