About Jade Joddle

Hi students, in this post I will share with you my personal speech biography. This is my personal experience with speech and speaking.

Jade Joddle grows your confidence and skill to shine when speaking English.

I am an experienced English teacher and speaker. But something that may surprise you is that I am not a naturally gifted speaker. I had to apply grit and determination to get where I am today. And in this way I overpowered my weaknesses.

Jade Joddle grows your confidence and skill to shine when speaking English.

Speaking Is My Greatest Weakness and Strength

I consider speech to be both my greatest weakness and my biggest strength in life. When I was a child mutism was a big issue for me; I couldn’t talk even if I wanted to in situations where I felt uncomfortable or shy. In fact, I do still suffer from mutism, but improving my speaking skills as a result of making over 500 YouTube videos and changing my lifestyle in ways that suit my introverted personality means that it happens much less often nowadays.

Speaking for me is full of contradictions: in some situations I close up like a clam and can’t say a word, and in other situations I can’t shut up! At school I always sat at the front of the class and put my hand up for every question, and at university I happily engaged in debates with lecturers and students alike, often dominating seminars with my outspoken opinions (I graduated with a First Class degree in English Literature).

I Love the English Language

The English language and its words have always been an imaginative escape for me. When I was little I would even get absorbed reading the back of the shampoo bottle while having a bath: ‘Aqua, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Sodium Laureth Sulfate…’. Another fixation I had at around ten years old was reading every entry in my giant Oxford English Dictionary until I finished it.

A big failure for me is that so far my talent for language does not extend to actually speaking any foreign languages beyond the basics. While my ear can quickly pick up a language when it comes to understanding what is going on, my tongue is frozen unless I am completely comfortable.

I lived in Turkey for two and a half years and during that time I can only recall one conversation where I felt comfortable enough that I let go and actually spoke Turkish, absolutely astounding myself that I could speak the language, for once! The rest of the time either my mind was blank or I would awkwardly deflect attempts at conversation with short, automatic answers.

Helping Students Who Want to Overcome their Blocks Related to Speech

If there can be any positives to take away from this experience of mutism and failure as regards learning a language, I know how to make people who have a tendency to mutism when speaking English comfortable and how to get them speaking when normally they can’t say a word. When this has happened in the past it has been immensely fulfilling to give another person the gift of speech over mutism. It’s a wonderful gift and I wish I could give it to myself so I could speak foreign languages too!

In terms of my own voice and speaking skills, this is something that continues to evolve. Whereas I used to be motivated to eliminate my personal speech difficulties so I did not have to face them anymore, now I am much more accepting of what makes my own speech unique. This is also shown in that nowadays I am much more compelled towards being authentic rather than perfect in the way that I present myself in videos.

My Role as Your Teacher

I make YouTube videos and lesson content on topics related to speaking well in English. On this website’s blog, you will find over one hundred lessons about accent, pronunciation and speaking skills.

My role as teacher is to grow your confidence and skill to shine when speaking English.


More About Jade Joddle: My Personal Speech Journey


Extend Your Learning by taking one of Jade’s Courses

◼️ Get a Clear Accent

◼️ Do people misunderstand your English? Get an elegant British Accent


External Links

◼️ Jade Joddle in the Daily Mail newspaper ▶︎ Changing your voice makes you more attractive

◼️ Jade Joddle mentioned in The Guardian regarding the Estuary English accent.

Author

Jade Joddle grows your confidence and skill to shine when speaking English.

38 Comments

  1. Well said indeed, Jade. You have a lovely way with words indeed. You are and always will be my inspiration when it comes to my own accent and speech

  2. Hi Jade! I’m happy reading this post as it depicts my untold life story and I believe of others too. Keep on doing what you love the most. No one could replace you and your way of teaching & coaching. Adore your passion & authenticity.Cheers!

  3. Hi Jade! I’m happy reading this post as it depicts my untold life story and I believe of others too. Keep on doing what you love the most. No one could replace you and your way of teaching & coaching. Adore your passion & authenticity.Cheers!

  4. Mercedes

    I’ve learnt English with your videos and writings. I’ve learned what is a “Posh Accent.” I’ve learnt about Asperger’s syndrome and many more things. Thank you and I hope you fill better now.

  5. I am really thankful for you ,Jade!
    For the reason:it’s impossible to read this your letter(for example) and not to be immerced into real English.
    Your words have energy because of they are the truth.
    They inspire!

