Daily Lessons / blog posts

1. Do English

How do you “do English”?

Well, here’s what NOT to do:  study, memorize, homework, grammar exercises…

You’ve probably done hundreds of hours of those things already. Read More >

BALTIMORE, USA – “Sorry for my English.”

Omer was two meters tall, from Turkey, and he was sitting next to me Saturday night.

We were in Tysons Corner, Virginia, just outside of DC, to hear a well-known author talk about what’s going on in the world. Read More >

BALTIMORE, USA – Game of Thrones.

Ever seen it?

It seems everyone in the office is watching the latest season. At least that’s what they’re talking about when I go to the kitchen to get some coffee.  Read More >

SOMEWHERE OUTSIDE WASHINGTON D.C. – 

Americans talk a lot.

The guy sitting in front of me is talking on his phone… Read More >

BALTIMORE, USA – I love flying. 

No email to check. Nothing to clean. And nowhere to be. In fact, nothing to do at all except read my book or write in my notebook. 

And if I get the window seat — perfect!  Read More >

AUSTIN, TEXAS – Taking a break from my business conference. 

And look what I discovered:

Real, authentic, 100% pure, American Southern slang! Read More >

BALTIMORE, USA – It was Halloween in Prague.

A friend knew a guy who knew a girl who was going to a party at someone’s apartment. 

So I invited myself and went. Read More >

BALTIMORE, USA – I called home Saturday and my nephew picked up the phone.

After catching up on the latest super hero movies, he told me about a cabin he had just discovered in the woods.

“But it was destroyed,” he said.

“Yeah I know,” I said. “Some hoodlums wrecked it before you were born.”

“What’s a hoodlum?” he asked.

Oh yeah, I thought. He’s only 11. His vocab size is probably about 12,000 words, while mine is around 30,000.

How do I know these fun facts?

I got them from the site testyourvocabulary.com 

The site also says that the average vocabulary size of non-native speakers is 4,500.

And what about you?

How many English words do you know?

You can get the answer in a few minutes.

Go to the site, take their free test, and you’ll soon have your number.

Then when you know your number, will you do me a favor and send it to me? You don’t even have to write anything. Just copy, paste and send.

I’m interested in how many words my readers know. (and if enough of you write me, I’ll average the numbers and share them)

Then tomorrow I’ll tell you how increasing your number is easier than you thought.

Here’s that link again: http://testyourvocab.com

As we say in English, let’s land the plane.

Remember my students at Lonza?

They said their problem was speaking.

But they also said they didn’t remember the name of their last teacher.

And THAT was their REAL problem — they weren’t interested in other people.

You see, when you’re interested in another person, you want to know more about him. And to know more about him you have to ask questions. Then a conversation starts. Then the person starts to like you because you’re interested in him. Then he becomes interested in you and asks you questions. Then you have a friend. And friends have lots of conversations. And when you have lots of conversations in English, your English naturally improves.

See how that works?

ADVANCED TECHNIQUES PT. 2

Three Ways To Escape A Conversation

Not all conversations will be amazing. Not all conversation partners will become your new best friend. And sometimes, well, you want to politely exit the conversation and find a better one.

Here are three techniques I use at social events.

1. “I’m going to get another drink. Do you want to join me?”

If I’m at an event — a party, a conference, etc. — I try to enter a new conversation with an almost-empty drink. That way, I know that whenever I want I can quickly finish the drink and excuse myself to get another.

I also like to invite the person I’m talking with to join me because I know how awkward it is to suddenly be standing alone in the middle of a room. And what usually happens is that at the bar or on the way to the bar another conversation starts or he finds someone else he wants to talk to.

2. “Excuse me, do you know where the bathrooms are?”

This one is good if you don’t want the person to join you. And if he does join you, well, I guess your new conversation skills worked too well.

3. “Who have you met tonight?” Then: “Come on, let’s go mingle.”

In English, “mingle” means to move around a room meeting people and starting conversations.

When you ask someone who they’ve met, usually the number is small. This is a way of stating the obvious: We came here to meet people but we’re not so let’s start.

That makes total sense and most people will be thankful you’re taking the lead.

Then walk up to anyone you want, stand there with a smile until they stop talking and look at you. (Don’t worry, you’re not interrupting or being rude, there’s a 98% chance they were bored.) Introduce yourself and your new friend and start asking questions. In this situation I usually start with, “So what are we talking about?”

NEXT WEEK: The exciting conclusion where we finally discover the true identity of the murderer!