My BoldVoice Log - Shasha Liao

Although many of my American friends constantly tell me that my English is very good, I have always known that it needs to be improved and have yet to take much action. But this year, I met a few very friendly and honest people who directly or indirectly suggested I improve my English, which greatly motivated me.

I was told and believed that a person’s accent can not be removed or changed. However, after some logical reasoning, I concluded this is untrue. I will add my reasons here later.

Therefore, I am currently using an app called BoldVoice to train myself. It has been so much fun! I subscribed to it for one year. On this page, I want to track the effort and progress I make to improve my English speaking. I will also consider seeing a speaking or accent therapist in the future. I aim to communicate clearly and confidently to exchange ideas with more excellent people!

My current plan (updated on May 19, 2024) to improve my English is in the following steps:

Learn the American accent on a daily basis to train my muscles and change my pronunciation habits:
- Using BoldVoice to learn the basics and get feedback;
- Following and mimicking people speaking in movies, shows, talks, lectures, daily conversations, etc.;
- Practicing linking sounds by following YouTube videos and BoldVoice app;
- Talking with ChatGPT in various ways for constructive feedback and suggestions to improve my pronunciation;
- Using voice typing to check if the voice recognition algorithms can understand my pronunciation. If not, I learn the correct pronunciation and practice them;
- Talking to native speakers several times a week.
Solidate my grammar to build the foundation for smooth sentences and confident expressions:
- Find some books, notes, exercises, quizzes, or games to systematically reinforce my understanding and memory of grammar rules in English.
- Writing many articles, documents, and blogs to improve my ability to structure and express my thoughts and ideas elegantly and efficiently.
- Using Grammarly and Copilot (powered by ChatGPT) to correct my mistakes, give me suggestions to improve the quality of my writing, and learn from them.
- Looking up words and how they are used in dictionaries. I am currently using LONGMAN 6 and WordWebUS. They are super useful tools.
Increase my vocabulary by looking up and mindfully remembering new words I encounter everywhere.
Watch YouTute Videos and listen to Podcasts on tips and other people’s advice to learn English. This has been super helpful!

Notes on pitch:

In English, every word with more than one syllable has a stressed syllable – a longer, more emphasized syllable.
English speakers communicate meaning by more dramatically raising or lowering the pitch of the stressed syllable in the most important words of the thought.
We use a large rise in pitch to introduce new information.
We use an extra high pitch to clarify or correct previously misunderstood information.

