“What Are the Most Commonly Used English Words?” is the Wrong Question!
Many of my fellow foreigners arrive to my blog while searching for the most commonly used English words, and there’s a good chance that you may be one of them! ‘The top 100 most commonly used English words’, ‘top 500 English words’, ‘English word frequency lists’ – such and similar keywords are used by thousands of foreign English speakers eager to improve their English fluency. But are these English word lists any good? Do they offer good value in terms of improving one’s ability to speak fluently? Frankly speaking, such frequency lists don’t provide a lot of practical value – if any! Why? Fair enough – give me a few moments and I’ll show you exactly why! ;-) (more…)
English Idiomatic Expression: “When it comes to…”
English Idiomatic Expression: “This or that particular thing”
FREE eBook – Truth about Traditional English Studies – Download Below!
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I hate spam as much as you do and I’ll contact you only to send news about improving English fluency! 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 in case you have a Kindle eBook reader, but if you have an iPad – you can make use of the EPUB file! In the eBook “Truth About Traditional English Studies” I’m going to introduce you to a concept you’ve probably never heard before - ‘WRITING MODE’ OF A FOREIGNER’S MIND. This ‘writing mode’ explains why you’re having all these problems with oral English fluency, and it’s all got to do with the way you’ve been learning English so far. The chances are, if you’ve been learning English the traditional way, you’ve been mostly doing grammar tests and writing. After long years dedicated to writing English sentences and filling blanks in English textbooks your mind has gone into a permanent ‘WRITING MODE’! Don’t get me wrong - there’s nothing wrong with writing as such. I’m not saying literacy isn’t important. What I’m having a problem with is the following: our teachers and the whole English teaching industry have led us to believe that a lot of reading, writing and grammar studies will somehow magically result in oral fluency. Nothing could be further from the truth, my friends! When you write, you have enough time to plan everything in advance; you can choose the best fitting words, arrange them carefully according to grammar rules and create almost perfect English sentences. When you have to speak, on the others hand, all of a sudden there are no rules! You’re in an unchartered territory, and you’re afraid of making mistakes because you don’t have a textbook in front of you anymore! I know how it feels because I used to have the same sort of English fluency issues, and I tried to improve my spoken English for years to no avail because I kept resorting to the same old methods – vocabulary building, grammar studies, and reading. Now, do you want to find out how to make a smooth transition from the ‘writing mode’ of your mind into a ‘speaking mode’ when you can speak automatically, fluently and without much thinking about what you’re going to say? Then make sure to request the eBook using the form above, and you’ll find out how you should change your English improving routine in order to improve your ability to speak fluent English! Robby ;-)
English Idiomatic Expression: “You know what I mean?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0i7zojzhcbc If you think that the phrase “You know what I mean?” doesn’t warrant a second glance and is one of those overused phrases that one should rather eliminate from one’s vocabulary – you’d better think twice! This expression allows us deal with situations when we’re stuck for words and we just can’t finish off a sentence, for example. If you think it’s better to say nothing and just stare at your conversation partner than say “You know what I mean?” – good for you! Personally I will go for “You know what I mean?” over an awkward moment of silence any day, and while this phrase can indeed be overused if you get into the habit of saying it after every sentence, it’s still a great way of implying that both you and your conversation partner know what you’re talking about anyway, and any further explanations can be omitted. Chat soon, Robby ;-)
English Idiomatic Expression: “It’s only when you… that…”
English Idiomatic Expression: “To say the least”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXVwlh_trY4 Another day – another English idiomatic expression for you to learn! Today’s phrase is “to say the least”, and it’ll come in very handy whenever you need to make a sarcastic comment or you want to drop a polite hint without sounding openly confrontational. Want to listen to some sample sentences? Please watch the video above where I’m providing you with enough information so that you can use this idiomatic expression – “to say the least” – in your daily English conversations! And also make sure to repeat, memorize and use this phrase in your daily spoken English practice. It’s the only way you’ll add such and similar phrases to your active vocabulary. Why active vocabulary is so important for us, foreign English speakers? Read this article to find out more! Chat soon, Robby ;-)
English Idiomatic Expression: “In the first place”
English Idiomatic Expression: “Send the Wrong Message”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MySxtx-A5c Today's idiomatic expression is "Send the wrong message", and if you want to find out more about its usage - make sure to watch the video above! I'll keep making these daily English idiom videos for as long as I can, and it's all done with one thing in mind - to show you guys, that natural English fluency is all about phrases and expressions! You can take this phrase - "send the wrong message", combine it with a dozen of other expressions and - presto! - all of a sudden you can say things you mightn't be able to say after months long traditional grammar studies. And if you think I'm exaggerating - believe me, I'm not! It's proven time and time again that if you try to apply grammar rules as you stick words together, the resulting speech is unnatural, broken and hesitant. If you learn phrases just like the one I published in today's video, you get all the benefits of learning grammar naturally and none of the drawbacks - simply because there's NONE! :-) Chat soon, Robby ;-)
Improve Your English Fluency Naturally & Speak Like a Native Speaker!
