Hi there.
Today I'm going to talk about fluency in English.
You will already be working on your 'mental fluency' because you are
using Adept English to help you learn.
But let's talk about a different type of fluency today and some
exercises which will help you arrive at 'physical fluency'.
Don't know what that is?
I'll explain.
So listen on to find out.
So at Adept English, we encourage you to learn English the natural way through
listening with our Listen & Learn method.
That's why we provide you with all this lovely English
language listening material.
The idea is that I help you with the difficult words and you understand
most of what I'm saying and you get great listening practice.
It works as long as you can understand at least 70% of what
I'm saying 'on first listen'.
And I aim to make it interesting, so I give you 'juicy' topics,
things which are topical to keep you listening, to keep you interested
and to make that listening easier.
If you've been doing Adept English for a while, you'll know how this
works and you'll know that it does work because you'll notice your
English has improved as a result.
What listening is doing is also preparing the ground for
fluency in speaking as well.
That's perhaps less obvious, but it is true.
You do need to practise speaking, of course.
You need to hook up these various parts of your brain.
So the understanding bit needs to learn to work, to supply your mouth
with the right words - quickly enough, when you come to speak.
And speaking practice plays its part in that.
But a lot of the preparation work for speaking fluently in English
is done through enhancing your listening and your understanding.
So we might say in this, that you are working on your 'mental fluency'.
'Mental', M E N T A L means 'of the mind'.
So you're getting your mind practiced enough to be able
to think quickly in English.
Your brain needs to be able to decode English language quickly
and supply the right words.
But there's something else that you need - another type of fluency.
So as well as 'mental fluency', you need 'physical fluency'.
That's P H Y S I C A L.
'Mental' and 'physical' are two words, which are often used to
mean opposite things in English.
So we might talk about your 'mental health', meaning 'the health of your
mind' and your 'physical health', meaning 'the health of your body'.
So 'mental fluency' is this learned ability of your brain
to understand English and supply the right words, when you come to
speak - that's your 'mental fluency'.
But you need to work also on your 'physical fluency'.
And what I mean by that is the ability of your mouth physically to make the
right sounds and make them quickly enough so that you're prepared for speaking.
The sounds that we make in English may be very different from
the ones in your own language.
There are all kinds of challenges when it comes to pronunciation.
One example, and we cover this in our course is 'Consonant Clusters'.
So that's groups of consonants.
This is a very common thing in English, and it may not be in your language.
So an example, my favourite example of a word with lots of 'Consonant
Clusters' - 'catchphrase'.
So 'catchphrase' - have a go at saying that.
There are eight consonants and only two sounded vowels in that word.
So quite a lot of 'Consonant Clusters'.
'Consonant Clusters' and many other challenges are covered in our
English Consonants Pronunciation Course, which is available to buy
on our website at adeptenglish.com.
And we currently have a 50% discount code for the summer.
So just have a look below and you'll be able to find that code.
So what about 'physical fluency'?
What kinds of things can you do to help your 'physical fluency'?
Really, it's like gymnastics for your mouth.
You've got to get your mouth moving and it's like going to the gym for your
tongue and the muscles in your mouth.
That's what we're trying to do today.
I'll give you two examples of ways that you can exercise your mouth
and attain greater physical fluency.
So one good way to do this is through speed reading.
So that's reading something out loud in English at speed.
You can practise reading out a passage in English as fast as you can.
It will be a little bit like going on a running machine for
your English speaking mouth.
It will increase the fitness of your mouth.
Let me 'have a go' myself to show what I mean.
And for a little entertainment value, maybe.
This is a passage from the Sunday Times newspaper, dated 17th of July 2022.
It's talking about a very British institution, the ice cream van and how
this is being affected by climate change.
So listen to me, have a go at speed reading.
Mr Whippy ice cream has become an integral part of the British
summer since the 1960s, but it might not be for much longer.
The majority of ice cream vans need to keep their diesel engines running
to operate their 'Whippy machines'.
But festival and fairground organizers are increasingly asking for engines to be
switched off, to reduce carbon emissions.
Councils also want engines turned off in prime spots, such as sea fronts,
harbours, playgrounds, and parks.
As a result many Mr Whippy vans can only serve scoop ice cream,
Cornettos, or lollies, which is very bad for their business.
One van owner said that at least 95% of her sales were 99s and heat waves such as
the current one are a boon for business.
And they're missing out.
Just a bit of vocabulary for that one.
Their 'whippy machines'?
Mr Whippy in the UK is a particular type of soft ice cream.
It comes out of a tap and it's the sort of ice cream that
has a little point on the top.
Whereas where they talk about 'scoop ice cream'.
So 'scoop' S C O O P - that's like a big spoon that you might
use to serve your ice cream.
So ' scoop ice cream' is a different type.
' Cornetto', C O R N E T T O is a brand name for packaged ice cream.
And what's 'a 99'?
You may well ask.
A 99 is a Mr Whippy ice cream with a chocolate flake in the top.
If you put into Google or any other search engine, 'What is a 99 ice
cream?' and click on 'Images', you'll see lots of photographs of 99s.
And a 'boon for business' in the last sentence means a
'boost', an increase in business.
So hopefully that was a good explanation for most of the words
in that speed reading passage that you might not have known.
Have a go yourself at reading that out quickly about the ice cream vans.
When you've tried, perhaps have another listen to the recording
where I do it and then try again.
You might notice your mouth feels quite exercised after you've done that.
The second good way to increase your physical fluency, to exercise your mouth,
find songs in English that you like.
There are thousands of British songs or American would do as well.
You're 'spoilt for choice', actually, in terms of British music.
British music is listened to around the world, so it's quite
probable that you already know some English music with English words.
You may have favourites even.
Even if you don't, there are plenty of songs that you can use for this
purpose to help you learn English, so singing along with lyrics
that you have heard very often.
I suggest some of the old songs or 'oldies' are often the best for this.
You could listen to Beatles songs and the lyrics or the words to the
songs are always available online.
You just need to type in 'lyrics', L Y R I C S.
And the song title into your search engine, and you will find the words to
the songs that you're familiar with.
Some of the words are surprising.
You might have misunderstood or misheard the lyrics.
But that will allow you to sing along.
Abba songs are also quite good if you want to learn English.
Yes, I know that they're Swedish, but their English, their English lyrics are
always very clear and easy to understand.
I'm sure you'll make your own choice about which English songs to listen
to, and to learn to sing along with.
But remember, this will help the muscles in your mouth develop in the right way
and you will attain greater 'physical fluency' using these two methods.
And they're quite good fun as well.
I'm not asking you to do things which are really horrible hard work, am I?!
It's not like learning vocabulary lists.
So this podcast is giving you some homework today.
Some things to be getting on with.
These are techniques, which you can add to your repertoire of things
you do to help you learn English.
Don't forget to listen to this podcast a number of times, and do
have a go at that speed reading test.
Enough for now.
Have a lovely day.
Speak to you again soon.
Goodbye.