Id	Date	iPhone Training Time	iPad Training Time	Cumulative Training Time	Chapter	Sound	Example
151	2024-09-30	0m	31m	106h 2m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Consonant: Y	yesterday; yes, I bought a kayak yesterday.
150	2024-09-29	22m	0m	105h 31m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Consonant: Y	yes, yell
149	2024-09-28	26m	0m	105h 9m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Consonant: V	The van leaves at Seven for the New Year’s Eve party.
148	2024-09-27	19m	0m	104h 43m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Consonant: V	five
147	2024-09-26	42m	0m	104h 24m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Consonant: V	of, travel
146	2024-09-25	27m	13m	103h 42m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Consonant: B	bottle, blueberry, Beth described the debate to me.
145	2024-09-24	16m	0m	103h 2m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Consonant: B	be
144	2024-09-23	43m	0m	102h 46m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Consonant: Z	Wednesday, Those roses look amazing.
143	2024-09-22	21m	0m	102h 3m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Consonant: Z	is, cheese
142	2024-09-21	28m	0m	101h 42m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Vowel: ER	we learned cursive letters.
141	2024-09-20	26m	0m	101h 14m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Vowel: ER	herd, early, earlier
140	2024-09-18	23m	0m	100h 48m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Consonant: NG	stronger, she was sitting by the river bank.
139	2024-09-17	15m	0m	100h 25m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Consonant: NG	hunger
138	2024-09-15	22m	0m	100h 10m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Consonant: NG	thing, English
137	2024-09-14	37m	0m	99h 48m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Consonant: N	banana, did anybody find my money?
136	2024-09-13	24m	0m	99h 11m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Consonant: N	man, niece
135	2024-09-11	30m	0m	98h 47m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Consonant: H	grasshopper, he offered a helping hand.
134	2024-09-10	16m	21m	98h 17m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Consonant: H	him, hold
133	2024-09-09	0m	33m	97h 40m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Consonant: Tap T and D	Can you make the radio louder?
132	2024-09-08	37m	0m	97h 7m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Consonant: Tap T and D	tomato, biting, spider
131	2024-09-06	54m	0m	96h 30m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Consonant: T	it, teeth, jacket, take some time to write.
130	2024-09-05	33m	0m	95h 36m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Consonant: J	The jacket is too large.
129	2024-09-04	42m	0m	95h 3m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Consonant: J	vegetable, I just did that.
128	2024-09-03	5m	0m	94h 21m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Consonant: J	percentage
127	2024-09-02	26m	0m	94h 16m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Consonant: J	jump, germs
126	2024-09-01	46m	0m	93h 50m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Consonant: CH	The sandwich had too much cheese.
125	2024-08-31	51m	0m	93h 4m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Consonant: CH	much, kitchen, furniture
124	2024-08-30	43m	0m	92h 13m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Consonant: Unvoiced TH	Massage therapy really helped with my shoulder.
123	2024-08-29	24m	0m	91h 30m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Consonant: Unvoiced TH	truth, bathtub
122	2024-08-28	28m	0m	91h 6m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Consonant: Unvoiced TH	thin
121	2024-08-27	39m	0m	90h 38m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Consonant: Voiced TH	teething, they went out in the bad weather.
