Conversations to make English more accessible to all.
English With Pat Podcasts
English may be a global language, but eventually we all have to meet halfway.
Shelley Purchon
English Unlocked: Helping Clients Overcome Language Barriers (UK)
April 1, 2023
A few years ago, after teaching English in Spain, Shelley returned to Newcastle and had a light bulb moment. She recognized that leaders of all stripes in her community struggled to break down language barriers with clients and stakeholders of diverse linguistic backgrounds. She thought: I shouldn’t teach English; I should train native speakers to unlock their English, strategies that would be invaluable to any professional or organization trying to connect with those whose language isn’t English. Thus was born English Unlocked. Solutions in true language empathy. To learn more about Shelley’s work, check out https://www.englishunlocked.co.uk.
Kendall Nelson
Author, Writing Center Director and Creative Writing Teacher, Los Angeles (US)
April 8, 2023
Kendall trains aspiring screenwriters in the Hollywood film industry at one of LA’s most sought-after film and performing arts schools. She is a consummate professional who enjoys blurring the lines across language backgrounds to help her bilingual and multilingual students develop their creative process and true purpose. Join Kendall and me as we discuss what she does to help learners from around the world create original, fluent, deeply personal, yet universally-appealing, stories that film producers will want to read. Kendall is a graduate of Emerson College in Boston, with an MA in TESOL from California State University.
Heather Hansen
Author, TEDx Speaker and Global Communication Consultant (Singapore)
April 30, 2023
Heather is founder and managing director of the Global Speech Academy in Singapore and a lifelong advocate of making voices heard in English. She’s also author of the prize-winning 2022 book titled Unmuted : How to Show Up, Speak Up and Inspire Action, published by Bloomsbury. You might also recognize Heather the TEDx speaker; she presented the talk How to Speak Bad English Perfectly. She also did a feature interview in 2021 on NPR that discussed how bad English may be good for business communication. I am thrilled—and honoured—she’s chosen to be my guest and chat about her and my favourite topic: accent bias. Come along on our very important and engaging discussion about what accent bias really is, where it comes from, and what we can do about it, from corporate people managers to everyday citizens. To learn more about Heather’s work, check out https://globalspeechacademy.com.