by Travis James
Not sure how to buy an accent reduction course? This guide will walk you through what steps you can expect when buying an accent reduction course from an organization, institute, professional association or personal tutor.
This content is only relevant to accent reduction classes in the U.S.
There are a few different ways to buy accent reduction lessons depending on if you decide to purchase professional training or personal tutoring lessons. This guide will take you through your options, as well as the differences between buying accent reduction lessons from an association or professional organization vs. a personal tutor.
Corporate Training vs. Personal Training
Where you can buy accent reduction lessons depends on if you decide to buy a corporate-training course or personal tutoring. Corporate training is only available at organizations and associations, but personal accent reduction tutoring can be purchased from either a professional organization or a personal tutor.
Many professional trainers also offer a certificate for accent reduction courses, or accent reduction lessons that have been certified by an authority that rigorously accredited the course to ensure it meets professional training requirements. You can only buy certified accent reduction courses from an organization that offers corporate training.
You can find accent reduction training for sale by both personal tutors and professional organizations on ARTA’s website. You can also specifically search for certified accent reduction courses in most of the U.S. If you’re unsure whether to buy a personal or professional accent reduction course, read our professional accent reduction course buying guide and personal accent reduction course buying guide to learn more about the pros and cons of each.
Questions to Ask When Buying an Accent Reduction Course
Whether you’re buying an accent reduction course from a private tutor or organization, here are some questions to consider asking.
Did the vendor do any customization to the accent reduction course? If so, what and how?
This is mostly applicable to personal accent reduction course, but some professional accent reduction courses may include multiple communication topics.
How long has the organization or tutor been teaching?
Accent reduction tutors that have been teaching a shorter time may have more room for negotiation. To help you identify this, you can find the number of hours a corporate trainer was employed by ARTA .
Can I see a tutors teaching resume?
This allows you to see information like previous organizations or schools, client lists, accreditation and degrees. You can see the CV / teachers biography profile on some ARTA pages if you want to learn more about the teacher’s past before you sign up. You can also ask the trainer for their ARTA Certification to look up the inform teacher training requirements yourself.
How many people took this accent reduction course previously and what did they need it for?
Learning if a previous client used the accent reduction course for, say professional-development, can help you gauge how much professional-and-corporate the accent reduction course content it might have. You can cross-cultural the trainer’s discussions with the teaching history bio you get.
Does the current trainer work at any association of accent reduction training or is there a governing body they are employed by?
A deposit is put on an accent reduction course by potential clients when the trainer completes an assessment. The deposit needs to be paid off before an accent reduction course client can be enrolled, which means the trainer’s program manager will have to sign the registration before it’s sessions are attended. This is standard in organizations and important to ask about the terms if you’re buying from a professional trainer.
What kind of guarantee is available?
Most organizations will offer some kind of guarantee on a course, particularly corporate accent reduction programs. This will cover any conflicts or unexpected scheduling during the months the classes are taken.
The trainer should be knowledgeable and able to address your concerns, but don’t be skeptical if they can’t since there are a lot of clients and features available. However, if the trainer doesn’t take the time to answer or appears to be unresponsive in finding a resolution, it may be worth considering another trainer or talk to the company manager.
Buying an Accent Reduction Program From an Organization
Going to an organization is the traditional way to find employee development training. There are a lot of different types of suppliers. Some are small, others are large. Some only sell private training, while other sell private, group and certified employee development programs.
Pros of Buying From an Organization
▪ They have more programs to choose from in one program, making it easier to customize a few different training topics at once
▪ Accent reduction services purchased from organizations often come with a guarantee, which covers any unexpected or routine scheduling conflicts within the months after purchase
▪ Most organizations offer financing terms. If you buy from a personal tutor, you generally have to pay per lesson to a third party payment processor like PayPal, cash or credit card.
▪ It generally requires less manager oversight, especially for scheduling. For example, the organization administrator schedules the assessment and invoices all the registration fees, travel and expenses into one price. You need to pay these separately each time when you buy from a private tutor.
▪ It also generally requires less research about an accent reduction course’s reputation because most organization will proactively offer a case study or testimonials. When you purchase from a private tutor, you need to do this research yourself.
▪ They rely on their reputation to stay in business, which may mean more attention to customer service
Cons of Buying From an Organization
▪ Organization prices are often higher than private tutors
▪ There is the potential for a higher-pressure sales environment, since organizations need continuous sales to stay in business
▪ Prices may be fixed, potentially making negotiations more difficult
How to Buy an Accent Reduction Course From an Organization
When you’re ready to buy an accent reduction course from an organization, here are some tips to help you navigate the purchase.
Budget
Have a budget in mind before you contact, since it can be easy to spend beyond your limits once presented with add-on features. Have a budget for both your monthly invoice payment and the total purchase order, as sometimes organizations will present payment options that offer a lower monthly fee but require you to pay more for the accent reduction course over time because of interest.
Also, keep in mind that your monthly payments will vary based on feature add-ons, your interest rate and your tuition term (how long it take to pay off your course). You’ll also want to factor in monthly costs not related to the purchase, such as travel, ongoing fuel expenses, parking or toll fees and miscellaneous costs. Know that some accent reduction courses, like Boston accent reduction courses, New York accent reduction courses, Los Angeles accent reduction courses and Seattle accent reduction courses tend to have higher costs than others.
It’s usually helpful to talk to someone when first consulting with an organization. They can help you focus on your requirements and help define your goals by asking questions you may forget in the moment.
