User:Amaki

=My Profile=

Professional Background
Hello! My name is Anne Maki, and I live in Wichita, Kansas USA. I am a "Corporate Speech Trainer" in private practice with a background as a nationally certified speech language pathologist. My area of focus is "serving accented professionals" through polishing pronunciation skills and teaching the common rhythms and vocal inflection patterns of "standard" American English to fluent, non- native speakers of English.

I have practiced in medical speech pathology for 25 years, and have been specializing in American English accent training for eight years, originally starting in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and now in Kansas, after my husband's job transfer. Clients are typically professionals such as physicians, nurses, engineers, professors, ESL teachers, transIators, etc. I am passionate about helping people improve speech clarity, as it effects every area of their lives, personally and professionally. I have come to learn that being misunderstood because of a speech accent can be a very emotional and frustrating experience. I am very compassionate and have a much better understanding of that now! My clients report they feel more confident, less embarrased by misunderstood words, have fewer requests for repetition, and feel they may have new career opportunities with polished communication skills. My focus is on speech clarity, rather than accent elimination, as accents are an asset when clearly understood! Most people LOVE accents! I know I do! :)

My interest in joining this class is to become more proficient and knowledgeable in the realm of distance learning/eLearning to enhance the experience and effectivness of accent training for individuals and groups I serve. It seems the more we incorporate the varied technology "out there" into the classroom experience, the more exciting the learning becomes! I look forward to sharing information through Wiki to educate and help others improve their communication skills. The collaborative group learning model through Wiki seems perfect for accent training classes, especially if paired with Skype or other video/audio sessions.

Education
Master's degree in Speech-Language Pathology at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, Illinois (USA)

Professional
Learning and applying the latest, most engaging educational tools to best serve clients, and make life easier for others.

Personal
Spending time with family, walking, camping, reading, learning.

My Sandbox
/My sandbox/

My Reflection
The collaborative educational exchange and concept of OER is fabulous! I am excited to learn all about it and be a contributor as well.

Feedback &amp; Notes from my WikiNeighbours
Hi Anne! Do you have Finnish background? You're name is almost like a Finnish name Anne Mäki. It's nice to know you! --Teromakotero 19:21, 24 April 2010 (UTC)