Is It OK to Point Out Mistakes Made by Others?
“In this context you should have said “I’ve been meaning to do this” instead of “I was meaning to do this”…” “Sorry, but you got it wrong. It’s “Wellington boots” with “W”, not “Vellington boots!”” “I’m pretty sure you meant “coarse language” instead of “hoarse language”, which is not the correct way of using this word. You must have mixed up the two words – “coarse” and “hoarse” – they sound similar but mean different things!” All such and similar corrections are nice, but did you know that sometimes such well-intentioned advices can actually do more harm than good? It can happen indeed – especially when accompanied by arrogant behavior and that superior look in the eyes which says “I’m a much better English speaker than you are, so just listen to what I’m telling you and don’t you dare to speak such incorrect English in my presence!” Even if it’s not meant to sound condescending, it can still hurt :!: Most of us, foreign English speakers, are ALREADY AWARE of the small mistakes we’re making in our daily conversations. The thing is – it’s not so easy to stop making them and sometimes you just can’t help it! So when someone points out that you just said something wrong, and you already know it yourself, it might really upset you – and others, for that matter – if it’s you giving generous advice to someone else. Anyway, I’m not trying to sow hatred here against those genuinely desiring to help other English speakers to improve their English fluency. In this blog post I’m trying to explain to those who haven’t experienced all sorts of English fluency issues, how it feels when you are already mad AT YOURSELF for making a mistake :mad: … And then you have to hear it from others! (more…)
Antonio Banderas’s Spanish Accent – So, Is His English NOT Fluent?
Speaking in English Made Super Easy – Follow my Tweets and Just Stick Word Chunks Together!
Reverse Psychology – Make Yourself Stutter, Hesitate and Get Tongue-tied in order… NOT TO!
Human is a creature of conditioning – the more often you find yourself in situations when your English fluency is compromised, the deeper your mind gets wired to make sure it happens when such conditions are met next time. For example, if you’ve found it a bit harder to speak in English with a particular person on a couple of occasions, it’s highly likely that this person will cause the same English speech difficulties for you every time they’re around. If you let it happen for long enough time, you get conditioned to stutter, mispronounce words and find it difficult to verbalize your thoughts whenever you speak to that person or even when speaking with someone else in that person’s presence. Sometimes the English fluency issue manifests itself in so seemingly random situations that it may look like a totally out-of-hand problem. You may find yourself making plenty of mistakes when speaking in English having had very fluent conversations with other English speakers the day before, for instance, and there’s nothing you can think of that should trigger such behavior. In order to overcome such issues I recommend different fluency management strategies - starting from speaking slower and pronouncing words clearly, and ending with such non-standard approaches as speaking with a harder accent. There will be moments, however, when you find it quite difficult to get back to your normal English speech regardless of what strategy you apply. You may have tried to speak in English in a number of different ways – slowly and fast, with a hard accent and without, but your mind just can’t seem to work properly! If that is the case, there’s one more trick up my sleeve – reverse psychology! (more…)
101 Wrong Reasons (and 1 True Reason) Why I Love the English Language
Wrong reason # 1: English grammar is so simple – there aren’t any noun genders , very little declination of nouns and conjugation of verbs, and you only have to add ‘s’ or ‘es’ at the end of a third person singular noun, that’s all there is to it! Everybody’s gotta love this language for its simplicity, isn’t that right? Well… how about Chinese grammar? Technically it’s even simpler than that of English – Chinese words can have one grammatical form only and all I’d have to do is just stick them together! If I’m so in love with the English language because of its simplicity, why didn’t I start learning Chinese instead? Could it be that the simple grammar isn’t actually one of the true reasons I love the language?... (more…)
3 Lessons Learned While Living Among Native English Speakers for 10 Years
