You can WRITE, but not SPEAK ENGLISH? — Watch this.

23,605 views ・ 2022-05-06

RealLife English


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

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So Ethan, how was the movie?
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I heard some people were disappointed with it.
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I liked the movie... uh...
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I think...
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uh...
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My favorite character...
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Does this feel familiar to you?
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Well today we will look at some of the reasons why you might feel more confident writing
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English than you do when you speak it.
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And we'll also give you four practical tips that will help you to feel just as confident
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speaking English as you do writing it.
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Because here at RealLife English every single week we make lessons like this one that help
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you go from feeling like a lost and insecure English learner, to being a confident, successful
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English speaker.
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So if that sounds like what you want for your English, then be sure to join us by hitting
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that subscribe button and the bell below and that way you won't miss a single new lesson.
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So I just want to start out by saying that if this is the case for you, that your writing
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is much better than you're speaking, it's probably not your fault.
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So stop beating yourself up about it.
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You know, traditional methods that most of us learn languages with tend to put a very
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heavy focus on grammar and writing because it's what's easiest to teach to the masses.
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So without a doubt, you've gotten in plenty of hours of English writing in.
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But very few, if any, practical speaking opportunities in.
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So while it's not your fault that the English teaching system is largely like this, it is
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your responsibility to actually start looking for opportunities to practice speaking English.
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So don't give up.
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So when learning the language, it's really important that you grasps the difference between
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input and output.
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So input is the different things that you consume in the language that you're learning.
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So this could be, for example, reading, but it's also things like listening to podcasts,
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watching your favorite movie or series, or listening to the radio while you're cooking.
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In order to become a confident English communicator, it's super important that you build habits
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that help you to be consuming English constantly.
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Now, if you start filling your day with different opportunities to be listening to the language,
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they're going to find that you're just absorbing the vocabulary, the grammar and the sounds
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that you'll need when it comes time to speak.
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Remember, it's super important that this input is actually related to the things that you
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enjoy in your life.
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So, for example, just because someone told you that watching the news in English can
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be good for learning different vocabulary.
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If that's nothing you're already doing and enjoying in your native language, then you're
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probably not going to be very effective at actually keeping up a habit with that.
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If on the other hand, you love sports, then maybe reading the news about your favorite
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sports team in English could be a great way for you to get some vocabulary related to
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the things that you love and are most likely to be speaking about because here at RealLife
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English, We really believe that you need to own your English and find convenient ways
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to make it a part of your everyday life.
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Now, moving on to output, these are the productive parts of the language, such as writing and
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speaking, of course.
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So the quality of your output is directly related to how much input you have.
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So the more meaningful content you consume in English, the better that your speaking
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will become.
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And of course, you have to actively be searching for different speaking opportunities.
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Now, I know that it can be really simple to find many different ways to have input, but
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then it's really difficult for you to actually find ways where you can actually practice
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your output, such as speaking.
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That's why we decided to create the RealLife app and solve this problem for you.
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Just check out what one of our app users, Pedro, said about his experience.
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It's awesome.
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You can practice your English and gain confidence, develop new skills to communicate with citizens
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around the world, and at the same time you can help those that want to improve their
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knowledge and understand accents It is a great experience.
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So just like Pedro, you can have fascinating conversations with global citizens from around
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the world about your life, about your passions, Or you can just talk about what the weather
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is like outside if you want.
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You also have input opportunities by listening to our podcast with full transcripts and vocabulary
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definitions.
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So what are you waiting for?
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Give it a try it right now by downloading the RealLife app by clicking up here or down
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description below.
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Or you can search for RealLife English in the Apple app or Google Play Store.
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See you there.
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All right.
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So now let's look at some actual tips that can help you to improve your confidence when
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speaking English.
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So first off, finding a model now with my students, I actually used to have them do
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an exercise where they would identify an English mother or father.
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And this was basically just picking a celebrity, for example, that they really liked and constantly
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consuming content from that person speaking and trying to shadow or imitate this person's
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way of speaking, their accent, the musicality they use in their speak and so on.
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Now, it doesn't necessarily need to be a celebrity.
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It could be a native friend that you have.
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It could be someone from your country who has an English that you really admire and
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you would like to also arrive at that level.
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It could be your English teacher.
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Or maybe you have a friend who speaks really great English, and you could ask them if you
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could start practicing your English together.
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The basic idea is that you find someone who has English very similar to what you would
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like to have, and you model that person.
