One day I decided to check the statistics of my website and see which blog posts you’ve been reading the most.

I selected the top 10 articles and I guess it provides a fair representation of what my average blog visitor is interested in, so you may want to check out the top 10 of English Harmony blog posts of all times!

If you visit this blog frequently, you’ve probably read a good few of them, but I’m sure you’ll find at least a couple of links you haven’t encountered before and they might just provide you with some English fluency related info you’ve been looking for to no avail.

So, let the countdown begin!

10. Written English is from Venus, Spoken English – from Mars!

What 99% of us, foreigners, fail to recognize is the difference between the written and the spoken aspects of the English language, and the fact that it’s absolutely possible to be fluent when writing yet struggle when speaking in English.

In fact, that’s a problem encountered by countless foreign English speakers worldwide!

My guess is that this article serves the purpose of an eye-opener for those struggling with English fluency, so I warmly suggest you to read it.

9. Retelling Stories – a Perfect Way of Improving Your Spoken English!

In this article I’m focusing on the importance of constant recycling of English content you hear on a daily basis, and it’s not limited to stories only.

Any written or audio material conveyed in the English language will be so much more beneficial to your spoken English improvement if re-told and summed up in a short monologue or during a conversation with someone else!

8. Idiomatic Expressions: Why I’m Highlighting Some Bits of Text in Red in My Blog Posts

The eighth most popular article on my blog happens to be the one where I’m explaining why I’m highlighting idiomatic expressions in my blog posts.

So why do I do it?

So that you can see how widespread is the use of such word combinations, and also so that you can use them in your own daily English conversations!

7. No-one to Talk to? Practice English With Yourself!

The idea of spoken English self-practice seems to be grabbing more and more foreign English speakers – especially those having little or no opportunities speaking with other English speakers in real life.

If you’re new to this and you’re thinking – “Talking to myself? Why should I ever do it?” – I can give you two instant benefits: developing your ability to think in English and also widening your active vocabulary!

6. Forget About WILL Future Tense – Use Present Progressive Instead!

My approach to English Grammar is the following – learn to speak properly and grammar will sort itself out!

Ever since I realized that textbook based English studies won’t necessarily develop my English fluency, I’ve been discovering more and more aspects of the traditional English Grammar curriculum that doesn’t really help in real life.

In this article, for instance, you’ll find out that the WILL + Infinitive English Future Tense isn’t actually used as often as we, foreigners, may believe, and therefore shouldn’t be considered the basic Future Tense.

5. Speaking in Short Sentences? It’s Normal!

Are you getting stuck when speaking English?

Are you trying to sound smart by speaking in long, well-constructed sentences?

It may very well be your biggest pitfall because by doing so you’re actually trying to speak as if you’re writing, but it’s a very hard thing to do. You’re trying to analyse your own speech, make sure all words follow each other in a natural flow and all Grammar Tenses are correct, but who’s going to wait on you to finish off that long, complicated sentence during a real life conversation?

You’re definitely much better off speaking in short, simple sentences thus alleviating the extra pressure you’re putting onto yourself when speaking!

4. How To Make Your English Sound Right? Use Collocations!

“Collocation” is a specific term used to describe all sorts of naturally occurring English speech patterns – idioms, idiomatic expressions, phrases and any other word combinations.

One of the basic premises of the English Harmony approach is that the English language’s basic units are collocations, not separate words, and it’s essential to accept it if one is serious about their fluency improvement.

3. Topics For Practising Spoken English

Judging by the high placement of this article I will hazard a guess that quite a few foreign English speakers are keen on finding out topics for self-practicing.

Strange as it may seem, spoken English self-practice is a crucial tool in any foreign English speaker’s toolbox, but what some of you may need help with is a little bit of inspiration as to what exactly you can talk about without getting bored.

Read this article, and it will definitely steer you into the right direction!

2. How To Speak Fluent English with Limited Vocabulary!

Runner-up to the most popular blog post, this article definitely reflects one of the most cherished dreams of any non-native English speaker – “How to speak fluent English without hammering tens of thousands of English words into my brain?”

While you definitely need a good foundation of English vocabulary to be able to communicate effectively, I strongly believe that fluency may arrive to you much sooner than you may think!

Read this blog post, and you’ll realize what the key aspects are allowing you to speak fluently. Enormous English vocabulary consisting of tens of thousands of sophisticated words definitely isn’t one of them, I can assure you of that!

1. English Small Talk Phrases

This is by far the most popular article on my blog!

In this article I’m giving popular phrases to start a conversation, respond to simple requests and also finish off a small-talk, and it appears to be of massive value to most of my blog visitors!

I invite you to read the small-talk guide as well, and learn at least a few of those simple phrases by heart. You never know when they might come in handy – after all small-talk is something that allows us to communicate with ease even with complete strangers…

I hope you loved reading the countdown of the most popular English Harmony blog posts.

If you’ve any questions or suggestions on what new articles you’d like to read – write them in the comments below

Robby

P.S. Are you serious about your spoken English improvement? Check out my English Harmony System HERE!

Whether it’s portraying Russians in Hollywood blockbusters or judging foreigners by one short conversation and assuming that their overall English fluency must be flawed because they’ve made a couple of awkward mistakes – there are a lot of misconceptions out there about us, foreign English speakers

In this article I’m going to look at the most popular ones and while I’m fully aware of the fact that I won’t be able to dispel those stereotypes, it doesn’t mean I can’t talk about them, does it?

Foreigners portrayed in films speak like native English speakers except for their accent

I’ve met thousands of foreign English speakers throughout my life, and I can tell you this much – a foreign English speaker who gets English grammar 100% correct while speaking is a rare creature to find! And I’m not speaking of a person with foreign origin who’s moved to an English speaking country during childhood or teenage years and has achieved a native-like fluency by the time he’s an adult.

I’m speaking about typical foreigners who speak English with a smaller or a bigger foreign accent just like the ones typically portrayed in films and TV shows. As you can imagine, the reason behind it is because on 99% of occasions actors portraying foreigners in movies are native English speaking actors with accent talents

Basically they’re pretending to be foreigners by putting on a foreign accent but otherwise leaving their speech unchanged. Grammar, word choice and everything else is just like that of a native English speaker, but it’s far from my observations in real life!