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Here you can find answers to 99% of the most commonly asked questions about the English Harmony System de Luxe Edition. Please choose from one of the following questions and click on it to jump down right onto it: English Harmony System de Luxe Edition What exactly does the English Harmony System de Luxe Edition consist of? Are the lessons in the English Harmony System de Luxe Edition the same as your YouTube channel videos? What level of English is required to use the English Harmony System de Luxe Edition? Can even beginners with little English knowledge use it successfully? What's the total amount of time that I have to spend on using the English Harmony System de Luxe Edition? Am I really going to achieve complete English fluency after a month? Is the English Harmony System de Luxe Edition downloadable? Can I possibly memorize every single phrase contained in the System and then retain them all in my memory Purchasing the English Harmony System de Luxe Edition - Step by Step Instruction I’m interested in buying your fluency improving product, how can I do it? Improving Spoken English and Fluency What is English Harmony all about? Is this a website for English learners? How can I improve my English? How can I speak like a native English speaker? English Harmony System de Luxe Edition Q: What exactly does the English Harmony System de Luxe Edition consist of? A: At the moment there are 90 speech exercising lessons included in the System (every lesson is around 10 minutes long). They’re video lessons where a digital character speaks with you and you have to repeat and memorize different English phrases, idiomatic expressions, and sentences; after that, you have to use those phrases in a dialogue and it’s a great way to develop your spoken English! As far as I’m aware, EH System de Luxe Edition is the only software product focusing solely on getting you to speak the English language, and believe me – that’s exactly what you need after years spent studying English academically by writing and reading. All of those phrases, phrasal verbs, idioms and sentences included in the lessons have been purposefully selected by a native English speaker to provide the best mix in terms of relevance and usage in everyday conversations, etc. Every lesson is to be done twice over the course of 3 months; after that, you should repeat the whole set of 90 lessons again to revisit the phrases and make sure you imprint those natural speech patterns into your mind. What’s very important – it’s not only about memorizing the phrases; your mouth gets trained to produce English sentences INSTANTLY and you can easily REPLACE some words to create new sentences depending on the specific situation. All of a sudden speaking English becomes your second nature instead of racking your brain and trying to stick words together as you speak! Also, there’s a set of 10 meditation lessons included in the English Harmony System and they’re based on using affirmations and visualization to build one’s confidence. This is very, very important because most of my fellow foreigners who struggle with English fluency also experience confidence issues and are afraid of making mistakes while speaking, which in turn leads to all sorts of problems – getting tongue-tied, hesitation, and others. So as you can see, the English Harmony System is going to address ALL the different aspects of your spoken English – it’s going to re-build your active vocabulary according to natural speech patterns, it’s going to enable you to speak instantly and without thinking, and it’s going to make you into a confident speaker who’s not afraid of making mistakes BUT also speaks with confidence and can speak about any topic with anyone! Q: Are the lessons in the English Harmony System de Luxe Edition the same as your YouTube channel videos? A: No, the speech exercising and meditation lessons are completely different. They’re recorded by native English speakers – professional voice artists with impeccable English pronunciation – and all content has been created by a native English speaker, too. The speech exercising lessons are interactive, i.e. – you’re required to take action by clicking on active areas in the Flash videos to do the repetition and dialogues. My YouTube videos, on the other hand, are pure of an informative and motivational nature. Q: What level of English is required to use the English Harmony System de Luxe Edition? Can even beginners with little English knowledge use it successfully? A: This multimedia course is for those who have already spent a considerable amount of time studying English but still haven’t reached spoken English fluency. You need to understand the everyday spoken language used in the lessons to make it work for you. Of course, you might come across a few words and expressions that might require you to look them up online; however, all content has been created so that it’s as self-explanatory as possible. So even if some words and expressions might not be quite clear to you on their own, context will make it nearly impossible for you not to understand the meanings of phraseology and expressions used in the English Harmony System de Luxe Edition. Q: What’s the total amount of time that I have to spend on using the English Harmony System de Luxe Edition? Am I really going to achieve complete English fluency after a month? A: If you follow the standard study plan, you’ll be using the English Harmony System de Luxe Edition over a six month period. And yes, even within the first month you’ll notice a considerable improvement to your English fluency and you’ll build upon it during the next five months. There are also two accelerated study plans I’ve created for those who want to shorten the study time and improve their English fluency rapidly; they’re 