What's Happening Events

This workshop is designed for advanced English speakers who wish to improve their professional image by modifying their accent to sound more like a native British English speaker. Participants will typically be employed or possess an interest in journalism, public relations, marketing, media and communications and live (simultaneous) translation, but motivated applicants in other fields will be considered. The determined participants should finish with an understanding of his/her pronunciation ‘issues’ and of how to modify his/her accent over time, after the workshop has finished.

Workshop Details

This workshop will cover:

• The components of accent: rhythm, pitch (intonation and tone), stress, dialect.
• Pronunciation: the 44 phonemes of British English, flow, common issues for Chinese learners of English, finding correct pronunciations.
• British vs American English.
• Image and professionalism.

A small portion of the workshop will be theory and the rest will be practical, starting with an initial assessment of participants’ accents, and then practising the concepts and ideas presented and evaluating sample recordings and participants’ own accents.

Dates of Workshop Sessions:

1. 4 September 2025 (Thursday) - 2 pm to 5 pm
2. 5 September 2025 (Friday) - 2 pm to 5 pm
3. 8 September 2025 (Monday) - 2 pm to 5 pm
4. 9 September 2025 (Tuesday) - 2 pm to 5 pm
5. 10 September 2025 (Wednesday) - 2 pm to 5 pm

Notes to Applicants

• Applicants should be graduates and willing to take part in discussions and practical reading aloud and speaking exercises, ideally with little inhibition. They should be reasonably confident and fluent English speakers.
• Applicants should note that it takes self-awareness and persistence to permanently modify one’s speaking accent.