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Speech Coaching

I give online coaching to help people with pronunciation and accents. My clients include actors and professionals of all kinds, with a wide range of mother tongues.

I also offer online workshops and short courses. (Of course in-person work is currently suspended; previous workshop venues have included Argentina, China, Estonia, Germany, Finland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia and Slovenia, as well as the UK.)

Additionally, I’m Director of UCL’s famous annual Summer Course in English Phonetics, which celebrated its 100th birthday in 2019. (Sadly SCEP will not run this summer.)

Weak Forms in Pride & Prejudice

ENGLISH CONTRACTIONS

EJECTIVE CONSONANTS in ENGLISH: Why do English speakers pronounce /k/ like that?

WEAK FORMS: Why You Don't Sound Like a Native...?

Whether you want to learn a different English accent from your own, or work towards a native command of English – Geoff is brilliant. His knowledge is immense and his lessons are detailed and practical. He will teach you how to change your language habits, and very soon self-monitor and navigate the world of sounds by yourself. Geoff is always positive, kind and warm and will make you feel like you can achieve all you’ve set out to do.

Andre Flynnactor (The Musketeers, BBC)

Excellent! Geoff is a gifted and dedicated teacher. Thank you UCL for bringing him to us!

course participant

I have just passed my English retour exam, and the examiners commented on the improvement in my accent.

interpreter

Truly broadened my horizon in British English Pronunciation.

course participant

Geoff has a fantastic skill to communicate complex linguistic information in a practical and understandable way. I could not recommend Geoff’s coaching more.

film-TV actor

You managed to be both highly critical and wonderfully warm, motivating and entertaining. Your energy is contagious. Rarely have I learnt so much without noticing the effort.

interpreter

Very useful, practical, inspiring!

course participant

I have changed my behaviour towards my speaking quite dramatically… now I am able to identify in other speakers those sounds that I need to work on.

teacher of English

I recently met a former student of yours. I was wholly impressed by how authentically British her accent sounded, and she told me that you taught her.

by email

Geoff’s knowledge and enthusiasm are infectious… with Geoff’s help I landed a television role.

actor

Best seminar ever! Perfect!

interpreter

A truly rewarding experience. I enjoyed it to the full.

online client

blog articles

“It is a book I wish I had written myself – but I don’t think I would have been able to make such a good job of it”
– from the Foreword by J.C. Wells

Accent change

Problems

Speech is fast, complex, and largely automatic. We can do it because we spent years ‘wiring’ our mother tongue into our minds and bodies. Other accents and languages don’t have this advantage.
Foreign languages are taught primarily in their written form, and pronunciation teaching is often minimal.
Typically, learners pronounce foreign words with the wired-in habits of the mother tongue.

Challenges

If (like many actors) you enjoy copying accents, you may only need help with accuracy and consistency. But most people find it hard to change habits.
You need to care about distinctions that don’t matter in your mother tongue.
Your articulators may have to go outside their comfort zone. The right sound may feel wrong.
Often it’s the most familiar words that need the most work!

The process

In class, we go through differences between your current habits and your target accent.
We develop your ability to notice your old habits while speaking, inside and outside class.
When possible, you correct the mistakes that you notice, on the spot.
You begin to anticipate and to ‘correct’ issues before they happen.
New habits are established. More

Due to the health situation, UCL’s Summer Course in English Phonetics (SCEP) will not take place this year.

Read about SCEP’s 100 years here. 2019 marked the centenary of SCEP. Participants came from around the world to study for two weeks at the ‘home of English Phonetics’. Our Centenary Guest Lecture was given by Prof. David Crystal.

Tricky English words (‘Words of the Week’)

Objective: adjective

October 24, 2016/by Geoff Lindsey

Bowie

January 18, 2016/by Geoff Lindsey

Bigly?

October 10, 2016/by Geoff Lindsey

sausage anne egg McMuffin

March 21, 2016/by Geoff Lindsey

Iron and environment

November 23, 2015/by Geoff Lindsey

Observe conservative insurgencies

November 21, 2016/by Geoff Lindsey

How mayor may or may not be pronounced

March 28, 2016/by Geoff Lindsey

First class box sets

April 25, 2016/by Geoff Lindsey

Kudos to Bezos

August 1, 2016/by Geoff Lindsey

Any time? Any town?

May 31, 2015/by Geoff Lindsey

Tutorials

Aspiration

March 6, 2015/by Geoff Lindsey

The word pronunciation

June 2, 2015/by Geoff Lindsey

English h

February 19, 2015/by Geoff Lindsey

Cardinal vowels

July 5, 2012/by Geoff Lindsey

Tones: ear-training and quizzes

September 24, 2012/by Geoff Lindsey

Ear-training quiz for non-natives

March 14, 2012/by Geoff Lindsey

Click here to add your own text

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🔎 CUBE Online Dictionary @CUBEwords·

22 Sep 2020

#Pronunciation of #EllenDeGeneres in CUrrent British English

ɛ́ l ə n d ə ʤ ɛ́ n ə r ə s • ˈelən dəˈʤenərəs • EL-uhn duh-JEN-uh-ruhs

𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘣𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥s • 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 • 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘴
http://cube.elte.hu/index.pl?s=Ellen+DeGeneres&gimson=on&bbcon=on

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🔎 CUBE Online Dictionary @CUBEwords·

14 Sep 2020

#Pronunciation of #sulphuric in CUrrent British English

s ʌ l f j ɵ́ː r ɪ k • sʌlˈfjʊərɪk • sul-FYOOR-ik

🔎𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘣𝘺 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 • 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 • 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘴 • 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦
http://cube.elte.hu/index.pl?s=sulphuric&gimson=on&bbcon=on

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Speech Coaching

blog articles

Can’t anyone do Cameron?

Lucas quiz – the answers

People fool in love (extended mix)

GOOSE backing

Linking r

Ear-training quiz for non-natives

The CUBE searchable dictionary

Thirty-free

Pannettawwwwwneh

The merger that never quite was

Blotchy Sochi

The demise of happY laxing

Accent change

Tricky English words (‘Words of the Week’)

Objective: adjective

Bowie

Bigly?

sausage anne egg McMuffin

Iron and environment

Observe conservative insurgencies

Geossrey

How mayor may or may not be pronounced

First class box sets

Kudos to Bezos

Any time? Any town?

Pronunciations that I recommend

Tutorials

Aspiration

The word pronunciation

English h

Cardinal vowels

Tones: ear-training and quizzes

Ear-training quiz for non-natives