Questions about accent coaching
Straight answers about the Accent Check, live coaching and how long change takes.
10,000+ one-on-one lessons
How much does it cost?
Current prices for the Accent Check, live lessons and packages are on the pricing page. The full price of your Accent Check is credited toward future lessons.
Does it work? When will I improve?
Practice and feedback can show early changes. Lasting improvement takes weeks or months.
Who is this for?
Anyone who wants to hear and speak English more like a native speaker, not only tech professionals. Tech meetings and standups are one example.
Is 15 minutes enough for the Accent Check?
Yes. The Accent Check is a 15-minute live diagnosis plus one or two fixes you can use today. That is what 15 minutes is for. It is not enough to finish changing your accent. That takes ongoing training: listening gains come fast, and pronunciation habits take longer.
How hard is training?
Teaching your body to do something different is not easy. If it were, everyone would improve their accent, and they don’t. It gets easier after you have done the right practice more than once, through muscle memory and reps. What makes it workable is an experienced coach who knows how to teach it and has seen every example of what not to do. With a professional, you can start doing it right away and move toward muscle memory. It is a combination of changing how you hear, what your brain focuses on, and muscle-memory habits.
Start Here training vs paid coaching?
The Start Here courses teach the foundations. Paid coaching adds live diagnosis and feedback.
Why isn’t the swear word dictionary on YouTube?
It is too hardcore for YouTube, so it is sold on the site, with meanings, pronunciation and context. View it.
How long does it take to change your accent?
Listening starts changing right away. In the first couple of weeks, from the first couple of classes, you learn to hear English differently, more like a native speaker. Josh coaches that listening shift every session. Changing your pronunciation is habit change. You need effective practice and enough reps done the right way to build muscle memory, like the gym. If you follow the system, lasting pronunciation changes typically take around three months.
Is this for tech meetings and standups?
Yes. It helps immigrant mid and senior tech professionals in meetings, standups and client calls, and anyone who wants to hear and speak English more like a native speaker. See why people ask you to repeat in standups.
How is this different from Rachel’s English?
Rachel’s English is excellent self-paced training; see the recommended Rachel’s English page. Josh provides live coaching and diagnosis. They can complement each other.
Is this for people in the US only?
No. This is online American English training for people worldwide.
What’s the difference between the Accent Check and a full lesson?
The Accent Check is a 15-minute diagnosis plus one or two targeted fixes. A full lesson is a longer session of focused training. See pricing for both.
How does the Accent Check credit work?
The full price of your Accent Check is credited toward future lessons.
More accent questions
Why don’t Americans understand my accent?
Why non-native speakers understand each other, and what American ears listen for instead.
Why do people ask me to repeat myself?
What American ears actually listen for, and a short drill to switch to body voice.
How to reduce your accent for work
A live lesson on the stress patterns of long workplace words, from Boost Up English Live.
American accent coach for professionals and executives
Live 1:1 American accent coaching for fluent professionals in high-stakes rooms.
Do I need an accent coach?
Seven red flags that a coach is not moving you toward your pronunciation goals.
Fluent English, but people still don’t understand me at work. Why?
A short Joe Rogan clip: excellent English, and still hard to understand.
Want to know what to fix first?
In an Accent Check, Josh finds what matters most for your accent and gives you one or two fixes to use today.