Enhance your professional presence with clear, confident, effective English!
If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.
If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.
– Nelson Mandela
We offer online Accent reduction classes for individuals who speak English as a second language and want their English to sound more natural. Our students include business executives, doctors and dentists, university professors and actors: anyone who needs their English to be more clear, effective, and better understood.
Communication – the human connection – is the key to personal and career success.
– Paul J. Mey
Communication – the human connection – is the key to personal and career success.
We can help your executives who speak English as a second language to polish presentations, speeches, and commercials.
Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.
Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.
– Henry Ford
Our accent reduction coaching offers an approach customized to your needs. Class sessions are personalized to you with practical exercises, constructive feedback, grammar practice if needed, and a variety of speaking exercises.
We begin by analyzing your current speaking style to identify specific areas that may present challenges. We will make targeted feedback on your pronunciation, rhythm and use of grammar.
Classes are tailored to your individual needs. We’ll work on the essential factors that you need to help make your English sound more natural and be more effective:
Vowels, consonants, and proper syllable stress
How to break sentences into meaningful chunks to enhance understanding.
Focusing on the natural stress patterns that distinguish important words from supporting words.
We learn where to properly place syllable stress. Even if you know the correct word in English but stress the wrong syllable in the wrong place - it may not be understood.
In addition to learning the components of correct English speech we practice the “Music” of English in each class session. We combine the concepts outlined above to produce the rhythmic sound that native English speakers best understand and respond to.
You’ll practice various forms of spoken English including dialogues, speeches, readings, and presentations. The result: Confidence! Besides gaining a mastery of the pronunciation and rhythm necessary to sound more natural, students mention confidence in speaking English as the single biggest benefit of taking this training.
If you have a presentation or speech coming up – we can practice together to make your message come alive.
Good communication is the bridge between confusion and clarity.
I’m Theodore “Ted” Lapekas, and for the past 15 years, I’ve been helping English learners find their voice—literally. My passion lies in accent reduction, a field I’ve specialized in for the past eight years, empowering professionals and students to speak with clarity, confidence, and fluency.
My journey began as an adjunct professor of Marketing at the University of Louisville in Panama, where I worked with students from diverse backgrounds. I also taught in government schools, but it wasn’t just grammar and vocabulary that fascinated me—it was the power of communication. I saw firsthand how pronunciation could be the key to unlocking opportunities, and I knew I wanted to help learners refine not just their words, but the way they delivered them.
When I moved to Miami, I joined an ESL school and quickly realized that many students weren’t just looking to learn English—they wanted to sound natural, to blend seamlessly into professional and social settings. That’s when I introduced accent coaching, and the results were incredible. Hearing my students’ progress and their excitement as they gained confidence made it clear: I had found my niche.
Then came 2020. With schools shutting down, I saw an opportunity to reach even more students—Accent Express was born. Through personalized online coaching, I’ve worked with professionals and students worldwide, proving that virtual sessions can be even more effective than in-person training. With fewer distractions, real-time feedback on mouth movements, and the convenience of learning from anywhere, my students achieve faster, lasting results.
Accent coaching isn’t just about eliminating an accent—it’s about enhancing communication, boosting confidence, and opening doors. I love what I do, and I’m here to help you speak English with clarity and ease.
(ESL Teacher and Accent Reduction Coach)
Communication is a skill that you can learn. It’s like riding a bicycle or typing. If you’re willing to work at it, you can rapidly improve the quality of every part of your life.
Communication is a skill that you can learn. It’s like riding a bicycle or typing. If you’re willing to work at it, you can rapidly improve the quality of every part of your life. –
-Brian Tracy
check out what my students say
Amazing experience. I live in Brazil but I intend to move to the US. and I Have already tried other English classes but I was not feeling challenged enough because my biggest problem was the pronunciation and the accent, the other courses didn’t work on that. Ted is making me sound way better and teaching me lots of new phrasal verbs. It was exactly what I needed
I am originally from Colombia and after being in the US for 10+ years, I still had a very strong accent. I decided to try and tame it down. I found this class and it worked great. It was fun, interactive, and it didn’t feel like I was in class at all thanks to Ted. He was very professional and always willing to help and adapt to whatever my schedule allowed. My fiance noted a significant improvement in my accent reduction over the course of the class. Well worth the time and money!
