This was a very interesting and fun week. I hanged out with some friends, and I met my friend's girlfriend who only speaks English. I talked to her for a while and I really felt very comfortable with my English despite of not having practiced it for some weeks. Sometimes I said how do I say...? just to think about the word I was trying to remember, for example I didn't remember the word environment. She asked me many questions about my life what did I do, What my plans were, If I was able to move to any place, and things like that; I also asked her the same questions, and well I think the conversation was going well until a friend of us arrived and we had to join 2 tables and for some reason we all changed seats so my friend's girlfriend sit far from my seat and we couldn't keep talking. The rest is history.
I want to point out some important things about speaking.
Speak in an easy way. Use simple verbs. Don't try to spend so much time remembering a word, If you don't remember it use another word or explain the person what the word is used for or the meaning.
Listen carefully the conversation and catch key words, it's not so important to get the 100% of the words in a conversation but it's important to know the general idea.
Relax when speaking, don't worry too much about what you're going to ask when you're listening to the person. When you're calm you can remember the words, and you'll feel comfortable with the conversation.
Do your best to speak correctly, using the correct tones, stress, and the pronunciation. If you don't know it use another word you know it's pronunciation. It's not so good that the other person says what did you say? You can loose confidence.
Be brave and don't be shy to speak. If you never try it you never improve your English.
And the most important thing is that you have to ENJOY the language.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
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