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Who are you most likely to speak to in English?
Some of you might rarely or never meet a native speaker of English. You may be far more likely to meet other non-native speakers from different countries. And English is probably the language you’ll use to communicate. So what happens when two non-native speakers are talking in English and one person doesn’t understand the other? One of the most common comments I see and hear from English learners is “I want to speak like a native speaker.” Let’s have a think about whether this is possible or even necessary.
When you think about your learning goals, which of these two things is more important for you:
1. I want to learn more vocabulary and more grammar so I can make more complex sentences. 2. I want to be able to express my ideas more clearly. Keep reading to find out which is best. Many English learners worry about making mistakes when they speak. But what if mistakes are actually a good thing? Here’s a story from my choir that shows why getting things wrong can help you learn better.
(And there's some useful vocabulary at the end of the post.) It's 2025. But how do you say it?
Two thousand twenty-five? Two thousand and twenty-five? Twenty twenty-five? Keep reading to find the answer and learn how to say years and dates in English. People often ask me questions like this:
There isn’t just one answer because everyone is different but here are a few possibilities. You can decide which ones are true for you. How do you feel about speaking English?
Maybe you want to speak up in meetings at work. Perhaps you have to give a presentation or go to a job interview. Or possibly you’re preparing for a speaking exam. But speaking in English makes you so nervous! What can you do? Today I want to tell you how can you sound more confident in English, even if it’s not your first language. Try these strategies, you might not only sound more confident but also start to feel more confident too! Has this ever happened to you? You’re having a conversation in English and suddenly you realise that you don’t know a word that you need. Or perhaps you do know it really but you just can’t remember it at that moment. You freeze and don’t know what to do or say next. Then either there’s a long, awkward silence or you just change the subject because you can’t finish saying what you want to say.
So how can you fix this problem? Today, I’d like to talk to you about dialects. In your country, do people speak your language in slightly different ways depending on where they’re from? Probably yes. And if you speak a language which is spoken in many countries, like Spanish or Arabic, there are probably even more differences, right?
English learners often comment on my Facebook page that they need a native speaker to talk to. Or they say they can’t improve their English because they don’t know any native speakers. I was curious to know why they think this so I asked! I was surprised by the answers!
Sometimes people ask me, “How can I improve my English when I have nobody to correct my mistakes?” Maybe they think it’s impossible to improve English unless somebody is correcting their mistakes all the time. If that's how you feel, then this post is for you!
People often say "I want to speak like you" or “How can I speak English like a native speaker?” I’ve been thinking about how to answer that question and these are my thoughts on this topic.
Whenever I give advice on how to improve speaking skills, the most common response I get is “But I have nobody to talk to.” So what can you do if you're in this situation? In this post, I’m going to give you some possible solutions.
People ask me all the time how they can improve their English speaking skills. I’ve also noticed that some people think they are working on their speaking but actually, they are not doing the right things. That’s what today’s newsletter is all about.
In the classroom and on social media, I’ve been called Katie, Teacher, Teacher Katie, Miss Katie, Mrs Katie, Miss, Mrs, Madam, Ma’am, Sir, Mam, Mom, Mommy, Sister, Aunty, dear, honey, darling and many more!
I’m happy for my students and followers to call me “Katie”. I also accept most other names because I understand that there are cultural differences and I know that people want to be respectful. Some of the names in the above list are better than others and a few are unacceptable in the UK. I wonder if you can guess which ones! Keep reading to find out! |
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