You may correct me if I’m wrong, but a typical foreigner speaking English as a second language makes mistakes in terms of grammar and word choice, and isn’t capable of sounding like a native English speaker ALL THE TIME!

Assumption that our comprehension is the same as our spoken language

Have others ever made wrong assumptions about your overall English level based on a few bad mistakes you made while speaking when being stressed out?

What happens typically is the following – the other person starts speaking with you in a very slow manner by pronouncing words clearly and slowly as if your English comprehension is less than average. What can be only worse is a pat on the head and a sympathetic smile that says without words - “It’s not your fault you can’t understand me…”

Please allow me to hammer this home to anyone who might be falling for the same misconception:

“We foreign English speakers understand BY FAR more than we can say. Just because we’ve made some ridiculous mistakes while speaking or were unable to express ourselves clearly, doesn’t mean we don’t understand what we’re being told!”

By the way, I wouldn’t be surprised if the media-perpetuated image of a typical foreigner who speaks exactly as a native English speaker except for the accent would have seeped so deep into the popular culture that any REAL foreigner who speaks in a bit hesitant manner and uses incorrect grammar is instantly branded as not being fluent and therefore won’t fully comprehend what he’s told!

If a foreigner doesn’t understand what he’s told, his English is bad…

I’m not really blaming anyone who jumps to conclusions regarding my fluency in case I have difficulties understanding them – after all, it is human nature to see the world through a prism of their own life experiences.

I’m merely pointing out that such a misconception is widely spread and when you encounter such attitude, don’t take it personally.

Imagine yourself speaking with some foreigner who’s learnt YOUR native language. Imagine you’re saying something to him and then you notice a look of incomprehension on his face. What would be your first subliminal reaction?

I’m pretty sure that the average person will nearly always be slightly annoyed of not being understood and will assume that the conversation partner doesn’t have a full grasp of the language used during that conversation!

Although all human beings are endowed with the ability of empathy, we rarely make a proper, objective assessment of a situation by taking into account all possible factors and putting ourselves into the other person’s shoes.

Same goes when a native English speaker encounters a foreigner who doesn’t fully understand what he’s saying.

The foreigner might be used to communicating with English speaking people hailing from different geographic regions.

Maybe the native English speaker is speaking English much faster than the average person.

His speech might be very blurred and hard to understand.

Maybe he’s using specific language the foreigner simply doesn’t understand and he needs to be told the same thing using other words!

There can be dozens of reasons why a foreigner mightn’t understand what he’s told, but as I said – the natural reaction by many English speakers (both native and foreign) is to assume that he’s struggling with the English language in general.

The more a foreigner sounds like a native English speaker in terms of pronunciation,
the more fluent he is

While I can definitely understand where this notion comes from, it’s not necessarily true on all occasions and many fluent English speakers get unfair treatment because they speak with a strong foreign accent.

Some foreigners simply can’t reduce their accent, and no matter how hard they try, their unique way of pronouncing English words will always stick with them.

Some of us find it easy to sound like Americans, for instance, and fair play to them.

I, for example, am capable of reducing my East-European accent greatly if I really set my mind to it. Surprisingly enough, I find it quite difficult to focus both on my speech AND pronunciation at the same time, so when I speak with other English speakers in everyday situations, I automatically adopt my normal pronunciation which would be generally branded as heavily accented.

Should I bend over backwards trying to sound like a native English speaker at the expense of my fluency? No way! I leave the perfect, native like pronunciation to those who are really good at it, but I personally choose fluency over pronunciation any day

And please don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that the two – fluency and good pronunciation – can’t go together. Of course they can, and I truly admire my fellow foreigners who can speak with a native-like pronunciation (like the Polish beauty salon owner I met the other day).

All I wanted to point out here is that this myth rests on an obvious fallacy. You just can’t reverse a statement “All foreigners speaking with native-like pronunciation are fluent” and get an equally true statement “All fluent foreigners speak with a native-like pronunciation”. The latter excludes those who are fluent and have retained their native accent!

Still didn’t persuade you? Then read this article and maybe you’ll change your mind!

Robby

P.S. Would you like to find out why I’m highlighting some of the text in red? Read this article and you’ll learn why it’s so important to learn idiomatic expressions and how it will help you to improve your spoken English!

P.S.S. Are you serious about your spoken English improvement? Check out my English Harmony System HERE!

I’m a strong proponent of spoken English self-practice – I’ve been doing it for years and I attribute much of my English fluency development to those countless hours of speaking English with myself.

I’ve touched upon this subject on this blog a few times before, but today I’m going to provide you with clear and obvious benefits of such spoken English self-practice.

If you think that only lunatics speak with themselves and that speaking with real people in real life is the only way forward for foreign English speakers to improve fluency, please read this article and you may actually change your mind

Yes, I’ve said it before that you DON’T HAVE TO SPEAK OUT LOUD – you can speak in a very light whisper.

I’ve also mentioned it before that you can just speak in your mind barely moving your lips which would be an equivalent of simply verbalizing your thoughts.

But if those reasons aren’t enough to persuade you to practice English with yourself and you think that the very CONCEPT OF SELF-PRACTICE IS FLAWED, keep reading and I promise I’ll reveal some aspects of the whole speak-English-with-yourself thing you haven’t ever considered!

There’s More Common Between Self-Practice and
Real Conversations Than You Think!

You probably haven’t given this too much consideration, so you may think that a real conversation is a whole new ballgame when compared to having a chat with yourself. Well, then think about this:

When you SPEAK –
whether it’s asking or answering a question –
it’s ONLY YOU who speaks, not the other person!

I mean – you may as well imagine you’re on your own at that particular point in time when opening your mouth and producing the verbal message!

Yes, the stress levels are higher and there are more aspects at play when communicating with other human being, and I’m going to look at them later in this very same article, but if you break it down to the very technical basics, it’s like I just said.

Try to replace your conversation partner with an imaginary character who asks you questions (by the way – it’s exactly what happens in the English Harmony System’s lessons!). Now, do your answers change in purely technical terms – the way you construct sentences and produce them using your mouth? Putting emotions aside, I think you should admit that in technical terms your speech is the same regardless of who you’re speaking with – a friend, a work colleague or yourself!

When you PREPARE A SPEECH –
it’s clearly going to be delivered the same way
to your audience as to your bathroom mirror!