120	2024-08-26	33m	0m	89h 59m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Consonant: Voiced TH	wither, feather
119	2024-08-25	1h 4m	0m	89h 26m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Consonant: R	camera, reciprocity, my brother drew this dragon.
118	2024-08-24	34m	0m	88h 22m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Consonant: R	run
117	2024-08-23	30m	0m	87h 48m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Vowel: AW / THOUGHT	alter, I often take walks in autumn
116	2024-08-22	21m	0m	87h 18m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Vowel: AW / THOUGHT	walk, cough
115	2024-08-21	13m	0m	86h 57m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Vowel: EH / DRESS	This is a new development.
114	2024-08-20	8m	0m	86h 44m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Vowel: EH / DRESS	let me know if there is an extra one.
113	2024-08-19	32m	0m	86h 36m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Vowel: EH / DRESS	tell, bread, seven, my friend said she sent it in already.
112	2024-08-18	45m	0m	86h 4m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Vowel: AH / SPA	stop, father, iguana, mom went to the spa.
111	2024-08-17	22m	0m	85h 19m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Vowel: AA / TRAP	crashed, that cat is happy
110	2024-08-16	22m	0m	84h 57m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Vowel: AA / TRAP	attic, plaid
109	2024-08-15	5m	0m	84h 35m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Vowel: U / FOOT	rural
108	2024-08-14	22m	0m	84h 30m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Vowel: U / FOOT	schoolbook, I shook the cushion because it was full of flour.
107	2024-08-13	36m	0m	84h 8m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Vowel: U / FOOT	put, woman
106	2024-08-12	26m	0m	83h 32m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Vowel: IH / KIT	instant, imitate
105	2024-08-11	15m	0m	83h 6m	Mastering Challenge Sounds	Vowel: IH / KIT	in
104	2024-08-09	15m	0m	82h 51m	Advanced Skills: Suprasegmentals	Your speaking volumn and rhythm	English is a stress-timed language, meaning that the length of time between stressed syllables stays roughly the same.
103	2024-08-07	13m	0m	82h 36m	Advanced Skills: Suprasegmentals	Your speaking rate	Speak short phrases at different speeds.
102	2024-08-06	13m	0m	82h 23m	Advanced Skills: Suprasegmentals	Your speaking rate	Speak short phrases at different speeds.
101	2024-08-05	38m	0m	82h 10m	Advanced Skills: Suprasegmentals	Your speaking pitch and controlling your pitch	Say ‘Yes, I understand’ in ten different pitches.
100	2024-08-04	29m	0m	81h 32m	Advanced Skills: Consonants	H deeper look	brotherhood, I hope you have great holiday.
99	2024-08-03	43m	0m	81h 3m	Advanced Skills: Consonants	H deeper look	help, hoop.
98	2024-08-02	34m	0m	80h 20m	Advanced Skills: Consonants	H sound	heaven, hurry up and help.
97	2024-08-01	41m	0m	79h 46m	Advanced Skills: Consonants	H sound	heat, happiness
96	2024-07-31	17m	0m	79h 5m	Advanced Skills: Consonants	Arching the Tongue	joyful
95	2024-07-30	45m	0m	78h 48m	Advanced Skills: Consonants	Arching the Tongue	yippee, young lawyers have to build their client base, yes, clairvoyant
94	2024-07-29	12m	0m	78h 3m	Advanced Skills: Consonants	Y sound	yet, yams
93	2024-07-28	9m	0m	77h 51m	Advanced Skills: Consonants	M sound	The drummer is so glamorous.
92	2024-07-26	24m	0m	77h 42m	Advanced Skills: Consonants	M sound	meant, merchandise, harm, stomp
91	2024-07-25	25m	0m	77h 18m	Advanced Skills: Consonants	M sound	meal
90	2024-07-24	32m	0m	76h 53m	Advanced Skills: Vowels	UH vs U	butchur / I stood up too suddenly.
89	2024-07-23	41m	0m	76h 21m	Advanced Skills: Vowels	UH vs U	cut/cook, fluffy/bullet
88	2024-07-22	10m	0m	75h 40m	Advanced Skills: Vowels	EH vs AA	I can definitely understand the math lesson.
