Check Out the Most Popular Articles on This Blog!

by Robby on May 17, 2012

One day I decided to check the statistics of my website and see which blog posts you’ve been reading the most.

I selected the top 10 articles and I guess it provides a fair representation of what my average blog visitor is interested in, so you may want to check out the top 10 of English Harmony blog posts of all times!

If you visit this blog frequently, you’ve probably read a good few of them, but I’m sure you’ll find at least a couple of links you haven’t encountered before and they might just provide you with some English fluency related info you’ve been looking for to no avail.

So, let the countdown begin!

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Popular Misconceptions About Foreign English Speakers

by Robby on May 14, 2012

Improve Spoken English
Whether it’s portraying Russians in Hollywood blockbusters or judging foreigners by one short conversation and assuming that their overall English fluency must be flawed because they’ve made a couple of awkward mistakes – there are a lot of misconceptions out there about us, foreign English speakers :!:

In this article I’m going to look at the most popular ones and while I’m fully aware of the fact that I won’t be able to dispel those stereotypes, it doesn’t mean I can’t talk about them, does it?

Foreigners portrayed in films speak like native English speakers except for their accent

I’ve met thousands of foreign English speakers throughout my life, and I can tell you this much – a foreign English speaker who gets English grammar 100% correct while speaking is a rare creature to find! And I’m not speaking of a person with foreign origin who’s moved to an English speaking country during childhood or teenage years and has achieved a native-like fluency by the time he’s an adult.

I’m speaking about typical foreigners who speak English with a smaller or a bigger foreign accent just like the ones typically portrayed in films and TV shows. As you can imagine, the reason behind it is because on 99% of occasions actors portraying foreigners in movies are native English speaking actors with accent talents :!:

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Speaking With Yourself Isn’t As Different From Speaking With Others As You Might Have Thought!

by Robby on May 7, 2012


Speaking English with yourself
I’m a strong proponent of spoken English self-practice – I’ve been doing it for years and I attribute much of my English fluency development to those countless hours of speaking English with myself.

I’ve touched upon this subject on this blog a few times before, but today I’m going to provide you with clear and obvious benefits of such spoken English self-practice.

If you think that only lunatics speak with themselves and that speaking with real people in real life is the only way forward for foreign English speakers to improve fluency, please read this article and you may actually change your mind :!:

Yes, I’ve said it before that you DON’T HAVE TO SPEAK OUT LOUD – you can speak in a very light whisper.

I’ve also mentioned it before that you can just speak in your mind barely moving your lips which would be an equivalent of simply verbalizing your thoughts.

But if those reasons aren’t enough to persuade you to practice English with yourself and you think that the very CONCEPT OF SELF-PRACTICE IS FLAWED, keep reading and I promise I’ll reveal some aspects of the whole speak-English-with-yourself thing you haven’t ever considered! ;-)

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My Experience in a Polish Beauty Salon & What Foreign English Speakers Can Learn From It!

by Robby on May 2, 2012

Fluent English Polish Beauty Salon
OK, it’s about time I came clean about my activities involving skin rejuvenation procedures and wrinkle treatment. Yes, I’m getting older, there’s a lot of grey hair emerging on my head, so I want to do everything within my power to fight the effects of time and look young forever…

Just kidding! :grin:

It’s not really me who used services of the beauty salon – it was my daughter and I just brought her there. I used it as an attention grabber and I just wanted to entice you to start reading this article, which is probably just as bad as lying, sorry for that! ;-)

Keep reading this article though, because I’m about to tell you why my visit to the Polish beauty salon was more than just sitting in the hall and waiting on my daughter to finish her facial procedure.

I got talking to the salon owner – a Polish woman – and what struck me was the fact that her English pronunciation was nearly perfect.

Seriously, I couldn’t remember meeting any other foreigner here in Ireland having such a near-native level of English accent. Or should I say – lack of thereof – because at times she sounded exactly like the local English speakers! (for your reference – English spoken in Ireland is a bit different in terms of pronunciation and grammar than its American, British and Australian counterparts.)

