Accent reduction process and alcohol
Drinking in excess can quickly impair reflexes and cause impulsive behavior. For non-native English speakers, alcohol amplifies your native accent while working against the muscle memory training exercises taught in Accent reduction. The parts of the brain responsible for Accent reduction become fatigued when someone has become legally drunk.
Often speakers with a foreign accent, who have ingested alcohol in excess, will only have one aspect of their accent affected, according to Dr. Amee Shah, director of Cleveland State University’s Research Laboratory in Speech Acoustics & Perception. Shaw is an Indian speaker who admits to having difficulty pronouncing /v/ sounds when tired. Any speaker can have any aspect of their speech negatively affected by physical conditions such as a flu or external factors, including temperature. The part of the Accent reduction process which is affected varies depending on the individual.
Accent reduction and the targeting of specific speech muscles
The speech patterns of people while intoxicated are often mocked. Harry Hollien and his research team recruited a group of college students and closely monitored their speech, noting any changes that emerged as their alcohol consumption increased.
One of the most intriguing observations was the pitch of the voice went up in accordance with the rate of alcohol consumption. Considering that research has also shown that native speakers of a language display a natural distrust towards people with an accent, a higher pitched voice would make it even more difficult for a speaker with an accent to be taken seriously.
Slurred or choppy speech commonly serves as the first indication an individual is drunk. Clients receiving Accent reduction therapy also have this problem at times because they feel as though the person they’re talking to won’t understand them unless they enunciate perfectly. An impossible feat even for native English speakers when intoxicated. 
Accent reduction: take control
If you would like to learn more about specific Accent reduction techniques, start by taking a free Accent reduction screening, which will provide you with a severity rating of your foreign accent on a seven point scale. For more information about our online and office Accent reduction programs, you can click here. To receive the latest updates and Accent reduction tips from Accent Pros, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, connect with us on LinkedIn, and Meetup with us if you’re in the Chicagoland area.
