Let’s talk about what happens in the brain when we are afraid to speak English and what to do about it. Many of my students tell me that they understand a lot when they read, write, or listen in English, but when they have to speak, they often get stuck. This makes them feel anxious, […]
Enjoy the experience, don’t dwell on the goal
Do you feel your English is still not good enough?
How to speak up – even in “imperfect” English
My last flight from Europe back to the US went so smoothly that I was almost suspicious. “Could anything still go wrong?” I asked myself when the plane landed at the San Francisco airport. My husband and I spent the last five weeks in Europe, splitting our time between our two respective native countries Poland […]
How to be an effective communicator
How to start thinking in English
Fear of speaking English and what to do about it
Almost native: the power of an adverb
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 […]