Yesterday I told you I don’t talk about grammar.
But I agree with author Scott Adams when he says grammar is important if you want to impress the 20% who could give you a better life.
However, one important point he didn’t make is that everyone has a different 20%.
For you, it’s either native speakers or non-native speakers.
The person interviewing you will either be from Bristol or from down the street.
Yesterday I wrote about how to impress the person from Bristol (you can read it on my blog in a few days).
Today we’re talking about…
How To Make Non-Native Speakers Say, “Wow he/she’s smart!”
Don’t try to speak as well as the other person.
Be better.
It’s faster.
Let me explain.
Speaking properly, correctly, it takes a long time.
In fact, there are so many rules, no one….and I mean NO ONE speaks 100% correctly 100% of the time. Not me. Not the queen. Not The Grammar Champion of the World.
It’s a very long game.
But there’s something that you can do very quickly that will have the same, or better, effect.
Use a smart word.
I got this idea from my Polish friend, Tomasz. Now he’s working at a bank in Vienna and speaking German every day. But he used to be at a bank in Prague speaking English every day.
And he was always asking me, “What does that mean?” He wanted more and more words.
One day I asked him why, and he told me that he hated it when someone at the bank used a word that he didn’t understand. He thought the other person was smarter than him and it made him feel nervous.
So if your 20% is non-native speakers, and you want to look them in the eye and say, “I’m just as good as you”, use a big, smart, juicy word.
(And now here’s where I try to pay my rent…)
And you can learn one new smart word every day when you join my Secret Society of Serious Students.
I pick the words myself…
I make the lessons myself.. (which means they’re simple and clear)
You use the word immediately so it becomes active…
And every day you review previous smart words so they go deeper and deeper into your long-term memory….
The perfect lesson you do in five minutes on your phone!
And soon, you too can make other native speakers jealous of your words.