“I’d like to practice English and learn new things when I’m at home, but I don’t know how or where to start.” There’s not a day without somebody saying that to me. Students, friends, random people—all of them seem to be facing the same obstacle. They are not capable of finding the right methodology to integrate English into their daily life. You know I’m a steadfast believer of living the language more than simply learning it. Getting to know a language should be an enjoyable cohabitation, not a traumatizing brain-stuffing experience. […]
Category: Psychology of learning
Why Can’t I Understand Native Speakers? 5 Ways to Improve your Listening Skill (and Become a Better Speaker!)
Picture yourself arriving in an English-speaking country. You are absolutely thrilled to be there, as you’re about to communicate with native English speakers! You can already see yourself casually chatting with local people—but things do not go as planned. You are not even out of the airport that you start being filled with terror hearing people around you. “They speak so fast!” “I couldn’t understand a word of what she said.” “Wow, their accent is so thick!” While such a reaction is very common, its consequences are potentially tragic: your fear of not […]
The Tense Relationship of English Learners with the Language – 5 Reasons You’re at War with English, and you don’t even Know it
I’ve heard it hundreds of times. It’s typically a variation of the following: “I’ve studied English for years but I’m incapable of speaking it correctly.” People tend to have a love/hate relationship with English. They usually like the way it sounds and understand how important it has become in recent years. But they also feel deeply frustrated with it, as it seems that they never truly reach a sufficient level of mastery. Spoiler: you’ll find a link to my free handbook about improving your pronunciation at the end of this article. […]