3 months and 2 months long and will require more of your time so would be best suited for someone with more time on their hands. Q: Is the English Harmony System de Luxe Edition downloadable? A: No - there's no need to download anything! You gain immediate access to the English Harmony System de Luxe Edition after the payment has gone through - all you need is Internet access! Q: Can I possibly memorize every single phrase contained in the System and then retain them all in my memory? A: Here's how the EH System is supposed to work. You learn the phrases and sentences. In the process, you're forming a habit of speaking spontaneously and without much planning, and that's the main goal of the whole exercise! You won't be able to recall every single one of those sentences AT YOUR WILL upon the completion of the course; it's simply impossible. It's not even remotely possible in your own native language - for example, start listing words starting with a particular letter and see how long the list is going to be. After a while, you'll realize that you've run out of words to list while at the same time it's going to be obvious that there are thousands of more words starting with that letter! The same thing applies here - all that content you learn is going to be retained by your mind and while at certain times it will seem that you've forgotten most of what you've learned, nothing could actually be further from the truth! When the right opportunity arises, you will be able to say the right thing; the trick is NOT TO FORCE yourself to recall this or that particular phrase or word when speaking; you have to kind of allow your mouth to say what it naturally wants and to your surprise, you’ll see that on 90% of occasions you will say the right thing! Purchasing the English Harmony System de Luxe Edition Q: I’m interested in buying your fluency improving product, how can I do it? A: Please CLICK HERE to proceed to the signup page where you have to create a new account by choosing your username and password. After that, you’ll be taken to a payment page where you can choose to either pay with your PayPal account or your Credit Card if you don’t have a PayPal account. As soon as the payment is processed, you’ll be able to log into your account from your device and have an immediate access to all 4 English Harmony System’s Modules and the eBook Insider’s Secrets! Improving Spoken English and Fluency Q: What is English Harmony all about? Is this a website for English learners? A: English Harmony is a website for those foreign English speakers who don’t have much difficulties understanding, reading and writing in English but they’re struggling with speaking in English. Being very nervous and too embarrassed to speak, making all sorts of mistakes and not being able to say anything in front of other English speakers despite clearly knowing in your head what you want to say – they’re the kind of issues I’m dealing with here on English Harmony. In other words – if you can read my website and understand everything, but you’re aware of certain English fluency issues and limitations you may be having – clearly my website is for you! Q: How can I improve my English? A: I keep receiving this question all the time, and it’s so general that it’s kind of hard to give a short and thorough answer to it. I’ve written a blog post explaining the basic concept behind English improvement and what you should focus on, so please read that article here. It should give you the basic understanding of what English improvement entails, what you should stop doing, and what you should start doing on a regular basis to develop your English fluency. Q: How can I speak like a native English speaker? A: Well, first of all let me point out the obvious pitfall in this approach - if you're setting yourself up against native speakers, there's a big chance you'll keep running into fluency problems all the time simply because native speakers have been speaking English since they were toddlers, and we shouldn't aim to reach that level! While it's doable, it would require half your lifetime! It's better to stick to realistic goals, stop comparing yourself with others, developing your potential to its full and find comfort in the knowledge that your English is unique - it's YOURS, and it doesn't matter if you can't be as fluent as a native English speaker. So, I warmly suggest doing the following things, and you may just become as fluent as a native speaker: engage in as many English conversations as possible: if you haven't got opportunities for communication - make a habit to speak with yourself as often as possible in English; stop translating in your head while speaking and develop the habit of thinking in English; jot down any phrases, sayings and new words you may hear on a daily basis, repeat them, and make the point to use the in your spoken English practice; find yourself some hobby or some occupation to improve your fluency through those activities; buy the English Harmony System de Luxe Edition - it might just make all the difference between your fluency now and a couple of months down the line!
Is it OK to Pretend to Understand What an English Speaker Says When You Don’t?
