02 May Direct and Stated Questions
“What was she thinking?” “I wonder what she was thinking.” “How could he do this?” “I wonder how he could do this.” Did you notice anything different about the structure in each...
17 Nov Just Breathe
Even if you’re not mentally anxious about presenting in front of a group in your mind, your body might not always feel that same sort of calm and ease. The...
15 Aug Dispelling the Myth of Long and Short Vowels
It seems pretty basic. Some vowels are long, some vowels are short. But is this really the case? In the pronunciation classes I teach, my first order of business is to...
08 Aug 3 Limitations of Americans Giving Pronunciation Feedback
I used to get excited when I found out that a student of mine had an American English-speaking spouse. My initial thought (and maybe theirs too) was, “Oh, goody! An...
24 May Tools of the Trade
Meet my best buddy, Mr. Mouth. Creepy? Yes. Useful? Couldn’t possibly live without him. You can probably tell that this mouth is well loved. I didn’t quite realize how ragged he...
22 Mar A Pretty Easy Fix: Tense /i/ at the Ends of Words
I have given little teasers about the /i/ sound in other posts, but today the tense /i/ is the star of the show. Let’s talk about the tense /i/ sound at the...