Melanie Fox perfected her language tutoring techniques through years of experience teaching English as a Second Language including public school (adult education), university, and private tutoring sessions in the US and abroad. Antonio Rojo started and developed several businesses in the US and internationally—noting that communication was often an obstacle for foreign executives doing business in the US. The two founded Speech Fox in 2009 to respond to the need of the linguistically diverse population with custom-configured language lessons to specifically target speech for business and other practical applications. These personalized lessons target accent, dialect and/or localized language for any specialized purpose.
The underpinnings of the Speech Fox method closely intertwine principals of phonetics, phonology, and applied linguistics. The strategy is to analyze a speaker's utterances, dissect speech patterns, and create custom-tailored strategies for a client to learn the desired accent or dialect. Melanie creates specialized speech lessons and exercises to help clients attain their goals. Melanie relies on the science of language, including the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), to analyze a speaker's phonology and teach them to modify it in order to adapt a new sound system.
MISSION Speech Fox seeks to provide customized, scientific, and, most importantly, enjoyable methods that enable individuals to learn language for any professional or personal purpose. Accent elimination for non-native or "non-standard" native speakers, dialect acquisition for actors, learning English or Spanish as a second language, and executive speech coaching for business professionals are all examples of language learning as a means to develop professionally.
Speech Fox views the act of developing of an alternative way to speak as the addition of a speech choice and not as an attempt to
dilute one's culture, heritage, or local flavor. (For example, a speaker of Mexican-accented English, Brooklynese, or African American Vernacular English (AAVE) may choose to speak his/her newly acquired "Standard American English" at work, yet speak in their native dialect among family and friends, or during social occasions.
Melanie Fox, MSLI
Melanie Fox, MSLI FOUNDER / SPEECH COACH Melanie Fox holds a Master's of Science degree in Linguistics from Georgetown University. Her Master's thesis, "Strange R's in the Night," examined several aspects of the phonology of the Brooklynese dialect of English as compared with "Standard American English." (Melanie is a native New Yorker and prides herself on an unparalleled ability to indentify true New York accents as opposed to inauthentic ones.) While English is her first language, Melanie speaks fluent Spanish, proficient Italian, and rudimentary Cantonese.
Melanie has been a private language tutor for over 10 years, offering services in both the US and Spain. Her experience includes four years as a teacher of English as a Second Language, both in a public school adult education program as well as an adjunct in a university setting.
With a resume including teaching, product development, marketing, advertising, sales, and account management, Melanie draws from her diverse industry experience in build a multifaceted brand for Speech Fox.
Antonio Rojo CO-FOUNDER Antonio Rojo is a dynamic, multilingual business professional who has a wealth of experience working with international clients. Antonio was raised in Mexico, schooled in Texas, and has extensively traveled throughout the US and Europe. He is a native speaker of Spanish and English and has a working knowledge of Portuguese.
An entrepreneur, who at the age of 23 started his own telecommunications company, Antonio has worked in diverse industries such as education, technology, real estate, insurance, hospitality, food services, fitness, and retail. His expertise includes online marketing, advertising, sales, market research, multilingual customer service, recruiting, and product development.
Antonio holds a degree in business administration from el Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM), Mexico. He also concentrated his studies in marketing at the University of Texas at El Paso. Contact Antonio
