01 Mar An Easy Fix: Pronouncing the Spelling “au” Correctly
Most non-native speakers of English pronounce "au" incorrectly, regardless of where they are from in the world. Think about the words “auto,” “audit,” and “caught.” What sound do you use...
29 Jan “Bowel” or “Vowel”: Clarifying the Difference between “B” and “V”
“Bowel?” I ask my client jokingly from across the table while pointing to my stomach. “Ha! No, ‘vowel,’” the client clarifies. While many clients are aware of the difference between...
18 May Indian Accents- Just Another Version of British English?
One thing I commonly hear from people who were born and raised in India is that their difficulties being understood in the U.S. stem from their British accents. Indian accents...
12 Sep “cope, cop, cup”: A Vowel Tutorial
Open the voice memo app on your phone (if you don’t have a smart phone, grab a handheld recorder) and record yourself saying these three words: cope, cop, cup. Listen...
05 May Good, bad, best, worst… How does your accent stack up?
People with foreign accents, people without… They all ask me the same question: “What’s the WORST accent?” To start, let’s go ahead and scratch the term “worst” from our discussion. People who...
23 Mar Another Practical Lesson: “bus” vs. “buzz”
One feature of every accent I have worked with is difficulty with voicing of consonants. What is "voicing" anyway? Well, we will get to that. To start, did you know...