English Idiomatic Expression: “Nothing could be further from the truth”
English idiomatic expression: “Pretty much the same”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Phx30Q6P-Uw Hi guys, in the video above you can find out how to use the following English idiomatic expression: “Pretty much the same”. Why such and similar expressions are very important for us, foreigners? First of all – they enable us to speak instinctively and spontaneously. Once you’ve memorized a phrase, you can produce it at an instant when the right situation presents itself! Secondly – they drastically reduce the amount of mistakes you might potentially make when speaking because you learn a correct phrase AS IT IS and you’ll only ever use it without changing it! So watch the video above, make sure to repeat the phrase a few times in order to memorize it, and also make sure to come up with a few sample sentences on your own to imprint the idiomatic expression “Pretty much the same” into your mind. Chat soon, Robby ;-)
Robby’s 5 Favorite Blog Posts of All Time on EnglishHarmony.com
Over the years I've published well over 200 articles on this blog, and there are a few that have become hugely popular with my blog readers. Articles like English Small Talk Phrases and How to Speak Fluent English with Limited Vocabulary are constantly topping the most viewed pages list, and I can see why they're getting such good publicity. A large number of my fellow foreigners are seeking information on the most commonly used English words and sentences, and those two articles are related to that subject hence their popularity! Some of my creations, however, have limited exposure, and the purpose of this article is to showcase some of my blog posts I’m very proud of YET they’re not getting a lot of views because they don’t rank well enough in Google. So, without further ado, allow me present you the top 5 blog posts I really, really like and I believe you’ll like them too because they touch upon subjects that are very relevant to us, foreign English speakers! (more…)
Is It Possible to Become TOTALLY Fluent In English After 24 Years?
Developing Your Ability to Use All Those Phrases & Idioms in Real Conversations
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDCZGzrGxxc Phrases, idiomatic expressions and collocations are the basic units of the English language and if you make sure you learn lots of them, you’ll develop your ability to speak automatically and without much thinking. Quite often, however, foreign English speakers may face the following problem – all those phrases have been memorized but it’s very hard to use them in real life! So, the million dollar question is – how to ensure you can actually use them in real life instead of JUST KNOWING them? (more…)
Check Out My NEW Blog AccentAdventure.com!
Delivering a DVD set of English Harmony System 2.0 & Discussing my Job, Unemployment and Happiness!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJ1suWBnQgU Here’s another broadcast from my car, and this time I’m driving to the local Post Office to deliver a DVD set of my English improving software – English Harmony System 2.0! I’m planning to discontinue the DVD sets at some stage in the near future anyway, so this is the last drive of this kind. You see – at the moment I’m working on the System’s update, and with a lot of new lessons added onto the software the DVD version becomes rather too expensive to manufacture and deliver. Also, considering we’re living in a digital era, it would make an awful lot of sense indeed to encourage my potential customers to contribute to the environment and go for a digital product instead. As we all know, all physical goods have a related carbon footprint, so the less goods we buy and get delivered, the less damage we do to our planet! Of course, I’m not going to turn the whole world’s environmental problems on their head, but then again – every little counts! (more…)