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I've
always been fascinated by language and speech, and especially by the
features that give dialects and individuals their own sound.
I earned my doctorate in Linguistics from UCLA
(California, Los Angeles), finding time to do fieldwork on the amazing
Cherokee language. Since then I've explored my fascination
with speech and sound in academic work, in creative
work, and as a coach and consultant.
COACHING/CONSULTING
 Over 25 years I’ve taught English pronunciation in
its many forms to a wide range of students and professionals, including
speech pathologists, interpreters, actors and business people. My
skills in analysing individual speaker characteristics
have led to my working on many forensic voice comparison cases.
ACADEMIC
I’ve
taught at London, Edinburgh and Cambridge Universities, and my
publications include cited research on American and British dialects.
I
was a contributor to the Kiel revision of the International Phonetic
Alphabet, and a consultant phonetician for the Concise Oxford
Dictionary on CD-ROM. I
also hold the Trinity College TESOL
Certificate.
CREATIVE
For my most recently project Magic
Piano I wrote the screenplay and also arranged the musical score, performed in the film by piano
superstar Lang Lang.
I directed
Lang Lang and Heather Graham in the feature
The
Flying Machine, and
in short films I’ve directed the likes of Michael Palin
(of Monty Python)
and David Bamber (of BBC's Pride and Prejudice).
For TV, my writing includes the
BBC's top-rated Cockney drama EastEnders.
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