About

Short bio:

I am a dialect and accent coach based in Edinburgh.

Born and raised in multilingual Switzerland, linguistic and dialectal diversity have always been close to my heart. The way somebody talks reveals much about that person and their story. Dialects and accents are an integral part of what makes us human.

And they are just so much fun! I love supporting actors in mastering dialects/accents and thereby helping them deliver great linguistically fleshed-out characters on stage and screen. I also love to use my passion for English accents as well as my skills built up during university to coach non-actors.

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How I became a dialect coach:

Growing up in a multilingual country allowed me to study languages from a very young age. By the age of 20 I had become proficient in five languages: Swiss German, German, French, Spanish, and English. My passion for languages then led me to study linguistics at university. There, I deepened my understanding of how languages work while studying additional languages such as Nepalese and Irish Gaelic. Fascinated most by the sounds of a language, I specialised in phonology and phonetics. During my Master’s degree in linguistics at the University of Edinburgh I focused on dialects and accents in my research while taking various modules on sounds and dialects.

In my free-time I used to – and still do – research various English dialects and pester anybody willing to listen to my new-found knowledge. I kept catching myself eavesdropping on people’s conversation to try to guess their dialect and place of origin. [Living in an international city like Edinburgh is fantastic because I get to eavesdrop on aaaaaaalll the different languages and dialects 😉]. My favourite part about watching a movie to this day is to listen to the actors’ accents and think about if and how they could have improved them. Finally, I decided to turn my obsession with dialects and accents into a career and teach dialects and accents to people who share my passion.

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My experience:

I have led various workshops as well as individual coaching sessions, including training actors for an Edinburgh Fringe Festival production. I have experience collaborating with actors who speak many different native accents (Scottish, Irish, Spanish, American, etc.) and who wanted to learn a variety of target accents (Northern Irish, RP, Cockney, General American etc.). My linguistic training allows me to research accents in depth and with technical expertise. The world is my oyster and it is full of beautiful dialects and accents!