BERBERENGLISH

How one-to-one lessons work? VIP

Lessons are conducted on platforms like Zoom, Skype, VooV, or similar platforms. Following each lesson, you will receive homework assignments that are required to be completed prior to your next lesson. 

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How often can I practise on WhatsApp? VIP

You have the option to send a single voice message up to 7 minutes in duration after each video lesson you complete or several messages that add up to 7 minutes.

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What is the history of English pronunciation?

You may notice that the English pronunciation of certain words, especially place names, is not the same as the spelling of the words. Why is this?

Many English words are imported from foreign languages, often when speakers of the language immigrated to or conquered part of England. Germanic peoples, Vikings, and of course the French, who conquered all of England, Wales, and Scotland after invading in 1066, are the best-known examples.

 

When native English people adopted the words, they anglicised them. For many centuries, the people speaking the newly adopted words were illiterate. They never saw, and wouldn't have recognised, the spelling of the words they were saying. So the pronunciation evolved, for hundreds and hundreds of years, completely unconstrained by the way the word was actually spelled.

 

This is why, just for one example, Worcester is usually pronounced "Wooster" and Leicester is pronounced "Lester". In general, it's often very difficult for a foreign-born person who has seen a place name in print to recognise the same place name when a native English speaker pronounces it.

 

In the last couple of centuries, as literacy became the norm, some pronunciations have drifted back towards the way a word is spelled. Contact with foreigners causes some English people to try to say words the way they're pronounced in the original language, even though this can sound pretentious. Place names are deeply embedded in the speech of the indigenous population. So it's unlikely we'll hear English people saying "Warsester" any time soon.

 

Americans, from a much younger country, were never as illiterate as the medieval English and were never conquered. So Americans tend to pronounce words in a way that is much closer to their spelling. But in the UK, American pronunciations, word choices, and spellings are somewhat looked down on, and foreign-born speakers who accidentally pick them up often try to get rid of "Americanisms" and return to the original English phrasing, spelling, and pronunciation.

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Why do I have an accent?

Everyone in the world has an accent when they speak. One accent is no better than any other. However, people who speak English as a second language regularly ask me for help with English pronunciation in order to stop people misunderstanding the things that they say. It's frustrating to be asked to repeat yourself, or to feel that people are listening to how you are speaking, rather than what you are saying. My courses will help you to understand how small changes to your pronunciation can make a big difference to how well you are understood.

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Why soften my accent?

There are a number of reasons why you may want to soften your accent. They may not all apply to you
and you may have reasons of your own, but these are some of the most common:

• People make judgements about us when we speak, both professional and personal judgements. We may not like it, but they do.

• A strong accent may often be perceived as a low language level, which is frustrating for the speaker and can lead to missed opportunities in work and everyday life.

• A strong accent, even with perfect grammar and vocabulary, can prevent understanding and make you feel less confident about communicating. 

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In reality, pronunciation is a separate skill and not a reflection of how fluent you are. However, the way that we speak also affects the way that we hear, so not understanding the rules of pronunciation can mean that some information is processed incorrectly, and can lead to misunderstandings and more missed opportunities.

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Is it important to have good pronunciation?
Just consider the following points:

Bad pronunciation:​

• May be confusing and hard to understand for those who listen to you

• Gives the impression that you are uneducated

• Doesn't allow you to become a good public speaker.

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Good pronunciation and a neutral accent:

• Allows you to become a pleasant communicator

• Is a good basis for public speaking

• Will enable you to enjoy speaking more

• Gives you confidence, and your confidence in turn opens up for you all sorts of opportunities.

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What accent will I learn?

The British English accent you will be learning in any of my courses is called Received Pronunciation, or RP for short. Geographically, RP is most commonly associated with the south of England and is one of the main accents spoken in and around London, although certainly not the only one. Queen Elizabeth II spoke a very traditional form of RP, while many British TV and radio presenters speak one that is more typical of modern-day users.

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Why Received Pronunciation?

Why not learn to speak with a Scottish or London Cockney accent? Why make an effort to reduce a strong Russian or Spanish accent? The reason is very simple: to help you make your English clear and easy to understand for the majority of English-speaking people. This course teaches you how to develop Received Pronunciation (RP). RP is simply a neutral pronunciation of educated Southern English. It's sometimes called Standard English.

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What is the history of RP?

Beginning over a century ago, RP spread rapidly throughout the Civil Service of the British Empire and became the voice of authority and power in a substantial part of the world. Because it was a regionally 'neutral' accent and was thought to be more widely understood than any regional accent, it also came to be adopted by the BBC when radio broadcasting began in the 1920s.

The first Director General of the BBC, Lord Reith, when asked why he had chosen RP for the BBC, replied: "I tried to get a style or quality of English that would not be laughed at in any part of the country.

To date, RP retains its considerable status. It is still the standard accent of Parliament, the Church of England, the High Courts, and other British national institutions. It has long been the chief accent taught to foreigners who wish to learn a British model. RP is also taught in acting schools in the UK, as actors from different cultural and social backgrounds are required to have the ability to speak using RP when it's necessary for their performances.

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It should be noted that RP is not static. Modern RP has been simplified compared to, say, what it was over 50 years ago and now sounds more neutral and democratic. However, it will most certainly remain the accent of educated people.

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How will it feel?

Working on your accent will feel very different from working on your grammar or vocabulary. When you change how you speak, you change a part of your identity. Our voices and accents are highly personal reflections of who we are. When we speak, we instantly share information with the world about where we have come from and how we feel about ourselves. People respond to that information and make judgments, even if they don't realize they are doing so. When you change the way you speak, people will respond to you differently, and you will also feel different about yourself. People sometimes say they feel fake when they first start learning a new accent. This is unavoidable, so I recommend treating it as part of the fun! Give yourself permission to feel different at first, like putting on a disguise. You will gradually get more and more used to talking in this way.

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Where can I listen to examples of this English accent?

Search for these speakers on YouTube to hear the accents:

Female: Maggie Smith, Emma Watson, Keira Knightley 

Male: Ralph Fiennes, Benedict Cumberbatch, Hugh Bonneville, Jeremy Irons, Charles Dance, Alan Watts

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