STARTING OUT At the beginning of your journey you learn a lot of vocabulary, but you THINK IN AND TRANSLATE FROM YOUR OWN LANGUAGE. That's because you still have to make common set phrases automatic, so you can use them spontaneously, without hesitation and with a clear pronunciation. To MAKE FREQUENT PHRASES AUTOMATIC it is not enough to simply expose yourself to the language. You need to know: - what to focus on - how to practise so you can remember in the long term - follow a training routine - learn how to deal with mistakes, uncertainty and misunderstandings. If you'd like to make language automatic and gain speaking confidence, let's talk!
GOING UP At this point you have the basic vocabulary and grammar to MAKE YOURSELF UNDERSTOOD. Still, you mostly think in your own language. This makes your SPEAKING SLOW and your interaction with fluent and native speakers difficult, uncomfortable, sometimes embarassing. At this stage what you need is not more vocabulary and more grammar. What you really need is to FOCUS ON ACTIVATING the VOCABULARY AND GRAMMAR YOU ALREADY KNOW but cannot use accurately and fast enough in real-life situations. The FluencyRoutine method takes you through specific language activation steps: Understand-Activate-Use. If you'd like to speed up your speaking and gain clarity and confidence, let's talk!
STUCK IN THE MIDDLE Have you been practising with some regularity without making any significant progress? Still MAKING THE SAME MISTAKES over and over again? At this stage you might feel frustrated and a bit discouraged. You might even start blaming the lack of time or talent. I'm afraid you are stuck in the so-called "intermediate plateau". And the truth is that neither more time nor talent alone will get you unstuck. What will then? CLARITY: you need to clearly identify what is holding you back and slows you down. INTENTIONAL PRACTICE: specific techniques to help you overcome exactly those aspects that keep you stuck MINDSET TRAINING: develop tolerance to discomfort, fight procrastination and limiting beliefs, break bad habits and build good ones. If you'd like to get unstuck from this stationary stage, let's talk!
FLUENCY TURNING POINT You've managed to get past the intermediate plateau and now the progress to overall fluency feels slower, simply because it is a matter of FINE-TUNING: making small adjustments, adding natural expressions and structures, working on fast speech pronunciation and intonation. If you'd like to fine-tune your English to reach overall fluency and go beyond, let's talk!
FLUENCY and BEYOND You THINK DIRECTLY IN ENGLISH and are confidently using daily-life natural expressions and structures that can express accurately and fluently your thoughts. You now FEEL CONFIDENT enough to actually listen to people, you understand almost every word they say, enjoy having a conversation, without worrying about your turn to speak. Is there anything else beyond overall fluency? Yes, there is: COMMUNICATION IN BUSINESS CONTEXTS. When you need to give a speech, make a presentation, negotiate, attend meetings or job interviews, you need to acquire and practise the adequate formal language you need to perform at your best under pressure. If you'd like to be able to perform in business-related contexts as effectively as in your own native language let's talk!
3. GET UNSTUCK
There is a certain point in the language learning process when you might reach a learning plateau: you keep practising without making any significant progress. What can help you get over this stagnation point?  - Clearly identify what is holding you back, what slows you down and what you need to unlearn before you learn - Follow a weekly routine targeting specific fluency-related aspects (pronunciation of connected speech, intonation, sentence structure, etc.) If you are 'stuck in the middle' (see fluency stages), this programme is for you.
4. COMMUNICATE AT WORK
You need to give a speech, make a presentation, negotiate, attend meetings or job interviews. - Learn how to communicate using different degrees of formality - Learn specific communicative functions (how to express opinions, how to disagree politely, how to be persuasive, how to make suggestions, how to offer advice, how to reject an offer, etc.) Apply all this to scenario-based activities related to each of the above mentioned work-related contexts. No matter your fluency stage, if you need to use English for Work, this programme is for you. It can be applied to your fluency stage needs.
1. BUILD UP SPEAKING FLUENCY
2. UNDERSTAND FAST SPEECH
Simply exposing yourself to the language will not necessarily increase your confidence when interacting with fluent speakers. What will then? - Learning how to deal with mistakes and misunderstandings. - Focusing on making high-frequency language automatic. - Activating your passive vocabulary and grammar: words and structures you know but cannot use spontaneously and confidently. - Working on pronunciation of connected speech as part of a specifically designed weekly routine. If you are in the first 2 stages of fluency ('starting out' and 'going up'), this programme is for you.
If you have never or insufficiently been exposed to natural fast speech, then most probably you find challenging and frustrating listening to and understanding native or fluent speakers. What can improve your understanding? - Learning how to deal with uncertainty - Knowing what to focus on when listening to fast speech - Training your guessing skills: a combination of grammar, vocabulary and sounds knowledge - Improving your pronunciation of connected speech (sounds that blend), - Becoming aware of natural speech contractions, overall intonation and rhythm. - Following a weekly routine specifically designed to develop all of the above skills. No matter what your fluency stage is, if you want to be able to understand and confidently interact with fluent and native speakers, this programme is for you.