This is a pair of words that lots of learners of British English find challenging. In this post, I’m going to explain the difference for you. There is also a video at the bottom of the page so you can hear the difference. HOLY /ˈhəʊ.li/: The vowel is the first...

Liverpool is a city in the north of England with a distinctive accent (the way words are pronounced) and dialect (the actual words that are used). The accent here is completely different from accents spoken even just a few miles away. Watch this video of footballers...

When I was growing up, I remember being "corrected" and told that the way I spoke was "wrong". The reason? I used glottal stops. The glottal stop is a common sound in British English and often replaces /t/ between vowels like "water" or at the end of words after a...

Many words in English originate from other languages but we no longer think of them as foreign words. Examples include “restaurant” (French origin), “algebra” (Arabic origin) and “bungalow” (Hindi origin). Some words though still look and feel like they are borrowed....

The United Kingdom is famous for the range of regional accents we have relative to our size. It’s possible for travel even a few miles and find the accent has completely changed. The Geordie accent is spoken by people in the Newcastle area. Watch this clip with...

Lots of learners, whatever their first language, find vowel length difficult especially in words like Ship / sheep Live / leave Rhythm / reason There are two differences between these vowel sounds. The most obvious is length – you can clearly hear that the vowel in...

How do you feel when you read phrases like: “speak like a native” “improve your accent” “perfect pronunciation” Do they inspire you or do they make you feel second best? If they make you feel like your English isn’t good enough, I completely understand. These phrases...