Forty-four sounds. Twelve weeks.
Every phoneme in British English Received Pronunciation — taught in sequence, drilled to fluency, recorded for feedback. Hover any sound to see a word example.
At a Glance
- 31 foundation tricks + 44 phonemes — the complete British RP sound system
- 75 total lessons organised into 8 progressive modules
- 6-phase phoneme structure: short vowels, long vowels, diphthongs, plosives, fricatives, nasals/approximants
- A six-element lesson structure for every phoneme (anatomy, spellings, drills, passage, minimal pairs, dialogue and tongue twister)
- Term-long cohort delivery via private Telegram Academy
- Weekly voice-note submissions with personal feedback from Jonathan Onah
- A dedicated Discussion Group for teacher-to-teacher practice and peer learning
- Anatomy videos illustrating tongue, lip, and jaw position for every sound
- Teacher-facing content — how to teach each sound, not just how to produce it
- Master Practitioner Certification on successful completion
- Post-graduation access — the Academy remains open for reference
Prerequisites
- Age 18 and above
- Working literacy in English at NCE/HND/degree level, or equivalent
- Preferred: prior completion of Sound British in 7 Days (though not required)
- Access to a smartphone with Telegram installed
- Ability to record and send voice notes
- Willingness to commit approximately 3 to 5 hours per week across a full academic term
- For school-cohort enrolment: written commitment from the school leadership
Who This Programme Is For.
The 44 Academy serves several groups of Nigerian educators and education-adjacent professionals. It is not a generalist speaking course — it is specifically a teacher training programme.
The English Teacher
Nigerian teachers of English at nursery, primary, junior secondary, or senior secondary level. These are the primary audience: professionals whose classroom responsibility includes teaching pronunciation and who need the systematic training to do it well.
The School Owner or Head Teacher
Proprietors, directors, and heads of Nigerian schools who wish to raise the standard of English instruction across their institution. The 44 Academy is available as a whole-department enrolment — every English teacher on staff completes the programme as a cohort.
The Teacher-in-Training
Students at Nigerian colleges of education, universities of education, and teacher training institutions preparing for a career in English instruction.
The Coordinator or Head of English
Senior members of school English departments responsible for oversight, mentoring of junior teachers, and curriculum design.
The Media Educator, Voice Coach, and Speech Practitioner
Professionals who work with voice as their instrument — voice coaches, drama teachers, radio training instructors, corporate communication trainers.
The Serious Individual Learner
Non-teachers who wish to go beyond Sound British in 7 Days to achieve the deepest possible mastery of British RP. These learners are welcome, though the framing is teacher-facing.
Programme Philosophy.
The 44 Academy is built on six core beliefs about teacher training in pronunciation — beliefs shaped by years of working directly with Nigerian teachers and observing what actually causes durable change in their classroom practice.
1. Teachers cannot teach what they cannot produce
A great deal of English-teaching in Nigeria attempts to teach pronunciation from textbook descriptions — teachers reading definitions of the schwa without themselves being able to produce it cleanly. This fails. Students imitate what they hear, not what is described. The 44 Academy insists on producer-level mastery before it accepts a teacher as certified: you cannot pass if you cannot say it.
2. Phoneme mastery is a physical skill
Producing a sound is not knowing about a sound. It is a motor act — an arrangement of tongue, teeth, lips, jaw, and vocal cords. The 44 Academy treats every phoneme like a physical technique: it must be shown (the anatomy video), practised (the drill words), tested in context (the passage), and confirmed against contrast (the minimal pairs).
3. The 44 phonemes are the atomic unit
English pronunciation can be described at many levels — words, phrases, sentences, rhythmic units — but the atomic level is the phoneme. Once a teacher can produce each of the 44 phonemes of British RP reliably, they can produce any word in the language.
4. Rhythm before phonemes, phonemes before words
The programme starts with the 31 tricks — because rhythm is what makes a speaker sound British, and no amount of phoneme mastery will overcome poor rhythm. Once the tricks are absorbed, the 44 phonemes are introduced in a specific phase order.
5. Teaching is a distinct skill from producing
A teacher can produce a sound perfectly and still fail to teach it. Every phoneme lesson in the Academy therefore includes a specific "teaching notes" section: what mistakes Nigerian students typically make on this sound, how to visualise the mouth position for children, which drills work best in a classroom of 40, and how to give useful corrective feedback.
6. Certification must mean something
A certificate that everyone passes is worthless. A certificate that only a few pass — but pass with real mastery — is career-changing. The Master Practitioner assessment is rigorous. Graduates who earn it can, in fact, produce and teach every sound of British RP.
Learning Outcomes
By successful completion of The 44 Academy, every graduate will demonstrably be able to:
Producer-Level Phoneme Mastery
- Produce all 7 short vowels of British RP: /ɪ/, /e/, /æ/, /ʌ/, /ɒ/, /ʊ/, /ə/
- Produce all 5 long vowels: /iː/, /ɑː/, /ɔː/, /ɜː/, /uː/
- Produce all 8 diphthongs: /eɪ/, /aɪ/, /ɔɪ/, /aʊ/, /əʊ/, /ɪə/, /eə/, /ʊə/
- Produce all 6 plosives: /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/
- Produce all 9 fricatives and 2 affricates
- Produce all 3 nasals and 4 approximants
- Apply all 31 foundation tricks — punching, tonic landing, endings, schwa mastery, weak forms, linking, silent letters, intonation
- Read connected prose in British RP with stress-timed rhythm
- Model correct intonation for statements, questions, commands, requests, and lists
- Explain the anatomy of every phoneme using accurate physiological description
- Diagnose common Nigerian mispronunciations by phoneme and prescribe targeted drills
- Design and deliver a phoneme-specific pronunciation lesson to a class of any age from Primary 4 upward
- Deploy the six-element structure in their own classroom
- Use minimal pairs as a diagnostic tool
- Provide corrective voice-note feedback using the green/amber/red signal system
- Deliver public speaking, presentations, and voice-over work in British RP
- Serve as an in-school pronunciation expert and mentor to junior teachers
- Confidently present at teacher-training workshops on English pronunciation
- Add the Diction Masters Master Practitioner Certification to their professional credentials
Watch a preview of the lessons.
Six sample lessons straight from the actual course. Click any video to play.
Lesson Title
OY boy, noise, coin
Lesson Title
OH no, home, go
Lesson Title
Long ER bird, learn, work
Lesson Title
Long AW lord, court, walk
Lesson Title
AY day, name, make
Lesson Title
Short i – sit, fill, ship
Enrol your teachers. Before the cohort fills.
Seats are limited. Termly intake. The right time to start is before the new academic session — so the gains land in the classroom from day one.
