I’m Robby from English Harmony – and I wanted to tell you a few words before another year comes to its end!

First of all – I wish you the Merriest Christmas ever! No matter where on the world you live – I believe Christmas will bring peace and harmony in your life!

And secondly – may the New Year make all your dreams come true! I know how important it is to keep clear focus on the things you want to achieve and if you want something really badly – you’ll get it!

Visualization is the first step to any kind of success – it kind of lays the foundation for the things to happen in the real life. Of course – there’s the second vital element – ACTION.

If you keep on wishing something to happen but remain inactive, your plans and dreams will always remain such. So taking immediate action is paramount to change something in our lives and make them better.

Yes, I understand, you’ve probably heard these things hundreds of times and it’s all common sense. But believe me – not many people live as they truly want, and there’s a big gap between dreaming about things and doing something in order to bring them to life.

It can be your personal life, or certain material goals, or getting a better job, or starting your own business. And also speaking fluent English falls into the same category.

During the last year I’ve received plenty of e-mails from folks visiting my website and also my customers. Overwhelming majority of you agreed on one thing – speaking fluent English is essential in many aspects of life – professional, personal and also social.

And being able to say the right thing at the right time may sometimes play a crucial role. Eventually by speaking more fluent English speech the whole life is slowly transforming to better – and that’s the ultimate goal of all of us, isn’t it?

The world is undergoing major changes at the moment. They are affecting lives of thousands and millions. But it all boils down to our inner selves. Without keeping a clear vision and focusing on improving our both mental and physical capacity it is going to be much harder to live.

So my last wish to you this Christmas - may our lives slowly take the shape that we have imagined, and may we always remain focused and active!

Warmest Wishes,
Robby

Today I came across a website about English fluency called Fluentzy.com.

It’s pretty cool in the fact that they’re basically talking about all the same issues with speaking fluent English that I do!

You have to speak English and have pre-planned the speech in your head. But when it comes to speaking with a person for real, you just can’t say a word…

And the actual reasons behind this issue is the following – learning the English language through your mother’s tongue. You know – it’s the traditional way of learning a language.

You write the English words down in your copybook and translate them into your native language. Then you memorize the meaning of those words and you’re perfectly fine with using them in your writing, speaking in the class and so on.

However, there’s one very important problem that will surface only later on. Namely – the English language you learn, is far from fluent!

You can’t speak spontaneously – and this is the factor that separates a fluent English from one that is handy ONLY when it comes to writing a letter, or reading a book.

The credit for inventing the system at the fluentzy website goes to Indians, by the way. As it’s said on the website, I quote:

“England may be the home of English, but India is the home of fluent English. India is where English fluency building was systematized for the first time in the world as a distinct teachable subject. An Indian loved the English language so much that he studied its fluency-secrets in great depth and designed the world’s first dedicated course in English fluency building (as distinct from EFL/ESL courses and translation-dependent bilingual courses). And that was KevNair, better known as the father of fluency development”
- The New Indian Express

Well, thank you KevNair for your contribution into the English fluency!

Regards,
Robby

I’ve been here for quite a long time and I’m not planning go back to my own country in the near future. And now I’m feeling like I’ve become a part of this whole culture, Irish traditions and everything else.

But the first thing that struck me when I just arrived here was the local accent. Yes, I had studied English at home – but the way Irish spoke was something completely un-understandable! I always had to apologize and ask to repeat the same question again and again until I was able to get it!

And I guess you may have experienced similar feelings having gone abroad or living in a foreign country, haven’t you?

But today’s story isn’t about how well we can understand other accents and ways of pronunciation. It’s about how well the native English speakers can get what WE say.

And here goes the funniest thing I’ve been telling my friends over and over again – and now it’s your turn! Whenever I go to some eatery to have a meal with my wife and daughters, or just myself, and order coffee, I don’t get coffee straight away.

And please don’t think I’m being discriminated in any way – no, Irish folks are very friendly and today around 10% of the whole country population is non-nationals. And we’re very welcome in this country!

No – it’s not that I’m ignored or anything similar. It’s just that Irish don’t understand I’m asking coffee…

Yes, it’s really weird! The word ‘coffee’ is very simple. The pronunciation: [kofi:] – am I not right? Yes – and everyone pronounces the word this way.

Imagine if you were an English national and someone asked you in a heavily distorted accent: [kofe:], or [ko:fe:] or whatever else – would you not get it? I guess – yes. But you see – I have to repeat the word around three times until the girl behind the counter says: ‘Ohh, right, you want coffee?!?’…

But am I getting annoyed by this? You think I’m giving out about how unfairly I’m treated?

Of course, not! It’s just another story about how different we people are and that our distinct accents and pronunciations are a part of the nature!

No matter if it’s the Irish girl behind the McDonalds counter, or it’s you who has to ask someone to repeat what they just said – it’s COMPLETELY OK! It’s absolutely normal sometimes to get a bit confused, not to understand, mispronounce words and make similar mistakes.

After all, we’re all humans, and humans do make mistakes, don’t we?

Happy speaking,
Robby Kukurs
English Harmony

So enough rant – let’s get to the matter straight away!

• Step one – STOP being ashamed of yourself.

