Judy Ravin wants to break down the
language barrier between people who actually speak the same language.
Sounds funny, but it's meant success for her
five-year-old business - Accent Reduction Institute.
The Ann Arbor-based company focuses on accent reduction, enabling people who speak the same language to more easily understand each other. The firm has four full-time employees, 10 instructors, and two interns, who help bridge the language barrier of people who come here, play by the rules, learn the language, and still can't understand bumpkin or a Brooklyn accent.
"There is almost nothing available to our workforce," says Ravin, president and founder of Accent Reduction Institute. "I thought, 'Wow. We have a lot of people who are trying to contribute, who work in the global economy and there is nothing to help them."
And this service is increasingly in demand. Ravin has added three instructors since 2007 and plans to add four more by the end of the third quarter. They are trained to help people listen through accents and minimize their own for easier communication.
"It's not to eliminate an accent," Ravin says. "It's to eliminate a language barrier but maintain people's identity."
Source: Judy Ravin, president and founder of Accent Reduction Institute
Writer: Jon Zemke
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