Our English accent courses help people from non-English speaking backgrounds, who are living in Australia to speak English more like a local. 

Do people sometimes find your English unclear? 

Or do you want to improve your Australian accent so you sound more like a local?

Maybe both of the above? : ) 

Either way, Speech Active’s Australian accent training courses will help you be easily understood by listeners and sound more Australian. We hear time and time again from our students that the most beneficial thing they gained from the course was increased speaking confidence. That makes us very happy.  

How will you speak better, clearer Australian English with our courses? 

Our courses are a unique combination of online video, audio and phone training. Each course is fully tailored specifically for speakers of your first language. 

Our courses were created by a team of Speech Pathologists, ESL tutors and e-learning specialists. 

Each Speech Active course includes a 30 minute phone training session with Georgie, along with the comprehensive video course. Every course includes:

• 6 months access to comprehensive online Australian Accent Pronunciation & Fluency course
• a 30 minute phone training session with Georgie
• guided self assessment at the start and end of the course
• before and after voice recordings
• over 30+ video modules in an easy to follow timeline
• hours of listen and repeat audio files for in between your videos
• notes to support your learning
• fluency targets and activities
• progress check recording tools in every module
• professional language practice that’s relevant to your everyday work and social situations
• and much, much more. 

Find out more about our course for speakers of your first language: Speech Active Course List

Speech Active – Australia’s Leading Australian Accent Training Provider

You might be wondering what the best online pronunciation course available in Australia is. We are confident that our courses offer students the best combination of tailored training available right now.

Speech Active’s Pronunciation and Fluency Training Courses are the chosen provider by many of Australia’s leading Universities. They purchase our services and online programs for their international students to help them perform their best in job interviews and so they are effective communicators in the Australian workplace.

Many Australian and Global companies based in Australia choose Speech Active for their employees. We work with GPs, Engineers, IT professionals, nurses and more to help them develop clear English so they can be easily understood by their colleagues, managers, patients, clients and friends. 

What You’ll Improve With Speech Active Training 

With our training, you’ll develop clear, Australian English. With our self-paced, step by step training you’ll systematically correct the areas of pronunciation for clear English. 

You will:

• improve the foundations of clear English – rate of speaking, mouthn position and volume. 
• correct your rhythm and stress in English words and sentences (the music of English) – this is ESSENTIAL for being clear in English.
• improve key English vowels sounds correctly that speakers of your first language mispronounce (eg the vowels in the word ‘not’, ‘note’ and ‘nought’ are different. Are you pronouncing these vowels correctly?)
• correct the consonant sounds that speakers of your first language mispronounce. For example /v/, ‘th’ and more.
• watch other speakers making mistakes so you’ll see and be 100% clear on exactly what to do and exactly what not to do. 
• get loads of practise to master your new sounds in real life conversations – both professional and casual. You’ll get the practise you need to successfully transfer your new skills to your everyday conversations. 
• improve your listening skills, vocabulary, confidence and understanding of English expressions. Develop your fluency in each module with our new ‘Active Fluency’ targets. 
• and much, much more. 

Australian Accent Challenge for Non-Native English Speakers

Complete our 5 day Australian Accent Challenge with our free video starter course. Join our Free English Pronunciation Course Online today and learn about important aspects of pronunciation that you’ll learn to sound more Australian.

You’ll cover areas such as word stress, weak vowels, diphthong vowels and more. This is a great introduction to sounding more local and learning Aussie English. 

It’s a good idea to revise all of the Australian vowel sounds – English has a number of vowels that often don’t exist in people’s first languages, such as long vowels and double  / diphthong vowels. You’ll need to work on some key vowels to make sure you’re pronuncation is clear and to sound more local. 

How Important Is It For Me To Sound Australian? 

Many people wonder what accent should they be aiming for. For professional life in Australia we recommend you aim for an accent that will be clear to listeners. 

In our opinion, it’s not important at all that you should sound Australian. Most of our clients have the goal of being clear to all listeners.

However, we also completely understand when someone has the personal goal to sound more local. Some people have this goal because they’ve lived here for many years; they feel like Australia is home and they feel like an Aussie so they want to sound more Aussie too.  

Some of our students have learnt American or British style English in their home countries. If you have a non-English speaking accent that has an American style or British style – that really doesn’t matter – as long as your English is clear to the people around you. Speaking clearly will enable you to speak with confidence and work effectively with people. See more on this here. 

To summarise, just because you live in Australia, you shouldn’t feel pressure to sound more Australian. However, if your English pronunciation is sometimes unclear to listeners this is likely to hold you back. Most employers want staff who are easily understood by colleagues and clients so they can work effeiciently. 

So, the top priority should be clarity. You can still have a wonderful Spanish, Mandarin or Russian accent – but it should be clear and easily understood by listeners so it doesn’t hold you back in job interviews and in the English speaking workplace. 

More On Australian Accents And Sounding More Australian

Below are some answers to common questions that people ask us when they are looking for Australian Accent Training or an Australian Accent Course for overseas professionals. 

