In this post I’ll discuss different phases that I’ve noticed English learners go through when they start speaking English. They are based on my personal experience and observation. So, if you are learning English, but feel stuck and shy away from speaking with native speakers, this read is for you. Understanding where you are in […]
Where are you from? How to react to this question
I often hear that if your pronunciation in English is clear, your foreign accent doesn’t matter. Then why do I meet so many people whose English is intelligible and fluent, but they still cringe when someone asks where their accent is from? In this post, I’m gonna talk about having a foreign accent in the […]
The four stages of learning
Today I’m going to talk about the hierarchy of competence, which is often visualized as a pyramid with four stages of learning. The goal of the learner is to complete each stage and move to the next without skipping anything in the previous stage. And the ultimate goal, of course, is to climb up to […]
How soon should you start speaking in English?
The best way to learn English
Are you fluent in English?
Do you need feedback when you learn English?
Let’s talk about the power of feedback when we learn English. Do you actually need feedback? And why are some people so annoyed when they get corrected? Through my experience as an English learner and now a teacher, I’ve come to realize that there are two groups of learners – those who don’t want immediate […]
Can you lose your foreign accent in English?
Can you really sound like a native English speaker if you started speaking English as an adult? There are some courses out there that promise you that in no time, you will be speaking with no foreign accent. But is that really possible? In this post, I’ll be talking about the challenges of gaining a […]
Fear of speaking English and how to deal with it
How to learn English as an adult
When it comes to learning English or any other language as an adult, I hear many people complain that it’s very hard because they are, as they say, “too old.” While it’s true that kids under the age of 11 are like sponges and acquire another language effortlessly, adults can indeed reach a near-native level […]