Why choose Ear & Speak?
Too many people buy unintelligent software, attend impersonal group classes, try one-size-fits-all “personal” training, or sign up for online courses that promise a lot and deliver very little actual progress after the investment.
If you are concerned about aspects of your communication, consider how important personal, reliable, specialist feedback can be.
Your needs, not the teacher’s
It doesn’t matter if you come for elocution classes, accent modification training or some other reason, the focus is on your needs and concerns. Ear & Speak doesn’t expect or force you to adopt a particular way of speaking. We work with clients in Melbourne and elsewhere who feel the need to change their pronunciation in some way, and we are sensitive to their reasons.
Some clients want to build confidence, some to sound more international, some just want to be more easily understood, and some want to sound more Australian. We understand your personal goals.
Changing how you communicate in English takes time. There are no miracle solutions to speaking better. Some problems are easier to solve than others, but you have to be willing to work at it in your normal day-to-day language use. Everyone can change if they need to.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you think we can help you.
Intensive classes
The most effective training allows time for practice, feedback and reinforcement. However, some clients from other places need an intensive accent reduction course or speech lessons during short visits to Melbourne, so a special schedule of classes can be prepared on request.
Note that intensive training is exhausting and still requires a large degree of practice afterwards. You should contact Ear & Speak well in advance, so that a sensible schedule can be discussed.
Training with Ear & Speak
Ear & Speak combines many of the elements of elocution, voice coaching, public speaking and accent/dialect coaching. Training involves solving both urgent and long-term issues in a straightforward, no-nonsense manner.
Almost all of the training offered by Ear & Speak is one-on-one. There are no ‘classrooms’ and no ‘programs’ — this is about individuals. Group training and short courses (eg, at TAFE colleges) can help new learners with limited knowledge of English, but are rarely suitable for people who have become used to speaking English.
At Ear & Speak the focus is on the challenges faced by the individual client. Emphasis is placed on:
- practice as part of everyday routines, and
- strategies and exercises to solve your problems.
Training uses the specialist skills of the principal consultant, Dr Duncan Markham, supported by:
- handouts provided for targeted practice, and
- recordings prepared when they are relevant and helpful to your particular needs.
New language skills (accent, pronunciation, grammar, style, elocution…) do not appear in an instant. Sometimes Ear & Speak receives enquiries from people who want their accent ‘removed’ in just a few weeks — that is totally unrealistic: Specific problems can be solved very quickly, but changing the whole picture takes time.
Your new skills will develop gradually (mostly outside my office!): just as driving a car, or learning to paint, or being able to swim 50 laps takes time. It’s not like taking a slimming tablet or an aspirin. Ear & Speak doesn’t give clients lots of sit-down homework, but we do (sometimes loudly) insist that clients practise in everyday life. Developing the necessary skills requires patience, an open mind, and a sense of fun or experimentation — if you don’t have those, then Ear & Speak will try (!) to show you how.
