May 8, 2021How to use face masks to help your pronunciation & accent practiceWe’re starting to make some headway in the coronavirus pandemic: vaccination rates are going up and lockdowns are coming down, but many of us will still be wearing masks for a while. Here’s how to turn that into an opportunity for extra accent and pronunciation practice. Recently, a Japanese student…Accent Reduction3 min readAccent Reduction3 min read
Apr 1, 2021Thoughts and plans after having reached 2000+ classes taughtThis article was originally posted on my website’s blog I recently surpassed 2000 classes taught on italki. This was an exciting milestone for me and one that made me reflect on a few things: how I got here, how I’m doing, and how I want to take things further. How I got here It…English Pronunciation4 min readEnglish Pronunciation4 min read
Nov 26, 2020The Accent Practice ProgressionI teach accent reduction, helping students of English to reduce their foreign accent and speak more like a native English speaker. Students often find it overwhelming to go from learning to correctly pronounce a target sound in class to consistently producing it in daily life. In this article, I outline…Accent Reduction4 min readAccent Reduction4 min read
Jul 9, 2020Reducing Your Accent ScientificallyPlease note: italki originally posted my article an abridged form as a teacher success story. Here is the unabridged version. I teach accent reduction, helping English learners sound less foreign and more native. My background in linguistics and phonetics helps me teach students the subtle details that separate the average…Accent Reduction5 min readAccent Reduction5 min read
Published in Avvir·Sep 21, 2018Data in ColorsIntroduction When conveying information, people often write memos, papers, or other blocks of text. However, in many industries, text is not enough, especially for industries dealing with tangible products or projects that have many complex, moving parts. …Design6 min readDesign6 min read
Aug 4, 2016Continuo: Optimizing Usability and RevenueI was in the middle of replying to his email when it hit me: why tell, when you can show? Besides, this could be good experience for a beginning UX design professional. Prologue I’m always seeking new ways to streamline my life and be productive, at times I even write about…UX6 min readUX6 min read
Jul 24, 2016Redesigning Blue Apron ’s cooking instructions to indicate timeI’ve been using Blue Apron for several months now. For those of you who don’t know, this New York City company helps people (learn to) cook as well as avoid grocery shopping by sending its customers weekly recipes and cooking instructions, as well as all the necessary ingredients. For someone…Cooking4 min readCooking4 min read
Jul 6, 2016Understand yourself and get things done through self-trackingI am a big proponent of self-tracking. It allows you to monitor your own behavior and be more self aware, which is key to self improvement. I wrote last year about using Google Sheets to track my time for productivity. I found it difficult to keep up with this experiment…Productivity3 min readProductivity3 min read
Dec 27, 2015Self Tracking on Google Sheets: How to keep accountable for goals and resolutionsPeople who know me know I am a productivity junkie. They know I like to learn and improve, and that I track myself quite a lot, because that’s what self development is based on. That’s why they weren’t too surprised when I announced one day that I would be tracking…Productivity8 min readProductivity8 min read
