FGC Goal #1: American Idiomatic Expression #14: IT STANDS TO REASON
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv7kr3EeaeA Current Goal: Learn 50 American Phrases in 25 Days! Hi my friends foreigners! :grin: Here’s my fourteenth American English phrase, and IT ONLY STANDS TO REASON I’ve started feeling a bit overwhelmed by this whole 50 American phrase mission for the simple reason that pretty much my entire time is taken up by video recording and editing! Now, the above sentence is probably going to merit some criticism by perfectionists because the word “reason” is repeated a couple of times in it. (more…)
FGC Goal #1: Using American Phrases 1 – 12 in a Self-Practice Session
FGC Goal #1: American Phrase #11: GOT A THING FOR
FGC Goal #1: American Collocation #9: ALMOST BUT NOT QUITE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnsbzJXjunE Current Goal: Learn 50 American Phrases in 25 Days! Good morning on this wonderful Saturday morning! :grin: Saturday mornings are ALMOST BUT NOT QUITE the same as working day mornings for me. I still have to record a video and publish it on my YouTube channel and write a blog post for this blog, so there’s no real difference in terms of my morning routine – getting up at 5:40 AM, having a breakfast, recording a video… The simple fact, however, that I don’t have to be ready to get into the car at 8:00 AM and go to work makes a world of difference to my mental state! Not that I wouldn’t be able to motivate myself to do the right things every day, it’s just that when you don’t have to go do work, it almost feels as if there’s something big and exciting going to happen! You mightn’t even have planned anything in particular for your day off, but it still gives that added dimension to your life! I, for example, don’t even get to sleep much longer on weekend mornings than on working day mornings; I wake up before 6:00 AM no matter which day of the week it is, yet it’s always easier for me to get out of the bed on a weekend morning for some reason or another. Anyway, today’s American English phrase is ALMOST BUT NOT QUITE and it’s one of those self-repetitious sayings that don’t necessarily make sense yet they’re handy to use in conversations for the simple reason that they sound good! (more…)
FGC Goal #1: American Collocation #7 – RINGED WITH CHAIN LINK, TOPPED WITH RAZOR WIRE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4WIr20KD0o Current Goal: Learn 50 American Phrases in 25 Days! You definitely must have noticed the typical military facility settings in American TV programs and shows: Guard towers and massive light beams probing the area; Helicopters flying all over the place; And most importantly – the facility is always RINGED WITH CHAIN LINK AND TOPPED WITH RAZOR WIRE! That’s today’s American English phrase, and if you’re interested in my take on the whole thing, please watch the video above! As always, I’m touching upon other subjects in the video as well, so you’re guaranteed to have an even deeper insight into intricacies of the English language and you’ll most likely learn more idiomatic expressions on top of the one I’m focusing on today - RINGED WITH CHAIN LINK AND TOPPED WITH RAZOR WIRE. (more…)
FGC Goal #1: American Slang Phrase #5 – IT HAS WRONG WRITTEN ALL OVER IT!
FGC Goal #1: American Slang Phrase #3 – ZONED OUT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj2BeNh1uV0 Current Goal: Learn 50 American Phrases in 25 Days! Good morning my friends! :grin: So far so good – I’m on the third American phrase today and there’s only 47 more phrases to go! Today’s American slang phrase is to be ZONED OUT and it’s an informal way of describing when someone is daydreaming or in a state of absolute relaxation. You know the feeling when someone talks to you but you don’t even hear them? That’s a typical example of you being ZONED OUT, so next time it happens you can say to that person: (more…)
FGC Goal #1: American Phrase #1: TELL YOU WHAT!
FGC Goal #1: Learning 50 American English Phrases in 25 Days!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeQklHAyybA Hello guys! :grin: As you may have heard, I recently launched a brand new English fluency coaching product called Fluency Gym Coach Program (FGC Program) , and it’s mostly centered around confidence building and creating an English fluency improving routine (as opposed to purely technical speech pattern building which is the scope of the English Harmony System). The Action Plan – a file outlining the goal setting and execution - is an integral part of the FGC Program, so I decided to showcase it by setting a goal for MYSELF. And, as you can guess by the headline of this blog post, my goal is to acquire 50 new American English phrases within the next 25 days! (more…)
David Gemmell’s Heroic Fantasy Fiction: How It Helped Me Define My Moral Code
Video for YearOfEnglish.com subscribers: Learn English Vocabulary That’s Relevant for YOUR Life!
Rapid English Vocab Building in 3 Easy Steps!