  6. hi jade
    i earn my livehood as a trainer (technical stuff)

    But the technical stuff alone is not enough. I have to be very good in verbal communication – in both, being able to effectively put across the subject to my audience and in being a good listener.
    I have to “hear” what is not being said and draw my audience out with what they themselves didn’t know was in their head and get them to spell it out.

    And among my audience their native tongue is never english, mostly native speakers of three or more different languages, and the medium we use to converse is english.

    I have observed that all of us invariably think and translate from our respective native languages.

    We use english wotds and sentences but the language isn’t really english. At least not “ENGLISH” or “AMERICAN” or “AUSTRALIAN”.

    I was wondering if I were ever take up an assignment in the UK, how would I fare? I am considered as one of the here in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. I’ve even had a very successful round with a group of South Korean trainees.

    What should I be asking of you if I were to consult you before taking up an assignment in the UK?

    🙂

  7. Hi Jadde,

    I found your videos two years ago, when I moved to London. I was having terrible times and this went worse when I discover my shyness facing a new language. Your videos really made me smile, enjoy, relax and I have to admit that I left a few tears drop when I heard that you were not feeling well.
    I am happy to read that you are doing better!

  8. Sorry Jade
    May i ask you a quick question?
    In your opinion and on the basis of your own experience you think it could be true that women ,on average, are more genetically wired and predisposed to learn and to speak foreign languages than males?
    I’m curious because i read something about that in a magazine. What do you think about It?
    I’m starting to believe that the author of the article was right!
    Thanks a lot

    • I don’t know. Maybe this theory draws on the fact that speaking language is supposedly a right-brained activity (right brain is associated with the feminine principle). However, since whatever gender we are we have both a left (masculine) and right (feminine) pole and also may be stronger in the opposite pole to our gender, I’m not sold on this theory.

    • Yes, of course we can’t generalize these concepts,otherwise we’re way off ,but i was wondering that myself even because back home ,in my area , during my school days i never met a male language teacher (maybe a pretty coincidence) …they were all women so i thought there might be a correlation between the two things
      Thank you so much for your reply

  9. Dear Jade

    Glad to know you are recovering ! Hope to see your videos soon.

    If you want to know how to speak Chinese, please feel free to let me know.
    It is very easy to learn conversational Chinese.
    There are some white folks who learn the spoken Chinese in 6 months only, while they live in China.
    Best regards,

    Steve

  10. Hello Jade,
    This article was great. Your lessons are awesome.
    i am not such a shy about speaking. However I have a lot to improve in English. That’s why I always follow the lessons you post.
    Unfortunately you are sick and not publishing for long time. I miss it.
    I strongly believe you would become well soon.
    Take care.

  11. Hi Jade
    I wouldn’t underestimate the back of the shampoo bottles….they contain a rich source of technical informations and mostly they’ve been helping human beings trying to face hard times in the bathroom all along….

  12. Aaron Xavier

    Good Evening Jade, a couple of weeks ago i started working as a new teacher at one of The Berlitz Centers in Venezuela, i’m taking some of your advices. I just read your story and found it fascinating.I hope to read more about you.

    Have a nice Day Ms.

    Greetings from a Joddlelite 🙂

  13. Hi Jade, it’s not just knowledge you fill me with it’s also the joy and consolation that speech can bring. You often let us in on your feelings and on the process of choosing your words to express them, correcting yourself, wanting to be precise. Therefore it’s as if I am searching for, comparing and choosing words there with you. I think that makes you a most effective teacher. And a wonderful person as well

    • Thanks Remco. Interesting to know that you realised I change my mind about what I am saying when I am not precise enough. 🙂

  14. Hello Jade ,good to read that you are improving. your breathing. Sometimes i have that problem too. I don’t know if it is due by the fur of my dog, the weather, the food or my anguish about the future. Meditation has been a very good thing in those cases.
    It’s strange some people think muteness it s a bad thing, what’s wrong to be muted. I could be contemplating my inner or the outer. But people that know me believe that I am upset or sad,And people that don’t know me think I am an antisocial character not to be trustworthy. i don’t have anything to talk to most of them, why i should squeeze my brain to find a stupid thing to talk to them.?
    Bye dear Jade we miss you.

    • It’s not wrong to be muted unless you feel constantly muted by the people you are in contact with. If it’s only a rare occurrence, it’s a good sign that you don’t belong and that you probably shouldn’t bother yourself too much about the company you are keeping.