Imagine yourself preparing for an important speech. You create a list of important points to focus upon during the speech, and you practice that speech in a front of a mirror.

Now, how is the speech you’re delivering to yourself any different from the actual speech you’re going to deliver in front of your class or pitch to your client, or give a presentation? I already concluded that stress and other aspects are being factored in when you speak with real human beings, but aside from that – HOW IS THAT SPEECH DIFFERENT?

It ain’t.

Common folks, please understand that when you speak with yourself preparing for a public presentation or an interview, you speak using the same English words and sentences as you’d use when actually delivering that speech

It means your self-practice isn’t a “bastard version” of real-life English communication, and you’re perfectly fine to develop your fluency by utilizing moments when you’ve free time and you’ve no-one else to talk to.

In most daily situations you ALREADY KNOW
what questions you might be asked!

One argument that may be used against spoken English self-practice is the following :

 “Surely real conversations are spontaneous and require a developed skill of responding to unexpected questions and speaking fast as opposed to slow and well thought-through narration of one’s thoughts?”

I won’t deny – there’s some truth in the above statement.

But I also STRONGLY BELIEVE that you can’t dismiss self-practice as a complete waste of time because it allows you to develop your fluency in zero stress conditions and after all – many daily conversations aren’t that unexpected and don’t require a great deal of improvisation anyway

I can honestly tell you that most conversations taking place in my work are based around the same topics – especially the ones regarding the work process etc.

If you start in a new place and take notice of what’s being talked about around you during the first week, you can certainly prepare for those sorts of conversations at home by practicing them with yourself!

But I don’t want you to think of me as a biased person, so let’s look at those aspects of spoken English self-practice that aren’t the same when it comes to speaking with real people in real life.

What’s Different When You Speak in English
With Others and With Yourself

Stress levels are MUCH higher in real conversations!

Yes, this dreadful, terrible stress! It can get the better of the most prepared foreign English speaker and make you forget everything you’ve spoken about with yourself!

That’s what real life communication is all about – managing your stress levels, keeping your speech simple, slow and not trying to force yourself to sound smart because it may have a detrimental effect on your fluency.

HOWEVER, it doesn’t mean you have to abandon your self-practice. What this means to you is that you simply have to embrace every opportunity to speak with others to get used to real-life English conversations. Don’t be thinking – “What’s the point in speaking with myself if I can’t deliver the same kind of quality speech when speaking with others?” The answer is – “It preps you up for real conversations, strengthens your active vocabulary and trains your pronunciation!”

Managing your stress is important, nonetheless, so make sure you read these articles:

It’s OK to feel like an idiot.

Reverse psychology and fluency improvement.

Illusion of Elsewhere.

You can’t always take time during a conversation in real life

Yes, that’s right. When practicing English with yourself, you can delve on the matter for 5 – 10 seconds before speaking about it, while it’s not always the case when facing another person waiting on your answer.

But then again, I’ve often noticed that it’s actually the speaker himself trying to deliver an immediate response – not so much the conversation partner demanding it!

On most occasions you can fill in those awkward gaps in your speech using hesitation fillers and other useful English phrases, and you can rest assured that most native English speakers speak using them all the time!

When it’s a life and death situation, however – yes, you need to respond immediately, and it’s very different to what you’d be facing when narrating your thoughts and actions to get your fluency going.

But hey – who said you can’t prepare for different kinds of emergencies by using relevant phrases and sentences?

Questions in real life can be unexpected and that’s
very different from spoken English self-practice

I agree 100% – when someone asks you something you really didn’t expect, it can throw you off and make you gasp in surprise without being able to come up with a reasonable answer.

When you speak with yourself, the very nature of self-practice excludes the factor of something unexpected to crop up, so yes, that’s different.

But it doesn’t mean you can’t deal with those situations!

A very powerful method is to take time and THINK about the question and the matter at hand instead of TRYING TO FORCE YOURSELF to say something. It’s better to admit you don’t know enough about the subject than trying to say anything that might pass for a decent reply and end up having said something that doesn’t make much sense.

Advantages of Speaking in English With Yourself

Zero stress levels!

Obviously when you’re not facing another person during a conversation, you don’t have to worry about the way you sound, about mistakes you might make, and so on and so forth.

It enables you to utilize your full potential as a foreign English speaker which is great for developing your fluency and your ability to use various means of expression in your speech.

Basically here’s how it works:

• You make conscious effort to use certain phrases and new words when speaking with yourself
• They’re being added on to your active vocabulary
• You’re getting used to using them in real life conversations!

Please realize this – if you ONLY EVER speak in English with others, your fluency development might be lagging behind your written fluency and your comprehension skills!

Of course, if you’re getting LOADS of spoken English practice with other English speakers in a natural environment, it might not be the case. If you don’t get many opportunities to communicate with others, however, spoken English self-practice is great to develop your verbal communication skills.

You can do it at any time!

You can speak in English with yourself pretty much any time.

You take a shower in the morning, you walk down to the bus stop, you commute to work, you perform monotonous tasks at work, you go to bathroom… All these and a million other occasions when you aren’t in direct contact with other people are perfect for getting into the habit of verbalizing your thoughts in English!

As I said before – you don’t even have to speak out loud; just a light whisper will do the trick and the barely noticeable lip movements will insure a perfect conversation simulation!

Disadvantages of Speaking in English With Yourself

Well… There’s NONE!

Seriously, I can’t think of anything that would pass for a serious argument against such spoken English self-practice.

But hold on, I am actually aware of a few misconceptions, so let’s debunk them right away:

There’s no-one to correct you, so you adopt bad mistakes which are hard to get rid of!

First of all – do others constantly correct you when you speak with them in real life? Except for a few occasions when you’ve made a request to your native English speaking friend, for instance, people won’t bother themselves by looking out for your mistakes and pointing them out to you.

Actually quite the opposite is often true – most native English speakers won’t even notice most of those small grammar or vocabulary mistakes you’re making!

I believe that ultimately it’s all up to you and it’s you who has to make the conscious effort to mimic correct and natural English speech regardless of where and who you speak with – another person or your bathroom mirror.

Speaking of mistakes which can’t be corrected at a later stage of your life – well, if you want to be perfect all the time – good luck! Stay super-conscious of your spoken English performance and don’t open your mouth till you’re 100% sure you’re going to produce an impeccable English sentence.

