Welcome to

The Pending Subject Newsletter

Every Thursday you will receive:

• Tips to improve your English
• English language content to keep you in touch with the language
• A weekly challenge to keep you progressing
• A quote to inspire your learning

It's no secret how much preparation an athlete does to perform at an elite level. Carlos Alcaraz, Simone Biles, or Leo Messi to name a few, (watch the video included to hear about David Beckham describing Messi's preparation) all prepare vigorously without a ball, racquet or bar so they can then go on and perform at the highest level when the time comes. Dedicated training in sports is ubiquitous, but how can you apply the same practices as Messi and co to your English communication?

Firstly you need to understand that verbal communication is a skill, and like any skill it needs practice. You can practise spontaneous communication without being in front of another person. You can do a verbal workout that contains exercises to improve your agility, speed, and versatility when speaking, all from the comfort of your home (gym). This will help you to prepare for spontaneous communication, where, like an athlete, you don't know what's going to happen next.

The fear of the unknown is a general one among humans. When the fear of the unknown is combined with a foreign language, that fear is increased. That is why it is doubly important to prepare well. You just need to know how to prepare and then do the work. And like everything, the more you prepare, the better you will become at spontaneous speaking, and therefore the more comfortable and confident you will feel.

I hope you find the tips and content useful.

TIPS

1. Photos: Practise talking about what is happening in random photos. Describe what the people are doing, how they are feeling, and think how you would feel/act in that situation.
2. Books: Open a book to a random page, choose a word and begin talking about it...
3. Objects: Choose an object in the room where you are and talk about it. Describe its use, what it means to you and where you bought it/who gave it to you.
4. Predict questions: If you give a talk/presentation in English, predict what doubts people may have or what questions they could ask you.
5. Prepare questions: If you are listening to someone talk in English, think what questions you could ask them.
6. If you don't know the answer, say you don't know... It's much better to say: "I will go and check that and get back to you..." than say the wrong answer!
7. Say: "Tell me more..." Get other people talking. Saying: "Tell me more..." is a great way to get the other person to speak. People love talking about themselves and what they do!
8. Micro-responses: Practise giving short answers to questions like natives do (see the content section below for the activity).
9. Build your situational vocabulary: If you have problems talking spontaneously (or not) about certain subjects, it's probably due to a lack of vocabulary. To fix this, learn vocabulary specific to the area you have difficulty with.
10. Think in English: When you have to do something, think about how you are going to do it in English. When you are going to write an email (even if the email is going to be in Spanish), do the same. Think about your day in English. Thinking in the language trains your brain to produce responses, which are the same responses you can use in spontaneous conversation.
11. When another person is talking (on TV/in meetings etc.) think: What would I say? How would I respond? This is a great way to prepare for spontaneous conversations because you are practising in a way that is as close to reality as possible. You can pretend you are the protagonist. Then compare what you would say/how you would respond with what the person really said.
12. Be like Benjamin Franklin: To improve his writing, Benjamin Franklin studied how great writers wrote and then a day or two later, he would try to remember and rewrite what he had read. This allowed him to compare his way of writing to the greats he was trying to recall. His theory was that if he could remember how they wrote, he would be able to write like them. You can watch/study how great speakers react to situations, and you can also implement their techniques into your practice and repertoire like Franklin did with his writing.

CONTENT

1. For pictures, use the New York Times Learning Network. Here they have a fantastic range of images that you can practise talking about spontaneously.
2. Books: Any book to talk about a word. The Internet works too...
3. Objects: From your house, work or the street.
4. Television/media: For thinking what you would say when others are speaking. You can do this in meetings too.
5. Micro-responses: Here is a PDF of some questions with micro-responses that natives typically use: English_Spontaneity_Flashcards.pdf​

A CHALLENGE

Do your workout! Spend five minutes every day practising for spontaneous speech. You can do this by choosing some of the activities from above. This training will prepare you for the unpredictabilities of real-world conversations and will help you to feel more comfortable and confident because you will be able to react to any situation...

You just need to start...

(A great place to start is the 5-5-5 Progress Plan).

AN INSPIRING QUOTE

"Spontaneity is a meticulously prepared art." Oscar Wilde.

You can prepare for everything...

You just need to start...

If you really want to learn English, you can also read the How to (finally) learn English book:

​https://benpalmercoach.com/books/​

Out now on Amazon!

Find out more at https://benpalmercoach.com/​

Until next week,

Ben

PS: Keep learning!