Hey guys! It is Aiko with Schwagirl. I am an American English pronunciation coach.

Welcome to my podcast “The Voice of English”

The purpose of this podcast is to encourage English learners and also English teachers. We all share tips and points of how we can improve our English and become better communicators.

In Episode 15, I invited Toshi Okuzaki based in Australia!

He was born in Japan however he has a longstanding affinity with Australia. He completed his Bachelor of Economics in Japan and worked in sales in Tokyo. After working for 6 years, he decided to move to Australia in 2011 to have a more relaxing life. Since this time he has been working as a Japanese language assistant teacher in Perth. His first foray into acting was as an extra in the movie “Paper Planes”, which turned out to be a pivotal experience for Toshi. Following this, he decided to audition for a pilot episode of “Top Knot Detective” (TKD) and managed to obtain the lead role. After the TKD movie was aired on SBS2 in Australia, Toshi and TKD received positive feedback and he has been pursuing more acting opportunities ever since. He recently started teaching English. So let’s hear his experience in acting, language practice and teaching.

Here are notes

  • Connection is important
  • Say “Yes” to opportunities
  • Copy others
  • One-on-one is easier. Talking in a group is harder.

His Social Media links:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ToshiOkuzaki

Blog: TBA

In the second segment, I explained how to pronounce “Back”. If you use a Japanese vowel, you will sound like saying “buck”. What is the difference and how do you pronounce “back” so that people will understand? Listen to the second segment, and let me know how it goes.

If you have any questions regarding English learning or pronunciation, living in the US, working in the US, or if you would like to be a guest on this show, please contact me through http://schwagirl.com/contact

MUSIC:
Artist: Nicolai Heidlas
Title: Hawaiian Winter