Hey guys! It is Aiko with Schwagirl. I am an American English pronunciation coach.

Welcome to my podcast "The Voice of English"

The purpose of this podcast is to encourage English learners and also English teachers. We all share tips and points of how we can improve our English and become better communicators.

In Episode 10, I invited Zakiyama from Zakiyama English based in Japan who is an English coach and mentor.

He speaks British English. He graduated from Indiana University Bloomington, with the degree of Linguistics and Business minor. Currently, he is working for an IT company based in Tokyo. And he provides English lessons.

Now Zakiyama coaches English, but when he went to the UK for the first time, he could not understand a very simple sentence. Someone said "How are you?" to him, but he heard it as "How old are you?" That happened on his very first day in the UK. Since then, he practiced English hard. And he is coaching English from his own experience being in the UK and also in the US.

Enjoy his encouraging messages!

Here are the links to his social media

Website: http://zakiyama-english.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/zakiyamaenglish

Notes from this episode

Synaesthesia : Seeing words or objects as colors

Reading: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/what-it-s-like-to-live-with-synaesthesia-a7079241.html

Bouba/Kiki Effect : Linking shapes to sounds

Reading: https://www.theguardian.com/science/head-quarters/2016/oct/17/the-boubakiki-effect-how-do-we-link-shapes-to-sounds

Coursera : Online Courses and Credentials by Top Educators. Join for Free

https://www.coursera.org/

In Aug, I have a sponsor! She is Megumi the blogger based in Hawaii. She writes about Hawaiian life, English learning, and other interesting things. Check out her blog here: https://www.megumi711.com/

She operates Yes! サロン which is a community where you can output English so that you can improve English. If you are looking for an opportunity to output English, check out her twitter. https://twitter.com/MeginHawaii

If you have any questions regarding English learning or pronunciation, living in the US, working in the US, or if you would like to be a guest on this show, please contact me through http://schwagirl.com/contact

MUSIC:
Artist: Nicolai Heidlas
Title: Hawaiian Winter

Support me financially to be able to provide my podcast, youtube videos and FB live for free. Join my patrons on Patreon. You can donate from 1 dollar a month. https://www.patreon.com/schwagirl

Don't forget to subscribe to my newsletter.

Aiko Hemingway's online pronunciation study material "American English Pronunciation for Japanese Speakers" is available on Teachable. Check out the link: https://hatsuonkyosei.teachable.com/