Website

Luke Nicholson

British Accent Coach

Luke Nicholson is a British accent coach based in London with over a decade of experience helping English learners communicate more clearly. Luke lectures at University College London's Summer Course in English Phonetics and is a member of the International Phonetic Association. In 2012, he founded Improve Your Accent to address the lack of high-quality British English pronunciation materials. He has taught students from 90 countries and has been featured in media such as BBC Radio London, Times Radio, and The Evening Standard. In 2017, Luke was awarded IPSE's UK Freelancer of the Year, and in 2020, he received YouTube's Silver Creator Award. With a strong online presence, Luke has 170K YouTube subscribers and 158K Instagram followers. In 2021, his pronunciation course reached the finals of the British Council ELTons Awards. He is an enthusiastic language learner and created funetics.com, a site offering phonetics resources for a variety of languages.

Education

  • MA, Acting with Distinction in Voice and Articulation, East 15 Acting School
  • First-class BA(Hons), German & Italian Studies, University of Birmingham

Professional Achievements

  • Had an article published as the lead article in an issue of the Voice and Speech Review, "Teaching Vowels Physically"

Certifications & Organizations

  • International Phonetic Association (IPA) Certificate, University College London
  • CELTA (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults)

Favorite Piece of Advice

To improve your pronunciation in your target language, study the sound system of both your own language and the target language. Experiment with how you physically create sounds in both languages. Listen to other speakers actively to train your ear.

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Co-authored Articles (7)

How to

Speak in a British Accent

This article focuses on "Received Pronunciation" (RP), the stereotypical British accent mainly spoken in the south of England, and exaggerated by the upper classes, sometimes described as "the King's English". There are ...

How to

Teach Spoken English for Beginners

Whether you’re with a class of new students or your own child, teaching spoken English can seem like a daunting task. The key is breaking your lessons into simple segments that are easy for any beginning English speake...

How to

Improve Your English Speaking Skills

Speaking is one of the harder four language skills. It's one thing listening and understanding, or even reading and writing, but it's another talking to a native speaker. Don't worry though— with the right tricks, you ...

How to

Learn a British Accent

Hit the Queen’s English right out of the park with this guideWhether you are an actor or moving to Great Britain and want to fit in, learning a British accent can be challenging if you are accustomed to a different way...

How to

Speak with a Welsh Accent

If you're looking to take on a Welsh role or otherwise act the part, you may be wondering how to get the accent just right. With some practice to get the sounds and intonation just right, you can improve your Welsh accen...

100+ Popular & Fun English Tongue Twisters to Help Your Pronunciation

Silly & challenging tongue twisters for kids and adults Are you looking for a twisty, wordy challenge to tie up your tongue? Or is your goal to use tongue twisters to help improve your English pronunciation? Either way, ...

What Does “Noice” Mean in Slang? Pop Culture Uses & More

Plus, where “noice” comes from & how it’s different from “niiiice”You may have seen the word “noice” used on TikTok or heard it in a TV show—but what the heck does it mean? In this article, we’ll explor...