English Harmony Highlights of January 2012
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ds1535dYPr0 Hi my fellow foreigners, it’s been another month at English Harmony and here I am again to deliver another monthly highlights report to those of you who didn’t get a chance or were too busy to read my blog posts regularly. First of all, I’d like to tell you about a motivational poster I created on the New Year’s Day. Many of my mailing list subscribers and blog visitors have already printed it out and stuck it up on the wall, and you’re welcome to do the same. Just Click HERE to Open the Poster, and a large format image is going to open up so that you can conveniently send it to your printer. The poster consists of the main premises of the English Harmony project such as – “Focus on what you CAN say instead what you CAN’T” and “Don’t mind your mistakes. Even native English speakers make plenty of them!” and many more; and the whole point of having the poster printed out is to keep yourself motivated to improve and maintain your English fluency throughout this year. As you might have noticed, my approach towards English improvement is a bit different than you’d see elsewhere. I don’t preach grammar perfection and I don’t promote sophistication when it comes to speaking in English. Basically what I’m saying is – stop giving yourself a hard time, have an open mind and you’ll stand a much bigger chance to succeed as a foreign English speaker, and this poster is the essence of my English fluency philosophy. (more…)
Why Reading an English Newspaper is 100 Times Better than Studying a Grammar Workbook
It’s OK to Feel Like an Idiot – Sometimes Even Native English Speakers Get Tongue-tied!
FAQ: How to Improve My English?
At the moment of writing this article I’ve posted more than 150 posts on this blog, and they’re all dedicated to the topic of spoken English improvement. That’s why I find it slightly strange to receive e-mails asking a question “Robby, can you help me improve my English?” Normally I would reply with another one-liner – “Please feel free to browse around my website, there’s plenty of articles and videos and they’re all about improving your English fluency!” – because I just couldn’t fit everything there is to say about improving your English in one e-mail! Also, I was under the impression that such queries are most likely asked by those who haven’t bothered checking out my blog. After all, all the information is available right here, on my website, and all you have to do is just read a few articles to start seeing the big picture, right? Recently, however, I realized that it’s probably not as easy as it looks to me. First of all, I’m dealing with a host of English fluency related issues and I have to admit not all of them are relevant to those who just want to IMPROVE their overall level of fluency. For example, if you have the typical English fluency issue whereby you can’t speak on certain occasions but you’re perfectly find on others, your main concern isn’t spoken English improvement as such; in this case you want to learn how to manage your fluency and make sure you don’t get severe anxiety and lack of confidence when you experience reduced ability to speak properly. Secondly, I can also imagine that the abundance of information on my blog might be a bit overwhelming and it’s not that easy for someone having arrived here for the first time to figure out what EXACTLY they have to do to improve their English. That’s why I decided to write this 5 step plan with easy, to-the-point instructions on how to make sure your English is experiencing constant growth and improvement. Enjoy! ;-) (more…)
Don’t Judge Foreign English Speakers by Their Mistakes!
I have to make a confession to you, my fellow foreigners… Despite having struggled with English fluency myself, and despite making mistakes while speaking myself, I do sometimes make assumptions about other foreigners and their level of English … You see, the strange thing about it is that I’m fully aware of the fact that making mistakes and struggling for words is normal. I know only too well that there’s a multitude of different factors affecting one’s spoken English performance – starting with stress and anxiety and ending with such complicated English fluency issues as preparing speech in one’s head before speaking and a total information overload. After all, I have a first-hand experience of what it feels like when you know EXACTLY what you want to say, but your mouth suddenly disobeys you and says the wrong thing… So quite naturally I’d expect myself to be the last person to draw hasty conclusions about somebody’s level of English, yet it does occasionally happen! Of course, the moment I catch myself thinking something like – “All right, I have to choose slightly simpler words when talking to him because he just used a completely wrong English Grammar Tense, so most likely he won’t understand me if I speak the way I speak with native English speakers…” – I immediately say to myself: “Robby, common, don’t be such a meanie, are you always perfect yourself?!” Imagine, if it takes me so much effort to stop patronizing others, how must native English speakers feel when they hear me make some stupid mistake when speaking to them? Can I blame them for assuming that my English is poor just because I mispronounced a very simple word? I, for instance, stressed the wrong syllable in the word ‘monopoly’ the other day. I said [‘monopoli] instead of [mo’nopoli], and had my workmate Will not known me for years, he probably would have judged my English skills by that one stupid mistake! On another occasion, I made a mistake by misplacing a word in a phrase. I said “Fair done!” which is a mix of two phrases – “Well done” and “Fair play to you!” Once again, for someone who doesn’t know me this would be a reason good enough to extrapolate that mistake to everything I might say. It’s the so called reverse halo effect, and now let’s look at this phenomenon in depth! (more…)
How to Improve Spoken English While Entering Sales Orders on a PC
Isn’t It Weird That I Can Write In English Better Than Speak?
