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o canada: a bilingual beginning
Born in Victoria, B.C., Kelly grew up speaking English and, with her grandparents, Punjabi. In school she focused on romance languages, spent a year abroad at l’Université Paul Valéry in Montpellier, France, then graduated from UBC with a BA in French literature in 1986. That summer Kelly obtained her TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) certificate and left for Tokyo where she taught for 2 years. in the classroom
Kelly arrived in Los Angeles in 1988 to pursue graduate studies in Applied Linguistics at UCLA. At the same time she quickly established herself as a dynamic, innovative instructor and curriculum designer, teaching accent reduction, business communication skills and grammar workshops for 11 years. She also taught for Santa Monica College, the Los Angeles Unified School District and was hired by Pepperdine University to develop and implement their academic English prep program for international students. in the boardroom
In 1991, Kelly co-founded LA CrossTalk, a cross-cultural & business communication consultancy geared towards Japanese executives working and living in Los Angeles. Kelly continues to support the business community with practical training solutions for senior executives, call center staff and line-level workers. on set
Kelly’s success with international actors is deeply rooted in her profound understanding of the link between language and culture. In the early 90’s, she was invited to perform in a bilingual stage production of ‘The Applause from Within’ and learned first-hand the challenges and complexities of acting in a second language. She subsequently developed the Reel English character approach to American Accent Training to help actors build the confidence and speech patterns they need to move forward in their careers. Kelly offers private coaching in her LA studio and on location with her clients.
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