English in the City: Brushing up on Business and Conversational English Skills
In New York City, speaking and understanding English is necessary for running a business - it is the language which brings together ideas, clients and progress. Sometimes, however, knowing how to speak a language and being able to communicate clearly in that language are separate things. Reducing your accent, practicing communication and knowing the jargon of business English are important in NYC. Luckily, there are plenty of options to help you improve in these areas.
PRONUNCIATION AND ACCENT REDUCTION
There is no one correct way to speak English. It is a language as diverse as its speakers, which spread across the entire world. However, being an International and speaking with a heavy accent, despite the level of English, can be intimidating. Since the early 90s, New York has seen a rise in the popularity of accent reduction classes. Internationals and Americans with regional accents, have been seeking out speech therapists, language coaches, and even acting schools in hopes of reducing their native accent.Better Speech Now, run by two experienced speech pathologists, won the 2012 Queens Economic Development Corporation’s startup competition for their accent reduction program. The founding women, Elizabeth Schwartz and Sonu Sanghoee, pride themselves on providing individual attention to clients’ needs. Sanghoee herself is from India and understands personally the struggle to shed an accent. Native pronunciation is not something that simply leaves automatically once you’re in an English environment.Jennifer Pawlitschek of Powerful Speaking was featured in the New York Times for her work with accent reduction. She says that this is technically an incorrect term and should be called "learning an American accent." She works with students physically by repositioning their jaw and has clients re-learn the way they pronounce different letters of the alphabet.Voice coaches, such as with Justin Stoney of New York Vocal Coaching, have worked with internationals from businessmen to vocalists to reduce accents and promote clear speech.
BUSINESS ENGLISH
Learning general English is one thing, but learning business English is another. Business English classes in NYC can help you to use your English skills in a corporate environment as they teach you job etiquette, corporate idioms, and proper intonation. The New York English Schools Association offers a listing of English institutes which offer Business English courses. Universities also offer business English courses, and many allow you to take a single course without needing to matriculate.
- New York University School of Continuing and Professional Studies - NYU offers special ALI-Plus classes, focused on helping international professionals enhance their global careers. Intensive English classes are offered in a variety of professional fields such as finance, marketing, and real estate.
- Hunter College at CUNY - Hunter offers various career English courses within the Professional English Academy. Courses for professionals focus on grammar, writing, pronunciation, and speaking.
- Columbia University - Columbia offers several English for Professional Purposes courses, such as for law and business. They offer an intensive summer program through the university.
- Pace University - Pace offers several English for Professionals options. Two week courses, seven week courses, private instruction, and accent reduction classes are all available.
CONVERSATIONAL ENGLISH
Perhaps your English reading and writing skills are great, but speaking and listening provide a bit of a challenge or simply require more frequent practice. In partnership with volunteers of New York Cares, the New York Public Library offers free English conversation in NYC at various locations throughout the city. Small groups and one-on-one conversation are available. The volunteers are not ESL certified, but they are there to practice informal conversation on an intermediate level. Meetup.com also has a host of groups dedicated to English conversation in New York City. English Corner NYC Meetup is completely free and meets every Friday night at 7:00 p.m. Meet others who are perfecting their second language, or native speakers who are there to help. New York English Merge is a group with a similar focus. For a small fee, the group plans different events throughout the city such as guided museum tours, walking tours, dinner nights and more. Practice your English in a practical way and meet friends along the way. Merge also offers monthly workshops for varying levels to practice grammar aspects more directly.
SUPPLEMENT YOUR LEARNING
TV SeriesWe Are New York is an Emmy Award-winning TV show created especially for Internationals who have moved to New York and want to practice their English. The show aims to explain services throughout the city through practical English study. The show airs on NYCTV on Fridays at 10:00 p.m. and Sundays at 1:00 p.m. You can also live stream the show from their website at any time.Apps The amount of English learning apps available at the App Store and Google Play is enough to make your head spin. Here is a collection of a few apps to put your brain to use while you pass the time on the morning commute.
Word Dynamo by Dictionary.com is possibly the best English vocabulary app on the market. Receiving rave reviews for its easy-to-use design and immense content, Word Dynamo caters to various levels of learners from elementary level to college and beyond, and uses playful quizzes to keep users motivated. The app is $3.99, but worth investing in.Available for Apple and Android 
Sounds, created by Macmillan, is the perfect app for perfecting your English pronunciation. Centered around the phonetic alphabet, users can tap to hear any sound and an example of the word. Upgrading to the premium version gives users access to listening and recording words to store in a wordlist, practice pronunciation with quizzes and the availability of top tips and videos. It was also the recipient of the 2012 British Council ELTons Award for Innovation in Learner Resources.Available for Apple and Android
Word Wit and Phrase Wit are both brought to us by Ballpoint Inc. Some words in English are very similar to each other (ie. cite and sight), but how and when do we use them? Word Wit, for $0.99, is an interactive, colorful game that tests your ability to detect the differences. Phrase Wit is similar, but the app pushes you further to master full phrases in English and is offered for $1.99.Available at the App Store for iPhone and iPad Books: Learning IdiomsDavid Burke became known as the "Slangman" from his five year segment on a radio program that brought in 90 million listeners from 120 nations. His collection of Slangman books focus on common American phrases and idioms and are divided into "Street Speak" and "Biz Speak." He has organized the material in a thorough, practical, and easy-to-learn manner, which offers great independent learning or a supplement to rigid grammar material. His curriculum is used in prestigious schools such as UCLA, Harvard University, and New York University.Speak English Like an American by Amy Gillett continues to be a popular series for mastering English language that won’t be found in a grammar textbook. The series explores common idioms that are valuable for deeper communication and understanding in the US. Each book comes with a DVD to further understand execution and pronunciation.