“Real English is different from school English” …
It’s one of the most important realizations you need, to start your journey* towards understanding real spoken English.
— The Extra Mile: Vocabulary —
(Look for the words with a “ * ” ):
To start your journey = A metaphor that means “to begin the process of learning something”
There comes a time = You always arrive at a moment where something happens
You get what they’re talking about = You understand the topic
To get tired = To become tired
There comes a time* in every learner’s life where they realize there is a gap between English lessons and real-world English.
Fast-talking Americans.
Movies without subtitles.
Conferences and professional training programs led by native speakers.
You can understand when your teacher speaks. You can follow English teachers on YouTube. You get what they’re talking about* in podcasts for learning English.
But then, when you try to follow a “real” conversation with Americans, you feel lost.
I assure you, you’re not alone!
When you get tired* of not understanding, you make a decision to change things. Yes, it is possible, but it takes more than just watching movies in English.
Today, I want to take you with me on a step-by-step journey, towards clear understanding.
But it’s not my journey.
It’s the journey of a small group of students, just like you, who learned to open their ears to real American English, understand better, and feel a lot more confident about their future in English.
What about you?
When you have goals, it’s reassuring to see that other people are also working towards their goals, and that they too sometimes face difficulties.
So comment below and share your story with us: Why do YOU want to understand English better? What opportunities or possibilities will this give you?
See you over there,
Christina
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Hi I am srivalli and living in Las Vegas I started learning English since 2017 end of the year and I was thought by good teacher who is capable to teach english I learnt many things while I was learning language I started writing daily activities he made me such a person.. and I always think about I have good foundation in grammar part, and practice made me perfect obviously, when I come to the SPEAK ENGLISH WITH CHRISTINA seriously its amazing and I was surprised to before and after deference on me. I would say it’s perfect for everyone to learn with Christina… it gave more confidence on me, I just started watching since two weeks it impacted me and I stopped translating in my mind and I am not searching any words I am just speaking just like that.. Still I want to learn a lot from SPEAK ENGLISH WITH CHRISTINA… it’s just my small opinion about you but still lot more to tell you, you just gave me a picture What have to do further. Thank you CHRISTINA
I just did a mistake I was thought by it’s not correct,, I was taught by good teacher
Hi Christina
It’s exactely that i am feeling. I have been studying english in aproximaterily 4 years, almost every day, but i don’t understand real english. Other day i tried to watch a news in CNN chanell e felt me totaly frusteded..i don’t get pratically nothing..only some words. Sometimes i think in to give up…but not yet. Thanks for hear us.. best wishes.
yes, you are right in that sense because i went through when my brother got offered me to talk one of his american friend. he was so fast in speaking and i felt out of touch. even real english is very different from what sense we think and writing something on paper in english is not even hard but speaking which is essential part of english, is meant more.
I agree, if you learn a language, you most likely need to speak and understand it when it’s spoken! I’m sorry to hear that you felt out of touch with your brother’s friend. Did you do anything after this experience to try to learn to better understand American speakers?
Hi,
Good to be on this blog. I am a doctor by profession and an ex Indian Air Force officer. I can read, write and speak English pretty well. Infact I was a trainer for accreditation of hospitals and could speak the whole day in 3 sessions.
Many people in UK had told me that I could speak and write better english then many britishers themselves.
Where I get beaten is when I speak to my grand kids who are born and being brought up in United states. We feel lost in conversation with them and they too seem to be disappointed at some stage that we can not follow them. I want to be part of conversation with them. Hence need to understand the american accent well. They understand what I say but I can’t. My goal is to understand their american accent. My understanding of UK accent is much better.
I hope to find my goal with you.
thanks and wishing you all, all the best
sudhir ketkar
Hi Sudhir, and thanks for sharing your personal story with me. It sounds like you’ve had an impressive and fulfilling career! And congrats on your English level as well 🙂
It’s quite normal if you feel that you struggle with the American accent, if you always used English with British people. The accents are very different! But hopefully, you’ll be able to get the Understand Real American English course, which helps to understand American accents much better! And of course, I also have lots of free videos on this topic as well! Best of luck to you with your improvement, and I’ll be happy to be a part of your learning process!
Hi Christina
I used to learning France in the high school and replace it,unfortunately with English,because I have worked in tyre factory and we had a join venture with American factory,well known Goodrich. So I had to improve my English in order to better did my business activity. Nowadays I am retired ,but my children and grandchildren live in the USA. The most important reason to understand American English is to have a good connection with my beloved little kids. They only speak English and I have improve my knowledge. I really enjoy listening to your lessons on Internet. Specially these days,when we were been lockdown because of coronavirus pandemic. Thank you for helping me surviving this tough time.
Hi Mirjana, Thanks for sharing your story, and I’m honored to help you be able to connect with your grandchildren in the US, really! And I hope that you’re doing well and maybe finding some kind of sense of normality in these crazy times!
I wanna learn english because i intend migrate to the USA for the master education.At the other hand understand english help me vast my world and update myself and get more information.can you say that the sentences i used above are correct?
Hi Serenay, It’s a good try, and there’s a lot of correct English in there. A more correct version would be “I want to learn English because I intend to migrate to the USA to get my master’s degree. Plus, understanding English will help me expand my horizons, develop myself, and learn more information.” Good try!