Speak & Listen: 5 Simple English Communication Tips

So, I was at the store the other day, and I was checking out the bananas, and of course

I want the green bananas.

All right?

Because I have this thing about bananas, if they're kind of, like, going brown a little

bit, I don't like them.

Brown spots, I don't like them.

So, I was standing here going through the bananas, and a lady - we'll call her a lady

- comes right up beside me and kind of like...

Kind of tries to move me over and, like, muscle in on my bananas.

And she was quite short, so I stood there, kind of like a wall.

I know that she wants to look at the same bananas that I'm looking at, but she lacked

one thing.

She lacked politeness and communication to

say to me, "Hey, hey, could you please move?

Because I would like to look at those bananas, too."

So, here's where communication skills are very important.

And let me tell you that these persons that I'm talking about, they speak English, so

it's not just a "Oh, I don't know how to speak English properly" kind of thing.

It's a...

It's a global...

It's a global problem we have here.

If someone's in your way, like I'm probably in the way of the camera, you have to say,

"Excuse me.

Oh, yeah, okay, I can move."

Or someone is in your way, don't push them, like, push them aside.

Don't do that.

Say, "Excuse me" or "Could you please move?

Trying to look at those delicious bananas down there, lady."

And I would have been like, "Oh, yeah, sure, I'm sorry.

No problem."

But she didn't say that, so I stood there longer just because I could.

And she finally found some other bananas.

But the point is communicate with people,

because that's how you're going to make friends

and not enemies in this world.

So let's go through a couple things that I notice people do to show bad communication

skills.

The first one, never assume that someone doesn't want to talk to you.

Now, the word "assume", this might be a new word for you.

"Assume" means you think, so like, "You know what?

I texted my friend, but she didn't text me back.

You know what?

I don't think she wants to hang out with me anymore.

Maybe I said something wrong.

Maybe...

Oh my god, what did I say?"

Don't do that.

Don't do that.

Just...

You text the person, then say, "Hey, what's up?

I haven't heard from you in a while.

Are you okay?

Is everything all right?

You...

Why haven't you been in touch?

There's probably a reason.

Oh, well, I don't know, I'm sick.

You know, I'm not in the country, I'm travelling."

So never assume or think that someone doesn't want to talk to you.

Okay?

Everyone wants to talk to you.

Yeah, you're special.

Okay?

Okay?

This is a really, really common habit that I do, too.

Okay?

Okay, I do it, I do it, I do it.

And you're like, "Whatever, Ronnie", but I do.

Okay.

When you don't understand someone, so someone's

talking to you, you nod or laugh nervously.

Nervous laugh, like...

And you hope-okay?-that the person talking didn't ask a question.

So, for example, we say, "Yeah, those are really nice roses.

Do you want them?

Do you want the roses?"

If you don't understand what someone is asking you, it's okay.

You can say to the person, like, "Hey, do you know what?

Sorry, Ronnie, I didn't understand what you asked me, and do you mind...

Can you...

Can you clarify?

Sorry, what?

Ah.

Oh, I'm sorry, I understand.

I asked you if you would like some roses.

Of course you'd like some roses."

So, you might be missing out on something very beautiful and wonderful.

So, if you don't understand something, ask the person.

They're not going to get mad.

If they do get mad, don't talk to them.

They're out of here.

Bye-bye, bad people.

All right, the next one.

Oh, yeah, I do this, too.

Call people "buddy", "bro", "dude", "nene" when we don't know their name.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Or...

Okay?

"I hate this.

I hate this.

I really hate the happy birthday song.

I hate everything about the song.

Happy birthday, dear..."

You don't know the person's name, you're at their birthday party, that's cool, but you

just mumble it.

Mumble is like...

During the happy birthday singing.

So, what you want to do is you want to ask the person, and you can ask someone else.

Let's say you're at the party and be like, "Hey, here, what's his name?

Oh, okay, yeah, Kevin, happy birthday, Kevin, yeah, good."

But this can be embarrassing because maybe you don't want to directly ask the person

because, I don't know, the person will be mad that you don't remember them.

They won't be.

Don't worry.

It's cool.

This is my trick.

Okay.

Okay.

Move out of the way, Ronnie.

Thank you.

Ask them their name or, "Hey, what's your name again?

Sorry, I forget."

How to spell it.

This can get you into some trouble, though,

because let's say the person's name is John,

and you forget the name John, and you're like, "How do you spell your name again?"

And they're like, "J-O-N", and you're like, "Oh, yeah."

But you can save yourself and go, "Oh, do you know what?

I was thinking it was J-O-H-N."

Phew, save.

This is a great one, too.

Excuse me.

How do I actually pronounce your name?

Oh, this is great.

This is my technique.

So, I'll see your name, and I honestly don't

know how to say it because names are different

from all different countries, and I'm like, "I don't know how to say that name."

Not that I forget the name, but I could, and

I'll be like, "Oh, man, your name's really

cool.

How do I say it?

How do I pronounce it?"

But this can also be a backup plan if you forget the person's name, like, "Oh, man,

I met this person before.

I know they were super cool.

Damn.

Nah, I don't remember their name at all."

"Oh, hey, how do you pronounce your name again?"

"John."

Ah, okay.

Thanks, John.

Good.

Yeah, this is the thing I was describing to you before.

If someone's in your way, don't push them.

You're not playing rugby here.

Say, "Excuse me."

Or you say, "Hey, could you please move?"

So, I want you to try and improve your communication skills.

I want you to try and talk to people.

Put your phone away.

When you're out and about, you want to learn

English, you want to talk to people, you want

to improve your English skills, and it's like,

"Ronnie, how can I improve my English skills?"

Talk to people.

Put your phones away.

Start conversations with people, and have fun with it.

I'm going to go now and have a whiff of these

beautiful roses, but until next time, I'm

out of here.