Integrate Your Current Employee Development Training Software
You can customize your current employee development training with the organization and blend it with your new accent reduction training course. However, you can usually get more value for your long term training requirements of your current accent reduction course if you compliment it with a learning management system (LMS) yourself. So if you have the time and energy to build the software yourself, this could be a way to offset the amount of money you put toward your short term accent reduction course requirement.
If you decide to integrate to your current employee training system with the organization, put together a feature list of all your Learning Management System (LMS) functionality. Showing the organization that the current LMS was well designed can help you increase the value of your training partnership. If you don’t have one, make sure you start one for the new accent reduction course you’re buying so you have it the next time you go to supply or train your next employee.
It’s also worth evaluating your current employee training development before you go to the organization. Don’t forget the computer language, because how clean you write the code of your software is often the most important task as how well you fix the bugs and do the database maintenance and general upkeep. If the organization thinks they won’t have to put as much work into your custom build, you may get a lower cost training option.
The Assessment
Once you’re in the assessment and start seeing training options you like, it’s time for the training assessment. Since assessments take time for both the trainer and your day, it’s recommended to only schedule an assessment when you’re seriously considering making a purchase. Most people only take 1-2 hours to complete an assessment, especially since consulting about accent reduction courses before registering for an accent reduction course is common.
Not all organizations require a trainer to be with you in an assessment, so you can ask to send a recording if you prefer. Keep these things in mind while you’re in your assessment:
▪ Turn off the phone and consider reserving a conference room so you can listen to the trainer. Listen to the feedback they give when you speak, vocalize, ask questions or read aloud. If their instruction is not clear, ask them to rephrase it.
▪ Speak aloud in varied situations, such as the formal setting, informal conversations, technical discussions and small talk. Consider your rhythm, pacing, and speaking into a microphone (online assessments) so they can get a sense of your English fluency.
▪ Turn up the audio and use your video camera at different times. Consider whether these feel intuitive to you, as this can determine how comfortable the audio quality in the virtual classroom is to work with on a weekly basis.
▪ If you’re buying an accent reduction course from a less experienced trainer to see how the more experienced ones compare.
You can learn more about questions to ask during a consultation in this guide about how to choose the right accent reduction course.
Financing
Most organizations will offer financing for both long-term and short accent reduction courses. Organizations tend to earn money by selling financing programs, so they may encourage you to use theirs. However, you can look for financing on your own through a bank, credit union or even a third party payment processor directly.
In general, it’s best practice to put as much money toward the accent reduction course upfront (also known as a “deposit”) and choose the shortest payment term you can afford. Loan terms are usually about 60 days long, but some organizations may offer 90-day terms. This may seem attractive because your installment is usually lower, but once you factor in the interest rate you’re paying each month, you may be paying much more for the accent reduction course than you want. That’s why it’s usually recommended to pay as much as you can afford per installment over a shorter period of time, since that means you’ll be paying less interest.
When discussing financing options, be wary of unrealistic ads showing very low interest rates or too-good-to-be-true terms. These may require very high credit scores and a large down payment, which most people don’t qualify for. You’ll find a loan calculator on some used cars listed by organizations. You can use it to get an idea of what you may be able to expect, but this isn’t a guarantee from the organization or institution since your personal credit will ultimately be the deciding factor on what loan terms you’re approved for.
Buying an Accent Reduction Course From a Private Teacher
Google and other online channels make it easy for anyone to buy and sell an accent reduction course. This provides economic opportunity for all people, while also giving course buyers access to more options.
Pros of Buying From a Private Teacher
▪ Accent Reduction course sold by private teachers usually cost less
▪ There may be more room for negotiating, because some private teachers are just looking to earn extra income rather than maximize profit.
▪ You’re less likely to feel pressure to buy. Most private teachers aren’t going to keep following up to earn your business.
Cons of Buying From a Private Teacher
▪ Some private teachers may not be as quick to respond since they aren’t relying on their reputation like a organization may be
▪ Identifying the condition of an accent reduction course takes more work since you’ll have to research the teacher’s work history yourself
▪ Finding your own teacher can be more time consuming
▪ You have to set up one-time classes with each individual teacher rather than going one place and taking multiple classes at once
▪ There will be more risk, since you’ll have to find your teacher first and interview any teachers around your schedule on your own time
Tips for Buying From a Private Teacher
Just like when buying from a organization, you’ll want to have a budget in mind and take any course you’re interested in for a trial class. However, since private teachers may not have the training or the motivation to sell an accent reduction course like an organization would, it’s best practice to do thorough research about the course before purchasing. Learn more about questions to ask the private teacher and other method tips in our accent reduction course buying guide.
If you decide to buy an accent reduction course from a private teacher, here are other things to keep in mind.
▪ Never wire money or consider paying in options other than cash or certified check. An enrollment specialist can hold the space for you until the registration is successfully completed.
▪ Research the policies to maintain class attendance in your accent reduction course before starting your training. You should be able to find this on your teacher’s website.
▪ Make sure that you and your teacher speak in advance about any schedule conflicts, which includes Summer vacations or suspending attendance to class, makeup days, cancellation policies for both parties
▪ Make sure the teacher provides the cost for material to you and has a contact for following up with questions as is required for the class work.
▪ Make sure the course’s material is up to date
▪ Ask for proof of cv or background on the teacher
If you decide to buy an accent reduction course from someone selling through an online Directory Site, see more tips that can help you navigate your purchase.
Ready to look for an accent reduction course?
If you’re ready to start looking for an accent reduction course, here are courses for enrolling by speech level and private goals for you. If you want to do more research first, see our other posts about buying accent reduction course.
This article covers:
- online vs. in person
- institution vs. private coach
- private vs. group
- short vs. long term
