Check out Lauren’s article in this month’s MultiLingual for a primer in cultural competency and cross cultural communication. “Why You Should Localize Your Business Communication.” (p.36) The post Why You Should Localize Your Business Communication appeared first on CAL Learning ..read more

Learn how to make your technical presentations more understandable, engaging and memorable with phrasing, stress, and intonation. Watch my video Improve Your Presentation with Stress and Intonation, presented for the Sino-American Pharmaceutical Professionals Association – Greater Philidelphia (SAPA-GP) on May 31, 2021 Click here to view video The post Improve Your Presentations With Stress and Intonation Video appeared first on CAL Learning ..read more

View the video of my presentation Improve Your Presentation with Stress and Intonation, presented for the Chinese American Chemical Society (CACS) on January 19, 2021. Learn how to use phrasing, stress and intonation to be more understandable, engaging and memorable. Listen to and mimic pronunciation and stress, and adopt the rhythm of English. Practice! Thank you to CACS for sponsoring the event! Check out the video here. The post Improve Your Presentation with Stress and Intonation Video appeared first on CAL Learning ..read more

View the video of my presentation Accent Reduction for Chinese Speakers, presented for the Sino-American Pharmaceutical Professionals Association Greater Philadelphia (SAPA-GP) on August 5, 2020. Learn 3 common problems for Chinese speakers and how to correct them. Listen to and mimic pronunciation and stress, and adopt the rhythm of English. Practice! Thank you to SAPA-GP and and Bristol Meyers Squibb for sponsoring the event! Check out the video here.   The post Accent Reduction For Chinese Speakers video appeared first on CAL Learning ..read more

Accent Reduction for Chinese Speaker This small group class is for Chinese speakers who want to be more understandable and more fluent in their speech. Taught by CAL Learning president Lauren Supraner, who has been helping Chinese professionals improve their speaking skills for more than 15 years  Visit CAL Learning for a course description  or contact us to register or for more information on our accent reduction programs. Register Today! Next Session Starts Soon! 8-week program. 90-minute class meets once a week for 8 weeks Maximum 4 learners Class dates: Monday, May 18-July 6 ..read more

I listen to New York Governor Cuomo’s daily briefing not only because I’m a New Yorker, but because he is a great communicator. People from around the country listen to him for both what he says and how he says it. It is both the content of his speech and his delivery that together make him a strong, persuasive, speaker. Here are 8 great speaking tips the Governor uses to gain the trust of so many Americans. 1.      He relies on factsHe delivers the facts, good and bad, and respects the audience enough to draw their own conclusions. Science, facts, and data add ..read more

Do you have trouble being understood on the phone? Do you constantly have to repeat yourself? Are you a better communicator when speaking face-to-face? Communication is…. . . With visual clues gone in phone conversation, vocal qualities – your tone, stress, pitch, speed, volume, accent – carry the message. These are all qualities  you should strategically use to make your message clear. Two speaking qualities that will help you become immediately more understandable are phrasing and stress. Phrasing English speakers do not speak word by word, but in short phrases.  When speaking on the phone ..read more

Stress is extremely important in English.  Using the wrong stress can make it difficult, or impossible, for native speakers to understand you. While it takes time and effort to master stress patterns, here are 3  word stress patterns that are easy to learn and use. The stressed syllable should be said louder, held longer, and have a higher ptich.  Try to recognize these patterns when you listen to native speakers. Practice using them in your daily speech. 1.  Compound nouns – stress the first syllable A compound is two words that together make one noun. Practice stressing the first syllable in ..read more

Schwa /ə/     The schwa is the most common vowel sound in American English and can be made with any vowel. The schwa is a vowel sound in an unstressed syllable. It is key to both word and sentence stress. How to make this sound This vowel sound is short and quick. It sounds like “uh.”  The tongue is relaxed and resting in the center of the mouth. Don’t move your tongue forward, back, up, or down. Do not tense your tongue muscle.  The mouth is slightly open and the jaw is relaxed. “uh” Problems for non-native speakers Many non-native speakers have trouble making this sound because they retain ..read more

Stress for Numbers Many non-native speakers of English have difficulty hearing and saying the differences between numbers such as 13 and 30.  The solution is quite simple, and once you become aware of the rule, it is an easy error to fix. There are two important differences in the pronunciation: syllable stress and pronunciation of the letter t. Syllable Stress Every word in English has one stressed syllable that is said louder and held longer. thir in thirteen is the unstressed syllable. It is  short and quick. thirTEEN thir in thirty is the stressed syllable. It is long and clear. THIRty Pro ..read more