If you regularly find yourself browsing the English teaching side of YouTube, you have
probably already seen there’s a lot of advice about how you can understand native English speakers.
Which, of course, is a big challenge in and of itself, but there’s the other side of the coin as well.
Have you ever asked yourself...
“Can native English speakers understand ME when I speak?”
“Do people easily understand exactly what I mean when I speak?”
“Does my pronunciation ever get in the way of communication?”
I’m a language learner myself.
I live in Spain.
And this is something that I think about all the time.
Here’s a comment a viewer left in one of our recent videos:
In this lesson we’re going to explore this topic together.
What is it that causes a breakdown in communication?
We’re going to look into what could be supporting a language barrier between you and the person
you’re speaking to, and of course how to bring it down once and for all.
Because here at RealLife English we guide you through your frustrations while learning English
So that you can understand and be understood by anyone to allow you to connect to the world!
Just like Tamanna who says that before she did not understand native speakers but now can understand them.
So to continue learning with us and be notified when we have a new lesson
Make sure you hit the subscribe button and bell down below
In this video we’ll explore Challenges,
Something that doesn’t have anything to do with you, but rather it’s an attitude
that certain native speakers might have, and how you should react to it.
Next we’ll talk about pronunciation, is it holding you back?
Paraphrasing and discourse markers.
Elements of Communication.
So, let’s start by stepping back and having a look at the challenges we might be facing
that contribute to the language barrier.
There are a few things, like:
The fear of making mistakes…
One of our students from the Fluency Circle said this:
“Sometimes it takes a lot of courage to speak in English, especially when I am speaking
or sharing my thoughts during discussions in meetings and I see people who are really good at grammar.
Sometimes I don’t share my thoughts because I don’t want to be embarrassed in front of them.”
Can you relate to that?
Do you feel the same way?
A lot has been written about second language anxiety and the debilitating effect it has on your speaking.
It is a very real thing that contributes to the language barrier.
Now, in my opinion, there are two ways you work on this.
Let’s say it’s a spectrum, where you have English with mistakes here and perfect English here.
So, the road map to success seems simple enough, just work on your grammar and you’re going
to advance towards perfect English.
Well, it’s not that simple.
There’s this other spectrum, where on one end you have fear and on the other you have confidence.
It’s not that you need to take this big leap and all of a sudden be super confident,
but just with small baby steps you can put some distance between you and that state of
fear and get closer to confidence.
When you do this, you can now stop feeling bad about your mistakes, and instead use them
to your advantage and learn from them.
This way, you gain confidence but not in a way that will allow you to be an absolute
extroverted person, just the necessary level of confidence that will allow
you to be yourself, be present and enjoy the English speaking situation.
This is how you gain empowerment and your English becomes better.
You will make fewer mistakes.
People will understand you more.
Hadar from The Accent’s Way shared some similar thoughts about this when we interviewed her on Beyond Borders.
Positive thoughts generate positive feelings, and positive feelings lead to take action.
It's easier to take action when you feel better than when you feel depressed or insecure.
So, when you are insecure and you allow those thoughts to consume you, you are less likely to take
real action that will actually change the results in your life.
So when you are positive, you actually take action and you dare more.
When you have more confidence, you speak more.
Someone said:
“It’s not surprising that practicing talking can make you better at talking.”
So, this is a rather amusing quote because it’s so obvious, yet sometimes us language
learners need to be reminded of that.
After watching this video, go watch this other one here where I talk about the 3 activities
that you need to learn English better.
Other challenges that you might be facing are:
Learning English is a lengthy process... and so what do I say to this?
Be patient and compassionate with yourself.
Rome wasn’t built in a day, as they say right?
You might be lacking proper support.
It’s a lot easier to learn being part of a community of learners that are on the same journey.
You might have limited opportunities.
You can become part of a community and have more opportunities to speak, for example,
with the app we’ve developed.
With the RealLife App, you will not only be able to practise your listening
skills by listening to our Podcast with the transcript, but you'll also be able to connect
to other English learners from around the world and practice your speaking while discovering
other cultures in fun, dynamic, short conversations.
The best part?
It is absolutely free!
So download it now by clicking the link down in the description or just search for the
RealLife English App in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
I look forward to seeing you there!
Now, let’s move on to the next section where I want to talk about the attitude of certain
native speakers, and also about your mindset.
You might be able to relate more to this if you live in an English speaking country, or
work in a company where English is the main spoken language.
I actually just want to touch on this very briefly because it’s a rather sad part of reality.
On the other hand, I do want to focus on your mindset and how to react to it, when or if this happens.
One major reason that native English speakers don’t understand you doesn’t have anything to do with you.
The reality is that it might depend on how much attention a native English speaker is
willing to devote to understand you and also on how far from their normal experience of
English your speaking is.
Some people are simply close-minded and they might even not like the sound of a foreign accent.
We live in a globalized world and understanding is a two-way street.
It’s not only your job to learn how to understand native English speakers, it is also their
job to learn to understand a foreign accent.
If you spend time in online forums about learning English or other languages, it’s very unlikely
you'll encounter people with a negative reaction to foreign accents.
But going back to the unfortunate event of you possibly having to deal with a closed-minded
person, my advice is that you develop what we call a thick skin (or to be thick-skinned).
This means you’re not bothered by criticism and you're mentally tough.
When you deal with a situation where you’re mocked maybe because your pronunciation isn’t
perfect, the question ultimately is what it is in your power to change.
You can’t change what someone might think about but you have control over how you can
react to a negative experience like that.
Also, if you recognize the areas of your English that you can work on and take action, you
possess a mindset that allows you to grow.
