Blogs
5 Accent Myths That Will Surprise You
There exist many misconceptions about accents and accent training. In this article, I will bust some frequently-encountered myths. Myth #1 - It’s difficult/impossible to change my accent Have you been trying to improve your English pronunciation and accent by...
10 Tips for Successful Communication in a Multilingual Workplace
Effective communication drives workplace success. As our work environment becomes increasingly multicultural and multilingual, and with English being the global lingua franca, it is not uncommon to hear many native and non-native accents at a workplace. An accent...
10 Fun Facts about Speech and Hearing
The smallest bone in the human body is the stirrup, which is located in the ear. Teachers are most at risk for developing a voice disorder due to overuse. Many famous people have or had speech and language disorders, including U.S. President Joe Biden (stutter),...
What’s the Difference Between First and Second Language Learning?
“Kids learn languages fast because they’re not afraid to make mistakes.” Mmmm… wrong. I’ve heard on many occasions these types of statements, which are often used as encouragement for adults learning a second language, to inspire the learners to practice their new...
Why do I Cringe at the Sound of My Own Voice?
Raise your hand if you hate the way you sound on video and audio recordings 🙋🏻♀️ As an accent coach, I routinely record my clients and have them listen to the recordings. Many of them grimace at this exercise and claim to dislike how they sound. Some have even asked...
Why is English Pronunciation so Difficult?
I’m sure that ESL learners can all agree that pronunciation is the most difficult part of the English language. Why is that so, you may wonder? There are a few reasons, but one of the biggest culprits is the English vowels. In this article, I give you four ways...