Yes!

Unlike other courses or textbooks, my 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
• how to change your voice quality (the overall sound of your voice, and how you hold your speech muscles)
• how to change your rhythm and intonation

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. I want you to sound like a normal English person rather than making you sound like the Queen (i.e. a very old-fashioned and posh form of English which would sound humorous to a native speaker).

You can read a comprehensive comparison between my course and other available textbooks here.

1. The online course represents excellent value for money

• If you buy 40 weeks’ access for £399, it works out at under £10 per week. (Remember that this includes over 80 video lessons.) In comparison, I charge £79 an hour for lessons.

2. You may understand a pronunciation topic in a lesson, but not the next day.

• With the online course, you can repeat lessons whenever you want and you don’t have to rely on a teacher.
• You have access to the course 24/7.

3. You have hours of high-quality video or audio materials to practise with at home. The recordings are of a contemporary British English accent.

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 French speaker will have different challenges compared to a Chinese speaker when learning English pronunciation. For this reason, I have created a guide for each language, which prioritises the most important sounds to learn. The guide also gives examples of words from your native language in order to clarify the differences between English and your mother tongue.

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 guide for Chinese there are references to specific languages, such as Mandarin, Cantonese and Southern Min.

If your native language is not listed then you can email me (Luke@ImproveYourAccent.co.uk) and I will add it as soon as I can. Of course you can take the course if your native language is not listed, and browse through all the worksheets – but you won’t be guided through it.

Yes!

You can watch a video lesson on the TH sounds here. (Can you make a difference between den-then, free-three, sank-thank?)

You can watch a video lesson on the Schwa sound here.

The course includes detailed information on all the vowels and consonants in English, as well as rhythm, intonation and voice quality. You don’t have to learn everything in the course (because what you study depends on your native language), but it’s nice to have all the information available. You can take a look at the contents page here.

Click the image below to look at some worksheets:

This course will teach you the Standard Southern British English Accent, which is based on the accent in south-east England. You may have heard of this accent as Received Pronunciation (RP) or BBC English. The accent has changed slightly over the years. This course will teach you a contemporary version of this accent rather than an old-fashioned version.

This accent is usually associated with people who are middle class, educated, and in professional jobs.

No, the course will teach you everything you need to know.

No, the priority of this course is for you to sound more English as quickly and effectively as possible. I certainly explain IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) symbols and how they can be useful, but I do not go into detail with phonetic/phonological issues.

IPA symbols are used as a tool in the course – but I use lots of different tools to help you. So even if you don’t use the IPA, you will still progress well.

The Online English Pronunciation Course does not include any private lessons with me, however you can contact me to book a lesson in London or via Skype.

Please contact me with your requirements.

Please contact me with your requirements.

There is no difference. Moving your voice from a non-native accent towards a more English accent is known by many terms (including learning English pronunciation, improving your accent, accent reduction, accent softening, accent modification). However it all refers to the same process.