Do you ever feel like you can't be yourself in English?
So I'm a native English speaker and I speak two languages,
So I'm bilingual. But to be honest with you, I cannot say
that I'm as natural in Afrikaans as I am in English.
I just feel more myself when I speak English.
What I mean by this is that I'm limited when I speak Afrikaans
because my vocabulary is not that great.
Actually, I'm not even sure I used the correct word
for "shot" or film in Afrikaans, but it's OK.
He got the message.
It's just not quite as good.
I don't feel quite as comfortable.
But that does not mean that I'm not myself.
How about you?
When you speak English, are you able to express yourself
and show your personality in the same way you would in your native language?
So I asked this question to four non-native English speakers
from Japan, Turkey, Ukraine and Brazil.
I think you'll be pretty surprised to hear their answers!
So stick around for today's lesson, because I'll share six
tips that you can use immediately to start feeling
comfortable more yourself while speaking English.
But before we get started each week, we create lessons like this to help
you go from feeling like a lost and insecure English learner
to being a confident and natural English speaker.
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So what Yui just said is very important.
She mentioned that she has a Japanese mindset and an English mindset.
But that doesn't mean that she's not being herself when she speaks English.
What it means is that when she speaks English, she's basically
adding to who she already is in Japanese.
So as you develop your vocabulary, as you start to learn new ways
to express yourself, you realize that you're not quite
the same person that you were when you started learning the language.
But as your English level progresses outside of the classroom
and this could be through things like watching YouTube videos
being on Instagram, your favorite movies, TV shows in English,
you'll start to notice that you start to form a deeper connection
with the language that goes beyond just learning new vocabulary.
And this is when you start to feel more like yourself.
Understanding the nuances of the language can sometimes
help you express yourself even better in English than in your native tongue.
And she's able to, by using this one word, express a part of her personality
much more easily in English than she would in her native tongue.
As your vocabulary develops and you start to feel more connected
to the language you can play around with different personality traits
you have all want to have, and transfer those
from your native language to English, for example, if you're quite funny
in your native language and you want to transfer this to English,
you could practice telling jokes in English, or perhaps
watch a comedy special in English without subtitles. You could even take note
of how the comedian tells the jokes and try to replicate that in English.
On the other hand,
if there's a personality trait that you would like to develop in English,
perhaps you're quite shy in your native language
and you want to sound more confident in English.
You could start by learning expressions or phrases
that make you sound confident in English.
I love what Esra is saying here.
Mistakes are a natural part of life.
And as NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal says,
before you can succeed, you must first learn to fail.
What this means is that we all make mistakes.
And making mistakes means that you're trying.
And in order to improve and become successful,
we need to learn from those mistakes.
It's important for you to not take yourself too seriously.
Embrace the silliness of learning a new language.
No one is born being a perfect speaker.
One benefit of embracing the silliness is that it allows you to become vulnerable.
And what I mean by this is that you start to feel OK with the fact
that making mistakes is a natural part of learning anything.
And once you feel OK with it,
you start to feel more courageous, more daring, more willing to try
new things like applying for a job in English or traveling abroad
without any worry or frustration or anxiety about using the language
when speaking with native speakers.
And once you feel courageous, you start to feel more confident
because you're going out there, you're trying new things, you're meeting
new people, you are experiencing
life using your English.
And once you've achieved
that level of confidence, it will help push you towards your goals.
Whether that means success at school, at work, or life in general.
And once you've done that, congratulate yourself.
No matter where you are on your English learning journey, whether you're
still starting out, you're an intermediate or you're an advanced level student.
You need to congratulate yourself for your hard work
because learning a language is not easy.
Be sure to celebrate your strengths.
Why not make a list of all the things you do well in English
and then continue to keep it up to date?
The example that Ksenia mentioned is awesome.
So she improved her vocabulary by watching TV series and movies
and of course you could do the same.
Another method you could try is to improve your vocabulary in specific areas.
For example, if you enjoy sport, you could learn more
about sport phrases, or you could watch sport only in English.
For example, if you're a gamer, you might take part in online
tournaments where you can engage with English speakers.
It's important to try to align the things that you love doing
and the things that you're interested in with your English studies.
This way, it doesn't really feel like work.
It just feels like a natural organic learning process.
So it doesn't feel like
you have to get up and go and do something in order to learn the language.
The language actually naturally becomes part of your life.
So in order to live your English,
you need to learn about things that you actually like.
This could mean joining groups of people to talk about similar interests
or to learn from people who have different opinions or different views on life.
This will make you feel more comfortable and confident when you speak English.
Before you continue watching, why not pause the video and let us know
down in the comments: Do you feel like you can be yourself in English?
Share your answer in the comments below and why not add an encouraging message
to the rest of the community?
So what Izzy is saying here is very, very important.
Understanding who you are will help you to understand
why you are learning English in the first place.
So if you know why you're learning English, it will help you to align
your habits.
The things that you do all the time with your goal.
For example, if you want to get a top IELTS score,
there are certain things you need to do in order to achieve that goal.
So in order for you to achieve the goal,
you start with knowing yourself.
And by knowing yourself, you understand why you're doing certain things.
Another thing he mentions is that our language shouldn't confine us.
We shouldn't be limited to our language.
We should basically feel like as we learn and grow and develop our language skills,
whether in your native language or second or third language,
we are ultimately expanding and developing
ourselves, our personality and our lives.
By knowing yourself, you can identify the main traits about yourself
you would like to share with other people when speaking English.
For example, if you're very outgoing and expressive in your native language,
you might want to learn how to do the same in English.
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