1. Understand how the mouth muscles work

First you explore how the mouth works. Remember that speech is physical activity. It’s important to understand how the mouth muscles work so that you are able to change the way you speak.

2. Train the muscles

The course provides different physical exercises to make the mouth muscles stronger and more flexible. This will give you the control to create new sounds more easily.

3. Learn some IPA (phonetic) symbols

English spelling is confusing. It’s not easy to guess the pronunciation of a word from the spelling (e.g. the “b” in “debt” is not pronounced!)

By learning the difference between letters and sounds – and by using symbols from the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) – the process of pronouncing words becomes much simpler.

Don’t worry if you want to avoid IPA symbols – they are not essential to improving your accent.

4. Focus on important topics

There are 20+ pronunciation topics that have been chosen and ordered according to your native language. Priority is given to sounds that will improve intelligibility (=people understanding you) and reduce the impression of a “foreign accent”.

Helpful comparisons are made between the sounds in English and the sounds in your native language.

5. Guidance on how to practise

The course gives clear instructions on how to practise and how to incorporate new sounds into your everyday speech.

6. Speak clearly & confidently!

After studying this course, you will have a deeper understanding of English pronunciation and you will be able to communicate more effectively in English.

Of course!

Sign up (no credit card details required) and you’ll get access to the course introduction and first lesson for free.

You’ll also be able to see all the lessons that are included.

Unlike other courses or textbooks, the course is organised according to your native language. This means you will concentrate on the most important aspects for you first (and don’t have to learn the parts that you can do already).

Uniquely, the course includes:

• Speech muscle training
• Muscle settings (exploring the overall sound of your voice and how you hold your speech muscles)
• Modern English rhythm and intonation
• Ear training games
• Animations (to show you how sounds are made inside the mouth)
• Click-for-IPA (by clicking the IPA button, you’re instantly able to see phonetic transcriptions)
• Control audio speed (you can slow down audio to help you hear sounds more easily)

Additionally, the course explains how to make all the vowels and consonants in English. Further differences to other courses are that it:

• Uses a sense-based approach.
  • For each new vowel or consonant, we explore how it feels in the mouth, what it looks like in the mirror, and how it sounds. This allows you to learn quickly and accurately.
• Teaches contemporary British English pronunciation.
  • There’s no point sounding like the Queen (i.e. a very old-fashioned and posh form of English, which would sound humorous to a native speaker).

Your native language has a sound system that is different from the sound system of English. It is also different from the sound systems of other languages.

This means that a Mandarin speaker will have different challenges compared to a Portuguese speaker when learning English pronunciation.

Of course variation exists within each language: for example, there are many different varieties of Arabic. However all speakers of a language will usually have similar challenges when approaching a language like English. Where necessary, reference is made to specific varieties (for example a sound that is more important for Brazilian Portuguese speakers to learn rather than European Portuguese speakers). In the course for Chinese learners, references are made to Mandarin and Cantonese.

When you log into the course, you will see a list of lessons. Your lessons have been designed and ordered to prioritise improving your intelligibility (i.e. people understanding you) and reducing the impression of a “foreign accent”. The lessons also include comparisons with words and sounds in your native language to help you understand why you pronounce English in a certain way.

If you grew up bilingual, you can change the native language in My Account at any time. Your lessons will automatically change.

If your language isn’t listed when signing up, choose the my language isn’t listed option and you’ll receive a course which covers the main issues that non-natives face when approaching English pronunciation.

Yes!

You will be asked to record a text containing all the sounds of English (this will take 5 minutes to read). After you have sent this via email, Luke will respond telling you what to focus on in the course. You can purchase this service here.

Every month, there will be a live class with Luke. You can observe him teaching or volunteer for a 1-1 coaching session. You can also ask questions about any pronunciation topic using the chat box. 

If you miss a live class, you can watch it another time. All past classes are uploaded into the course and organised by the topics covered and the participating students’ language groups. This means you can easily find classes relevant to you.

The classes are part of the course subscription. Access is through your internet browser so you don’t need to download any special software.

The course is suitable for learners with an intermediate or advanced level of English.

You will be charged every month, every 6 months or every year depending on which subscription plan you choose. The course content is the same (you are just choosing how often to be charged).

It works out cheaper per month to take the annual subscription rather than the monthly subscription.

If you want to switch from one subscription plan to another: (1) cancel your current subscription, (2) wait until it expires, (3) subscribe to a new plan.

To cancel your subscription, click Account Settings -> My Subscription (in the course sidebar) and then click Cancel.

You must cancel at least 24 hours before the next billing date to avoid being charged again. If you cancel your subscription, you will still have access to the course until your subscription expires.

You can find out when your next billing date is in My Subscription.