When I was still learning English in one of my ESL classes many years ago, I remember when we had to write a short essay. I can’t recall the topic, but I remember that I had already started to feel more comfortable with the language and my writing skills. So I felt quite confident when […]
Shitty draft – embrace fear and start writing
Have you ever written a shitty draft? You’d probably say: “Of course, I’ve written many shitty drafts” 😅. But I’m actually asking if you’ve done it on purpose. Last month I was taking a class at the university, and because summer classes are only six weeks long, the workflow is heavy, to put it mildly. […]
How to keep going when the task lasts forever
“Why should I keep going? I will never be able to learn English well. I will never feel fluent.” I’ve heard these words from many English learners who, with frustration in their voice, tell me that they’ve started learning English a long time ago, but still don’t feel confident in their abilities to speak the […]
What do you do when you get stuck in English?
Unproductiveness of productive procrastination
The other day I heard about productive procrastination and the term sparked my curiosity. It is the act of being busy while still procrastinating. Whaaat??? I hear you; I was confused too. This is the less obvious sister of the procrastination we all are painfully familiar with. But while we are aware that we procrastinate […]
You in a new culture: to blend in or to stand out?
Is it better to blend in or to stand out? As a little child growing up in communistic Bulgaria, I always wanted to blend in. Not that there were many opportunities to stand out anyway. Everyone was wearing almost the same clothes, watching the same TV programs (no wonder, we only had two TV channels […]
Mistakes in English: embrace fear, start speaking
“Stop worrying about mistakes and start speaking. Be confident.” I’ve seen this advice so many times. I’ve even given it myself. But the truth is that it rarely works. Most non-native speakers that I know are afraid of making mistakes when they speak English and just telling them not to be fearful is of no help. Fear […]