Personally I’ll go for fluency over perfection any day, and I warmly suggest you do the same.

Speaking English with yourself is hard…

Everything is hard if you’re not used to it, believe me.

You may have a feeling that you’re devoid of any ideas of what you could be talking about with yourself.

You may have a psychological barrier because you’ve always believed speaking with oneself is a sure sign of a mental disorder.

After all, you may find it strange and awkward because you’ve never done it before!

One way or another, you have to start perceiving spoken English self-practice as a normal way of practicing your English, developing your fluency and also getting into the habit of thinking in English which is crucial for you as a foreign English speaker.

Robby

P.S. Would you like to find out why I’m highlighting some of the text in red? Read this article and you’ll learn why it’s so important to learn idiomatic expressions and how it will help you to improve your spoken English!

P.S.S. Are you serious about your spoken English improvement? Check out my English Harmony System HERE!

OK, it’s about time I came clean about my activities involving skin rejuvenation procedures and wrinkle treatment. Yes, I’m getting older, there’s a lot of grey hair emerging on my head, so I want to do everything within my power to fight the effects of time and look young forever…

Just kidding!

It’s not really me who used services of the beauty salon – it was my daughter and I just brought her there. I used it as an attention grabber and I just wanted to entice you to start reading this article, which is probably just as bad as lying, sorry for that!

Keep reading this article though, because I’m about to tell you why my visit to the Polish beauty salon was more than just sitting in the hall and waiting on my daughter to finish her facial procedure.

I got talking to the salon owner – a Polish woman – and what struck me was the fact that her English pronunciation was nearly perfect.

Seriously, I couldn’t remember meeting any other foreigner here in Ireland having such a near-native level of English accent. Or should I say – lack of thereof – because at times she sounded exactly like the local English speakers! (for your reference – English spoken in Ireland is a bit different in terms of pronunciation and grammar than its American, British and Australian counterparts.)

Me and my wife were chatting with her for a while, and I started noticing another thing – her English would probably upset some radical English language perfectionists because she was making a few grammar mistakes, especially when it came to using the Past Perfect Tense and grammar constructs like Conditional 2 Simple.

Not that I would ever judge her; if there’s someone who’s adamant that foreign English speakers focus on what they CAN say instead of what they can’t – it’s me!

I was simply amazed at how confident she was and how fluently she spoke despite allowing a slight imperfection to creep into her speech every now and then. And you know what? It didn’t hinder the communication between me, my wife and the salon owner a bit; we could speak with her with the same ease as we’d speak with native English speakers.

You Don’t Need to Be Perfect to Be
an Effective English Communicator!

What so many foreigners and native English speakers alike seem to be getting wrong is the blanket approach (everything or everyone being regarded the same) towards imposing the English language standards. Whether you’re a medical staff member in a hospital or a warehouse operator, your spoken English knowledge is judged by how skillfully you’re able to get the Tenses right and how good your English pronunciation is.

But here’s the problem the way I see it – the assistant doctor and the warehouse operative clearly don’t have identical professional requirements in terms of grammar and pronunciation. If the warehouse operative speaks with a lot of mistakes yet his speech is fluent and totally understandable, why would he be treated equally with a doctor of foreign origin who confuses his native English speaking patients when discussing a complicated medical issue and possible treatment scenarios?

I think everyone deserves to be treated based on their unique situation, and I believe the warehouse operative’s career shouldn’t be limited by a glass ceiling (gender, age and racial bias in terms of employment) just because the manager would rather have a native English speaker in a team-leader’s position, for instance. If a person can express their opinion and feel comfortable in all daily situations, he or she is to be considered a fluent English speaker and an effective communicator.

And please don’t get me wrong – I didn’t say the foreign doctor wasn’t an effective communicator!

My point was that if his English isn’t fit for the purpose, there’s nothing wrong with assessing his language skills and determining certain areas where there’s further improvement needed. Meeting professional standards is a completely different story altogether and is not to be mistaken for discrimination on nationality grounds.

The point I’m trying to make here is – if your English skills are sufficient for your work and social needs, you shouldn’t be judged on the basis that your English doesn’t meet higher standards applicable to professionals and native English speakers

Confident Demeanor Goes a Long Way!

I suppose it’s relatively easy to maintain the air of confidence about you if you’ve never experienced any English fluency related issues. If you’ve never been academically minded and you haven’t tried to transfer the kind of security that comes from writing a perfect piece of writing into your English conversations, you probably have never given a conscious thought to what might be wrong with your spoken English.

When you just speak WITHOUT much thinking about HOW you speak, you can exert that type of confidence seen in people who are truly comfortable about what they’re doing regardless of their level of professionalism.

And that’s exactly what I could see in that Polish beauty salon owner.

She was 100% comfortable discussing subjects related to her profession. We asked her specific questions about facial skincare and treatment and she used industry related terms with an ease of a native English speaker.

When we got talking about unrelated topics she was still 100% comfortable with her English. Yes, she hesitated a bit on some occasions when looking for the right word to say. Yes, she made a few mistakes along the way.

IT DIDN’T WORRY HER A BIT though, and that’s the most important trait of character that a foreign English speaker may wish for

• If you’re confident enough, many of your mistakes will pass unnoticed because you won’t freak out when making them.
• If you’re confident enough, you won’t start analyzing your own speech and you won’t get tongue-tied because you know exactly what you want to say.
• If you’re really confident about yourself and your English, you’ll speak comfortably even with your native accent and it won’t bother you.

Yes, the Polish girl’s pronunciation was flawless – and I can see why it may make a person sound more fluent (although I’m not too concerned about it personally) – but that’s not the main reason she came across as a very fluent English speaker.

If you asked for my opinion, I’d definitely say that it’s the confidence and carelessness she spoke with that made our English communication with her pleasant and easy!

Robby

P.S. Would you like to find out why I’m highlighting some of the text in red? Read this article and you’ll learn why it’s so important to learn idiomatic expressions and how it will help you to improve your spoken English!

P.S.S. Are you serious about your spoken English improvement? Check out my English Harmony System HERE!

This month has been prolific in terms of publishing and attracting more and more visitors and commentators to my website, and every day I have to spend more and more time engaging with my blog readers. And I have to tell you it’s very rewarding to see that your opinion matters to so many foreigners and native English speakers alike!