Hi guys! In today’s article we’re going to focus on English vocabulary building the smart way. The English Harmony Way, to be more specific! You see, the reason why I’m touching upon the subject of vocabulary building is simple enough. I’m getting quite a few e-mails on a daily basis along with questions disguised as YouTube comments in relation to building English vocabulary and new words. “What’s the best way to learn new English vocabulary?” “One English word has up to 50 different meanings, do I have to learn them all at once?” “I’m trying to do spoken English self-practice as advised by you, Robby, but there are many English words I don’t know…” Now, despite me having published quite a few blog posts and videos about vocabulary building over the last couple of years, it’s never hurt anybody to repeat and reiterate the main points from time to time. As a matter of fact, it’s only a positive for the simple reason that repetition is the most efficient – if not the ONLY! – way that we humans learn anything! So, here are the 3 steps for building your English vocabulary in the most effective manner possible! (more…)
English Idiomatic Expression: “For Some Reason Or Another”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPwJVHMo5V8 Hello my friends foreign English speakers! (in case you’re wondering why I’m not referring to us – foreigners – by the name “non-native speakers”, please read this article HERE!) For some reason or another I just haven’t been feeling like creating a lot of content lately, so I’ve been taking it easy for a couple days. I’ve gone to bed early. I’ve done a bit more English reading in the bed before falling asleep. Basically I’ve been replenishing my energy stores so that I can start writing articles and producing videos for my English Harmony blog with a renewed vigor! Now, did you notice how I used the idiomatic expression “for some reason or another”? Even though I knew the reason behind my actions – lack of energy – I still used this English phrase for the simple reason that it simply sounds cool and I like using such and similar English phrases A LOT! Normally, however, you’d use the phrase “for some reason or another” in situations when you’re not sure of the true reasons behind the activity you’re discussing OR if you simply don’t want to elaborate on that. (more…)
What Typing Has in Common With Spoken English Performance
English Phrasal Verb “To Pull Off”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j33HVSejemE “To pull off” is a very handy, informal way of saying “to manage to do something”. Let’s say, for argument’s sake, you’re witnessing an incredible feet being accomplished. Let’s imagine that you’re working out in a gym with your friend and he does a 150 pound bench press which is totally off the charts! Now, the natural question you want to ask your friend is the following: “Hey dude, that was crazy, how did you pull it off?!” This phrasal verb can also be used when someone is engaged in some risky undertaking and their venture ends with success; basically what I’m talking about here is doing something risky and managing to do it without getting caught. (more…)
You Don’t Have to Spend a Lot of Time on Reading English Fiction in Order to Read LOADS!
Don’t Learn Some Obscure English Words that Even Native Speakers DON’T KNOW!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ld6b7-NeD58 If you’re obsessed with building a MASSIVE English vocabulary (just like I was all those years ago!), you might have fallen for the trap of learning some pretty sophisticated English words taken from English fiction you might be reading, or from any other source of information. Now, while there’s nothing wrong with learning such vocabulary words for as long as you acquire them contextually, there’s another aspect to contributing vast amount of time and effort into the process – namely, USEFULNESS. You simply have to ask yourself the following question: Is this particular English word going to come in handy in my everyday life? More often than not, little known words just aren’t used in daily English conversations; just because they’re used by authors in order to illustrate this or that particular concept in the very depth in their pieces of literature, doesn’t mean they’re used in colloquial English (which is the main focus of us – foreigners who aspire to become fluent English speakers!) Let’s take, for example, a couple of words so that you get the full picture on what exactly I’m talking about here (I’m heading straight to Dictionary.com website to pick some recent “words of the day”): (more…)
Don’t Even TRY Watching Common English Mistakes Videos on YouTube!
