speaking6 min read
Pronunciation is a physical skill, not knowledge
You can understand a sound perfectly and still not be able to make it. Why the mouth needs reps, and how few it actually takes.
Read the post →The reasoning, written out
Some things are easier to read than to watch. Study method, the grammar decisions I make in the lessons, and honest answers about exams.
speaking5 min read
Say it badly, on purpose, ten times
The fastest way through a hard sound is to over-exaggerate it until it feels absurd, then dial it back.
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method8 min read
English spelling is lying to you
Five letters, a dozen sounds. Why reading a word is a poor guide to saying it, and what to trust instead.
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method7 min read
Your first language decides your hard sounds
Every learner finds a different set of English sounds impossible, and it is almost entirely predictable from where you started.
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listening9 min read
You are not bad at listening
Textbook audio is recorded far more carefully than anyone speaks. What real speech does to the edges of words.
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listening7 min read
The sound that isn't there
Glottal stops, dropped /h/, vanishing /r/. British English removes more than it adds, and that is the part nobody teaches.
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speaking6 min read
Shadowing feels absurd for about four days
Speaking along with audio in real time, then it starts fixing your rhythm. How to do it without a transcript.
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method5 min read
Choosing an accent is a practical decision
Not a moral one. Pick for the people you actually speak to, and let the rest go.
Read the post →Every Sunday
One worksheet, one short piece of writing
The same email as the lesson worksheet. One page of practice and whatever I have been thinking about that week.