This leads me to my next point about your mindset.
In case you don’t know, mindset is…
Your general attitude, and the way in which you think about things and make decisions.
There’s something that psychologists call “growth mindset.”
People with a growth mindset believe talent comes through effort.
They believe anyone can be good at anything; that their abilities can be developed through
dedication, perseverance, and the right strategy.
They believe in the power of yet.
They’ll say, “I’m not there yet” which means I have not achieved a certain level
at something, but one day I will.
I know this because I’ll work hard for it.
An English learner with a growth mindset will say things like:
I can do it if I try hard enough!
How can I learn from my mistakes?
A learner with a growth mindset usually views failure as a learning opportunity, a challenge
as a chance to grow, and feedback as a constructive way to improve.
When you see things through the lenses of growth, you see effort as an essential ingredient
on the path to mastery.
When you see others do great things with their English, you find inspiration in them.
And you think about what lessons you could take from their success.
If you’d like to learn more about growth mindset and the immense impact it can have
on your learning and your life, check out the lesson I made on the topic by watching it next.
I’ll link it up here and down in the description.
My next point is, could pronunciation be holding you back? We all know.
The pronunciation of English isn’t easy.
When you learn English you have to master its intonation patterns, but sometimes the
intonation patterns of your first language get in the way, right?
And you might say it with a certain melody, or rhythm, or stress patterns that are different
from what people expect to hear.
So, there are three key aspects of pronunciation that you need to master if you want to be
more fluent in English and in that way be better understood.
There are some key aspects of pronunciation that you need to master if you want to become
a fluent English speaker.
These are: rhythm, intonation, stress and connected speech.
Rhythm is the speed and cadence of how you say a sentence.
For example, don't-say-each-word-at-the-same-speed.
Now, the rhythm of English might be very different to the rhythm of your native language, so
it's important to learn the unique rhythm of English.
Think of rhythm as syllables and a beat.
So, if the rhythm is made up of beats, intonation is the melody of the language.
You can learn more about the different patterns of intonation, stress and connected speech in this video.
Paraphrasing and discourse markers
You can think of fluency as ”smooth, rapid, effortless use of language” and “natural
language use” or language that is “spoken easily and without many pauses.”
I also usually like to explain it as, when you're fluent you don't get stuck--when you
don't know a word or how to say something, you have the capacity to explain it in another
way so the person can understand you.
This is basically what paraphrasing is.
Not knowing a word that is key for the message you’re trying to communicate is going to
break the conversation.
However, that won’t happen if you know how to work your way around a word.
For example, you might describe a profession by saying…
“The person who works in a hospital and helps a doctor…”
The other person then will know you’re talking about a nurse.
Maybe I’ll say “the place where people go when they want to buy things…”
Oh, I know what you mean, a store…
No, it’s bigger and you can buy all kinds of different things there, especially food.
Oh, a supermarket!
Give this video a like if you want a dedicated lesson on paraphrasing, which is a super important
skill for English learners.
So, while paraphrasing allows you to describe a word that you can’t remember at a certain
moment, discourse markers help you connect, organize and manage what you say.
They can help you convey subtle details and show the listener how to interpret what the
speaker is saying.
Common discourse markers are: well, so, look, kind of, like, alright, you know, anyway,
actually, now, I mean.
They’re so much a part of fluent speech that it’s hard to imagine a fluent speaker
that doesn’t use them.
We have a very entertaining lesson on Learn English with TV series, so if you want to
learn more about that I recommend you check it out after this lesson!
Elements of communication
My fifth and last point is about communication.
What does it take to communicate with another person?
One thing you’ll find is that we communicate much more than with our words.
In face-to-face communication our words are only part of the message.
This is not so much related to the fact that you’re speaking English as a second language
as the previous points because communication goes beyond the use of words.
However, it can be what helps you, or assists in your efforts to get your message across.
Many studies point out that non-verbal aspects of communication such as tone of voice and
gestures communicate more than words that are spoken.
Here’s a demonstration on how tone changes the meaning of a sentence completely.
I’ll say a sentence 7 times, and each time I’ll emphasize a different word.
Because of this, the meaning of the sentence changes.
I didn’t say he borrowed my book. She did.
I DIDN'T say he borrowed my book.
This is not true.
I didn’t SAY he borrowed my book.
I said something else.
I didn’t say HE borrowed my book.
She did.
I didn’t say he BORROWED my book.
He outright took it without asking.
I didn’t say he borrowed MY book.
He borrowed your book.
I didn’t say he borrowed my BOOK.
He borrowed my notebook.
The other major non-verbal way in which we communicate is through our body language.
It’s easy to not think about what we’re saying with our body, but it plays a huge
role on how we say something.
This includes:
Facial expressions The way we’re standing or sitting
Gestures with our arms or hands Eye contact (or lack thereof)
Blushing Fidgeting
The great thing about body language as a second language speaker is that you can use it as
a tool that helps you compensate for something you can’t express well with words.
Here’s some of the biggest takeaways from
this video: Don’t be afraid of mistakes.
Learn from them.
This way you can improve and be a more confident English speaker.
Build a thick skin.
If someone mocks you for your pronunciation, don’t let it bring you down.
Have a growth mindset by practicing dedication and perseverance.
Paraphrase when you can’t remember a word and use discourse markers to convey more subtle
details, as well as to organize and manage what you say.
Remember that words aren’t everything!
Tone and body language are also important.
Lastly, if pronunciation is holding you back, work on your rhythm, intonation, stress and connected speech.
In fact, I’m going to invite you to watch the lesson where we go deep into this topic.
In that lesson I talk about the role pronunciation has in connected speech and whether or not accent matters.