Testimonials
“Working with Alice was a wonderful experience that changed my entire life in America. I thought to give up the American dream so many times and go back to my native country of Colombia. However, this course, and especially the effort, dedication and encouragement that I found with Alice, was the light at end of the tunnel. I recommend Alice Kamin and her program to any foreign people who want to achieve success in America. Communication is the key to success in America.”
Diego V.
Database Projects Specialist
“Grammar…..Pronunciation…..Intonation…..Writing….. all seemed like broken pieces
of a puzzle when I was learning the English language. Alice Kamin’s accent reduction course helped me put the
pieces back together and in the right place. Thanks, Alice! You made a difference in my daily life!”
Panos T, M.B.A.
Financial Management Consultant
“Ms. Kamin analyzed my speech and developed a personalized plan to work on my foreign accent and grammatical problems. She analyzed the reasons for my problems and worked with me systematically to correct them. Her knowledge, experience and patience made it possible for me to achieve noticeable improvement
in a short period of time. I feel much more confident in myself now and I wish I had taken this course earlier.
I strongly recommend this course to anyone who wants to improve his/her accent effectively and efficiently.”
Yilian Y, Ph.D.VP, Advanced Analytics IMS Pharmaceiticals
IMS Offers Cross Cultural Communication Program
As part of the expanded Cross Cultural Communication program, Human Resources worked with Alice Kamin, president and director of Speech Potential Associates to help employees overcome communication barriers in the workplace that stem from varying levels of linguistic ability, culture and communicative style.
“This program is about more than just accent modification,” said Sue R, director, Organizational Effectiveness and Learning. “This program helps address the challenges facing employees who, because of their accents or language differences, are sometimes misunderstood, misjudged or overlooked.”
Open to employees in all departments, and at all levels, participation is based on manager nomination.
Alice worked on-site, often one-on-one with participants, helping them develop better delivery and style in their presentations, meetings, interviews, telephone conversations and written communications. Each one followed a customized program based on a comprehensive testing which measured all aspects of the participant’s language skills.
Individual and group courses were offered on a weekly basis. Group training was offered in seminar, brown bag lunch and workshop formats. Workbooks, CDs and supplementary materials were used for instruction and assignments were given for daily practice. Assistance with preparing presentations, as well as formal and informal editing and critiquing of written documents was also be offered as a part of the program.
According to Alice, time commitment, motivation and practice are the key elements for an individual’s success in her programs.
Xiaolong J. a native of a China stated: “Working in my group requires clear and effective verbal communication with clients,” she said. “After training, I am more confident now when speaking with clients.”
Diana L, senior marketing specialist and a native of Colombia stated: “The cross-cultural program helps assure foreign employees that as long as they possess business expertise, the company will invest in their development to overcome communication barriers.
“The techniques that I acquired at Speech Potential brought the quality of my speech in
sync with the level of my message”
Klaus K, M.B.A.
Regulatory Compliance Consultant
“I really enjoyed the accent reduction course with Alice Kamin. She was very personable,
put me at ease, pinpointed and corrected my mistakes. She showed such genuine interest. This course made me aware of my pronunciation and intonation problems which I was never conscious of before. It has made a tremendous difference in my day to day English speaking skills. The course materials were also very helpful.”
Usha I M.S.
Senior Statistical Programming Specialist
“This course is wonderful! It brought back my confidence. I learned more than I thought
I would before I started. Not only did I learn the correct pronunciation of sounds, I learned more; beyond that,
I now understand the whole picture of the English language, including intonation, linking and grammar.”
Lin X, M.D., Ph.D.
We, the participants of the NRC Speech Enhancement Program (SEP), are very grateful to have had the opportunity to receive training in the SEP over the past years through the guidance of Alice Kamin. We have benefited from her comprehensive, systematic, and dedicated approach to speech enhancement.
Communication/language barriers are real and every-day hurdles for all people whose native language is not English Alice’s training program is specifically designed to enhance spoken and written English for non-native staff. We have improved our communication skills, gained more confidence in our job participation and improved our job performance. Some participants have been promoted to Division management positions; other participants have given clear and impressive presentations at public meetings, licensing hearings, and national and international conferences due to this wonderful training program. Those achievements not only improved staff’s job performance and generated a positive attitude toward our work at the agency, but also supported the highly reputable image of the NRC.