The first article I want you to look at is called “How to Develop the Gut Feeling for Correct and Natural English”. You may have had the feeling when you just know that something sounds right when said in English, and you don’t even have to explain why, you just know it. I call it the “gut feeling”, and if you want to find out more about it and how to develop it, make sure you read this article!

Next up is an article dedicated to learning American slang phrases by watching TV and in this particular article I’m focusing on the Desperate Housewives series, but it can be any TV show for that matter. Whatever floats your boat, as they say!

If you’re struggling a bit with your English Grammar when speaking, you should definitely read this article called “The ONLY 3 English Grammar Rules You Need to Know to Speak Fluent English”. My approach to English Grammar is the following – once you know the basics, you don’t have to constantly analyze your speech with surgical precision and apply grammar rules as you go along. All you need to know is a few rules to get your speech right in simple daily conversations, so definitely make sure you read this article!

By the way, speaking of English Grammar, did you download the free eBook called “Practical English Grammar” that I published a short while ago? If you didn’t, please submit your request on this blog post and get your copy. You’ll find really useful stuff in the eBook, and many of those practical grammar aspects haven’t been actually looked at by anyone else, as far as I’m aware!

Let’s move on to the next blog post, and it’s an interview with an American Slang and Pronunciation teacher Anthony Krese! If you’re interested in some quick and dirty tips on how to sound like an American, this article is a must-read for you!

That’s all for this month in terms of blog posts, but I did publish a number of videos on YouTube and let’s run through them quickly.

Here’s one more Funny English Phrases video about money related matters. I’m portraying two different characters in this video so if you want to see how good I am at acting, check it out!

Here’s a video about how I started speaking fluent English pretending to be a gangster. This is quite funny too, and you’ll find it especially interesting if you’re a fan of mafia films.

And here’s the last video of those I put up on my blog this month – it’s my rant about a particular blog post I read on another person’s blog where she’s bashing foreign English speaking bloggers. It sparked some really interesting commentary, and you may wanna check it out!

So, that’s all for this month’s highlights, I hope you’ll enjoy reading my blog posts and watching my videos, and if you’ve anything to say or ask, just use the comment section below!

Robby

P.S. Would you like to find out why I’m highlighting some of the text in red? Read this article and you’ll learn why it’s so important to learn idiomatic expressions and how it will help you to improve your spoken English!

P.S.S. Are you serious about your spoken English improvement? Check out my English Harmony System HERE!

Can you improve your English JUST by watching TV programs?

Yes, sure. You can learn a great deal of new English words and expressions thanks to visual associations created when you see a scene on the screen and hear a certain phrase or expression.

Also, it’s much easier to understand meanings of new English words if you see all the action unfold before your eyes.

Can you make a CONSIDERABLE difference in your English fluency by watching TV shows in English?

Yes, but it will require some effort because by listening alone you’ll mostly develop your passive vocabulary. Your active vocabulary – the one you use when speaking – is developed when you USE those new English phrases and expressions in your own conversations.

So, while I was watching the Desperate Housewives box-set I got my wife for Christmas, I did all the following:

• I shadowed the characters with the subtitles turned on;
• I took notes of new English phrases and American slang expressions;
• I purposefully used those new expressions in my English conversations at work and also when practicing spoken English with myself.

It all started quite innocently.

I didn’t mean to spend the whole month of January, February and a week in March glued to the screen watching a TV soap loved mostly by members of the opposite sex.

I simply watched one episode of Desperate Housewives with my family during last Christmas Holidays – I guess, I just wanted to see what all the fuss is about! And that, my dear friends foreign English speakers, was it… I was literally sucked into it!

I couldn’t have imagined that Desperate Housewives was so intriguing and interesting! Illicit affairs, murders, scheming and dark secrets – and it all wrapped up as a comedy. Awesome!

So, what I learned while watching around 160 episodes of Desperate Housewives within a matter of 10 weeks?

I learned loads of American slang expressions, new vocabulary, phrasal verbs and idiomatic expressions – and that’s not all

I also tried to speak like an American while shadowing the actors and I realized that I’m not too bad at speaking with an American accent!

Here’s just a few of the idiomatic expressions and American slang phrases I added on to my active English vocabulary:

For what it’s worth – I noticed this phrase being used quite frequently in contexts like “… and Gabby – for what it’s worth, I still love you!” I didn’t look up this idiom on Google right away because I kind of guessed what it means. If I were asked to paraphrase the aforementioned sentence, I would say “Gabby – it might not change anything between us, but I still love you!”

And that’s exactly how you use the phrase “for what it’s worth”. Whenever you’re having a conversation with someone about a subject that is painful for that other person, you can use this idiomatic expression before you provide information on something that MIGHT JUST change things around.

To go through a rough patch – this English idiom is used a lot in this TV series because as you can imagine, all the couples were constantly having a difficult time. All the breaking up and making up took a toll on the poor housewives – Gabrielle, Bree, Susan and Lynette – and that’s what this idiom “to go through a rough patch” means.

“She’s gone through a rough patch lately…”, or “As you all know, my wife went through a rough patch, so I’d appreciate if you respect her privacy” – it’s just a different way of saying that someone has had a difficult time and has been dealing with hardship lately.

That’s all there is to it! – a perfect way of ending a conversation if you want to make clear that you’re not giving in to the other person’s demands and you’re standing your ground over that particular issue. Bree Van de Kamp is using this expression more than anyone else in Desperate Housewives, and it’s hardly surprising given her perfectionist nature!

To make amends means to make peace with someone after you’ve done something bad to them and make up for it by doing something good. When Suzan burnt Edie’s house down, she wanted to make amends with Edie for having caused her so much trouble with getting the house re-built from scratch. Of course, it didn’t happen until Suzan found out that her secret was documented in a diary of her deceased neighbor, and the diary was in the possession of police, so she simply had to come clean (reveal the truth)!

Take a backseat to – this English idiomatic expression is used when someone is compromising his needs with someone else’s. You can say, for example – “I won’t allow my future plans to take a backseat to yours!” – which means you don’t think your future plans are less important than those of the other person.