Did I just insult you? Sorry, no offence meant. But the cold truth is – everyone who struggles speaking English fluently is actually shy deep inside. Whether you are aware of it or not – you constantly COMPARE yourself with others, or with a particular person.

It could be your best friend, or workmate, or a person being your role model – and it constantly nags at you – ‘He’s speaking better than me…’

Well, there’s not a better solution than to stand in the front of a mirror and tell yourself loud – I don’t need anyone as a role model. I’m sufficient with my English and there’s NOTHING that could make me feel low and lose my self-esteem.

So the first step is to recognize the very fact that you constantly keep on being shy speaking in front of particular people, in public etc.

• Step number two – when you speak a natural English speech, just THROW away all grammar rules from your mind!

Am I being too extreme making such a statement? Well – I don’t think so. Bear in mind – I didn’t say ‘forget all English grammar’.

What I meant was – don’t put double load on your mind when you speak English. Your sub-consciousness will do the work for you. Everything you’ve learnt so far grammarwise will manifest itself anyway.

So if you speak and try to think about the grammar rules at the same time – you just make unnecessary effort. You will inevitably make your speech slower and distorted. Better don’t think anything ‘extra’ – just speak and enjoy being right here and now with the person you’re communicating with.

• The third step – ACCEPT the things the way they are.

Even though it may sound completely opposite to what you desire – there’s a great wisdom in this approach.
It doesn’t mean you don’t have to strive to improve your English. But with not accepting yourself as your are, you are creating a never-ending conflict with your inner self. In other words – you’re doing more damage to your English confidence rather than improving it.

Anyone has embarrassing moments while speaking – even speaking their own language.

A week ago I went for holidays to my native country and had to deal with people speaking my language, of course. And you know what? It’s really weird, but I noticed myself starting stutter and mispronounce the words… I hadn’t spoken to other natives but my family and closest friends for a while, and this sudden change made me speak badly even in my own language!

So think about this again and accept yourself. When such moments happen while speaking English – the last thing you want to do is – start worrying.

Be yourself – and it will eventually yield more results than constantly fighting with yourself!

OK, my friend, I hope these simple things will help you in your way to fluent English!

Happy speaking,
Robby Kukurs

English Harmony

This time I’d like to tell you a strange thing from my own experience - and I must stress - it’s really weird!

It’s about getting confused while speaking English with someone - and you know why? Because I suddenly start hearing myself - my speech. And I instantly get knocked out of the normal speech rhythm and have to gather myself up.

Why is it happening? Why would hearing your own voice make you feel embarrassed to an extent when you start speaking with a really bad accent and get stuck?

I don’t know the exact answer - but many of you have sent me e-mails telling the very same thing…

You see - usually you wouldn’t consciously listen into your speech. You just don’t think about it when you speak. But sometimes some kind of a trigger gets clicked and you start hearing the words coming out of your mouth and the more you listen to them, the worse you speak!

My advice in this case is to slow down the speech. And - it may sound awkward - don’t try to maintain the previous good pronunciation. Allow yourself speaking in a slightly distorted English for a while and you’ll see that the normal speech will return in a few minutes.

It happens even to me! So it’s perfectly fine to have these ups and downs - like in other aspects of life.

Thanks everyone - and have a nice day!

Robby

Do you often have this feeling of a racing mind? Do you feel you have hundreds of different thoughts constantly crossing your mind, repeating all over again and making you anxious and irritated?

In Zen Buddhist philosophy such a state of mind is described as a room full of jumping and screaming monkeys running wild!

This state of mind is very closely related to all kinds of anxieties, worries, fears – and among them the English speech anxiety.

No matter how well you’re trying to speak English, you head is full of English words, phrases, sentences, grammar rules – all at the SAME TIME! You’re trying to say something – but regardless your toughest attempts you get the English grammar wrong, misspell and mispronounce words and notice this at the very moment of speaking them out!

To deal with this issue of inability to speak English normally you first have to deal with monkeys in your head. Here I’ve written a few basic steps to calm down your mind and start thinking just ONE THOUGHT at a time instead of trying to encompass EVERYTHING at once.

1. Close your eyes. Take a deep breath and start breathing slowly. Try to forget everything you’ve been thinking about before you started reading this blog post. Just distance yourself from the daily affairs and routine, from speaking English, from money matters, family and heart affairs – from everything. There’s just you.

2. The next time you’ll be speaking English - don’t try to speak fast and spit out all the thoughts in one sentence. A controlled and slow speech will do much more good to your English confidence than trying to sound native and speak as fast as they do! Speak slowly, if you get stuck – stop – and don’t allow the monkeys start racing in your mind. Take another deep breath and calm down. Then keep on speaking and remember – it doesn’t matter what your chat partner thinks about your speech.

3. A slow and controlled speech is more fluent and understandable than conversation that is fast, interrupted and full of mistakes. DON’T BE ASHAMED of the manner of your speech! It is your life and only you can decide how you’re going to speak.

4. Don’t hurry living your daily life. The surprising thing is that no matter how fast we try to accomplish our tasks and duties, we actually do less and less. Slow down your life pace – this is especially important in these paced up and fast times when the whole world seems to be literally racing after more money, more achievements, and more success. Actually the opposite is true – success comes through controlled and calmed mindset!

Happy speaking!

Robby