Hey there, welcome to Every Speaker Counts. I’m Daniela, an English teacher, pronunciation coach, speaking club host, blogger, and a self-described late bloomer.
I was born and raised in Bulgaria, but I’ve been living in the United States for many years. When I arrived in the US, I barely spoke English, so I enrolled in ESL classes. It was there where I fell in love with different languages, accents, and cultures as I met friends from all over the world.
I think of myself as a late bloomer because I learned two foreign languages in my 20s and didn’t start college until I was 28. When I decided to major in Journalism some people were skeptical because English is not my first language. To be honest, sometimes I doubted my choice too because I was the only nonnative speaker at the University of Minnesota majoring in Journalism at that time.
Now, many years, several jobs, one Bachelor’s and one Master’s degree later, I decided to launch Every Speaker Counts. My goal is to give a platform to all of us nonnative speakers to share our stories and learn from each other. Our voices are rarely represented in the media and I want to break the stereotype of the typically portrayed maid with a Spanish accent and a spy or a gold digger with a Russian accent. We are so much more than that.
Here you will find many of my stories and thoughts about my journey with English and life in the US, as well as the stories of other great human beings. You will also find tips about language (grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation), and culture – everything that can serve as a motivation to you on your road to fluency. Oh, and you can also become a part of this incredible community by joining our free Speaking Club.
Let’s do this together.
Love,
