13 November

Raising awareness for the situation of non-native speakers

Posted in finding the right words
Raising awareness for the situation of non-native speakers

Native English speakers often lack the experience of working in a foreign language. So they aren’t familiar with the difficulties involved. They hear you speaking English and are genuinely impressed by your language skills. But, unlike you, they don’t know that you would in fact like to say much more, but lack the vocabulary. And they […]

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3 October

What you can do to become a better listener

Posted in staying on track

When people come to me for English training it’s almost always because they want to speak English more fluently. Usually they say something like “I understand most of what people say, the problem is answering.” They want to increase their vocabulary, be able to find the right words faster and gain confidence in speaking the […]

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13 June

Five types who derail meetings – and what to say to them

Posted in staying on track

Are meetings always a waste of time? Of course not. And definitely not if you deal with disruptions and unhelpful behaviour calmly, firmly and constructively early on. In the following I look at five types whose behaviour can prevent a meeting being successful. Then I suggest what you can say to deal with them and […]

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