Me and my wife were chatting with her for a while, and I started noticing another thing – her English would probably upset some radical English language perfectionists because she was making a few grammar mistakes, especially when it came to using the Past Perfect Tense and grammar constructs like Conditional 2 Simple.

Not that I would ever judge her; if there’s someone who’s adamant that foreign English speakers focus on what they CAN say instead of what they can’t – it’s me!

I was simply amazed at how confident she was and how fluently she spoke despite allowing a slight imperfection to creep into her speech every now and then. And you know what? It didn’t hinder the communication between me, my wife and the salon owner a bit; we could speak with her with the same ease as we’d speak with native English speakers.

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English Harmony Highlights of April 2012

by Robby on April 30, 2012

Improve Spoken English

This month has been prolific in terms of publishing and attracting more and more visitors and commentators to my website, and every day I have to spend more and more time engaging with my blog readers. And I have to tell you it’s very rewarding to see that your opinion matters to so many foreigners and native English speakers alike!

The first article I want you to look at is called “How to Develop the Gut Feeling for Correct and Natural English”. You may have had the feeling when you just know that something sounds right when said in English, and you don’t even have to explain why, you just know it. I call it the “gut feeling”, and if you want to find out more about it and how to develop it, make sure you read this article!

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Accelerated American Slang Learning: Watching all 7 Seasons of Desperate Housewives in Less than 3 Months

by Robby on April 25, 2012

Learn American Slang with Desperate Housewives

Improve Spoken English

Can you improve your English JUST by watching TV programs?

Yes, sure. You can learn a great deal of new English words and expressions thanks to visual associations created when you see a scene on the screen and hear a certain phrase or expression.

Also, it’s much easier to understand meanings of new English words if you see all the action unfold before your eyes.

Can you make a CONSIDERABLE difference in your English fluency by watching TV shows in English?

Yes, but it will require some effort because by listening alone you’ll mostly develop your passive vocabulary. Your active vocabulary – the one you use when speaking – is developed when you USE those new English phrases and expressions in your own conversations.

So, while I was watching the Desperate Housewives box-set I got my wife for Christmas, I did all the following:

  • I shadowed the characters with the subtitles turned on;
  • I took notes of new English phrases and American slang expressions;
  • I purposefully used those new expressions in my English conversations at work and also when practicing spoken English with myself.

It all started quite innocently.

I didn’t mean to spend the whole month of January, February and a week in March glued to the screen watching a TV soap loved mostly by members of the opposite sex.

I simply watched one episode of Desperate Housewives with my family during last Christmas Holidays – I guess, I just wanted to see what all the fuss is about! And that, my dear friends foreign English speakers, was it… I was literally sucked into it!

I couldn’t have imagined that Desperate Housewives was so intriguing and interesting! Illicit affairs, murders, scheming and dark secrets – and it all wrapped up as a comedy. Awesome!

So, what I learned while watching around 160 episodes of Desperate Housewives within a matter of 10 weeks?

I learned loads of American slang expressions, new vocabulary, phrasal verbs and idiomatic expressions – and that’s not all :!:

I also tried to speak like an American while shadowing the actors and I realized that I’m not too bad at speaking with an American accent!

Here’s just a few of the idiomatic expressions and American slang phrases I added on to my active English vocabulary:

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FREE eBook – Practical English Grammar!

by Robby on April 22, 2012

 


Right after the request you’ll receive an e-mail with a confirmation link which will bring you straight to the download page. And here’s the good news – you can read this eBook on your computer or laptop as a PDF file, you’ll get a MOBI version of it in case you have a Kindle eBook reader, but if you have an iPad – you can make use of the EPUB file!

Bear in mind, my fellow foreigners, that this isn’t your traditional English grammar reference book or textbook :!:

This “Practical English Grammar” eBook contains my own observations, analysis and interpretation of how English grammar is sometimes much different in real life than we expect it to be, and instead of having this “why would I speak like that, it’s not what my English teacher taught me!” attitude, I’m suggesting you to make it easier for yourself to speak English by speaking exactly like native English speakers speak!

