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How To Improve Your English Listening

Listening is one of the most difficult skills in English. Sometimes English is difficult to understand because people use words and phrases you don’t know, and other times it can be difficult because people speak fast and change the sounds of the words. But listening is also an area which you can improve in just… Read More

How To Keep An English Success Diary

If you have a big English goal like “become a fluent English speaker”, write down all your successes and achievements.When you do this, you can see that you’re making progress. It’s motivating to see where you started, the challenges you faced, and the successes that made you feel good. Here’s how you can keep an… Read More

How To Use AI To Develop Your English

AI (Artificial Intelligence) is a fantastic way to improve your English quickly and easily. The advantage of AI is that it can get you information immediately, so you don’t need to spend a lot of time searching through the internet or books. Find out how you can get started with a popular AI tool, and… Read More

Why Pronunciation Makes Us Anxious

Why does pronunciation – and English pronunciation – make us feel anxious? Why do we feel more vulnerable when we speak, compared to when we write, for example? My story of “pronunciation shame” This is a story of my experience as an Italian learner. The company where I worked was designing an Italian course for… Read More

How To Understand Discussions In English

It’s difficult to understand discussions where there are lots of people (often from different countries) and where there’s a lot of background noise. Here are some things that can help you understand more of what you hear – so that you can take part in discussions more easily. Understanding fast English In faster discussions, words… Read More

My Top 3 Podcast Episodes

In April 2022 I started my podcast SmartEnglishCoach especially for people at an advanced level of English. The podcast episodes are about 10 minutes long, and they’re short coaching sessions to help with English fluency and confidence. There’s a new episode every week. So far, we’ve looked at mindset, strategy and learning tips. But what… Read More

What English Native Speakers Really Mean

Native speakers don’t always say what they mean. Sometimes this is because they want to be polite, and sometimes it’s because they don’t want to admit that they’re wrong, or that they don’t know something. Instead of using a direct phrase, they say something that seems politer. Unfortunately, these phrases can be the opposite of… Read More