Expert English Pronunciation, Accent Reduction & Fluency
I’m working with a client on giving presentations in English, his second language. We all know what can happen when you stand up in front of that sea of faces…we forget what we were going to say, we lose our Read More …
When we speak in front of a group, we’re not up there just to get through it…we are speaking to be heard and maybe even to transform. In 1998, I began learning everything I could about public speaking and bought Read More …
During a “mastermind weekend” at colleague Jennifer England’s home in L’Albi Spain last fall, someone asked if I remembered a moment that changed how I teach. One of my “aha” moments was in the dentist’s office; I finally understood why Read More …
I just discovered something wonderful! The National Library Service of the U.S. has a website and one of the resources they offer is a pronunciation guide for BRAND NAMES and ACRONYMS. This is soooo helpful for ESL and EFL. Check it Read More …
I’ve heard it said that a single page of text can be used to teach all the pronunciations and intonations of English. So let’s see what we can use from a single holiday. The vocabulary associated with Halloween offers some fun Read More …
I have a few “principles” that guide my teaching and planning. One of them is this: Disequilibrium is a good thing.” I say that because as a teacher, I have found most big jumps in learning come when a Read More …
Dr. Kjellin is a leader in the study of auditory processing and second language learning. If you teach English pronunciation (or any language’s sound), I recommend his work and research. Here are a few quotes from one of his white papers. “Choral Read More …
Even if you never reach fluency and never sound like a native speaker, keep studying…the benefit to your brain is measurable and remarkable! In this NYT post, William Alexander shares his own experiences failing at French, and some research that Read More …
This is an amazing TedTalk. I had thought (and hoped) that exposing babies to the sounds of second and third languages through video or radio might be a viable way to teach them to recognize the sounds of those languages, Read More …
I teach pronunciation so I’m always interested in how speech and language develops in L1 and L2 (first languages and second languages). I just watched a wonderful video by Dr. Deb Roy, an MIT researcher, who studied his baby’s first Read More …