I speak 5 languages fluently. I did NOT sit down to learn grammar and vocabulary. Neither did you when you learnt your native language as a baby. YOU LISTENED and REPEATED what you heard around you. I did NOT translate from one language to another. Neither did you when you learnt your native language as a baby YOU LISTENED and ASSOCIATED the language with everything around you I did NOT learn complicated rules. Neither did you when you learnt your native language as a baby YOU LISTENED and LEARNT complicated STRUCTURES IN CONTEXT. YOU LEARNT your vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation BY LISTENING and ABSORBING THE LANGUAGE AROUND YOU. YOU ABSORBED THE complicated GRAMMATICAL STRUCTURES IN CONTEXT. YOU PRACTISED by REPEATING, by TRIAL and ERROR. YOUR PRONUNCIATION and FLUENCY IMPROVED with REGULAR, DAILY PRACTICE. It was not boring. It was a challenge. It was exciting when you managed to say your first complete sentence as a 2 year old child. Everyone was very proud of you. This is how I learnt my 5 languages. Fully immersed in regular daily practice like a child. No boring difficult written exercises. Reading and writing came much later - when I COULD ALREADY SPEAK the languages. Just like when you were a child. You looked forward to learning how to read and write. This is how you should learn a foreign language. Just like you learnt your own native language. Just like when you were a baby. Become CONFIDENT in ENGLISH in just 10 minutes a day. Practice whilst DRIVING YOUR CAR, while you are COOKING or doing HOUSEHOLD CHORES.
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International sports events bring people from all over the world to compete together - English being their common language of interaction. Some speak it better and some speak it worse but somehow, even basic communication illustrated with explicit gestures is sufficient for them to understand each other. The real problem arises when the cameraman makes a closeup of your face while someone interviews you live about your performance. I travel around a lot to follow my children in their international speed skating events. We are just returning from Holland after an eight day European Speed Skating Championship from which I can proudly say my daughter is returning with one silver medal and one gold!! She confirmed herself European Champion in exactly the same race as she won gold in last year. A part from my children, who I made sure speak fluent English (bilingual with Italian), all the other athletes from different nations had varying degrees of difficulty and/or shyness to let themselves be interviewed. Those from Mediterranean countries having many more difficulties expressing themselves in English & so avoiding interviews or speak telegraphically: 'Yes', 'No', 'Very good', 'Very happy'. I have therefore decided to prepare some basic questions and answers with which athletes can prepare themselves to face a television camera with more confidence and answer the interview questions a little more professionally, making the interview also a little more interesting to listen to:
Interviewer (I): "Hi, you have just won a gold medal in this race. How do you feel?" ATHLETE (A): "I'm really excited. I trained really hard to reach this level and this is the result." Interviewer (I): "Was the race difficult?" ATHLETE (A): "Well, it was a little fast/slow/tricky but I managed to come first." Interviewer (I): "What are your next goals?" ATHLETE (A): "With these results I hope to be able to take part in the .... Championships." These questions were conceived to be very general so they can be used for various sports. If you have any interview questions & answers you'd like to prepare specifically for your sport then please contact me through my website or also here. Don't forget to subscribe to my blog so as not to miss any blogposts. If you'd like to improve your listening and speaking skills take a look at and subscribe to my YouTube channel. |
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AuthorMy name is Susan Brodar, born in London into a multilingual family and brought up bilingual English / Italian. Archives
December 2018
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