Can Native English Speakers Understand Me?

21,656 views ・ 2021-09-24

RealLife English


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

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If you regularly find yourself browsing the English teaching side of YouTube, you have
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probably already seen there’s a lot of advice about how you can understand native English speakers.
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Which, of course, is a big challenge in and of itself, but there’s the other side of the coin as well.
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Have you ever asked yourself...
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“Can native English speakers understand ME when I speak?”
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“Do people easily understand exactly what I mean when I speak?”
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“Does my pronunciation ever get in the way of communication?”
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I’m a language learner myself.
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I live in Spain.
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And this is something that I think about all the time.
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Here’s a comment a viewer left in one of our recent videos:
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In this lesson we’re going to explore this topic together.
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What is it that causes a breakdown in communication?
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We’re going to look into what could be supporting a language barrier between you and the person
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you’re speaking to, and of course how to bring it down once and for all.
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Because here at RealLife English we guide you through your frustrations while learning English
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So that you can understand and be understood by anyone to allow you to connect to the world!
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Just like Tamanna who says that before she did not understand native speakers but now can understand them.
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So to continue learning with us and be notified when we have a new lesson
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Make sure you hit the subscribe button and bell down below
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In this video we’ll explore Challenges,
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Something that doesn’t have anything to do with you, but rather it’s an attitude
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that certain native speakers might have, and how you should react to it.
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Next we’ll talk about pronunciation, is it holding you back?
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Paraphrasing and discourse markers.
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Elements of Communication.
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So, let’s start by stepping back and having a look at the challenges we might be facing
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that contribute to the language barrier.
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There are a few things, like:
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The fear of making mistakes…
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One of our students from the Fluency Circle said this:
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“Sometimes it takes a lot of courage to speak in English, especially when I am speaking
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or sharing my thoughts during discussions in meetings and I see people who are really good at grammar.
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Sometimes I don’t share my thoughts because I don’t want to be embarrassed in front of them.”
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Can you relate to that?
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Do you feel the same way?
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A lot has been written about second language anxiety and the debilitating effect it has on your speaking.
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It is a very real thing that contributes to the language barrier.
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Now, in my opinion, there are two ways you work on this.
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Let’s say it’s a spectrum, where you have English with mistakes here and perfect English here.
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So, the road map to success seems simple enough, just work on your grammar and you’re going
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to advance towards perfect English.
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Well, it’s not that simple.
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There’s this other spectrum, where on one end you have fear and on the other you have confidence.
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It’s not that you need to take this big leap and all of a sudden be super confident,
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but just with small baby steps you can put some distance between you and that state of
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fear and get closer to confidence.
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When you do this, you can now stop feeling bad about your mistakes, and instead use them
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to your advantage and learn from them.
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This way, you gain confidence but not in a way that will allow you to be an absolute
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extroverted person, just the necessary level of confidence that will allow
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you to be yourself, be present and enjoy the English speaking situation.
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This is how you gain empowerment and your English becomes better.
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You will make fewer mistakes.
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People will understand you more.
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Hadar from The Accent’s Way shared some similar thoughts about this when we interviewed her on Beyond Borders.
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Positive thoughts generate positive feelings, and positive feelings lead to take action.
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It's easier to take action when you feel better than when you feel depressed or insecure.
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So, when you are insecure and you allow those thoughts to consume you, you are less likely to take
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real action that will actually change the results in your life.
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So when you are positive, you actually take action and you dare more.
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When you have more confidence, you speak more.
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Someone said:
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“It’s not surprising that practicing talking can make you better at talking.”
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So, this is a rather amusing quote because it’s so obvious, yet sometimes us language
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learners need to be reminded of that.
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After watching this video, go watch this other one here where I talk about the 3 activities
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that you need to learn English better.
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Other challenges that you might be facing are:
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Learning English is a lengthy process... and so what do I say to this?
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Be patient and compassionate with yourself.
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Rome wasn’t built in a day, as they say right?
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You might be lacking proper support.
