vocabulary Archives - Page 3 of 3 - Every Speaker Counts

LanguageJune 26, 2022June 26, 2022

Common mistakes Slavic speakers make in English

All languages have unique words and phrases that, if translated literally into English, can cause confusion and even sound comical. For example, the literal translation of “thank you upfront” from Polish to English – “thank you from the mountain” – is a common joke among Polish speakers. Although this is just a joke and […]

LanguageJune 12, 2022December 18, 2023

How to start thinking in English

When I first went to Poland many years ago, I didn’t speak any Polish. But somehow I wasn’t worried. I knew that I could learn it if I wanted to. Although now I attribute this self-confidence of mine to youth and lack of experience (I was 22 at the time), I still believe that what […]

LanguageMay 22, 2022February 5, 2023

“You nailed it” and other idioms

A while ago I heard a nonnative speaker complaining that he had totally misunderstood his boss because of a phrase the latter had used. The situation was the following: the nonnative speaker presented something at work and after the presentation he asked his boss for feedback. “You killed it,” his boss said. The presenter was […]

LanguageApril 10, 2022December 18, 2023

The power of simple words

I still remember my first English writing class that I took in college. Back then I was thinking, “This is not an ESL school anymore; this is real college.” This thought excited me and intimidated me at the same time. In Minnesota, the first state I lived in after arriving in the US, there were […]

LanguageFebruary 27, 2022December 18, 2023

How to memorize words

When I first arrived in the US, I didn’t have work permission documents. We moved to the States because of my husband’s job, but in the beginning the visa that I had didn’t allow me to work. I wasn’t in a hurry to look for a job though because I didn’t speak English and wanted […]

Motivation, My storyJanuary 23, 2022August 3, 2022

What do you do when you get stuck in English?

How often do you get stuck in English and, more importantly, what do you do when that happens? Back in the days when I had just started working at the front desk of a large hotel, a guest approached me and asked me: “Daniela, what do you have in the workout room?” Of course, he […]

MotivationJanuary 9, 2022August 3, 2022

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 […]

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