Short answer – “No, it’s not weird at all! It’s actually completely normal for any English speaker – be it native or foreign – to be able to write in English better than speak!” However, having said this, the reverse isn’t always true and I’m not claiming that all English speakers are better writers than speakers. It’s just that it’s NOT WEIRD if you happen to be a better writer than a speaker. Now, would you like to get a bit more elaborate answer to this question? Well, it’s going to take me more than just a paragraph or two to say all I have to say in this regard, so I’d better settle down in front of my laptop with a mug of coffee because writing this article is going to take me a little while. There are many aspects to the curious problem of differences between writing and speaking in English and who else would be more qualified to answer the above question than me? After all, I live in an English speaking country and I spend the biggest part of my day at work communicating with native English speakers; most of my evenings are spent writing articles for my blog and answering e-mails. Years spent on analyzing English fluency related issues have left me with a very good understanding of how one’s writing skills influence one’s ability to speak and vice versa, so let my long answer begin! So, is it weird that you can write in English better than speak? NO, and the reason number one is… (more…)
6 Reasons Why Mythbusters is the Best TV Program for Improving Your Spoken English
Print This Poster to Motivate Yourself to Improve Your English Throughout 2012!
=== Click HERE to OPEN THE POSTER! === (Then print it out and stick it up on your wall!) :!: :grin: Happy New Year, my fellow foreign English speakers :grin: :!: The party is over, and now we have to go back to the grim reality… The holiday season is over, Christmas gifts have been unwrapped long ago, and now we have to go back to our daily routines. How depressing, isn’t it? Well, not everything is looking so gloomy! Despite the reality check we all undergo when the holidays are over, New Year is a time well known for the biggest aspirations and life-changing decisions! === Click HERE to OPEN THE POSTER! === (Then print it out and stick it up on your wall!) (more…)
English Harmony Blog Highlights of 2011
Don’t Put Up With ESL Industry’s Childish Treatment & Throw Unwanted Gifts Away!
The Illusion of Elsewhere – How to Clear Your Mind and Achieve Complete English Fluency in 4 Easy Steps
I love reading English fiction and there are some books I’ve re-read many times because they’ve helped me to grasp very important concepts. One of my favorite fictional characters, for instance – Skilgannon the Damned – is at his best when it comes to fighting when he slips into a special state of mind called the Illusion of Elsewhere. Basically his mind wanders and he allows his body to relax. Surprisingly, this state of mind doesn't make him less of a fighter; it’s actually quite the contrary – by clearing his mind he actually heightens his senses and allows his body to do the fighting automatically. So the key is to allow a process that’s been practiced for years to happen without much of conscious consideration thus eliminating any emotional restraints that might hinder your performance. Over the years I’ve come to realize the very same applies when you engage in English conversations – which essentially is quite an automatic process that you’ve been practicing for years. The only difference is that your mouth and lips have to do the verbal fighting instead of your arms and legs beating the living daylights out of some villain! (more…)
Why Being a Foreign English Speaker Gives Me an Edge Over ANY Native English School Teacher
You can call me a foreign English speaker or a non-native English speaker (although I think that by labelling someone a ‘non-native English speaker’ you set them apart from other English speakers!) , but all that really matters to me is that I’M AN ENGILSH SPEAKER. I don’t care if anybody sees my foreign background as a natural disadvantage when it comes to communicating with others in English because I know it very well that my spoken English is sufficient for the things I do on a daily basis. Well, I do have my ups and downs, but then which foreign English speaker doesn’t experience some fluency fluctuations? Anyway, I am prepared to step it up a notch and make a really daring statement. Not only I think my foreign background isn’t a disadvantage; I also believe that by being a foreign English speaker I have an edge over ANY native English school teacher when it comes to understanding issues experienced by those who learn and improve their English :!: And if you take into account I don’t hold any TEFL qualifications, I wouldn’t be surprised if you saw my claim on the border of outrageous. I mean – how can a chap who’s been struggling with spoken English up until a few years ago, say that he’s better than any professional native English teacher? Keep reading this article and I’ll provide hard proof to back my claim! (more…)
Stop Preparing Speech In Your Head Beforehand!
