Hey everyone, welcome to the English Fluency Journey podcast.
These episodes were created based on our videos on YouTube for those who'd rather listen than watch.
So happy listening. Hope you enjoy our content.
So, you're obviously learning English if you clicked on this video.
And the hardest part for you is probably speaking, just like the most of the learners, so don't feel bad.
And I'm sure that you want to find or have already found a conversation partner.
However, Have you ever wondered what to do and what to talk about with your conversation partner?
Sure, the first couple of times you have lots of things to talk about, you're both super enthusiastic and ready to learn, but then comes a moment of silence, so to speak.
So if you've experienced something like this, or you are nervous that it might happen and this is stopping you from finding a conversation partner. or you are just curious, I have a couple of ideas to help you make your communication more effective less awkward and something that you'll always look forward to.
So let's dive in. Don't jump on calls unprepared.
Everybody's busy. You might have only an hour a couple of times a week and you don't want to waste that time on silence, awkwardness or anything like that.
Even if you start off with just talking about general things like the weather or what you did that day, or just what's new, you always want to have a backup topic up your sleeve.
Or what is even better is to make a list of questions that you would like to ask.
First is not to forget anything. And this is totally me.
I forget everything. I need to jot down literally everything.
Second, with a backup topic or a list of questions, you'll be more confident and this in turn will help you calm down and pull yourself together before a conversation.
And the third thing, this time will be used a lot more efficiently and it'll give you a lot more satisfaction and knowledge.
When I'm holding speaking clubs, for instance, I have a topic that we're going to be talking about and I always have a long list of questions to ask because in my experience, Even if there are six or 10 people, there comes a moment of silence because everyone's out of things to say.
Not that silence is bad, it's just that we have a limited amount of time to be wasting it on silence.
Some of the things I find very interesting to discuss are movies, TV series, talk shows, interviews, just some YouTube videos.
And maybe news. So you and your conversation partner decide and agree on whatever it'll be before your conversation by texting, or talking to each other.
Sure thing that it has to be something that both of you are interested in and could enjoy.
It could be anything, fashion and latest trends related. medicine and psychology related, I don't know, celebrity rumors, anything.
The important thing is that it's a mutual interest.
A little side note. Sometimes you'll come into contact with people who are completely different from you, whose minds is different, who like other things, and you might find that communication with those people is just weird and not coming together.
This is okay. Just be polite and honest.
You can't find common ground and vibe with everyone.
It's impossible. If you're feeling this way, don't waste your time and torture yourself.
Just say it as it is and try to find someone else.
Someone who could eventually become your friend rather than an enemy.
So you decided on something to watch. You watch it.
Then you write down some key things you found important or interesting and that you'd like to discuss.
Make a list of questions to ask your partner to find out their thoughts on some particular moment.
Then another important thing to do is to write down the words and phrases you don't know, seeing as you're learning English.
Find out their meanings, then exchange these with your partner and talk about them.
Why is this stage important, aside from the fact that you'll learn and memorize new words better?
It's important because oftentimes we miss new words.
This happens because either our listening skills aren't fully developed yet and we just can't hear them, Or we just don't know those words at all and our brains, understanding the context, just drop them.
Or there are just too many unknown words.
This practice will allow you to see your blind spots and give you the opportunity to work on them.
So there you go. You might discuss something both of you have watched or heard or read.
You might discuss articles or books or chapters from a book.
The key thing is to be ready and to show up prepared.
It might seem like a lot of preparation and work, and you certainly don't have to do this, however, I must remind you that everything you do adds to your fluency.
So going the extra mile is even necessary sometimes.
For starters, it's better to choose some videos let's say interviews, no longer than 10 minutes.
There'd be fewer words and phrases you might not know.
Another great activity is a roleplay. My personal favorite is interview.
I think everyone knows what the word interview means.
So you can actually get ready for the upcoming interview by preparing questions and answers and practicing them with your partner. the possible questions and answers you might find on the internet or on YouTube.
Or you can make a list of questions that you usually get asked and sometimes don't know how to answer, Or a list of questions people usually ask each other when they meet, prepare answers and practice them.
Going over those several times will help you memorize the answers and feel a lot more confident and prepared for your next possible conversation.
Reading dialogues. Although it's an activity mostly for beginners, but I think that a learner of any level could benefit from it a lot. because you can choose dialogues with different difficulty levels.
When you have an already put together a dialogue, with questions and answers, correct grammar, correct word order, which is something not to be overlooked, and you practice saying it a lot, you memorize those things.
You memorize those questions and answers, and then you can use them with someone else.
They're going to pop up in your head and then you'll be able to use those patterns to come up with your own questions and answers.
Love this activity. Picture description.
It's a little bit more challenging, but if you'd like to challenge yourself, this activity stimulates your brain by making it think.
If you want to translate or just forgot a word, you can search for needed words on the internet.
It's not forbidden, it's a learning process.
Apart from these, you can also play games for improving your speaking skills and vocabulary, And also playing games is fun.
I'll suggest my favorites to you, but there's a lot more games you can play And it goes without saying that they stimulate and improve your brain activity a lot better than if you're just sitting and try to memorize words.
I really enjoy and love playing charades where you need to show the word to your partner. or partners without speaking, and they need to guess it based on your expressions and body language. pantomime in other words.
There are different difficulty levels, meaning harder and easier words, and everyone has a camera these days, This is really so much fun.
You'll have lots of laughs. Plus, it helps you relax, stop taking yourself too seriously, and get rid of your insecurities.
There's another similar game called Taboo where you need to explain the word.
You describe the word using any words you want except, of course, the one that is on your card.
These two games are more suitable for intermediate and advanced speakers.
There's a lot more games you can play. to boost your vocabulary, speaking skills of course, and comprehension in general.
You can find them and their rules online.
Plus, it's super fun. The time will just fly by.
Yes, all these things require some preparation and work, but it's all for a good cause, right?
And if you're worried that you and your partner are going to be making mistakes and none of you are going to be able to fix them.
Well, it might be the case, but usually people are pretty good at catching other people's mistakes.
And if you have a doubt or a question regarding grammar or pronunciation or anything else, just stop and ask or check it on the internet.
It's self-education. However. If you want a qualified person to correct you, you can always hire a teacher or tutor, but it's not going to be free, unlike having a speaking partner.
Okay guys, that's it for now. Thank you for choosing our podcast.
Until the next one.