  15. Hi Jade, Itºs so uplifting to read your blog! When I learn Portuguese I had and still have all sort of problems. You know what, you teach more than just speech and I will learn from you, not be distracted by superficial setbacks or successes. I enjoyed the tortoise and hare story you told in one of your video clips. Got to go now, feeling like to take a few steps forward right now! All the best Jade!

  16. Hi Jade Glad you’re feeling better. I always enjoy your articles and videos. I hope that you’re getting outside now that it’s spring and has warmed up a lot. I’m curious are you a summer person, then spring second fall third and dislike winter? That’s the way I am. I could do without winter and wouldn’t miss it a bit.

    • Well, I don’t like being cold – so winter in England is not good. Also when it is dark a lot I get more down emotionally so I’m not a fan of winter or autumn really. For a few years I escaped the seasons by constantly moving but I don’t really want to do that at this point. Cheers for following me a long time Tommy.

  17. Angelica Bertellini

    Hi Jade,
    I’ve been following your English lessons for years even if I subscribed your YouTube channel and mailing list a short time ago.
    This is one of the very first times I write a comment on a blog. I’ve just received your mail: it seemed to me like I was reading my own diary! And when I read that you’d be available to receive messages, I decided to write to you, just to let you know my…two cents.
    My psychologist used to tell me that life begun in the primeval soup: so, when I felt (and feel) unable, down, confused and so on…I’d just have to accept it, allow myself to be ‘pampered’ in this soup (and get helped, if needed, of course).
    I really admire you. Keep doing this good job, I mean the job of listening to you, to your needs.
    Thank you for sharing (some of) this journey you’re going through. It’s important for many of us.
    We’ll be here when you’ll be back and love when you come to our mail to say Hi! from time to time 🙂
    Take care. And smell the soup 😀
    Angie (from Italy)

    • Hey Angie sometimes that soup is delicious and I can eat bowls and bowls of it. And other times it turns my stomach. My appetite for soup is improving lately, so that’s a good sign at least. Thanks for leaving one of your rare comments over here at my blog. 🙂

      • Angelica Bertellini

        Jade answered! Jade answered! Jade answered! Jade answered!
        I knew that sipping my posts would have rewarded me
        Up with mutism! We may rarely speak or write on public spaces, but when we do it…

  18. samantha

    Thank you for sharing your real life story and i enjoyed reading it

  19. Hi Jade,
    thanks so much for sharing your story and touching me with it.
    There are so many points of resonance – the not fitting in with “intro” or “extro” labels, obsessive engagement in debates, ambiguous relationship to speaking in front of many people – I love the act itself but find the attention physically challenging – and, yes, the shampoo bottles…
    When I read honest and authentic stories like yours, I get a sense of permission to share mine, I get encouraged to do more of this work of connection and relationship building, and I feel a strong sense of belonging. This is the core of conversation, of speech, that we touch each other.
    Thank you.
    Olaf

    • So cool that we have the shampoo bottles in common. 🙂 Looking forward to hear you share more of your stories.

  20. Hi Jade, being Italian and having lived in the UK for almost two years, in Leeds, it’s important for me to find a reference about how British English should be spoken, and your videos sound much more ‘real’ than the BBC. They help eliminating the local sounds from my speaking, whether they’re about the language itself or any possible subject. Good to know that your breathing is improving 🙂

  21. I adore You at all. I agree nearly with everything you are writing and talking. I miss old times when teaching English was classy, was sth special and luxurious. Thank You for bringing that times;) ann , age 35;)))

    • Cheers for your comment, Anna. Can’t say that I’m always classy but my way of teaching does always involve some substance to it!

  22. Hi! Jade. I admire your progress in speaking. I live in the UK now because of my master degree, and I think I was the same when I first came here. I was often frozen in front of cashier who asked me if I needed a bag at Sainsbury’s. I felt that I was an idiot to be like that, and it became worse and worse. I’ve got to go back to Korea in this August, Now, I still am frozen sometimes, but definitely less than before. I feel proud about myself for enduring the difficult times. You are great, Jade. I got a lot of motivation from you, so cheer up!

    • Thanks Amy. One of the unexpected bonuses if my mutism in Turkey was it gave me an appreciation for home that before I lacked. Hope Korea will be better than ever for you when you go back and congrats for making big achievements here in terms of your mutism. 🙂