English Fluency Monitoring & Management
If you’re anything serious about improving your spoken English - and I bet you are otherwise you wouldn’t be reading my blog! – your English fluency is inevitably experiencing growth over time, it just can’t be otherwise. Regardless of all ups and downs you may encounter while having conversations with other English speakers, your English fluency trend is always going up – even if you don’t notice it! Of course, your fluency trend may be steeper than that of someone else’s, and it’s only natural because not all foreigners are getting the same amount of passive and active English immersion. And it’s actually totally understandable because everyone has their own fluency requirements depending on how much they use the English language in everyday life. For many of us, foreigners, practical life determines if we’re going to develop our English fluency at a fast pace or stay on a plateau for years. Anyway, today’s article is about your English fluency management and it’s especially relevant to those who experience sharp drops in fluency resulting in the infamous English fluency issue. Getting tongue-tied and stopping in a middle of a sentence, getting a feeling as if your head is stuffed full with thousands of English words and you know EXACTLY what you want to say but you’re unable to say anything, making stupid mistakes… These are the typical symptoms of the English fluency issue and what’s really baffling is the fact that we, foreigners, often experience such terrible moments right after having been absolutely fluent. We’re hitting the heights of our English fluency graphs, our confidence is very high, we’re achieving a near-native level of spoken English, and then suddenly we experience a downturn in our ability to express ourselves! It may even become so bad that on certain situations we find it hard to say anything at all, and it can be very, very distressing indeed… So how do you manage these peaks of your English fluency trend? How do you prevent the drops from being so sharp? To find answers to these questions, please read the rest of today’s blog post! (more…)
Want To Seriously Improve Your Spoken English? Find a Hobby For Yourself!
Confidence Lesson From Kristen Stewart For All Foreign English Speakers
A while back I published a blog post where I analyzed Benicio Del Toro’s interview. I did it in order to prove to any of you that even native English speakers will hesitate, use simple, short sentences and sometimes even say complete non-sense when asked a question they haven’t had time to think about properly! So is it such a big deal if we, foreign English speakers, can’t say something straight away when we get stuck in a middle of a sentence or can’t wrap words around our thoughts? Of course it’s not! There are only two things that make us different from native English speakers – we hate when others make assumptions about our level of English and many of us are perfectionists trying to finish a sentence once we started it and also trying to make it perfect in terms of grammar and word choice. If you learn to ignore those two factors, however, I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t give an interview just like Kristen Stewart from Twilight did - or even a better one! Now, watch the video below, listen carefully to the whole interview and then read the rest of this article. It just might make a big difference to your spoken English confidence, my friend! ;-) (more…)
Shortcut to Complete English Fluency – Learn How to Produce Instant English Speech
2 Dictionary Websites You’ll Ever Need To Improve Your English
Can You Speak Fluent English Without Learning Idioms?
