Veronica Peña knew her accent was hard for some people to understand.

From Colombia, South America, Peña came to the United States three years ago. Although she was a medical student in Colombia, she worked here as a housekeeper for a year while she worked on her English.

When she applied for a position as a patient care assistant at Lancaster General Hospital, she was worried that patients wouldn't understand her accent.

Nurse manager Cindy Stauffer recommended Peña join a new accent reduction class that was available to international staff on 4 Lime's orthopedic unit last fall. Peña jumped at the opportunity.

Their instructor, Sheri Brooks, owner of Fluency Connection in Millersville, specializes in helping non-native English speakers reduce their accent enough to be easily understood. She does individual and group instruction.

"I have no desire to eliminate accents," Brooks, who proudly speaks with her own Southern accent, said. "There's a huge difference (between) eliminating an accent and reducing an accent. The only thing I'm concerned about is having people communicate effectively."

In a hospital setting, communication between the patients and the staff is essential, Stauffer said. So when patient surveys during and after the hospital stay indicated some patients had difficulty understanding some of her staff, Stauffer looked for a way to change that.

On the advice of a co-worker, she contacted Millersville International House, an organization that provides housing and language instruction for international students. The organization subcontracted with Brooks.

Last fall, Brooks came to the hospital for 10 90-minute sessions. One session for placement, eight for specific topics and one for review — all individually tailored to the specific students and their medical work environment.

One of the most exciting moments for the students, Brooks said, was when they understood they didn't have to pronounce every letter in every word. For example, "aspirin" looks like it should be pronounced with three syllables, but native English speakers tend to drop the first "i" and simply say "as-prin."

Other words follow similar patterns, Brooks said. Once students learn those patterns, they can apply them to many words.

Accent reduction is much more than word pronunciation, Brooks said. "There's the rhythm; there's the pitch; there's pauses — all of those carry meaning. They don't just make you sound right."

You can take the same sentence with the same words and give it two different meanings depending on which words you emphasize or how you say the words, Brooks said.

Native English speakers will understand that difference in meaning, she said, but someone new to the language doesn't recognize that difference.

Another accent reduction skill involves making and shaping the specific sounds in a word.

Peña worked on pronouncing "th" because that's not a sound used in Spanish. She also worked on pronouncing consonants at the end of her words, like saying "said" instead of "say."

Some patients are hearing impaired, Stauffer said, and rely on reading lips to help them understand. So Brooks worked on teaching the nurses how to position their tongues, lips and even their jaws to produce sounds correctly. Then, it's easier for patients to lip read.

Stauffer said she has observed the students speaking more slowly, with more projection and with more careful enunciation since they took the class.

Melody, one of the nurses who took the class, said the class was helpful, but she wishes it was still going on. Ten weeks was not long enough to "untwist your mouth to sound like an American." She asked that her last name not be used.

Brooks said she admires students who are brave enough to work on improving their language skills.

"It is a very humbling experience to be immersed in another language," she said. "I admire people who are willing to continue to improve, because it's hard work."

Accent reduction classes are advanced-level classes, Brooks said. Students usually are accomplished professionally, already have good grammar and a strong vocabulary, yet they are frustrated.

They say, " 'People aren't understanding me. I studied English for years. I know I'm speaking correctly, and people don't understand me.' "

Brooks is confident, however, that every person can improve his or her language skills. She's also confident that doing so is beneficial for the work environment and for relationships.

Whether it's co-workers who need to be able to understand each other better, patients who need to understand their nurses' instructions, or a mother who wants to advocate for her child in school, being able to communicate and be understood helps people get along.

"A person who is understood then can talk about who they are and where they are from, and people actually like the accent and think it's quaint and interesting," Brooks said. That positive communication then leads to better relationships.

Accent reduction classes also can work in reverse, Brooks said. Some companies teach native English speakers the common sounds of their co-workers' languages so comprehension is improved.

At Lancaster General, Stauffer said, patient complaints stopped once the class was complete. Peña said her patients understood her "100 percent better."

Stauffer would like to see the accent reduction classes incorporated organizationally, although she recognizes it can be a sensitive topic.

To suggest to staff members that they could benefit from accent reduction could be seen as a put-down. Stauffer didn't have that problem with her staff, she said, because she already has an open, honest relationship with them.

"I think that we cannot feel scared to try," Peña, who would like to see more staff members, including doctors, take the classes, said.

"We just need to try. We have to be humble too," Peña said. "We know that we are not from this country, and we really need to learn to provide better care to patients."

To learn more about accent reduction locally, visit www.FluencyConnection.com or mihusa.org. Click on "English Classes," then "Accent Reduction Coaching."

E-mail: lespenshade@lnpnews.com