What Happens When You Don’t Learn English Contextually?
Here’s how to improve your English listening skills when listening to my video: put the headphones on, playback the video and write it all down while listening to it! One of my blog readers posted a piece of English writing on my blog here and asked me what was wrong with it. Having taken a closer look, I quickly realized that the author of that piece had used quite sophisticated language, but the words just didn’t go together which was a telltale sign of lack of contextual English learning! So here it is: Now, it’s no secret that in order to learn to speak and write in English in a native-like fashion you have to embrace the concept of contextual English learning. Well, I guess I should put it this way – it’s no secret to those who’ve been following my blog and watching my videos. (more…)
Past Events in English: “There Was This Time When… Next Thing I Know…”
Where I Source All These English Idiomatic Expressions?
Ignoring Grammar Doesn’t Mean You Have to Speak Incorrectly!
Here’s how to improve your English listening skills when listening to my video: put the headphones on, playback the video and write it all down while listening to it! Hi guys, hello boys and girls and welcome back to Robby's English Harmony video blog. Now, in today's video I'm going to tell you about the fact that sometimes what we say to the other person or in my case what I write on my blog or I talk about in my videos sometimes it can be perceived differently, right? Basically I mean it in one way but the other person or a group of people perceive the message the wrong way. Maybe it's because of the way I communicate the message or sometimes it just happens, you know. Miscommunication just happens despite your best efforts to make sure that the message is sent out very straightforward and clear and despite the fact that you're trying to get rid of all the ambiguity it just happens sometimes, right? And what exactly I'm talking about here in this video is the fact that sometimes I talk about grammar and how it's not really necessary, right? But at the same time I've always emphasize the fact that you have to self-correct that any intelligent person would not just try and get away with speaking grammatically incorrectly, they would try and to self-correct and over time as you keep correcting yourself – and you may want to click on this link to read more about the self-correction. (more…)
Emigration to an English Speaking Country: My Honest Opinion
Here’s how to improve your English listening skills when listening to my video: put the headphones on, playback the video and write it all down while listening to it! Video Transcript Below: Hi guys, hello boys and girls and welcome back to Robby's English Harmony video blog! Today is Saturday and I'm having my Saturday afternoon decaffeinated coffee here. You know, this is actually the second cup of real coffee. Well, in this case it's actually not a cup, it's a proper mug, right? A huge mug for that matter. Guinness, right? But I'm not drinking beer, I'm having my second cup of coffee. I just said cup again, right? Second mug of coffee, right? But the fact of the matter is that you wouldn't be normally saying second mug of coffee, second cup of coffee, that's an expression. So I would say that I'm not really wrong in saying that this is my second cup of coffee. That's what people would normally say. That's how people would understand you best, right? Anyway, cheers! And let's start focusing on the actual matter I want to discuss in today's video. But just before we get down to business let me just tell you that today I met up with a friend of mine and he's an Irish fella, right? I'm a Latvian living in Ireland, been living here for 14 years and I have an Irish friend named Will. And as a matter of fact he is my good luck charm in terms of spoken English fluency. What it actually means is that whenever I meet with him I can give my fluency free reign and I speak just like a native English speaker, right? He is the one person that brings out the best in my fluency, right? As I go about my daily business, dealing with people in the college and my students and so on, obviously I speak a lot in English with others but this particular person, my former co-worker Will for some reason or another is the one that I can speak with best, right? I'm so familiar with him that I just lose any awareness of the language boundary so to speak. So you may want to click on this link. And the article in question is called who is your English good luck charm and it's all about what a good luck charm person is in terms of spoken English fluency and that if you find, if you manage to find one then you may want to hold on to them, right? (more…)
English Sentence Starter: “I Heard Somewhere That…”
Should We Make Sure Everything We Say Is Grammatically Super-correct? My Opinion on Correct English!
Here’s how to improve your English listening skills when listening to my video: put the headphones on, playback the video and write it all down while listening to it! Video Transcript Below: Hi guys, it's Robby here from EnglishHarmony.com and welcome back to my video blog! In today's video we're going to discuss the correctness of the English language. And the fact of the matter is that there's so many things that we say in our English conversations that would be considered as incorrect if we went by the textbook English grammar rules. And if you paid particular attention to the last sentence - I said something incorrectly! I said “there's so many things” whereas in reality I should have said “there are so many things” because the noun “things” obviously is in plural in this case so the verb “to be” should have been conjugated to reflect that, I should have said “there are so many things”. And this is just one of those examples where something that's incorrect, it has been accepted in the general public and everyone speaks like that and there's nothing wrong with it. So it begs the question and as a matter of fact this particular phrase “it begs the question – to beg a question” has also been criticized as being incorrect English, right? In reality we should say “it raises a question”. But this phrase “it begs a question” is also used by everyone. And I would say that it actually makes it correct. (more…)
English Sentence Starter: “Speaking Of…”
Why Are We Always Trying to Speak Too Fast in English?
