Student Testimonials
Reviews of Eric Thal's Teaching:
“If you are looking for a bright, experienced, dedicated and patient teacher who is going to go the extra step with you, then you are in the right place. As a native speaker, Eric is one of a kind who understands your particular language needs regardless of your origin. A worthwhile investment which will last you a lifetime.”
Robert V.
“Eric helped me for my Off-Broadway show, “I and Me & You and I” in the fall of 2007 at 45 Bleecker’s Theater, not only to teach the lines but also give me much advice as an actor and a director. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!”
Michi Yamamura
(Japan)
“It was to my great advantage to study with Eric Thal. I found him extremely professional and knowledgeable about my issues. It was an amazing transformation. I would recommend his services highly to anyone wishing to improve their spoken English.”
Ephraim Gildor
“Eric Thal is an excellent speech coach – very patient and one who truly cares about his students’ progress. In addition to helping his students sound American, Eric also makes sure that you look relaxed and confident when speaking, by helping you avoid any unnecessary tension and movement in the face. I feel excited about the progress I’ve made with Eric’s help and enthusiastic about continuing working toward learning to speak with an American Accent. If you are looking for an American Accent coach- I highly recommend Eric Thal!”
- Nelly
(originally from Ukraine)
“When I had the lessons with Eric, I really saw the light. Since his teaching method was a theoretical ( logical ) approach and systematic, the lessons were very enjoyable and I could improve my English speaking capability in a short time.”
- Emiko Kanisawa
“Before training with Eric, I could understand only 50% of any US dialogue I was listening to. And I had to repeat at least twice when ordering a mere “bottle of water”. Eric helped me working on my English sound after sound, sentence after sentence, with an infinite patience, awesome precision and exquisite kindness. His method includes speaking in front of a mirror, to check what is happening mechanically during the pronunciation process and improving it by physical adjustment. Eric may also use whatever makes the lesson useful and enjoyable for you, like watching videos or studying lyrics. He is also the most concerned and focused teacher ever, with a great sense of humor. After a few weeks, people started to compliment me on how much easier I was to understand. I ended up understanding almost everything I was hearing around me. I have been recommending Eric to all my friends and professional contacts since then.”
- Carole Sabas
(Editor, France)
“Not only did Eric help me improve my standard American English, he also gave me insightful adjustments to my approach on scripted materials. During my workshops with Casting Directors Katharina Eggmann (of CBS Primetime Casting) and Kim Moarefi, both ladies commented on how fantastic Eric is as an Actor, and the best way to prepare for an audition is by coaching with a working actor.”
- Wayne Chang
(Actor in New York)
“Eric Thal is a professional,outstanding teacher. He helped me a lot to improve my spoken English. He is detail oriented, always organized and very patient.I recommend him highly.”
- Tomasz Surdyka
(originally from Poland)
“Eric is a great guy, patient, kind, and dedicated. Just by talking with you for a few minutes, he can quickly identify what you need to improve on with your accent. His lessons are designed based on your situation and improving your accent in a progressive and steady way. I learned a lot from him, and I strongly recommend him to all desperately dreaming to have a perfect American accent.”
- Haibing Lu
(China)
“Eric’s lessons were instrumental to reduce my Eastern European accent and to build up confidence in my business communication. I really enjoyed his open and personal style and when he mixed in elements of acting. I feel I made very good progress on improving my speech working with him, I can only give the highest recommendation for Eric.”
- Gabe G.
“On a daily basis, I reap the rewards of taking lessons with Eric. I used to avoid certain words or sounds because I didn’t know how to pronounce them. Now, I’m much more confident, knowing that I’ll be easily understood.”
- Dmitry Marduk
(Graphic Designer, Russian language speaker originally from Azerbaijan)
“Eric is a very patient and flexible teacher and cares about his student’s improvement. Now I am more conscious about movement of the mouth. What I like about him is that he tries to correct my Japanese accent but he also respects individualities to save some good part of me. His background as an actor in film/theater is one of his strengths to teach me how to speak in front of people. Thank you very much, Eric.”
- Yukie
“Eric is a great teacher who is detail oriented and really serious about improving my accent. I think this is crucial because for an intermediate English speaker, the difference between an American accent and his own accent is sometimes subtle. However, I now feel that this subtle difference makes a great improvement in sounding like an American.”
- Hiroyuki Fukuda
“Eric Thal is a very sincere and dedicated teacher. He helped me a lot within a short time.”
- Hiroko
(from Japan)
“I‘m convinced my English has become much better thanks to Eric. Before I met him I was wondering why sometimes I couldn‘t make myself understood even though I thought I used grammatically correct English. But Eric helped me to solve the problem. It was just because my English wasn‘t pronounced correctly. Those mistakes in an accent are too subtle to realize for someone like me whose first language is not English, But as I took his lesson, I became aware of the sound difference in my speech. He has a lot of knowledge not only about accents. Sometimes he pointed out mistakes I made in conversation, and it was also helpful for me to improve my skill. He is so serious and professional, and the lesson was so fun and effective that I was always motivated.”
- M. H.
(from Japan)
アメリカンアクセント＆スピーキングのコ
ーチ、Mr. Eric Thalをご紹介いたします。
私の場合は、女優さんからご紹介を受
けたのですが、たいへんすばらしい経験を
し、確かな成果を得ました。まだまだ英語
の運用能力に十分な自信が持てるようにな
るのはいつのことだろう、とため息をつく
ことも多い私なのですが、それでも、レス
トランや喫茶店、その他の場所で、声をか
けられたアメリカ人ネイティブの方とちょ
っとした世間話するときにはいつも、「あ
なたは英語をよく話せるわ」と言っていた
だけるのですが、私はそのたびに、Thal氏
という素晴らしい先生にめぐりあえたこと
の幸運を、改めてありがたく思うのです。
彼の指導は、徹底的です。60分なら60分
のレッスンの間中、全力を傾けて、生徒
が、英語を話すネイティブスピーカーの口
の中で、いったいなにが起きているのかを
具体的に知り、体得できるように、指導し
てくれます。時には、口の中までじっくり
見るように、すすめられます。レッスンを
録音して持ち帰ることも奨励されます。な
んどもなんども、繰り返し、accurateな英
語の発話ができるまで、熱心にコーチして
くれます。自分にとって不確かな音、発話
に自信が持てない英語を口にするときの不
安は、英語のネイティブ・スピーカーでな
ければ、誰もが経験し、常に抱えているこ
とだと思いますが、Thal氏とのレッスンに
おいて、自分の、不確かな音をそのまま受
け止めてもらい、ひとつひとつ丁寧に修正
を加えて、みっちり熱のこもった指導を受
けた、その時間の積み重ねが、普段の日常
生活で、ネイティブ・スピーカーを相手に
英語で会話する時間に、大きな安心感や余
裕をもたらしてくれます。たとえうまく音
を生み出せなかったとしてもです。それ
は、自分の頭の中で、「かくあるべき」と
いう音がすでに理解されているからです。
このことは、テレビや映画や、どなたかの
講演を聞いたり、人と会話したりするとき
の、すべての聞き取り能力をも、格段に確
かなものにしてくれます。
- Rika
