In today's episode, I will discuss how to understand people with strong English accents.
And with a point-of-view lesson, you'll practice vocabulary and improve your grammar without memorizing any boring rules.
Hi, everybody!
I am Georgiana, your English teacher and founder of SpeakEnglishPodcast.com.
That would mean a lot to me.
Thanks.
By the way, Remember that you can check out the transcript on my website, speakenglishpodcastcom.
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Let's get started.
Very often I hear people speaking English with a strong accent.
That's because their native language sometimes has a strong influence on the way they speak English.
Have you ever traveled to another country and tried to speak their language?
Then you're probably aware that some locals experience difficulties understanding you and that not everybody was patient.
Some people got very impatient and sometimes even rude.
That's why you should be patient and encouraging whenever you talk to people with a strong accent, because they are usually aware that you may have difficulty understanding them.
Therefore, be honest with your conversation partner.
Don't pretend you understand the person if you can't comprehend what they are saying.
And don't be afraid to hurt other people's feelings.
Being honest doesn't necessarily make you rude.
Instead, use a polite phrase. to say that you have some difficulty understanding.
Ask the other person to speak more slowly.
Say something like this.
I'm sorry, but I'm having some difficulties understanding you.
Or, can you please speak a bit more slowly?
Also, don't try to understand every single word.
Instead, make an effort to grasp the overall meaning.
This way, you will be able to participate in the conversation.
You'll need to relax.
Listen to meaningful words and observe as a listener.
Use as many contextual clues as possible and listen very carefully to give all the feedback you can to the speaker.
Use your facial expressions to give feedback nod when you get the meaning, smile when the topic is engaging and frown when the content is about some problem.
Learn how to listen without interrupting.
If you can't understand the main point, but you are unsure about some words that don't seem relevant, ignore them and don't interrupt.
However, when you don't seem to understand keywords or relevant ideas, you'll need to interrupt by using a phrase like this one
Excuse me, I don't quite understand.
Could you please say that again?
Help the speaker by asking questions like, Do you mean that? or Are you trying to say that?
Like this, the speaker will feel that you're genuinely interested in the conversation.
And keep smiling, show respect, and have fun communicating with people from all around the world.
By the way, if you want to know how to speak English using the right techniques, visit my website, SpeakEnglishPodcastcom and subscribe to my mailing list.
I will send you my five-day video course so you can learn how to speak English fluently.
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Now it's time for you to learn grammar in context with a point-of-view story.
I'll tell you a short story more than one time.
Every time, I'll change a grammar point.
I can change the tense or the person.
This way, you'll notice the changes in context.
Okay, let's start.
First, I'll tell the story from Kate's point of view, and then from Tony's point of view.
Hi, everyone.
I'm Kate, and today I'll talk about my friend Tony.
Some years ago, Tony had a hopeless accent, or at least that's what I thought.
It took me too much mental effort to guess whatever he was trying to say.
Often we'd communicate with the help of facial expressions, hand gestures or even writing on a piece of paper.
The funny thing is that he could perfectly understand me.
We didn't usually run into each other, unless we made an effort.
Eventually, we both got busy and didn't see each other for years.
Last week, we finally ran into each other.
I was shocked at how much his pronunciation had improved.
I could understand him perfectly and although he still had an accent, it wasn't a distraction anymore.
So I asked him how he got rid of the strong accent.
He told me that his first step was identifying his problem areas, so he hired a tutor.
Once he knew his weak points, he started listening to many English podcasts and audiobooks.
He normally listened to the same chapter several times and then tried to copy the speaker's pronunciation and intonation.
He worked hard to improve his pronunciation, but it's been worth it.
Tony's life has changed completely.
Now he's helping others, dealing with the same difficulties he faced when he moved to the US.
Okay, now I'll tell the story from Tony's point of view.
Hi, I'm Tony.
I want to tell you how I got rid of my strong accent.
Some years ago, I had a hopeless accent, or at least that's what everybody thought.
It took people too much mental effort to guess whatever I was trying to say.
I liked hanging out with my friend Kate from time to time.
Often we'd communicate with the help of facial expressions, hand gestures or even writing on a piece of paper.
The funny thing is that I could perfectly understand her, but she couldn't get me.
We didn't usually run into each other unless we made an effort.
Eventually we both got busy and didn't see each other for years.
Last week we finally ran into each other.
She was shocked at how much my pronunciation had improved.
Kate could understand me perfectly and although i still have an accent, it wasn't a distraction anymore.
She asked me how i got rid of my strong accent.
I told her that my first step was identifying my problem areas, so I hired a tutor.
Once I knew my weak points, I started listening to many English podcasts and audiobooks.
I would normally listen to the same chapter several times, and then I'd try to copy the speaker's pronunciation and intonation.
I worked hard to improve my pronunciation.
But it's been worth it.
My life has changed completely.
Now I'm helping others with the same difficulties I faced when I moved to the US.
Okay, that's the end of this little exercise.
Notice that the changes between grammar points are subtle, but important.
My advice is not to try to memorize grammar rules.
It's better to see the changes in the proper context.
And with a story, it is much easier to remember all this.
It is one of the techniques that I use in my premium courses.
I recommend you to take a look at speakenglishpodcast.com slash courses.
Okay, we have reached the end of this episode.
Remember to listen to it several times.
It will help you with your English.
See you soon.
Bye-bye.
Get the transcript now at SpeakEnglishPodcast.com