My name is Luca, and I am from Switzerland. I am currently studying the English language, especially speaking and pronunciation.
I have been working with Ted for the past two months, and he is helping me with in-depth phonetic analyses and bespoken classes to strengthen my weaknesses.
Furthermore, Ted has a broad knowledge of teaching. He paces the class just right so you feel challenged but not overwhelmed. He provides a great mix of different speaking activities.
Ted is a wonderful teacher who makes every lesson a unique experience, blending his professionalism with a great sense of humor. His distinctive teaching style helps us improve our language skills in a fun and effective way. I am very grateful for the opportunity to study with him and would recommend him 100%.”
I have lived in the United States for 20 years, and although I speak English fluently, I needed help to expand my vocabulary and improve my pronunciation (accent reduction) so I could achieve my professional goals more efficiently. I am a teacher and pronouncing words correctly in English has made a huge difference in my classes. The students understand me better, I feel more confident and I am expanding my vocabulary more and more every day.
Ted is an excellent teacher, the classes are very educational and fun. He can meet me at times that schools would not be able to, and I have individualized attention focused on my needs. He prepares the class thinking about what I need at that moment, and not a generic class with a book full of concepts that I would not use in my daily life.
I recommend Ted’s classes if you want to improve your English so that you can achieve your personal and professional goals in the United States.
Last year I began working on my dream of becoming a licensed dentist here in the US. One of my biggest fears was that my English was not good enough. Once I began attending classes as a resident my fear was confirmed. While my English was sufficient for the program it did not project my level of professionalism.
Often, during presentations, I found myself repeating words and phrases because I was not sure of the pronunciation, or even worse because I could see my audience was not understanding me clearly. So, I started to search for a tutor to help reduce my accent and speak more clearly. I was blessed to find Ted. He has been my savior. He did an accurate assessment, and we began working on my weak areas. His classes are always creative. I learned so much and had fun as well. A great combo! The best thing is that I began receiving compliments on how much my speaking had improved. Now, I can professionally deliver any message. For everyone searching for a very effective English tutor, I recommend Ted 100%!
I’m a Brazilian dentist and I recommend private English classes with Ted. My speaking has improved. He has the knowledge for moving you out of the Comfort Zone and speaking with confidence!
It has been a wonderful experience learning from Ted. I found Ted online while researching for accent reduction classes.. As soon as I inquired, Ted set up the consultation and discussed with me the plan to move forward.
From day 1, Ted helped me focus on my weaker areas. We practiced thought groups, compound nouns, stress, imitating the American accent, flow of English speaking, slang ,and idioms. Whenever I had difficulty pronouncing certain sounds, he would go out of the way to find solutions to help me understand what is required to improve my speaking ability.
I was living in the US, working for a Brazilian company, but I still had no confidence when speaking English. The challenge became even harder when I started working for an American company. Phone calls, meetings, and even small talk made me feel anxious. That’s why I decided to reach out to Ted, a professional I have followed on Instagram for at least three years. Ted has been helping me to be more confident, improve my pronunciation, and fix small mistakes that annoy me. My biggest challenge with other teachers was the lack of professionalism and the feeling that they just wanted my money. With Ted, there is no time to lose. He is committed to your learning and 100% open to hearing your concerns about English and applying his method according to your needs.
I couldn’t be more satisfied with my classes with Ted, in addition to the classes being dynamic and fun, the result in my communication at work has evolved incredibly. I strongly recommend Accent Express to anyone who wants and needs to improve their English
I am a Brazilian dentist now working here in the USA. I realized that I needed to improve my English skills and Ted was my angel. He has so much patience and good ways of teaching me how to improve my vocabulary and accent. I really recommend him to all my friends.
The way he engages, prepares his classes, his warmth and good humor…everything is impeccable. I look forward every week for my class,. I notice how my English has improved a lot, especially when I teach my classes. He has also helped me to prepare my classes and is helping me with a new book that I am translating from Spanish to English
The future depends on what you do today!
—Ghandi
The future depends on what you do today!
—Ghandi
Take the first steps to speaking better English!