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It’s a lot easier to learn being part of a community of learners that are on the same journey.
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You might have limited opportunities.
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You can become part of a community and have more opportunities to speak, for example,
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with the app we’ve developed.
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With the RealLife App, you will not only be able to practise your listening
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skills by listening to our Podcast with the transcript, but you'll also be able to connect
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to other English learners from around the world and practice your speaking while discovering
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other cultures in fun, dynamic, short conversations.
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The best part?
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It is absolutely free!
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So download it now by clicking the link down in the description or just search for the
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RealLife English App in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
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I look forward to seeing you there!
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Now, let’s move on to the next section where I want to talk about the attitude of certain
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native speakers, and also about your mindset.
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You might be able to relate more to this if you live in an English speaking country, or
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work in a company where English is the main spoken language.
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I actually just want to touch on this very briefly because it’s a rather sad part of reality.
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On the other hand, I do want to focus on your mindset and how to react to it, when or if this happens.
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One major reason that native English speakers don’t understand you doesn’t have anything to do with you.
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The reality is that it might depend on how much attention a native English speaker is
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willing to devote to understand you and also on how far from their normal experience of
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English your speaking is.
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Some people are simply close-minded and they might even not like the sound of a foreign accent.
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We live in a globalized world and understanding is a two-way street.
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It’s not only your job to learn how to understand native English speakers, it is also their
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job to learn to understand a foreign accent.
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If you spend time in online forums about learning English or other languages, it’s very unlikely
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you'll encounter people with a negative reaction to foreign accents.
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But going back to the unfortunate event of you possibly having to deal with a closed-minded
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person, my advice is that you develop what we call a thick skin (or to be thick-skinned).
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This means you’re not bothered by criticism and you're mentally tough.
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When you deal with a situation where you’re mocked maybe because your pronunciation isn’t
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perfect, the question ultimately is what it is in your power to change.
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You can’t change what someone might think about but you have control over how you can
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react to a negative experience like that.
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Also, if you recognize the areas of your English that you can work on and take action, you
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possess a mindset that allows you to grow.
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This leads me to my next point about your mindset.
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In case you don’t know, mindset is…
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Your general attitude, and the way in which you think about things and make decisions.
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There’s something that psychologists call “growth mindset.”
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People with a growth mindset believe talent comes through effort.
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They believe anyone can be good at anything; that their abilities can be developed through
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dedication, perseverance, and the right strategy.
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They believe in the power of yet.
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They’ll say, “I’m not there yet” which means I have not achieved a certain level
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at something, but one day I will.
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I know this because I’ll work hard for it.
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An English learner with a growth mindset will say things like:
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I can do it if I try hard enough!
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How can I learn from my mistakes?
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A learner with a growth mindset usually views failure as a learning opportunity, a challenge
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as a chance to grow, and feedback as a constructive way to improve.
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When you see things through the lenses of growth, you see effort as an essential ingredient
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on the path to mastery.
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When you see others do great things with their English, you find inspiration in them.
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And you think about what lessons you could take from their success.
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If you’d like to learn more about growth mindset and the immense impact it can have
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on your learning and your life, check out the lesson I made on the topic by watching it next.
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I’ll link it up here and down in the description.
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My next point is, could pronunciation be holding you back? We all know.
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The pronunciation of English isn’t easy.
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When you learn English you have to master its intonation patterns, but sometimes the
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intonation patterns of your first language get in the way, right?
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And you might say it with a certain melody, or rhythm, or stress patterns that are different
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from what people expect to hear.
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So, there are three key aspects of pronunciation that you need to master if you want to be
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more fluent in English and in that way be better understood.
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There are some key aspects of pronunciation that you need to master if you want to become
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a fluent English speaker.
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These are: rhythm, intonation, stress and connected speech.
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Rhythm is the speed and cadence of how you say a sentence.
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For example, don't-say-each-word-at-the-same-speed.
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Now, the rhythm of English might be very different to the rhythm of your native language, so
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it's important to learn the unique rhythm of English.
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Think of rhythm as syllables and a beat.
