English learners all over the world have the same question: how can I speak more like a native speaker? A big industry has grown up around helping non-native English speakers change their accent. Accent is more than simply how you pronounce individual words. It also includes the stress and intonation patterns for whole sentences. There are many books and software programs, online and in-person courses that promise to teach a "native accent." But is it really necessary to sound exactly like a native speaker? Some experts say it is not. Eusebia V. Mont leads the Accent Modification Program at the University of Maryland’s Department of Hearing & Speech Sciences. Mont talked about it to VOA Learning English. The Accent Modification Program serves students, faculty and the local community. Students come to the program for one or two school terms. They meet in a group for 90 minutes a week. Each student meets with one other student and a clinician for more individual work. Altogether the program amounts to about 60 hours of learning in class. Mont says the time needed to improve is different for each student.