Are There Different Types Of Australian Accent?

The Australian accent doesn’t vary as much from location to location like in other countries such as Britain or America. In these countries, the accent used can be very, very different when you travel only short distances, like 100Km or so. Local people can guess where you are from, by the accent you use. 

Here in Australia, the Australian accent tends to differ more depending on whether you live in a major city or not. So the distinction tends to be between a rural Australian accent and an urban Australian accent.

For example, people in large Australian cities – Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide for example – often have very similar sounding Australian accents. People from rural areas often, but not always, have broader or stronger Australian accents. 

Most Australians wouldn’t be able to tell where an Australian person is from by the sound of their Australian accent. However they may be able to tell if they are from the country or the city. 

In Speech Active’s Australian Accent Course your teacher, Georgie (that’s me) has a mild Australian accent. I grew up in Melbourne Australia and spent many years living in the UK.  My Australian accent may be less obvious than your typical Australian.

In your Speech Active Course you will hear many different accents: Australian accents and accents from the UK and US. It’s important that you become an expert at easily understanding all types of accents. 

I Want To Sound More Australian. Which Aussie Accent Should I Aim For?

If you want to sound more Australian, you should aim for the standard Australian accent that you hear in most large Australian cities. The Australian accent you hear in cities like Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide or Perth.

Why? Because this accent is clear, professional sounding and will be well received by all around Australia and the world. 

I don’t recommend you aim to adopt a broad or strong Australian accent. This can seem unprofessional in some situations and can also be challenging for people to understand. 

Should I learn Australian Slang Or Australian Expressions? 

First of all, it’s important to distinguish between Australian and English Idioms and experssions and ‘Australian Slang’. 

Australian and English Idioms and expressions are things like ‘it’s got legs’ (this means ‘it’s a good idea’) and to ‘pull the pin’ (means to cancel or pull out of something). These are very important for you to learn. 

Expressions like these are used all the time, in both the professional environment and casual situations also. We have some that you would hear only in Australia but most of the expressions you will hear day to day at the office will be expressions that are used in the UK and US as well. 

So remember, you need to understand Australian expressions and idioms but you DO NOT need to USE them. It’s difficult to get a feel for when using expressions like these is appropriate. So, we recommend you focus on understanding them, but not neccessarily using them. 

You will learn all of the important expressions and Australian idioms that you need to know for working in Australia in your Speech Active course. 

Australian slang is quite different. Actually you don’t hear it used very much these days. Australian slang is things like ‘you flaming galah’ – this means ‘your silly’ and a ‘dunny’ is a toilet. If it’s ‘fair dinkum’ it’s true or real.  If you are living and working in rural Australia then you probably should become familiar with what these terms mean but I would avoid using them. 

Practice Using A More Australian Accent Now 

Improve Your Word Stress

Improving English word stress, sentence stress and use of weak vowels is a very important part of sounding more Australian. For more practice on word stress visit English Word Stress Exercises. 

The way we use the pitch of the voice to stress certain syllables in English is very important for speaking clearly and being easily understood by listeners. This is what makes the ‘music’ or rhythm of English.

Many people don’t know that one syllable in every multi-syllable English word is stressed and making good word stress and using weak vowels are particularly difficult areas for non-native English speakers. Unfortunately you can’t tell which syllable should be stressed in English words just by looking at the spelling! 

Many non-native English speakers make the stress in words too even or flat, or they might put the stress on the incorrect syllable. An Australian Accent Training Course with Speech Active will help you master word stress, sentence stress and weak vowels. You’ll become an expert at hearing and making the correct rhythm and stress in English words and sentences.

Improve Your Use Of The Schwa Vowel To Sound More Australian

Schwa is a very important vowel in English – in the Australian accent even more so than other types of English. 

Out of the main types of English accents – North American accent, British accent and Australian Accent – British speakers use schwa the least and Australian speakers us the schwa sound the most. 

If you aren’t sure what schwa is or how to make it, see this video on How To Make Schwa. 

In British English, speakers often pronounce the letter ‘i’ in weak syllables as a weak ‘i’ vowel, rather than schwa. In Australian English the ‘i’ vowel in unstressed syllables often (but not always) becomes schwa.

Here are some examples: 

office            Australian   /ˈɒ.fəs/               UK  /ˈɒf.ɪs/              

service         Australian  /ˈsɜː.vəs/            UK /ˈsɜː.vɪs/           

mistake        Australian /məˈsteɪk/          UK /mɪˈsteɪk/        

Should most non-native speakers worry about these differences as non-native English speaker? No way! The difference is so small and not using schwa won’t make your English unclear. 

However, if you are undertaking Australian Accent Training to sound more Australian, mastering schwa is something you will need to do. 

Become a master at English word stress, sentence stress, weak vowels and all areas of English pronunciation with Speech Active.Start improving your Australian accent today with our tailored English Pronunciation Courses. 

We look forward to working with you. 

Georgie and the Speech Active team – Lorelie, Laura, Antony and James