Apparently you can’t get far in spoken English if you don’t know the traditional English idioms – so they say. For instance, the idiom “Till the cows come home” means “for a very long time” so you should be certain to use this idiom every now and then when you want to emphasize futility of the action you’re discussing – “You can try to please your boss’s every whim till cows come home, but you still won’t get that promotion.” Or this one – “The pot calling the kettle black”. This idiom is used to point out to a person accusing someone that he’s not all that innocent himself. Is it true though? Do you really have to go the extra mile (you see – I just used another idiom so they have to be useful, right?) learning such and similar English idioms to sound fluent and be able to communicate easily with other English speakers? Well, I can’t actually give you a definitive answer to this question without first discussing the nature of English idioms and how they’re used. So let me bring up an example so that you can start seeing the big picture (see – another idiom!). I remember an occasion when my daughters had their friend around and it started raining really heavily. As they say here in Ireland – it was lashing outside! I made a comment about the heavy rainfall and used the typical (so they say…) idiom – “It’s raining cats and dogs.” And you know what? None of the kids had the slightest idea of what I was talking about :!: Fair enough, my daughters moved to Ireland when they were four, so it’s understandable that they mightn’t have known the expression I used. Their friend, however, was a native English speaker so I kind of expected hear to know this popular (or so I was led to believe!) English idiom. Why, don’t all English speaking people exclaim “It’s raining cats and dogs!” when it’s raining outside? According to so many English learning related websites it’s true, and you’ll be given a list of such and similar archaic phrases as your typical idioms to learn in every second English grammar book! (more…)
How to Give Weight to Your Opinion? Use Smart English Phrases!
I’ve blogged extensively about the importance of being able to conduct English small-talk and get involved in simple, everyday chats with other English speakers as opposed to trying to sound smart using sophisticated expressions because there’s always a chance you’ll get tongue-tied. Also I’ve stressed how important it is not to lose your head when you can’t remember a certain word or a phrase in English but paraphrase instead. Let’s say for instance, you’re having a chat with your friend and you’re trying to explain that you weren’t aware of a particular fact, but then it slowly became obvious to you. The phrase you’re trying to remember is “it dawned on me” – which means that you started to realize the truth. But if you can’t remember the exact word ‘dawned’, there are still dozens of ways to convey the same message – “I suddenly realized”, “and then I got it”, “I started to understand” etc. While it’s important not to get too hung up on using the exact same phrase you can’t remember – or else you risk constantly getting stuck in the middle of conversations! – it’s also important not to ignore specific English phrases or so called idiomatic expressions that might just help you make your point more effectively and also would help you sound more like a native English speaker. Just imagine that you’re watching news and they’re showing the latest developments in the world which unfortunately way too often involve natural and man-made disasters, atrocious crimes and other bad news that normally make the headlines. You’re watching the news with a couple of your friends, and halfway through the news your own worries and problems that were so pressing a mere ten minutes ago, all of a sudden seem to have become ridiculously unimportant. Compared to what people are going through in North Africa and Middle East at the moment, your life is actually a walk in the park! Now, you can express your feelings to your other family members in a couple of sentences just like I did in the paragraph above, OR… you can use a single phrase – “Yes, it really puts things in perspective, doesn’t it?” That’s the beauty of such and similar English phrases – they allow you to express your feelings in a single phrase! Moreover – they can be used in many different situations so a handful of smart English phrases can indeed help you explain yourself like a native English speaker! But now I’m going to give you some more examples of smart English phrases so that you can clearly see the importance of learning them. (more…)
Is Google Any Good For Improving Your Spoken English?
Highlights of July 2011
The month of July has come to an end, so let’s look back at the most important blog posts – in case you didn't get a chance to read them all. I started the month with a blog post about changing your perspective on the way you conduct English conversations with people. If you often experience embarrassment when speaking in English with certain people in certain situations, in this article you’ll find valuable advice on how to lower your stress levels on such occasions. Of course, I can’t make miracles happen and make you into a super-confident foreign English speaker in five minutes while you’re reading the article. You have to work with yourself but what I can do through such and similar articles is – make you realize what EXACTLY you should be focusing on in order to deal with confidence and mindset issues when speaking English. Another blog post that comes highly recommended explains why I’m highlighting bits of my blog posts in red and it’s all about idiomatic expressions and collocations. This is very important stuff so if you’ve very little time, just read this blog post because it explains the essence of natural English fluency – using word combinations spoken by native English speakers! In another blog post about speaking English with hard foreign accent I’m touching the subject of foreign accent once more, only this time from another angle. Basically this article is about how you can deal with situations when you experience drops in English fluency by putting on much harder foreign accent than you normally would. Controversial? That’s just the way I am! (more…)