English Idiomatic Expression: “More often than not”
Funny English Phrases: Animal Related Idioms
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRezZtTzAXs Hello my friends! :grin: This Funny English Phrase video is my contribution to the YearOfEnglish.com project, and in case you haven’t noticed it yet, I’m publishing a video dedicated to YearOfEnglish.com audience once every three weeks. This time around, let’s learn some animal related English idiomatic expressions and conversational phrases. You’re more than welcome to watch the video above where I’m doing a little role play portraying two people at the same time. And, in case you need it, here’s the video script in written format: (more…)
A Quote From “Lies” That Made Me Realize Something…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bP15k--P9jo Currently I’m reading the third book in “GONE” series called “LIES” – it’s a cool ultra-blue book (each book in the “GONE” series has the sides covered with color which I’d never seen before!) and it focuses on further developments within FAYZ (Fallout Alley Youth Zone). What’s FAYZ? Here’s a short synopsis: Adults are gone. They’ve just disappeared. Perdido Beach has been sealed off the rest of the world by a gigantic dome and kids are forced to fend for themselves. Some kids have developed mutant powers – fire-shooting, anti-gravity – you name it! This might sound like a far-stretched scenario, and I have to admit that we’re little likely to encounter mutant kids in real life. Some things, however, are almost universal, and it’s the way we, humans, behave in emergency situations and unusual circumstances. Whether it’s FAYZ or simply how you react in a situation when your own safety is threatened on the street, for example – that’s when the TRUE “YOU” is being revealed. Such situations shape our personalities, and that’s exactly what I’m talking about in this video! You’re welcome to tune in and you’re also welcome to post comments below! Happy reading, Robby ;-)
How I Made a Nonsensical English Mistake 3 Times in a Row!
English Idiomatic Expression: “For the simple reason that…”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVgYNGlcpgY There are many ways you can make yourself sound smarter and give other people the impression that you know exactly what you’re talking about. You can dedicate an enormous amount of time learning sophisticated English vocabulary and then try to use it in your daily conversations. You can do loads of reading and research into a wide variety of subjects so that a few years down the line you can become a really erudite person. Or, you can learn the most commonly used English idiomatic expressions which will add substance to your English speech and make you sound smarter even on occasions when you’re not saying anything of a particular importance! Let’s take, for example, the following sentence: (more…)
Don’t Force Your English When You Speak!
6 Types of Foreign English Speakers: Which One Are YOU?
Being a foreign English speaker is the common denominator of this blog’s audience. We’re not all the same, however. Some of us are living in our home countries. Some of us have emigrated to English speaking countries. Many of us have studied the English language at school. Most of us have a certain degree of oral fluency deficiency due to the nature of traditional English studies. A good few of us are hell-bent on grammar perfection. A certain number of us have bought into the myth of English fluency improvement via listening. In this article I’ve tried to put some structure on this blog’s audience because I’ve observed so many different types of foreign English speakers dropping into my blog over the years that I can say with the utmost certainty: “I know my average blog visitor pretty well!” (more…)
English Idiomatic Expression: “Couldn’t Put My Finger On It”
7 Reasons Why Having Been Born a Foreigner Is One of the Best Things That Ever Happened to You!
“Maze Runner” Series Review: Main Plot & Why I’m So Excited About It!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ed5gD3-Fp5U It happened during the Christmas Holiday Season last year. My daughter gave me a book called “The Maze Runner” because I’d kept asking her for some new book to read. She wasn’t all that excited about that book herself, but I decided to give it a go and see if I find it of any interest. Not that I would have forced myself to finish off that book had it turned out to be a totally nonsensical piece of fiction; I’d never do it for the simple reason that I value my time and I would only ever read books I’m truly drawn in by. Eventually it turned out that “The Maze Runner” is one of the best books I’ve ever read in my life, and I’m really glad I didn’t put this particular book back onto my daughter’s bookshelf just because she wasn’t particularly fond of it herself! (more…)
English Collocation: “Well Thought Through”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv9SXgH1d8w In this blog post I’m going to focus on the following English collocation: “well thought through”. It’s just another way of saying “well planned”, and it’s how native English speakers – or fluent foreign English speakers! – would speak in circumstances when they have to describe a very well planned activity, arrangement, or even a physical object or structure. Anything can be well thought through. A well thought through business development plan. A very well thought through fire escape route which ensures the fastest evacuation of company’s employees in the case of fire. Furniture in your house can be arranged in a very well thought through fashion ensuring the optimal functionality and creating a nice impression. (more…)
English Collocation: “In-depth Research”
Just a Handful of English Phrases Will Enable You to Speak so Much More Fluently (Article #2)!
Click HERE to read the FIRST article made up of English phrases! Hi guys! Did you know you don’t need to learn MASSIVE amount of specific vocabulary in order to be able to discuss various subjects with ease? You need to focus on acquiring idiomatic expressions and phrases instead, and they will enable you to talk about a wide variety of topics! As far as specific vocab is concerned – well, sure enough, you can’t do without it! But the thing is – you can get by using only a handful of industry terms while letting the idiomatic expressions make up most of your speech. Now, I’m going to pick a random subject – Forex trading – and let’s see what the specific vocab vs idiomatic expression ratio is in the written piece I’m going to create! ;-) (more…)
Why I Love “GONE” Series & Why It’s the Perfect English Fiction for Foreign English Speakers