87	2024-07-21	18m	0m	75h 30m	Advanced Skills: Vowels	EH vs AA	dressing
86	2024-07-20	28m	0m	75h 12m	Advanced Skills: Vowels	EH vs AA	send, debt
85	2024-07-19	29m	0m	74h 44m	Advanced Skills: Vowels	EH sound	pet, tech, death, we went to Mexico again.
84	2024-07-17	16m	0m	74h 15m	Mastering Fricative Consonants	ZH sound	pleasure, menagerie, this cashmere sweater is a treasure.
83	2024-07-16	28m	0m	73h 59m	Mastering Fricative Consonants	SH sound/ZH sound	You shouldn’t shout at your coworkers./ Shot in the dark / measure
82	2024-07-15	28m	0m	73h 31m	Mastering Fricative Consonants	SH sound	harsh, Porche
81	2024-07-14	34m	0m	73h 3m	Mastering Fricative Consonants	Raising the Top Lip (EH, F)/SH sound	guffaw, hand over fist, washed
80	2024-07-13	37m	0m	72h 29m	Mastering Fricative Consonants	Raising the Top Lip (EH, F)	frigid, bend
79	2024-07-10	9m	0m	71h 52m	Mastering Fricative Consonants	F sound	I found a frog.
78	2024-07-08	45m	0m	71h 43m	Mastering Fricative Consonants	F sound	safty, barf, strife
77	2024-07-06	24m	0m	70h 58m	Mastering Fricative Consonants	Voiced and Unvoiced TH	The author of the play came to the theater.
76	2024-07-05	13m	0m	70h 34m	Mastering Fricative Consonants	Voiced and Unvoiced TH	oath, north
75	2024-07-03	41m	0m	70h 21m	Mastering Fricative Consonants	Voiced and Unvoiced TH	worth, worthy, breath, breathe
74	2024-07-02	30m	0m	69h 40m	Mastering Fricative Consonants	F, V, th, TH, S, Z, SH, ZH, H	Please finish your homework before dinner
73	2024-07-01	22m	0m	69h 10m	Mastering Fricative Consonants	F, V, th, TH, S, Z, SH, ZH, H	leisure, flinch
72	2024-06-30	15m	0m	68h 48m	Mastering Fricative Consonants	F, V, th, TH, S, Z, SH, ZH, H	Horizon, path
71	2024-06-28	14m	0m	68h 33m	Public Speaking	Hand gestures and managing speaking anxiety
70	2024-06-27	11m	0m	68h 19m	Public Speaking	Movement, Eye Contact, and Facial Expressions
69	2024-06-26	23m	0m	68h 8m	Public Speaking	Volumn, Pacing, and Posture
68	2024-06-25	28m	0m	67h 45m	Public Speaking	Pitch	different ways to raise and lower the pitch of the stressed syllable in the most important words of the thought.
67	2024-06-24	38m	0m	67h 17m	Perfecting Your Intonation	Conversation Practice	revamping our city’s transportation system
66	2024-06-22	26m	0m	66h 39m	Perfecting Your Intonation	Moving your soft palate	ring/fungus
65	2024-06-21	1h 15m	0m	66h 13m	Perfecting Your Intonation	How to pose a question/Moving your soft palate	Did he receive my emails?/sing a song, prolong
64	2024-06-20	45m	0m	64h 58m	Perfecting Your Intonation	How to draw a comparison	I drink juice and he prefers water.
63	2024-06-19	21m	0m	64h 13m	Perfecting Your Intonation	How to draw a comparison	I’m available in the morning or afternoon.
62	2024-06-18	43m	0m	63h 52m	Perfecting Your Intonation	Syllable Rhythm/How to make a statement	She’s home for the holidays./My job is exciting.
61	2024-06-17	45m	0m	63h 9m	Perfecting Your Intonation	Syllable Rhythm	Go into the store./Dinner’s at seven.
60	2024-06-16	34m	0m	62h 24m	Perfecting Your Intonation	Vowel Length	She’s eating an apple.
59	2024-06-15	31m	0m	61h 50m	Perfecting Your Intonation	Vowel Length	prize/price, scares, relentless
58	2024-06-14	51m	0m	61h 19m	Perfecting Your Intonation	Weak Forms and Vowel Length	I want you to talk about the show. feet/feed
57	2024-06-12	20m	0m	60h 28m	Perfecting Your Intonation	Weak Forms	One should exercise
56	2024-06-11	51m	0m	60h 8m	Perfecting Your Intonation	Weak Forms	You can fly
55	2024-06-10	32m	0m	59h 17m	Continuing With Vowels	EY & AY	day, say, right
54	2024-06-09	29m	0m	58h 45m	Continuing With Vowels	OW	Houses in the South Towns are renowned
53	2024-06-07	36m	0m	58h 16m	Continuing With Vowels	OW	rebound, chowder
52	2024-06-06	27m	0m	57h 40m	Continuing With Vowels	OW	mouth, foul, sound, jowl
51	2024-06-05	28m	0m	57h 13m	Continuing With Vowels	ai/EE/OW	Cyrus likes pie a mile high/keep your eyes peeled/found