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So, for example, for me, when I first started learning Catalan, I found this band that I
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really liked and so on to gather more men.
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This goes all the way up, but background is quite funny because they are from the interior
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of Catalonia.
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So they had a rather thick accent and I just was listening to music all the time and singing
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along.
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And so I kind of developed that accent.
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And when I would speak with people there asked me, you know, Where are you from?
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You sound like you're from the countryside.
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So the second exercise is to break down common patterns of questions or simple sentences.
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Let's take
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a look.
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The next exercise is to repeat sentences that you learned with different moods.
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So let's take a look at some examples: I don't know what to do.
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I don't know what to do.
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I don't know what to do.
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I don't know what to do.
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That sounds great.
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That sounds great.
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That sounds great.
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Yeah, that sounds great.
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Exercise number four is to look around you and observe and look for different opportunities
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where you can practice your English.
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So just to give you an example of how you could do this.
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If you're walking down the street, you could look around and identify the different things
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that you're seeing and try to think of how you call those things in English.
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And when you get stuck, you can't think of how you would say one thing in English.
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Then that's an opportunity for you to look it up and learn a new word.
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And it doesn't just have to be things that you're seeing.
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You could also try to think in your mind in English, describing what you're doing.
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So maybe you're at the gym and you could say, I'm lifting weights or I'm running on a treadmill.
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So you can see it's not even necessary to live in an English speaking country to find
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different immersive experiences in the language.
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And if you start doing this at a bunch of different places, well, you're going to be
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exposing yourself to just a ton of different vocabulary.
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Why not do it also at a café or do it while you're riding the bus and just look out the
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window?
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You could do this at a restaurant like, for example, look at the menu and try to think,
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how would you say some of the different plates, some of the different dishes in English?
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Or maybe you can even take the next step and go to a terrific part of your city and pretend
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that you're from out of town, you're from another country, and you only speak English
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and actually have that interaction with the waiter in English.
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You can do this at the supermarket by trying to look at the different products and think
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how you would say them in English.
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As you can see, creating an immersive experience in English doesn't require traveling thousands
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of miles away.
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It just requires a little bit of creativity.
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And before you go, let me give you a few bonus tips.
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So use what you know.
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You know, you don't have to be studying forever.
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You don't have to have perfect pronunciation or grammar to start speaking.
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So if you're a beginner, for example, then just try to have a simple introduction in
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English.
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Maybe if you've never had a conversation before, then really try to get down saying, Hello,
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my name is what do you do for a living?
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I do this or I study this and so on, and try to get that really down so that you'll feel
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confident in those situations.
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Remember, it's really important to value connection over perfection.
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And when you follow up on the different tips that we've done today, when you get out of
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your comfort zone and you start having conversations with other people, without a doubt your confidence
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will develop over time.
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So just stick in there when it's difficult sometimes just to envision yourself in the
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future as that confident English speaker and you will get there.
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There's a really great phrase that I've heard people say, which is fake it until you make
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it, which basically means that if you fake doing something, eventually you will be able
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to do that thing.
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Next step is to be comfortable laughing at yourself.
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So sometimes when you're speaking another language, you will feel like a child.
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So just lean into that.
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Embrace the experience.
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You know, you may never speak with the same level of comfortableness in English as you
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do in your native language because you've spent countless hours speaking your native
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tongue and English as a language that you're now learning as an adult probably.
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So be patient with yourself and be a little bit silly with it.
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Have fun with it.
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And finally, a super born tip is to make it a habit.
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Do it every single day, even if it's just for 5 minutes.
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Find an opportunity where you can speak, even if it's not with another person.
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Record yourself, listen to it, give yourself feedback, whatever you can do to make sure
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that you are getting those immersion experiences Those touch points with English every single
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day.
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Now I want to hear from you.
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Which of the four core skills in English which are reading, writing speaking and listening
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do you find most difficult?
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Let us know down in the comments below.
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And that way we can make a lesson to help you with your biggest English frustration.
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Oh yeah.
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And if you have difficulty speaking, then one of the reasons might be that you just
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don't have enough of the vocabulary that you need to have a competent conversation in English.
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So I highly recommend that next you check out this lesson where I'll teach you one tip
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that can help you to learn thousands of words in English.
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Sounds too good to be true?
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You'll have to watch the lesson so that you can find out.
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Let's check out a clip.
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