Speaking English: ADVANCED Conversation Training Lesson

When I was living in Germany, I had  a hard time thinking of what to say,  

figuring out how to say it in German, what words  I had to change because my vocabulary was limited,  

and then finally saying it. Needless to say, I struggled  

with conversation. And I know this is true of  my students who are learning English too. Even  

my intermediate and advanced students. So  let's work on that! What if you could start  

thinking more in English and less in your native  language when you wanted to? That's possible. 

There are real techniques to make that happen  and today we'll practice just that. This is part  

of a series of videos where I outline different  techniques training your mind to think in English  

and today we're using a more advanced technique,  if you're not ready for that I'll put a link to a  

more basic training video in the description. Today we're hitting you with conversational  

questions. You're going to see a timer and it  might make you nervous if you can't think of a  

sentence in English, just think of words you would  use in your answer. For example, if the question  

is how did you celebrate New Year's? You could come up with: 

Nothing. Too much travel. 

Too tired. Or, if you can't put  

together a full sentence you might think: I had just gotten back from 11 days of  

travel and was too tired to do  anything. I was in bed by 9:30. 

Now often, I'm trying to get my students to  practice speaking out loud, everything. But  

this is a little different. We want to work on the  house habit of the brain thinking in English so  

just think it in your head. You're not coming up  with a whole sentence in your native language and  

then translating. We don't want to practice that.  We want to avoid that. So think in English only.  

And if you have to simplify what you're doing  then do that and stay away from full sentences. 

If you think of a word in your native  language, no big deal. Let It go. Guide  

your mind back to English. English, English, English. 

Let's do one question then we'll talk a bit  more about strategies. So, I'm going to ask  

you a question and you'll have 10 seconds  to think of your answer. My question is: 

Tell me about something in your life  right now that is really important to you. 

How did you do? Did you feel nervous on this spot? Since you're watching this video in English,  

I know you know enough about English, you have  enough English skills to think of at least a  

few words associated with the question in English.  And if you were able to answer that question in a  

conversational sentence and maybe you were still  going when the timer was over, awesome! You're  

pretty advanced in this skill. But no matter where  you're starting, if you're not yet at your goal,  

intentional practice, thinking in English like  we'll do today, we’ll move you towards your goal. 

If you have no idea what to say then  think that in your head in English. 

Hmm, I don't know how to answer that  question. I don't know what to say. 

Just think it in English. Okay, here's another question:  

What's one thing you hope to achieve this year? 

You may have started your answer with: I hope to… 

I want to… I plan to… or I will. 

Or maybe: One of my goals is… Here's my answer: 

One of my goals for this year is to read  one novel per month. Reading makes me really  

happy but I hardly make time for it anymore. Remember, some of you can put together endless  

sentences in English and some can't. Wherever you  are, build on that. If you can only come up with a  

few words, that's okay. At the end of this video,  I'll tell you how to build on that. Now, I'm going  

to give you 3 minutes of questions in a row.  This is a good place to figure out your stamina  

for this kind of exercise. The questions will  just keep coming at you. Can you stick with it? 

If you get frustrated, just wait for the next  question. Each question is a chance to start  

new. Bringing up a few words in English  in your mind that relate to that question. 

Okay, ready? Take a deep breath, let's do this. What's your favorite way to  

relax after a long day? Describe a typical weekend for you. 

What's your favorite meal and why do you like it? Describe one of your favorite places to visit. 

If you could instantly learn  any new skill, what would it be? 

Who's a person, real or fictional,  that you look up to, and why? 

Tell me about a time when you tried something new. 

If you could relive any day of your  life, which one would it be and why? 

What's one thing that always makes  you laugh when you think about it? 

If you could meet any historical figure, who  would it be, and what would you ask them? 

What do you do to stay motivated  when studying or working? 

What's your favorite holiday tradition? 

Tell me about a goal you're  currently working toward. 

Okay, that part is done, it's over and you did  it. Let's talk about a couple of strategies to  

improve your English based on this exercise.  Actually, really quickly, first, I want to let  

you know that a while ago, we launched a think  in English course as part of my online school,  

Rachels English Academy, my school focuses heavily  on accent training, listening comprehension and  

spoken English skills. But we recognize that  being able to think in English is an important  

part of that, so we've added a course to help you  train your mind with exercises like this one here,  

to think in English on a regular basis.  If you might be interested in this,  

please check out Rachelsenglishacademy.com and  sign up, I would love to have you as a student. 

Okay, let's talk about some strategies. First,  let's start with people who found it very hard to  

think in full sentences in English. You should  probably spend some time going back a step to  

a more simple exercise of naming objects.  You can move on to verbs too. For example,  

if you see someone, you can think arm, and  scratch, then you'll have the building blocks for:  

She's scratching her arm. And as you look  around you, and you're naming nouns, verbs,  

adjectives and adverbs, if you don't know  the English word for something, look it  

up in a dictionary, learn it, add it to your  vocabulary list. If you can think in sentences,  

but you want to get more sophisticated, then  you'll want to do some exercises where you are  

speaking out loud recording your answers. Then you  can go back and listen or watch your videos and  

find words that you use over and over again, look  up synonyms, a different way to say something,  

now that you're taking the time to figure it out. You can use an online random question generator to  

give you prompts as you record yourself. Take the  challenge a little bit further. Record a 10-second  

answer in a video, post it to your Instagram  stories and tag me in it so I can share it. Let's  

all do the work, watch and support each other,  doing the work. Make this a daily practice and  

I guarantee you'll get more comfortable thinking  in English and an English conversation. It's all  

about practicing spontaneously. When you don't  know what question is coming, you have to think on  

your feet. You can only use what you know. There's  no time to look something up. So you'll get better  

at using what you know and finding the gaps in  what you know. And I can't wait to have you build  

your confidence in English conversation. Right now, keep your learning going with  

this video and don't forget to subscribe  with notifications on so you never miss  

a lesson. Come back tomorrow and watch another  lesson, I have over 800 videos here on YouTube,  

I love being your English teacher. That's it  and thanks so much for using Rachel's English.