Jon Berton

Jon Berton

ESL Instructor

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location of Jon BertonAtlanta, Georgia, United States

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  • Timeline

  • About me

    Lead Accent Reduction Trainer, Social Language and Communication Coach for Advanced Speech Consultants, LLC

  • Education

    • California State University, Northridge

      1985 - 1989
      Master of Arts (M.A.) & Clear Rehabilitative Teaching Credential (Language, Speech & Hearing) Communication Sciences and Disorders, General

      Activities and Societies: Completed graduate work in speech pathology, including three student clinician practicums and two student clinical internships with the Los Angeles Unified School District. Independent study thesis focused on bilingualism in the schools and developing appropriate clinical services for bilingual populations, including a fluency program for Spanish speakers, and co-founding the university's first accent reduction course.

    • University of Southern California

      1979 - 1984
      Bachelor’s Degree Psycholinguistics, Cum Laude

      Activities and Societies: Major in Psychology with Minor in Linguistics. Course work included Comparative Linguistics, Phonetics, Speech Anatomy and Physiology, 2 years French and 2 years Japanese language, International Relations, Literacy and more. Participated in Reading Mentor program for children in South Central Los Angeles. Completed course work in phonetics and speech physiology with Distinguished Professor William Perkins, Ph.D., pioneer in the field of Disfluency at the USC Stuttering Center.

    • Waseda University

      1983 - 1984
      International Relations and Affairs

      Study Abroad Year in Japan offered through the University of Southern California. Course work included Japanese language, intercultural communication, international relations, and more.

  • Experience

    • Tokyo Language School

      Jan 1983 - Jan 1984
      ESL Instructor

      ESL (English as a Second Language) instructor at a variety of schools throughout Metropolitan Tokyo. Taught English conversation and grammar (beginning through advanced) to Japanese school children and adult professionals and business people.

    • Asian Rehabilitative Services, Inc.

      Jan 1984 - Jan 1985
      Life Skills Coach & ESL Instructor

      Taught ESL (English as Second Language), conversation, and life skills to developmentally delayed or physically handicapped Asian and Hispanic adults. Also tutored Japanese and Thai undergraduate students at California State University, Northridge.

    • Clinic for Communicative Disorders

      Jan 1985 - Jan 1987
      Student Clinician for Communication Sciences and Disorders

      Provided speech therapy to children and adults who had articulation, language, disfluency, learning disabilities, Autism, and other speech and language challenges. Developed accent reduction program for Korean undergraduate student and fluency program for Spanish speaking client.

    • Harbor UCLA Medical Center

      Jan 1987 - Jan 1988
      Speech Pathology Intern

      Worked with adult head trauma, bilingual stroke patients, and language delayed pre-school children to improve communication skills in Los Angeles, CA.

    • California State University, Northridge

      Jan 1988 - Jan 1989
      Part-Time Faculty Member

      Taught and pioneered first foreign accent reduction classes offered to undergraduate and graduate university students at California State University, Northridge.

    • Institute of Language and Phonology

      Jan 1989 - Jan 1993
      Accent Trainer, Marketing Director and Speech Pathologist

      Accent Trainer for a variety of large corporations and Fortune 500 companies. Independent contractor & Marketing Director for the Compton P-ESL Accent Training program for the Institute of Language & Phonology (ILP). Speech pathologist for three Non-Public High Schools (emphasis on social language for high functioning autism and Aspergers, fluency, articulation, and learning disabilities) in San Francisco.

    • Veronica Harris & Associates

      Jan 1991 - Jan 1993
      Life Skills Coach

      Worked as a speech pathologist and communication coach, primarily with Autism, Aspergers, PDD, OCD, ADD, Down syndrome, and other developmentally delayed adults, on communication skills, fluency, and social language.

    • Professional Speech Services

      Jan 1993 - Jan 1994
      Accent Trainer

      Taught accent improvement program to foreign students and professionals. Assisted individuals with preparation for job interviews and to improve communication for career success.

    • Bay Area Language & Accent Specialists, Inc.

      Jan 1994 - Jun 1999
      Speech Pathologist and Accent Trainer

      Taught accent reduction, ESL, and advanced communication skills to foreign-born professionals at corporations and hospitals in the Bay Area and Silicon Valley. Assisted managers and Human Resource departments to improve presentations and public speaking events.Worked as a communication consultant and speech pathologist at three vocational centers for teenagers and young adults in Contra Costa County (Lafayette, Concord, Walnut Creek, & Antioch) to help improve social language, articulation, fluency, and language processing. Head speech pathologist at three private schools in the San Francisco Bay Area, and two high schools in Sacramento, CA. Show less

    • BestSpeech

      Jan 2000 - Jan 2005
      Accent Trainer & Language Consultant

      Private practice for foreign and native English speaking clients who wished to improve their social conversation, communication skills, and/or reduce a foreign accent/regional dialect in Southern states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and others.

    • Advanced Accent Training

      Jan 2005 - now
      Lead Instructor

      Primary focus on improving communication skills, speech, advanced conversation, accent reduction for foreign-born professionals, and regional dialect coaching. Services provided globally online, in person in Atlanta, GA, or in Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Advanced Accent Training became a subsidiary of Advanced Speech Consultants, LLC in 2012.

    • Advanced Speech Consultants, LLC

      Dec 2012 - now
      Director

      Coordinate and teach communication skills and accent training programs for foreign professionals or native speakers with a regional dialect. Coaching, feedback and editing provided for speeches, interviews, presentations, and public speaking. ACT coach with training in mindfulness which can reduce nerves for public speaking. Consulting is offered to businesses and corporations globally via online video conferencing, or in person at our offices in Atlanta, GA, Austin, Texas, Los Angeles, and Silicon Valley. Show less

  • Licenses & Certifications

    • Speech Pathology Active Licenses in California and Georgia

    • ACT & Mindfulness Level 1 Basic Training Workshop

      Steven Hayes, Ph.D, founder of ACT
      Mar 2013
    • Compton P-ESL Online Accent Program Recertification

      Jan 2012
    • Michelle Winner Social Thinking Mentor Training Certificate

      Michelle Winner
      Jan 2006
    • Sam Chwat Accent Reduction Certification

      Sam Chwat of New York Speech Improvement Services
      Apr 2004
    • LDS Accent Training Certification

      Jan 1992
    • Compton P-ESL Accent Trainer Program Certification

      Institute of Language and Phonology
      Jan 1989
    • California Clear Rehabilitative Teaching Credential for language and Speech, K-Adult

      Jan 1988
    • ASHA Certificate of Clinical Competence

      American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA)
      Jan 1989
  • Honors & Awards

    • Awarded to Jon Berton
      ACE Award American Speech, Language & Heaing Association Nov 2005 Speech Pathologists may meet the requirements of the ACE award by earning seven ASHA Continuing Education Units (CEUs) equivalent to 70 hours in a thirty-six month period.
    • Awarded to Jon Berton
      Cum Laude - 1989 University of Southern California Bachelor Degree Psycholinguistics with HonorsMember of Golden Key National Honor Society
  • Volunteer Experience

    • Reading mentor

      Issued by Literacy Outreach University Southern California on Jan 1982
      Literacy Outreach University Southern CaliforniaAssociated with Jon Berton
    • Social Language Coach

      Issued by Bestspeech on Jan 2005
      BestspeechAssociated with Jon Berton