We speak using words, right?
Well, theoretically yes, but in reality they often work like groups of words.
For instance, how much does it help to know the individual words in the following expression?
“What have you been up to?”
Not much.
Knowing the individual meaning of the words “have” and “be” and “up” and “to” will not get you closer to the meaning here, because this is an expression.
However, if you learn this question as a whole, it should be much easier to remember and use it in a real situation when you are asking about someone’s recent activities.
This works for conversational English, and also for other scenarios.
In Business English, for instance, you come across a new concept like “accurate forecast”. Suppose “forecast” is a new word for you. Instead of just writing down “forecast” in your vocabulary list, which is the unknown word, I recommend writing down and learning the whole expression “accurate forecast”.
This can be helpful for developing a more spontaneous way of speaking and a better speech flow.
Students often complain about the influence their first language has on the way they speak English.
They find that they are using English words but they are thinking in their own language way too much.
It’s hard to sound fluent and natural in English if your first language constantly interferes with expressing yourself in English.
One way to help you “automate” your speaking is adopting a certain way of learning new vocabulary.
1-Minute Tip ⏳
Instead of learning words one by one, learn them as units, the way they are often combined with other words.
They are like “ready-made” and “pre-cooked” expressions.
Then you will have to worry less about “cooking” and “baking” expressions when speaking, and you can focus on expressing your ideas with less effort.
The more you build a habit of learning expressions and typical word combinations (collocations) instead of learning words separately, the easier you should find it to “think” in English and less in your 1st language, and notice an improvement in your fluency at the same time.
Interested in diving deeper in pronunciation and speech clarity improvement?
I specialize in helping speakers develop confident speaking clarity for professional success in business.
Do you need help? You can contact me on LinkedIn through a DM, or by email at gabor@createnglish.com.
I’ll be happy to discuss with you what you personally need to work on for your business goals in English.
This content is authentic and it is not AI generated.
I write these weekly tips for you because I enjoy sharing techniques that I have seen work for my students through my 20+ years of teaching experience.
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👋 Hi, I’m Gábor
I am an English teacher and speech fluency trainer, specialized in pronunciation training.
Talk to you next time 🙂
Gábor 🙂
Connect | Gábor Légrádi | MA, RSA/CTEFLA