In Desperate Housewives Tom and Lynette used to argue all the time about whose career is more important, so this expression was used a few times and I picked it up from there. I actually like these type of English idioms because it’s quite easy to infer their meaning. In this particular occasion in the context of taking a backseat in the car I immediately figured out what that idiom means, and I also started using it in my English conversations!

Stop playing hard to get! This English idiom is used when a girl pretends not to like the guy, but her real intention behind the charade is to make him chase after her and want her even more! If you’ve watched at least a couple episodes of Desperate Housewives, you’ll know that if there was someone who was having an affair, then most likely it was Gabrielle Solis.

And it’s exactly in that context when I heard this English idiom, and it has come in handy at least a couple times when discussing girls with other guys. “You’re afraid to ask Katie out? Just go for it! She’s always playing hard to get, but she’s not like that when you’ve had a five minute chat with her!”

Step up to the plate – this is one of those English idioms – and there’s loads of them! – that originate in sports, and its meaning can be inferred if you know what “stepping up to the plate” means in terms of baseball. It’s when the batter prepares to strike the ball, but in figurative speech it means to take responsibility for what you’re doing.

“I think it’s time you stepped up to the plate and allowed your mom to have some time on her own!” – I can easily imagine Tom Scavo telling this to their twin sons Porter and Preston after they’ve forgotten to live up to their responsibilities yet again.

How to swing it? I really like this American slang phrase and I’ve started using it all the time. It’s basically the same as asking – “how to do it right?” or simply “how to manage to do it?” You’d most likely use this phrase in awkward situations when you need advice on how to get this or that particular thing done. “My supervisor told me today I’m filling in for John, but I’ve never driven the big truck before! How will I swing it?”

The possible answer might be – “Don’t worry, let me show you the basic controls and you’ll pick it up from there!”

Another way of answering the question “how to swing it?” is…

Wing it!  So, can you guess what it might mean? Imagine – I’m in a situation when I’m not really sure how to perform a certain task, and I’m being told – “Wing it!” So, what does it mean? Anyone?

Yes, that’s right – it means to improvise, do it and see what happens, play it by year (another idiom with a similar meaning!) Basically when someone isn’t prepared to do something and he’s told to wing it, it means he’ll just have to do his best and see how it pans out (see if he’s successful at it).

Drop the act! This slang expression is quite straightforward – when one is acting (pretending), you can tell them to stop doing it by using this phrase – drop the act!

The housewives in the TV comedy-drama would often pretend in front of each other that nothing has happened while everyone actually knows what’s going on. Often one of the friends would tell that person to drop the act and spill the beans (tell the truth) – and you can also use this English idiomatic expression – drop the act – whenever you would have said “Common, stop pretending, I can see it anyway!”

What gives? – I remember a scene where Lynette ran after one of her friends (was it Bree or Suzan? I can’t really remember – there were so many similar scenes in Desperate Housewives!), grabbed her by the arm and asked the question “What gives?”

I couldn’t really figure out at the time what exactly it meant, so I let it slip by. The visual association between the scene and the phrase, however, remained imprinted in my mind, so when I heard that phrase on the radio a few days later (a perfect example of American slang being used in other English speaking countries), the new context made it absolutely clear. It means – “Why are you doing this/acting this way?” or just “Why is this happening?” – and by saying so you’re making it clear that you haven’t got a clue as to why your friend is reacting so badly or why something else is going on in a completely unexplainable way.

To play hardball – it’s another sports related idiom I leant from Desperate Housewives, and it’s used to describe aggressive and very determined behavior. If your boss is determined to get you sacked after an argument at work, you’d come home in the evening and complain to your wife that your boss is playing hardball with you and you don’t know what to do!

For the record – this is simple way of saying “for your consideration”, or “…given the circumstances, I’d like to point out that…” Basically you can use this handy idiom when you’re going to say something that’s important and you want the other person to pay particular attention to it.

For example, you’re discussing accident at workplace, and in the end of the conversation you want to remind your colleagues that you’re not involved in the events leading up to the accident in any way. You can say it the following way – “And, for the record, I was away for two weeks holidays right before the accident happened!”

Off the record – if you’re having a conversation and you want certain things to be kept secret between you and the other person, or this information hasn’t been yet made official, you can use this American idiomatic expression to make your point.

“Off the record, Gabby is expecting. Yes, haven’t you noticed she’s glowing? But I think it’s best to wait till she breaks the news herself!” Such conversation would have happened between Bree, Lynette and Suzan when Gabrielle got pregnant but hadn’t told her friends about it yet.

Doesn’t it just figure? also It figures – you can use this American expression when you want to make a statement about something bad that normally happens that way and no-one is really surprised about it anymore.

I used the phrase the other day at work when we were discussing yet another faulty order just received from the production line. We were looking at the crooked sweater necks and I said – “It figures.” Basically it’s the same as saying “Of course I’m not surprised it happened, it’s typical!” – only shorter and handier.

* * *

Of course, these handful of phrases just barely scratch the surface (barely describes, provides a very superficial description) of what I learned from the Desperate Housewives comedy-drama over the last few months. I simply wanted to give you an idea of how effective such TV watching experience can be for you as a foreign English speaker – especially if you choose TV series that literally suck you in and even make you come back and watch them the second time! Off the record – that’s exactly what I’ve started doing recently!

For me it’s Desperate Housewives.

For you it may be Grey’s Anatomy or Lost.

For someone else – CSI.

Whichever one you go for – make sure you get a box-set of all the seasons because that way you’ll save an awful lot of money. By the way, you can get box-sets very cheap these days!

Robby

P.S. Would you like to find out why I’m highlighting some of the text in red? Read this article and you’ll learn why it’s so important to learn idiomatic expressions and how it will help you to improve your spoken English!

P.S.S. Are you serious about your spoken English improvement? Check out my English Harmony System HERE!

 

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Your Email:

Your e-mail will never be sold or rented to a third party. I hate spam as much as you do and I’ll contact you only to send news about improving English fluency!

Right after the request you’ll receive an e-mail with a confirmation link which will bring you straight to the download page. And here’s the good news – you can read this eBook on your computer or laptop as a PDF file, you’ll get a MOBI version of it in case you have a Kindle eBook reader, but if you have an iPad – you can make use of the EPUB file!