There are twelve chapters in the eBook covering aspects of English Grammar that you wouldn’t have probably even heard of – such as how to substitute Present Simple Tense for Present Continuous Tense in order to sound more natural and friendly – yet they’re very relevant for us, foreigners!

And don’t worry, I’m not being very technical in the eBook and I’m not using very specific English Grammar related terms. All you need to know is what the Past Perfect Tense is and what GOING TO + Infinitive Future form is and you’ll understand everything I’m writing in the “Practical English Grammar” eBook! ;-)

Wishing your Happy Reading,

Robby

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How I Started Speaking Fluent English by Pretending to be a Gangster

by Robby on April 18, 2012

Improve Spoken English

Probably one of the weirdest strategies among my English fluency improving methods is speaking with a hard foreign accent – and that’s what the original English Harmony eBook was based upon.

It’s actually quite straightforward if you think about it:

  • You make an awful lot of effort in order to sound native in terms of pronunciation;
  • You become conscious of your own speech and you start doubting yourself every time you open your mouth to say something;
  • Your speech becomes very hesitant, your mind is racing and you find it difficult to verbalize your thoughts in English.

So if you forget about the pronunciation aspect while you’re speaking by allowing your mouth to speak the way it wants, you may just be able to speak more clearly and stop hesitating and preparing speech in your head before speaking out loud.

Do you want to know what lead to this discovery?

It was my fascination with one of the greatest mafia films ever – “GoodFellas”!

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Crash Course in American English Pronunciation & Slang: Interview With Anthony from AmericanAnthony.com!

by Robby on April 15, 2012

Speak English Like an American

I’ve been fascinated with all things American since my childhood and it’s also one of the reasons why I started learning the English language at the age of 10.

To this day, however, I haven’t mastered the American English pronunciation and I don’t think it’s that important for me personally.

Well, considering that I’m living in Ireland it’s hardly surprising I wouldn’t find a practical application for an American accent! :grin:

Anyhow, I haven’t made it my goal to speak with a near-native Irish English pronunciation either. You see, I’ve been struggling with my English fluency for years and I’ve actually found that when I try to speak with a native English accent, it may have a detrimental effect on my ability to speak English fluently.

Having said that, I often speak with different English accents when I’m on my own. And, truth be told, I’m getting better at it! Still, when I’m speaking with others in real-life, I revert back to my normal foreign accent because it’s easier for me to speak that way.

Many foreign English speakers, however, aspire to adopt a certain native English accent such as British or American, and many of them are very successful in doing so.

If your dream is to sound like natural American speaker and you believe it’s what you have to do, there’s a person I’d like you to meet – Anthony Krese!

American Anthony

He’s an English teacher and on his website called AmericanAnthony.com he focuses on teaching foreign English speakers American slang and accent. In other words – he makes foreigners sound like native American English speakers!

In many ways mine and Anthony’s approach to English learning and improving is very similar. We both understand that real-life English is different from the one you’ll learn in textbooks. We also realize that plenty of foreigners lack in the department of socializing skills when it comes to speaking in English in informal settings.

And while I believe that my foreign origin is actually an advantage when it comes to advising other foreigners on overcoming English fluency related issues in terms of mental aspects, Anthony has a natural edge of being a native English speaker when teaching how to speak like an American.

Therefore I think it’s only fair that I turn to a professional for advice on how to speak with an American accent so that we all can learn some new tips and tricks and take Anthony’s advice on board!

So let’s get started!

Anthony, here’s the first question for you…

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My Opinion on Who the English Language Belongs to…

by Robby on April 13, 2012

I don’t think that anyone can claim ownership to the English language and tell foreign English speakers what to do.

And that’s exactly the impression I got while reading this article the other day! :mad:

I was thinking that I should probably leave it, but I just couldn’t because I’m a foreign English speaker AND a blogger, I represent my fellow foreigners and I think someone should say something about views expressed in this article.

Basically this is how I understand it:

  • we all foreigner bloggers are the same – bad English, hard to read articles etc;
  • we’re less fortunate than native English speakers having been born in the US;
  • we’d better stop struggling with English writing – leave it to native English speakers!

To be honest with you, I didn’t believe I was reading it!

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