Here’s how to improve your English listening skills when listening to my video: put the headphones on, playback the video and write it all down while listening to it! Video Transcript Below: Hi guys, hello boys and girls, hello my dear fellow foreign English speakers and welcome back to Robby's English Harmony video blog! Today guys I wanted to share something with you. A revelation that I had when I was driving in the car to college this morning, right? As it always happens I was speaking with myself practicing my spoken English. As you may know by now that's how I roll, that's how I maintain a high standard of my English fluency. And I was thinking about the fact that so many of us foreigners are trying to speak too fast, okay? And it's a mistake number one that I come across time and time again whenever I start teaching a new batch of Fluency Star students I witness the same thing again and again. People are trying to speak too fast, okay? And I've written about it in the past, obviously years ago I wrote a blog post about not comparing yourself with others. And back then I knew only too well that the desire to speak just like the other person does is the biggest pitfall for you guys, right? That's when you start comparing yourself with the other person and that's what brings about all these fluency issues. If you didn't have the comparison in place and you only focused on your own performance, it would be so much easier, so much better to maintain your fluency and to work on your spoken English, right? (more…)
You Think I Speak Fluent English Because I Live In Ireland? Nope!
FAQ: I’m Afraid My English Fluency Isn’t Coming Back!
English Idiomatic Expression: “The Fact of The Matter Is That…”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSOdpUeFEkU Here’s how to improve your English listening skills when listening to my video: put the headphones on, playback the video and write it all down while listening to it! Hello boys and girls! In today’s video you’ll learn how to use the following English idiomatic expression: THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS THAT… And the fact of the matter is that a week ago I published a video about quite a similar English idiomatic expression “as a matter of fact” - but please don’t confuse the two! While AS A MATTER OF FACT can be used as a replacement phrase for the word “actually”, THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS THAT is used in a different way. You could say that it means pretty much the same thing as the phrase “Here’s the thing”, but if you want to learn more about using it – please watch the video above! Cheers, Robby ;-)
English Idiomatic Expression: “As A Matter Of Fact”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9NSbNZdViQ
Back in College: English Fluency Hitting an All-Time High!
English Idiomatic Expressions: “I’ve Been Meaning to… Never Get Around to…”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4a67Ud1QGNk
How to Learn English Synonyms and Antonyms Effectively
How to Decide Which Tense and Which Verb Form to Use?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4Ftz-cnjJ4
We Create English Fluency Issues for Ourselves!
My Own Struggling With English Fluency is What Drives Me!
Want Solid Proof that Spoken English Self-practice Works? Check This Out!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTNeyx3qAro
Your Body Constantly Changes – And So Does Your English Fluency!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyzSHdf6Vh0
English Idiomatic Expression: “Out of the Question”
Why It’s So HARD to Accept Spoken English Can Be Practiced?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1se_PgJXmZM
How to Practice English for FREE? Make Phone Calls!
How to Prepare for a Job Interview In English (Tried & Tested!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vMa6Z9JVIY
English Sentence Starter: “I Can See Where You’re Coming From”
Passive English Input Isn’t Going to Improve Your Ability to Speak!
There’s Always Someone Worse Off Than You!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wK5J94FKo3M
What to Do If I Find Spoken English Self-Practice Boring…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJ2vanNwC6E Hello my friends! In this video I'm addressing the following question that I get asked a lot: Robby, you're constantly saying we should practice English with ourselves, but it's really boring... What do you suggest? Well, it's true - I keep going on about the effectiveness of spoken English self-practice like a broken record, and let me repeat myself once more - SPOKEN ENGLISH SELF-PRACTICE is HANDS DOWN THE BEST way of improving your fluency, full stop! As for the BORING part - I don't buy it. Seriously - if you're saying it's BORING, most likely you haven't actually realized what such spoken self-practice entails, so please watch the video above and hopefully I'll be able to explain everything so that you start seeing the true benefits of spoken English self-practice! Cheers, Robby ;-)
Best Videos and Articles on English Harmony in 2015 + Happy New Year!
Ask Robby: Why Do I Start Forgetting English After Moving Back to My Country?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04h0DOgO1ec In this video I’m responding to Arzhin’s comment which you can read here and here’s what he asks: Robby I have been in an English country for 4 years. So I could speak English very well. Then I backed to my homeland. So since one year ago I am living on my homeland. But because here is no one to talk with, and no one speaks English here. So I feel that I am forgetting things. Please tell me what to do! Also, he goes on to ask the following: Once I read that you know 3 languages fluently how don't you mix them? Or forget them? I need that technique! Well, here's my video response, and I hope that all of you are going to find it useful! ;-) Merry Christmas Everyone :!: Cheers, Robby