10 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
10 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

Has anybody trained Filipinos to speak Americanized English?

by Delta223
7 replies
The Filipinos I use for basic administrative work typically have English accents that are thick enough that you can tell they either don't live in the US or are new immigrants. I can't have this for my account managers who deal directly with clients. This means my options are to hire locally, or find/train Filipinos to speak English with an Americanized accent.

Has anyone else successfully pull this off? Thanks for your insights.
#americanized #english #filipinos #speak #trained
  • Profile picture of the author BizQ
    I teach ESL, among other things.

    Linguistics is a tricky subject, especially as it pertains to accent reduction. You can't just say "talk like me" and expect that to be useful.

    However I have found that people from the Philippines can have very good American accents. This is why I am partial to Filipino VA's. However, as far as accents go, it just depends on their own language ability. But if I was looking for a country to outsource to based on accent, that would be my top choice.

    Sorry if that is not helpful. I am sure if you had the time to learn accent reduction techniques, you could teach someone. But the question is, is that worth it for your business model?
    Signature

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8233393].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author cypherslock
    This might help you out: Replace Yourself In Your Business By Outsourcing To The Philippines.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8233403].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author John Jonas Phil VA
    My suggestion would be to hire someone with call center experience. Most call center agents in the Philippines go through language training where they are taught to speak in different accents (depending on the account their holding). I know this for a fact because that's what my cousin does. She works in a call center and her job is to train agents with their accents for 2 weeks before she lets them do live calls.
    Signature
    Hire a Filipino virtual assistant and make your business better through outsourcing.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8234996].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author bsummers
    We have agents that are Filipinos. Before we deploy them, we make sure that we familiarize them with the american accent.

    Agree with BizQ that it depends on their language ability. There are places in the Philippines that have thick accent that can be challenging to reduce. But all in all, we have no problem. In time, they adapt the accent. I say they are trainable.

    Hope this helps.
    Signature
    Need help in LEADS for your business? Ask me on how to generate qualified and targeted leads from appointment setting and lead generation campaigns through calling, social media and email marketing.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8241091].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author shane_k
    Not sure what BizQ and Bsummers mean about language ability. But as someone who has been trained in the Standard American Accent I would recommend this site.

    www.corffvoice.com


    When I went through Acting school we were trained in the strategies that this company teaches.

    Alot of my classmates were from Asia and had thick asian accents and were taught the Standard American Accent and how to reduce their own accent using these techniques. And we had 1 class per week for 3 months and there were huge dramatic differences in the qualities of their voices.

    Sure they still had accents in their normal everyday speech, but when it came time to do a scene and the camera started rolling, they could change the sound of their voice to american standard so you didn't notice the accent.

    So one thing you can do is either buy this program and ship it to your outsourcers, or have them maybe take accent reduction classes in their country if offered, or just choose other outsourcers.

    Maybe in your posting for outsourcers put down "minimal accent" as a requirement.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8242032].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author David Ogden
    As an English person who has lived in the philipinesfor over 4 years I can tell you that the most filipinoes speak American not English. the so called English spokne by teachers is American including the spelling. We have recently relocated to Cyprus and Iamhappy to say they speak English here
    Signature

    David Ogden an Entrepreneur at Markethive which uses a suite of free marketing tools to promote his opportunity. Contact:- Telegram @davidogden

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8242078].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author mert
    i would suggest that you first screen the personnels you are hiring. ensure that they have great speaking skills and have the right accent to do the job. but if you don't want to lay them off, might as well stick with them after all sooner or later they will develop the right accent for you to work with.
    Signature
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8243555].message }}

Trending Topics