The Accent Manifesto

All things being equal. They are not. It can take just 30 milliseconds to identify your non-native accent. Non-native accents often sound untrustworthy, illiterate and unintelligent. Says research. What say you? I say, stop it! Come and join The Accent Revolution and let’s stop it! … Read more

learn spoken English

How to learn spoken English?

US diplomates are given no more than 44 weeks to learn how to speak a foreign language and how to serve as an informal interpreter. How do they do that? Well, unlike the rest of us they have their own special School of Language Studies, … Read more

canadian accent

How to recognize the Canadian accent?

Canada’s special. Free healthcare, well-thought immigration policy and no shortage of snow. South Park making fun of how Canadians would apologise for even being polite. And finally there’s that special way Canadians say about. It’s hard not to like Canada! Today, I’m going to show … Read more

Porsche pronunciation

How to say Porsche? Pronounce it right!

Porsh or Por-shaah? I’ve seen probably a dozen movies where a character said they drive a Porsch and at least a few in which the second syllable was prolonged Por-shaah. This dilemma even got featured in one of the most popular TV shows of all … Read more

NATO phonetic alphabet banner

Nato Phonetic Alphabet

Alpha, Bravo, Charlie – who doesn’t know those famous code words? And they come handy! I remember one contestant on Wheel of Fortune who panicked and said “R for yellow”. Is yellow even a legit code word for Y? The NATO alphabet saved me when … Read more

Worcestershire sauce pronunciation

Worcestershire is just one of those English words that is impossible to pronounce right by just looking at it. And despite the fact that Worcestershire sauce has been around since 1830 most people struggle with its pronunciation. When Chef Pasquale posted a Youtube video with … Read more