Why listening is as important as pronunciation

An international client in England admitted to being baffled by the Cockney accent.

'When a plumber comes to my house I don't understand what they're saying', he sighed.

After reminding him that the 'b' in plumber is silent, I suggested we listen to an analysis of David Beckham's speech, which has changed over the years from estuary cockney to a mix of estuary with RP and US influences.

At one point on video, Beckham says "'ead bu--ed' - dropping the 'h' on head and using a glottal stop for the 't's in butted.

How a speaker of English as a second language is supposed to decipher this regional variant without a primer is a mystery...

That's why, as well as helping our clients to speak English clearly, we also work on their listening skills.