#184 Things not to say in English

Listen to a new episode of Speak English Now Podcast, your favorite material for practicing your spoken and heard English. You will also learn about lifestyle and culture, language, vocabulary, and how to improve your English more effectively.

 

Transcript:

Hi, everybody! I am Georgiana, your English teacher and founder of SpeakEnglishPodcast.com. My mission is to help you speak English fluently.

Today, in this episode.

Let’s look at some bad strategies and attitudes that don’t quite work in conversation. I mean, like having awkward conversations.

Next, you’ll practice your fluency with a mini-story lesson—the best way to learn to speak English without translating mentally.

Okay, let’s start with an important question:

Do you think that you are too old to learn English?

I have always thought that it is never too late to learn a language, and I have always had students of all ages using my method successfully.

But a few days ago, I received an email from a student in Greece saying something like this:

Dear Georgiana, hello,

I’m delighted to see your programs.

I think you give your soul to every lesson.

My mother tongue is Greek, and I am proud because our language has a positive contribution to the English vocabulary.

I’m also proud that I try to improve my English even though I’m 94 years old.

Georgiana, I encourage you to continue with your English lessons.

I admire you!

Erotokritos

Thank you, dear Erotokritos, for your kind words. You are an inspiration to all of us.

So, you see, I think I’ve made my point. It’s never too late to learn English.

All right, have you ever been with someone and not know what to talk about? It’s happened to me sometimes. Every once in a while, we run into situations where it’s difficult to continue the conversation.

One example is what happens in an elevator. Imagine that you meet a neighbor you hardly know, and a typical dialogue ends up going like this:

—Good morning.

—Good morning.

—Going down?

—Yes.

— …

— It’s cold today, isn’t it?

— Yes, yes. It’s going to be like this all week, they say…

— …

As you can see, this conversation is not very intellectual. It’s more about avoiding silence, which can be uncomfortable.

This doesn’t just happen in elevators but in all kinds of social interactions. I read recently that a silence of four seconds or more triggers anxiety.

It doesn’t get any better when you have to speak the language you are learning. You have even fewer resources to express yourself.

(END OF THE EXTRACT).

Get the FULL TEXT in PDF here.

Resources:

  • Audio MP3 (right-click to save the audio)
  • FULL-TEXT PDF (right-click to save the TEXT)

Recommended Material:

 

Can you understand a conversation in English but still can’t speak? With the Fluency course, you will speak English automatically.

THE FLUENCY COURSE

fluency course

0 Comments

“With Georgiana’s method  I have started speaking English from minute one and this is exactly what I needed. With the traditional method you will practice grammar, grammar and grammar, but with Georgiana’s method you will practice listening and speaking and in my opinion this is the most important thing when you are learning a new language. Ricardo

“Thanks to Georgiana, I have lost my fear of speaking English. I have eliminated my frustration and started to enjoy this language.” Miriam

“I did not study English when I was a child. I contacted Georgiana at a time when I felt blocked. She has helped me to lose my fear of speaking English.” Ana