50	2024-06-04	18m	0m	56h 45m	Continuing With Vowels	ai	Try to stay dry tonight
49	2024-06-03	28m	0m	56h 27m	Continuing With Vowels	ai	nine, Chinese
48	2024-06-02	22m	0m	55h 59m	Continuing With Vowels	EY & ai	eighth, prize
47	2024-06-01	35m	0m	55h 37m	Continuing With Vowels	EY	try to stay dry tonight
46	2024-05-31	0m	26m	55h 2m	Continuing With Vowels	EY	name, stay, payday
45	2024-05-29	31m	0m	54h 36m	Continuing With Vowels	OH	hone my spoken English.
44	2024-05-28	31m	0m	54h 5m	Continuing With Vowels	OH	Joe told Moe to go home.
43	2024-05-27	23m	0m	53h 34m	Continuing With Vowels	OH	post, robe
42	2024-05-26	30m	0m	53h 11m	Mastering the R	Aw + R sound and AH + R sound	ordinary, Cory, party
41	2024-05-25	29m	0m	52h 41m	Mastering the R	Cupping the tongue for AH and AW sounds	spark, chalk
40	2024-05-24	45m	0m	52h 12m	Mastering the R	AW + R sound	important, fortune
39	2024-05-23	50m	0m	51h 27m	Mastering the R	AW + R sound	orthodox
38	2024-05-22	1h 50m	0m	50h 37m	Mastering the R	AW + R sound	storm, border
37	2024-05-21	1h 10m	0m	48h 47m	Mastering the R	AH + R sound	large, charge
36	2024-05-20	55m	0m	47h 37m	Mastering the R	AH + R sound	scarf, bizarre
35	2024-05-19	1h 23m	0m	46h 42m	Mastering the R	AH + R sound	car, farm
34	2024-05-18	1h 1m	11m	45h 19m	Mastering the R	AH + R sound	dark, far
33	2024-05-17	52m	0m	44h 7m	Mastering the R	EH + R sound	haircut
32	2024-05-16	23m	0m	43h 15m	Mastering the R	EH + R sound	heir
31	2024-05-15	1h 51m	0m	42h 52m	Mastering the R	EH + R sound	area, various
30	2024-05-14	30m	0m	41h 1m	Mastering the R	EH + R sound	square, wear
29	2024-05-13	13m	0m	40h 31m	Mastering the R	IH + R sound	severe
28	2024-05-12	32m	0m	40h 18m	Mastering the R	IH + R sound	unclear
27	2024-05-11	1h 24m	0m	39h 46m	Mastering the R	IH + R sound	fierce, sincere
26	2024-05-10	22m	0m	38h 22m	Mastering the R	ER sound	attorny, journalist
25	2024-05-09	25m	0m	38h 0m	Mastering the R	ER sound	curve, certain
24	2024-05-08	26m	0m	37h 35m	Mastering the R	Curling the tongue	fashion, ship
23	2024-05-07	1h 54m	0m	37h 9m	Mastering the R	R sound	inspiration, evaporate
22	2024-05-06	1h 21m	0m	35h 15m	Mastering the R	R sound	rain, driver
21	2024-05-05	34m	0m	33h 54m	Advancing Your Vowels	Distinction: EE vs IH	spirit, ceiling [S.EE.L.IH.NG]
20	2024-05-04	1h 44m	0m	33h 20m	Advancing Your Vowels	Distinction: EE vs IH	green[G.R.EE.N], lift[L.IH.F.T]
19	2024-05-03	35m	0m	31h 36m	Advancing Your Vowels	Distinction: EE vs IH	heat, hit
18	2024-05-02	1h 13m	0m	31h 1m	Advancing Your Vowels	Distinction: OO vs U	mute, look
17	2024-05-01	29m	0m	29h 48m	Advancing Your Vowels	Distinction: AA vs UH vs AH	hat, hut, hot
16	2024-04-30	55m	0m	29h 19m	Advancing Your Vowels	Rounding the Lips for OO and AW	tune, strawberry
15	2024-04-29	1h 18m	20m	28h 24m	Advancing Your Vowels	AH	stop, watch
14	2024-04-28	24m	0m	26h 46m	Advancing Your Vowels	UH	cut
13	2024-04-27	1h 32m	7m	26h 22m	Advancing Your Vowels	AA	class, cat
12	2024-04-26	9m	38m	24h 43m	Expanding Pronunciation	J	judge
11	2024-04-25	1h 14m	16m	23h 56m	Expanding Pronunciation	J	journalist
10	2024-04-24	1h 53m	0m	22h 26m	Expanding Pronunciation	J	conjugation
9	2024-04-23	1h 33m	17m	20h 33m	Expanding Pronunciation	CH	approachable
8	2024-04-22	1h 3m	1h 17m	18h 43m	Expanding Pronunciation	N and L Distinction	doll, mental
7	2024-04-21	4m	0m	16h 23m	Expanding Pronunciation	NG	Jumping-off point
6	2024-04-20	9m	18m	16h 19m	Expanding Pronunciation	NG	blessing
5	2024-04-19	1h 24m	5h 20m	15h 52m	Expanding Pronunciation	N	original
4	2024-04-18	43m	1h 46m	9h 8m	Expanding Pronunciation	L	angel
3	2024-04-17	25m	44m	6h 39m	Expanding Pronunciation	L	well
2	2024-04-16	50m	1h 59m	5h 30m	Foundational Pronunciation	Unvoiced TH, Voiced TH	healthy, southern
1	2024-04-15	40m	2h 1m	2h 41m	Foundational Pronunciation	S, Z	assess, position

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