Accent reduction services

About our program

Since 1987, Columbia Speech and Language Services, Inc. has had a Vancouver Accent Reduction course designed especially for each of our valued clients.

We are the first clinic in Western Canada to have brought the methods and techniques of clinical speech therapy to accent modification training. After all of these years, we are still under the management of clinic founder and award-winning speech-language pathologist, Wendy Duke. She has been joined by veteran speech-language pathologist and accent specialist, Tracey Jalovec, who has been running all of our accent reduction programs for over 20 years. Unlike other agencies, Columbia Speech and Language Services, Inc. is not a franchise of a large international or national business chain; with the owner of our clinic on-site, we are able to quickly and flexibly meet the foreign accent reduction training needs of each of our clients, including you! 

If English is not your first language, improving your Canadian pronunciation can:

• Improve your ability to express yourself
• Prevent miscommunications
• Help your clients and colleagues recognize the value of your ideas
• Improve your English pronunciation

We’ve helped hundreds in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland with their accents and Canadian pronunciation improvement. Our prepaid programs include:

• Phonetic speech analysis of your accent and voice that identifies areas for improvement
• Detailed and professional instruction from a Registered Speech-Language Pathologist
• Individually designed accent modification program that includes special vocabulary used in the workplace
• Effective home practice activities to maximize accent reduction
• Certificate of completion

Program options and costs

All of our programs start with an initial consultation. This is a single appointment (just under an hour in length) that consists of some initial speech analysis as well as a chance to discuss any areas you’d like to work on with the speech-language pathologist. The cost of this appointment is $250.

After that, you can choose from three prepaid programs:

• One-on-one (individual/private) sessions
• Small group sessions
• Intensive programs, which combine both one-on-one and group sessions

All of our prepaid programs are accompanied by a practice manual, audio practice materials and a range of other handouts depending on what you’d like to work on. Note that groups are on hold at this time due to COVID-19 precautions. Please email us to enquire about group programs.

For one-on-one sessions, there is no set schedule; you may choose to start the program at a time of your choosing and can schedule the appointments at times mutually agreed upon by you and the speech pathologist. Please note that additional fees may apply if you do not complete your program within 6 months.

Still have questions? Please check out our Frequently Asked Questions page or send us an email!