“I didn’t like English lessons in school.”
Did you know that your English lessons in school (maybe 20-40 years ago) influence how you feel about speaking English at work?
Crazy, right?
— The Extra Mile: Vocabulary for this email —
(Look for the words with a “ * ” ):
It blows my mind = I’m extremely impressed, surprised, and/or amazed by it
High-stakes situations : Important situations
To chill out = to relax by doing an activity that is calm and pleasant
It blows my mind* how the brain works when you learn English!
For example, if you lack confidence when you speak business English today, the reason why may be in your past!
Maybe your brain was programmed to feel nervous, uncomfortable, or stressed when you speak English in high-stakes situations.*
If you:
- feel good when you chill out* watching movies in English, but
- feel nervous when you speak English at work, and
- you want to know why…
…watch this episode! There’s some fascinating brain science in it!
Let’s explore this topic together
Maybe you had a good experience with past English lessons. Maybe you had a bad experience. Either way, I want to hear your story!
→ How were your English lessons in the past? And do you think they influence how you feel about speaking English at work today?
Share your accomplishments with us in the comments!
It’ll be fascinating to read stories from around the world!
Have a good week,
Christina
P.S. This month, I’m experimenting to make them more interactive, and to help you learn more advanced expressions faster.
Watch the video to discover this new approach, and tell me if you like it (or not!) Thanks!
More good stuff...
Click the image to learn more
Hi Christina.
I just read your email. Honestly, when I was in secondary school, I was not interested in English that much. I used to learn preterite, and that was the only thing I was good at talking about English. I don’t even remember that I once make a whole sentence in class. Now I am in college and four years ago I knew how important English was and then I decided to make it part of my daily routine. I live in a French speaking country, which makes it appear like rocket science, but as I am now able to communicate with people by writing or speaking even if it’s not as fluent as I want to, I know I made some progress and I intend to keep up the good work. Now I am more than a simple learner for I became passionate about it. What really tires me is my little perfectionist side, tending to say everything right, with the perfect accent, the perfect words and the perfect grammar. It drives me crazy but it just like part of me so that I don’t even know how to get rid of it.
Sometimes, I choose to say nothing when I think I don’t have the words to express my feelings or my idea. That’s totally crazy, right ? I know that’s it.
Hi Didier, It’s not crazy at all! It’s actually very common, and a lot of people do this too. But one of my missions is to help people overcome this fear, to “feel the fear and do it anyway”! Even if you make mistakes, you can learn from the mistakes. You can get a little more courage each time you try. And the more you try, the easier it will become. And maybe at some point, you realize that you need some help to reach a higher level. But if you never try, you’ll never know! So I always try to help people feel more confident about trying, even if it’s a little scary!