We believe Alice Kamin’s training is an extremely helpful program in promoting communication skills, by supporting the minority population at the agency, and breaking down barriers in communication among the multicultural workforce at the NRC and nuclear industries. We also strongly believe that our improved speech skills have greatly benefited the agency by promoting the full potential of the highly qualified technical staff ..”
It is my greatest pleasure to have worked with you. I have improved in my articulation, pronunciation, and presentation skills to enable me to communicate better with my colleagues, supervisors and the public.
Gary W, Reliability and Risk Engineer
Your guidance helped me to meet the challenges of leading a complex initiative and I will be always grateful. In the past, critiques were made to me on my communication style, but you were the only one who was able to assess my deficiencies and provide a method to address them… Thank you so much!”
Antonios Z, Senior Program Manager
Thanks again for your help with my speech.
Learning to speak and write like a native can improve communication, enhance someone’s career, etc. Most importantly, I think it can also help immigrants to achieve equality.”
Yuken W, Ph.D, Senior Mechanical Engineer
To me, participating the SEP program was certainly one of my best lifetime events. The program was very useful and beneficial, especially to me as I was longing to have such a training for a long time. Many class materials and instructions were very intensive and useful. The class formation were efficient and effective. I derived a great advantage from your patient corrections and case-specific advice, for which I am really appreciative. I am especially thankful for your review of my writings, sometimes with your extra time.
I am sure that I improved many areas in English, especially pronunciation and writing, even though they may not be sufficient to your standard. Most importantly, I acquired courage and confidence from the program and from you which will be among my great assets for the rest of my life.”
Hosung A, PhD, Senior Hydrologist
You have helped me a lot. I want to thank you for all you have done for me. You’ve really made an impact. I’ve really improved my public speaking skills thanks to you. THANK YOU for everything you have done for me.
Marilyn D, Project Manager/Chemical Engineer
I truly appreciate your teaching and I feel I have improved a lot in my spoken English.”
Jinsuo N, PhD. Senior Structural Engineer
“… I’m much more confident talking to people at my work place thanks to all your efforts. You did a great job with me and I’m sure you did a great job with the other members of the program as well.”
Marcos R, Structural Engineer
“I have learned a lot from working with you in this important skill building program and have seen improvements while communicating with others.”
Yen-Ming C, IT Specialist
“I’d like to say that I have enjoyed all my training sessions very much. What I have learned from you will benefit me for the rest of my life. Thank you very much.”
Jack Y. Z PE, PhD. Senior Engineer
“I have benefited from your superb linguistic skills and also commend your dedicated knowledge working with English as second language individuals. Both my s speaking and technical writing improved tremendously from your training.”
Casper S Ph.D., CHP, FHPS // Health Physicist
“We greatly appreciate your training that not only improved our job performance but also improved to our daily life. Thank you!”
Weijun W, PhD, Senior Research Engineer
“You taught me far more than Speech! I learned how to communicate more effectively and gain more confidence in presentations. I learned complete word production. to deliver clear messages, and I learned to overcome my language barrier. You did such a great job, I have really enjoyed my work with you.
George W, Ph.D, Structural Engineer
“I’ll be forever thankful for your help and everything that I learned in these past months. You are a great teacher and I am glad I had the opportunity to meet you and work with you.”
Daneira M, Project Manager
“I attribute a great part of my success in my job to what I have learned from my participation in your program, such as English knowledge (pronunciation, writing, grammar, presentation, etc.), confidence-building, and communication skills.”
Jane C, Licensing Assistant
“You have been an exceptional teacher and I have learned so much from you. I will definitely continue to improve my speech, organize my thoughts and say what I need to say in as short as possible a sentence. Thank you for all your priceless advice, dedication, support and guidance, it has truly been a pleasure working with you.”
Yessie C, Correspondence Manager
“I have benefited very much from your superb training …Both my speaking and technical writing improved tremendously from your classes.”
Tze-jer C Ph.D.,P.E., Fellow,ASME Senior Structural Engineer