Bear in mind, my fellow foreigners, that this isn’t your traditional English grammar reference book or textbook

This “Practical English Grammar” eBook contains my own observations, analysis and interpretation of how English grammar is sometimes much different in real life than we expect it to be, and instead of having this “why would I speak like that, it’s not what my English teacher taught me!” attitude, I’m suggesting you to make it easier for yourself to speak English by speaking exactly like native English speakers speak!

There are twelve chapters in the eBook covering aspects of English Grammar that you wouldn’t have probably even heard of – such as how to substitute Present Simple Tense for Present Continuous Tense in order to sound more natural and friendly – yet they’re very relevant for us, foreigners!

And don’t worry, I’m not being very technical in the eBook and I’m not using very specific English Grammar related terms. All you need to know is what the Past Perfect Tense is and what GOING TO + Infinitive Future form is and you’ll understand everything I’m writing in the “Practical English Grammar” eBook!

Wishing your Happy Reading,

Robby

Probably one of the weirdest strategies among my English fluency improving methods is speaking with a hard foreign accent – and that’s what the original English Harmony eBook was based upon.

It’s actually quite straightforward if you think about it:

• You make an awful lot of effort in order to sound native in terms of pronunciation;
• You become conscious of your own speech and you start doubting yourself every time you open your mouth to say something;
• Your speech becomes very hesitant, your mind is racing and you find it difficult to verbalize your thoughts in English.

So if you forget about the pronunciation aspect while you’re speaking by allowing your mouth to speak the way it wants, you may just be able to speak more clearly and stop hesitating and preparing speech in your head before speaking out loud.

Do you want to know what lead to this discovery?

It was my fascination with one of the greatest mafia films ever – “GoodFellas”!

You see – the Italian-American accent spoken by the mobsters in the film is somewhat similar to my own East-European accent. They pronounce the ‘th’ sound quite hard, the letter ‘o’ in worlds like “coffee” is pronounced with mouth wide open and would also bear similarities with the way we Latvians speak.

So one night after watching “GoodFellas” I was going back to the “What’s so funny about me?” scene where Joe Pesci is messing with one of his mobster friends portrayed by Ray Liotta.

For someone watching the film for the first time it may seem that he’s about to blow his friends brains out being the psychopathic killer that he is in the film. Eventually it appears he’s just been messing, but it doesn’t make the scene any less enjoyable.

Actually it’s one of my favorite scenes in the whole film, and every time I watch it, I can’t help but to imagine what it would feel like to be in such a situation for real…

Anyway, I was pretending to speak like Joe Pesci in the film and right after I pronounced the first sentence “You think I’m funny?” I felt that the awkwardness in terms of speaking fluently is disappearing and I started feeling that I could speak in English as if I were speaking my own language. I couldn’t believe that simply changing the way I talked and pronounced words could have such an immediate positive effect on my English fluency!

After this realization struck me, I resorted to this hard accent method whenever I found myself struggling to speak in plain, understandable English. And you know what? It helped most of the times! Having had a short conversation with myself in a heavily accented English I would feel my natural fluency returning.

I know it sounds weird to say the least, but it worked and it was a solid English fluency management method I could rely on

I’ve refined my English fluency management strategies over the years, and I’ve written extensively about them; here’s just a few to give you an idea of how diverse are the techniques you can implement to get your English fluency back on track:

• English Fluency Monitoring and Management
• Illusion of Elsewhere
• How to Get Involved When Speaking English

The simplest and easiest of them all, however, still remains doing away with your normal English pronunciation and adopting a harder accent – or whatever way you’d speak when speaking with your native accent. It’s helped me countless times to get my English speech going, and I don’t see any reasons why it couldn’t help you!

Robby

P.S. Would you like to find out why I’m highlighting some of the text in red? Read this article and you’ll learn why it’s so important to learn idiomatic expressions and how it will help you to improve your spoken English!

P.S.S. Are you serious about your spoken English improvement? Check out my English Harmony System HERE!

I’ve been fascinated with all things American since my childhood and it’s also one of the reasons why I started learning the English language at the age of 10.

To this day, however, I haven’t mastered the American English pronunciation and I don’t think it’s that important for me personally.

Well, considering that I’m living in Ireland it’s hardly surprising I wouldn’t find a practical application for an American accent!

Anyhow, I haven’t made it my goal to speak with a near-native Irish English pronunciation either. You see, I’ve been struggling with my English fluency for years and I’ve actually found that when I try to speak with a native English accent, it may have a detrimental effect on my ability to speak English fluently.

Having said that, I often speak with different English accents when I’m on my own. And, truth be told, I’m getting better at it! Still, when I’m speaking with others in real-life, I revert back to my normal foreign accent because it’s easier for me to speak that way.

Many foreign English speakers, however, aspire to adopt a certain native English accent such as British or American, and many of them are very successful in doing so.

If your dream is to sound like natural American speaker and you believe it’s what you have to do, there’s a person I’d like you to meet – Anthony Krese!

He’s an English teacher and on his website called AmericanAnthony.com he focuses on teaching foreign English speakers American slang and accent. In other words – he makes foreigners sound like native American English speakers!

In many ways mine and Anthony’s approach to English learning and improving is very similar. We both understand that real-life English is different from the one you’ll learn in textbooks. We also realize that plenty of foreigners lack in the department of socializing skills when it comes to speaking in English in informal settings.

And while I believe that my foreign origin is actually an advantage when it comes to advising other foreigners on overcoming English fluency related issues in terms of mental aspects, Anthony has a natural edge of being a native English speaker when teaching how to speak like an American.

Therefore I think it’s only fair that I turn to a professional for advice on how to speak with an American accent so that we all can learn some new tips and tricks and take Anthony’s advice on board!

So let’s get started!

Anthony, here’s the first question for you…

1. Where in the States are you from? I noticed you speak with a specific accent when I checked out video lessons on your website – do you mind telling us what is your accent called? Also, which one of the American accents is the most popular one among foreigner English speakers? The Californian one, maybe?

I’m from Michigan. So you may hear hints of a Midwest accent. I’m not sure which accent is the most popular, but I’d say foreigners are probably most familiar with Midwest accents. These accents are all slight variations of Standard American English. For example, President Obama has a Midwest accent.

2. Taking into account the ongoing globalization and Americanization, do you think American English could be considered to be the standard version of the English language? Surely if the majority of English learners learnt to speak with an American accent, they’d be understood anywhere in the world!

