Hello there! In this week’s newsletter, I’d like to talk about how you can get by, and sound reasonably fluent, without memorizing thousands of words.
The Problem
One of my students was trying to find the English word for ensei, a Japanese word that is used to describe a “sports team tour”. He eventually found the word “expedition” and proudly declared (said) “I went on a football expedition!”
The problem is, we never say “I went on a football expedition.” It’s not natural English at all.
In fact, I would simply say, “I went to (place) to play football.”
K.I.S.S – Keep It Simple, Stupid!
In spoken English, native English speakers love to simplify the language. For example, instead of saying:
“I was exhausted because I had been working all day.”,
we would just say:
“I was so tired ’cause I was working all day.”
The KISS principle states that most systems work best if they are kept simple.
Indeed, simple English is most easily understood by both native and non-native speakers.
The 80-20 Rule
The 100 most common English words, including “a”, “the”, “to”, etc. make up about 50% of the words we use daily. But what about the rest?
Well, the 80-20 Rule tells us that 20% of your effort can give you 80% of your results.
If you focus on the most commonly used English words, you will know enough English to understand 80% of conversations and written texts.
That means you need to know the Oxford 3000 word list (PDF).
The Oxford 3000 is just 12 pages of words!
Selective Focus and Contextual Learning
At the start of this newsletter, I said you wouldn’t need to memorize thousands of words.
So, from the above word list, you can choose the most relevant (appropriate) and useful words for your specific needs, rather than trying to learn everything. This is called selective focus.
Contextual learning is when you use those words in your own, daily situations.
Speak with Confidence
When you repeatedly use the same set of words in the same situations, you will grow in confidence and your English fluency will improve. Then, little by little, you can expand on your English speaking skill set.
Remember: A strong foundation (base) is the first goal, and then you can build on that.
British English
Here are some common English phrases that mean build a base:
- Lay the groundwork
- Lay a solid foundation
- Set the stage
- Get to grips with the basics
- Start from scratch
- Build from the ground up
New Worksheets and Videos
Before I finish my cup of tea, I want to show you what I’ve made since the last newsletter:
Videos:
- Speaking Skills – “He must be…” | English Speaking Gym
Worksheets:
- Speaking Skills: Speaking Gym: He must be…
- News: Student flies to class to save on rent
- True Story: The interesting history of Bubble Wrap
Which of those catches your eye? 👁
Private Lessons
I’m still offering private lessons. If you have any suggestions on how I can make my services more appealing, please let me know.
Facebook Group
Our Nick’s English Group on Facebook is still growing! 😍 We now have 175 members. Please check it out if you haven’t already.
Behind the Scenes
Last week, my YouTube Channel for speaking practice reached 25,000 subscribers, which is amazing! Thanks everyone! 😀
Learning Chinese!
I’m really enjoying the Hello Chinese app right now. I only use it for a few minutes each day, but I’m starting to understand the basics of the language and am excited to learn more. It makes me think, maybe I can get a job in a hotel if I can speak English, Japanese and Chinese. I would love that! 😍
Wrap-up
And that’s it! Thank you for joining me for tea! If you’re enjoying my blog and would like to get new posts in your email, please subscribe. If you have friends who might like these posts, please share this link with them. I really appreciate it!
All the best,
Nick
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