Oh, oh, dancing with myselfWell, there’s nothing to loseAnd there’s nothing to prove, well,Dancing a-with myself
-lyrics by Billy Idol
It’s Friday!
That means I select one of your questions about English and try to give you a simple solution that maybe you haven’t thought of before.
So here we go…
Ismail From Somaliland writes:
“When I’m speaking I lose all the words I knew before but when I’m alone I can speak good English.”
Well, that’s normal.
When zero eyeballs are on you, what’s to lose? There’s no one to laugh at you, judge you, criticize you, or fire you.
But now imagine a thousand… ten thousand… a hundred thousand native speaker’s eyeballs on you…
Now when you try to answer even a simple question…
“What’s your name?”
…that might be a challenge.
So here’s the idea for the day: baby steps.
Before you think about making a presentation in English, or having a job interview in English, or talking to customers in English, take a baby step.
Just like a baby doesn’t go directly from the crib to the dance floor, you shouldn’t go from talking to yourself to talking to the Queen on live television.
What are some baby steps you could take today and every day?
Could you…
Speak with a friend in English….?
Talk to a waiter in English….?
Call your bank and “Press 1 to speak with a representative in English”….?
There you go: baby steps.