VIDEO CONFERENCING

DialectsCoach.com
John Rustan, PhD
707-536-6276    
rustan50@hotmail.com

Clients have used video conferencing to get instruction from San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, New York, Oregon, Australia, and many other locations.  It's possible to work from anywhere in the world!
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What do I need?   
Zoom works best, and it's free to you.  You need a computer, tablet, or smart phone with a camera and access to the internet. With Zoom it is easy to have a session with an entire cast of a production. 
FaceTime also works for one-on-one session, but you must have an Apple device. 

How do I get started?​
  1. We make an appointment for a session.  
  2. An email is sent before the lesson with a link to the Zoom and a link to a Dropbox (no account needed) which contains handouts and recorded samples.  
  3. Click on the link.  Then click "Join a Meeting."
  4. That's it.  The video conference lesson begins.
  5. Some clients prefer FaceTime for individual one-on-one sessions.  This can be done if you have an Apple device, as I do.  You merely initiate a call at the appointed time.  
What happens during the lesson?
  1. You get general tips and advice on how to best succeed in your accent goals.
  2. We listen to samples and go over all of the sound changes of the dialect you are learning. 
  3. In the case of accent reduction, we go over all of the sounds of a General American Accent to see how your native accent varies.
  4. In the case of Accent Reduction work, there will often be some audio recording of diagnostic readings.  
  5. ​You can access  recordings of yourself, as well as recorded samples of the targeted accent in the linked Dropbox folder. No Dropbox account required.  
  6. For auditioning the process is similar but geared towards audition techniques and practices.   ​​
How do I pay for the lesson?   It's easy!
  • DialectsCoach.com has an account with Square.  (You may have encountered Square Readers when you visit small businesses.)  
  • Square allows secure remote payment processing online with use of a credit card.
  • You get a receipt for the payment and you will see a transaction on your credit card statement from DialectsCoach.com.  ​​
  • In-person lessons are also possible now that many people are vaccinated (including myself).  However, video conferencing saves gas, travel time, and allows me to help people from anywhere in the world.

A NOTE ABOUT VIDEO RECORDING SESSIONS:  I do not video record any lessons, Zoom or in-person. This is out of respect for the privacy of my clients, and because I cannot control what happens to my client's images, my image, or my work if video recorded and distributed to others.  Everyone has a right to control their image and personal information.  I encourage each individual, in either a Zoom or in-person session, to audio record segments that they think will be helpful to them going forward.