Without trying to sound arrogant, I think American English is the de facto Standard English at this point. Not because it’s better, but it simply has a wider reach due to Hollywood and the American music industry. Therefore, it’s probably the most recognizable and easy to understand for the majority of native and non-native English speakers.

3. How easy or difficult is it to learn American pronunciation? Personally I find it difficult to speak freely with a different accent than my own. What is the key to be able to switch over to American or start speaking with an American accent for a foreigner?

The key to improving pronunciation is listening and repeating over and over. Little by little, you’ll build muscle memory of the particular sounds, stress, intonation and irregularities of the American accent. Therefore, it’s probably more useful to think about it as a process and not something you can switch on.

Whether or not it’s difficult is relative to the learner. If you don’t mind repeating a task over and over, then you’ll probably find improving your pronunciation isn’t so hard. If you like more theoretical study, then you’ll probably find practicing pronunciation tedious and difficult.

4. What are the basics of mastering American English accent and pronunciation? Are there any basic sounds, mouth, lip and tongue placements or any other technical tricks that ensure student’s success as an American English speaker?

The main areas accent (or pronunciation) coaches focus on are vowel / consonant sounds, stress, intonation and reductions.

Many of the technical “tricks” are used to improve the production of vowel and consonant sounds. For example, many people struggle with the American ‘r’ sound. The “trick” here is to round your lips and push them forward (as if you were going to blow a kiss). Most students tend to spread the lips and pull them back.

5. What nationality students you deal most with? Are there any particular challenges they’re facing when mastering American slang and accent?

I’ve taught mostly Asian students, in particular Japanese. Without getting too technical, the Japanese language is often characterized as more monotone than English. Of course, the students carry over this “flat” accent into English. Also, English has more intricate tongue, teeth and lip movements than Japanese. Therefore, preforming sounds like “b”, “f”, “v” and “th” feel strange and are more difficult for them to execute.

6. I’ve noticed that in real life the ‘th’ sound isn’t always pronounced with the tongue between the teeth. For example, New York dialect speakers pronounce the ‘th’ sound rather as ‘t’ or ‘d’ respectively. How adamant are you that your students pronounce the ‘th’ sound perfectly?

In general, I’ll never demand perfection at the cost of a student’s confidence or loss of valuable time covering other necessary topics. In other words, if trying to master something begins to have a negative effect, it’s time to move on.

That being said, if we think about mastering pronunciation as a process rather than an event, learning becomes a lot less demanding. I don’t expect students to perform perfectly after an explanation and a few rounds of repetition.

For example, imagine you had never played basketball before. I take you to the park, demonstrate how to shoot, and then hand the ball over to you. It would be ridiculous for me to expect you to begin immediately scoring with ease.

7. Do you also help to improve your students’ English grammar in your private tutoring sessions or are they entirely devoted to improving their accent and learning slang expressions?

At this point, I’m only offering American pronunciation / accent training.

8. On what do you put more emphasis during your English language tutoring sessions – pronunciation or slang?

I don’t do any private tutoring specifically on American slang. Students can learn quite a bit of slang from my videos, tweets, Facebook updates and products. I welcome any questions they might have via social media or e-mail.

9. How important is it to know American slang expressions and phrases to a foreigner living in the country? And how prominent is slang in daily conversations at work, on the street and in college?

Honestly, it would be almost impossible to function smoothly at home, work, school, and just about anywhere else without some basic knowledge of slang and the American accent as well.

In fact, I’ve seen quite a few students shocked once they began living overseas. The textbook English they learned just wasn’t enough to function smoothly in America.

This is not just an American phenomenon. When I was living in New Zealand it took quite a while until I fully grasped the accent and local slang. Of course, it was a struggle!

10. If a foreign English speaker focuses on learning American English phrases, slang expressions and has a good foundation of basic grammar, is he or she going to become a fluent English speaker without advanced grammar studies? My belief is that with frequent spoken practice it’s absolutely possible; what’s your honest opinion on this?

I agree with you. I don’t believe you need knowledge of advanced grammar to become a fluent English speaker. My wife and my current colleague are good examples of this. We could classify them both as advanced English speakers. However, neither of them has studied very advanced grammar. They’ve essentially learned English by speaking / practicing it.

* * *

Thanks Anthony for taking your time answering my questions!

I’m sure everyone who’s interested in learning to speak English like Americans will find your answers informative and helpful!

Also, I have a feeling that some of you may definitely want to check out Anthony’s website and see how he can improve your English pronunciation, am I not right?

Chat to you soon again,

Robby

I don’t think that anyone can claim ownership to the English language and tell foreign English speakers what to do.

And that’s exactly the impression I got while reading this article the other day!

I was thinking that I should probably leave it, but I just couldn’t because I’m a foreign English speaker AND a blogger, I represent my fellow foreigners and I think someone should say something about views expressed in this article.

Basically this is how I understand it:

• we all foreigner bloggers are the same – bad English, hard to read articles etc;
• we’re less fortunate than native English speakers having been born in the US;
• we’d better stop struggling with English writing – leave it to native English speakers!

To be honest with you, I didn’t believe I was reading it!

First of all - the English language isn’t owned by a certain group of people, and it’s most definitely not limited to the United States. Anyone on this planet is entitled to start learning English, and if one wants – start a blog in English.

Secondly – what kind of a message is that article sending out there to foreigners who might be having self-confidence issues? Instead of encouraging them to improve their English writing and keep blogging, Kathy seems to be saying – “Common, be realistic about it – you’re not getting anywhere, better start writing stuff in your native language because that’s what you’re good at!”

When I started blogging in English all those years ago, my writing wasn’t as good as now.

Just read this article and you’ll definitely notice differences between the way I was writing then and now. Had I stopped back then, I wouldn’t have achieved the kind of written fluency I have now!

And what would Kathy say to foreigners like Antonio Banderas who didn’t speak English at the start of his career until his twenties ? “It’s not worth trying – better look for diamonds in your own field (read the end of her blog post to see what I’m talking about here)”

Basically I got an impression that Kathy and a few commentators hold to a view that Americans, Brits and Australians represent the English speaking world, and the rest of the world looks up on them. They’d probably be surprised to find out that there’s millions upon millions of people out there using the English language to communicate with each other, and they’re not native English speakers!

Any comments welcome,

Robby