Don't Say This in Self-Introductions in English

hi welcome back to go natural English I'm  Gabby your American English fluency coach  

today we're talking about five big common  mistakes that many English Learners make  

with self-introductions you've probably had to  introduce yourself many many times before whether  

that's with new co-workers new friends maybe  in online English classes but there are some  

major common mistakes that you may be making  that are making your self- inroduction sound  

awkward so if you want to improve your English  sound more fluent and confident then this English  

lesson is for you I'm going to share mistakes  and of course how to correct them and improve  

your English so if you'd like to learn more  with me after this video then I hope you know  

I have a complete English course called fluent  communication it's online it's consistent health  

day after day to help you to improve your English  to give you feedback to answer your questions to  

give you the support that you need to become  fluent in English quickly so get information  

at the link in the description or in the pinned  comments or just go to gonaturalenglish.com for  

more information so today we're talking about  five things not to do mistakes not to make  

when introducing yourself I've certainly made  these same kind of mistakes when I am speaking  

Spanish you you know I might introduce myself in  a very basic way that sounds like a caveman or  

a cave woman me gabby but I know you're beyond  that but there are some nuances that you need  

to think about when you're introducing yourself  next one thing to keep in mind is do not try to  

speak faster than normal to impress people because  when you introduce yourself very quickly it's so  

difficult for other people to catch your name or  catch what you're saying especially if your name  

is not a typical American name so don't say  hi I'm John I'm from Brazil say hi I'm John  

and I'm from Brazil I swear that if you speak a  little bit slower than normal it's actually going  

to be to your benefit because everyone's kind of  nervous with self- introductions or I mean I get  

nervous I don't know about you many people do  and so they're often thinking about themselves  

and they miss a lot of information that you say so  it's extra important to speak slowly especially if  

your name is not a typical American name like  John so let's say you are not John you are xan  

from Brazil so when I first heard the word or the  name Jan I thought what is this name I've never  

heard it before maybe you've had the same kind  of reaction when you hear someone's name that's  

totally new and different from anything you've  ever heard before you need it to be said clearly  

and slowly and even repeated so it's better to  say hi I'm then hian like what okay so trust  

me on this especially when you're introducing  yourself it's better to speak more slowly it will  

not make you sound like you're in a lower level  of English it will make you sound more confident  

and make a brief pause after you introduce your  s instead of just running into the next sentence  

talking about what you do so don't say hi I'm  Jan and I work in marketing say hi I'm Jan and  

I work in marketing do you see how even a brief  pause can make a big difference it's much easier  

to understand you sound more natural fluent and  confident the next thing not to do is don't use  

the present continuous tense incorrectly I hear  this a lot with self- introductions many people  

use the present continuous because they think  it sounds more advanced but they should actually  

just be using the present simple see even though  the present simple is a more basic tense using  

it correctly will make you sound more fluent so  instead of saying I am working as a teacher for  

20 years instead say I work as a teacher or you  could use the present perfect I have worked as  

a teacher for 20 years if you want to emphasize  that length of time or you could just say I'm a  

teacher that's very simple but it's very clear  also sometimes offering less information at  

first is not a bad idea because it allows the  other person to ask you questions for example  

I'm a teacher question oh how long have you been  doing that for for 20 years okay so that's another  

point I'm going to talk about in a minute how much  information to give but first another example I am  

living in New York York City since 2016 that's  actually incorrect of course I understand what  

you mean but it sounds awkward so instead say  I've been living in New York City since 2016 so  

when you're talking about the length of time that  you have been doing something like since 2016 or  

for 20 years make sure to use the present perfect  continuous we really don't need to use the present  

continuous unless we're talking about maybe plans  for the week weekend or some ongoing project that  

you are working on next giving too much personal  information have you ever met someone new and then  

they just tell you so much about themselves  immediately and you are like whoa okay that  

was a lot of information so keep it brief and  professional at first you could say your name  

your profession and then allow the other person to  ask you questions for example you might say your  

name where you live or where you you're from and  your profession hi I'm Gabby I'm from Minnesota  

and I'm a teacher how about you so don't just jump  in with for example hi I'm Jane I've been married  

for 10 years I love dogs I also love cats I like  to eat pizza and watch Friends on TV that is a lot  

of information all at once it can make someone  feel overwhelmed so instead you might say hi  

I'm Jane I'm from Toronto and I work in marketing  remember to save your personal stories for later  

once you've developed a rapport with the person  once you know if you have a connection and you  

want to continue talking with them the next thing  not to do is to sound to robotic or monotone so  

some people like to sound serious maybe you think  it sounds more professional but especially in the  

United States we build rapport even professionally  through smiling through in tonation through pauses  

through these ways of expression that say I am  friendly I would like to talk with you it doesn't  

mean that you're not serious or not professional  this one might surprise you but in American  

culture we're always smiling we're always using  superlatives like awesome super cool the best  

ever amazing awesome and while this might seem  disingenuous to other cultures if you are speaking  

in a flat Voice or not using many adjectives like  these it can make you sound totally disinterested  

or even unfriendly for example hi I'm Lisa I'm  from San Francisco and I'm a software engineer  

versus hi I'm Lisa I'm from San Francisco and  I'm a software engineer even if you're nervous  

practice introducing yourself with energy and  using intonation a friendly tone can open doors  

for you next avoid translating directly from  your native language so I get this it's very  

easy to do especially if you're on the spot in  a conversation and you need to think quickly  

you might rely on your native language I used  to do this like in Spanish when someone would  

ask me how old I was I would think in English  oh I'm 30 years old but if I said in Spanish

this is absolutely not native sounding or natural  at all in Spanish they might understand what I'm  

trying to say but they also might laugh at me and  this is very awkward so we have to understand the  

structure of the language we're trying to speak  and not translate in our native language so taking  

the time to learn to express yourself directly  using the correct structure in English will help  

you to improve improve your English so much it  makes a huge difference another example is not  

using an article before your profession I hear  a lot I am engineer this is understandable but  

it's incorrect and it makes you sound like  your English level is down here and not up  

here where it really is so instead we would  say I'm un engineer so make sure that you pay  

attention to these little details because they  do make you sound more natural more advanced and  

like in English I've made a lot of mistakes  myself in learning Spanish I mean another  

common one is saying I'm embarrassed in Spanish  but the cognate embarasada which sounds to me  

like embarrassed actually means pregnant so I've  told many Spanish-speaking friends that I am so  

pregnant when it actually I was just embarrassed  and then I was embarrassed more because I made the  

mistake about the word embarasada and it just got  worse and worse but you know what making mistakes  

like this it's not bad it's memorable it makes for  good stories later and it's actually you know it's  

part of The Learning Journey if you're not making  mistakes it means that you're not trying it's so  

common to make mistakes like these I just want to  help you it's my passion to help you to feel more  

confident to express yourself in English so here  we are have you ever made any of these mistakes  

are there other ones that you could add in the  comments to help each other I would love to know  

I love that you're watching this video I feel  like you're in the right place to learn how to  

improve your English to speak more fluently  and I want to thank you for being a part of  

the go natural English Community watching  this video subscribing if you haven't yet  

make sure to hit subscribe and if you want  to learn more with me remember that you  

can sign up for my fluent communication  course at gural english.com prge click  

on the link in the description or in the  pinned comments and I'll see you there