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So, if the rhythm is made up of beats, intonation is the melody of the language.
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You can learn more about the different patterns of intonation, stress and connected speech in this video.
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Paraphrasing and discourse markers
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You can think of fluency as ”smooth, rapid, effortless use of language” and “natural
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language use” or language that is “spoken easily and without many pauses.”
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I also usually like to explain it as, when you're fluent you don't get stuck--when you
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don't know a word or how to say something, you have the capacity to explain it in another
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way so the person can understand you.
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This is basically what paraphrasing is.
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Not knowing a word that is key for the message you’re trying to communicate is going to
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break the conversation.
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However, that won’t happen if you know how to work your way around a word.
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For example, you might describe a profession by saying…
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“The person who works in a hospital and helps a doctor…”
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The other person then will know you’re talking about a nurse.
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Maybe I’ll say “the place where people go when they want to buy things…”
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Oh, I know what you mean, a store…
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No, it’s bigger and you can buy all kinds of different things there, especially food.
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Oh, a supermarket!
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Give this video a like if you want a dedicated lesson on paraphrasing, which is a super important
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skill for English learners.
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So, while paraphrasing allows you to describe a word that you can’t remember at a certain
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moment, discourse markers help you connect, organize and manage what you say.
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They can help you convey subtle details and show the listener how to interpret what the
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speaker is saying.
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Common discourse markers are: well, so, look, kind of, like, alright, you know, anyway,
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actually, now, I mean.
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They’re so much a part of fluent speech that it’s hard to imagine a fluent speaker
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that doesn’t use them.
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We have a very entertaining lesson on Learn English with TV series, so if you want to
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learn more about that I recommend you check it out after this lesson!
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Elements of communication
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My fifth and last point is about communication.
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What does it take to communicate with another person?
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One thing you’ll find is that we communicate much more than with our words.
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In face-to-face communication our words are only part of the message.
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This is not so much related to the fact that you’re speaking English as a second language
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as the previous points because communication goes beyond the use of words.
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However, it can be what helps you, or assists in your efforts to get your message across.
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Many studies point out that non-verbal aspects of communication such as tone of voice and
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gestures communicate more than words that are spoken.
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Here’s a demonstration on how tone changes the meaning of a sentence completely.
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I’ll say a sentence 7 times, and each time I’ll emphasize a different word.
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Because of this, the meaning of the sentence changes.
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I didn’t say he borrowed my book. She did.
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I DIDN'T say he borrowed my book.
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This is not true.
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I didn’t SAY he borrowed my book.
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I said something else.
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I didn’t say HE borrowed my book.
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She did.
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I didn’t say he BORROWED my book.
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He outright took it without asking.
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I didn’t say he borrowed MY book.
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He borrowed your book.
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I didn’t say he borrowed my BOOK.
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He borrowed my notebook.
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The other major non-verbal way in which we communicate is through our body language.
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It’s easy to not think about what we’re saying with our body, but it plays a huge
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role on how we say something.
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This includes:
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Facial expressions The way we’re standing or sitting
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Gestures with our arms or hands Eye contact (or lack thereof)
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Blushing Fidgeting
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The great thing about body language as a second language speaker is that you can use it as
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a tool that helps you compensate for something you can’t express well with words.
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Here’s some of the biggest takeaways from
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this video: Don’t be afraid of mistakes.
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Learn from them.
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This way you can improve and be a more confident English speaker.
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Build a thick skin.
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If someone mocks you for your pronunciation, don’t let it bring you down.
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Have a growth mindset by practicing dedication and perseverance.
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Paraphrase when you can’t remember a word and use discourse markers to convey more subtle
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details, as well as to organize and manage what you say.
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Remember that words aren’t everything!
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Tone and body language are also important.
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Lastly, if pronunciation is holding you back, work on your rhythm, intonation, stress and connected speech.
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In fact, I’m going to invite you to watch the lesson where we go deep into this topic.
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In that lesson I talk about the role pronunciation has in connected speech and whether or not accent matters.
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