In my opinion, as a teacher for over 11 years, the elements below hold the key to English fluency:

I specialise in getting getting more sophisticated business expressions into your active vocabulary, so that you can sound really professional when speaking naturally without thinking.

Whenever we train your spoken English, I always strive to move the conversation to topics related to your work.  This means that we can simulate conversations that you might have in your job position.  During this discussion, if I think that there is a better word or expression to the word that you have said, I always suggest this word as an alternative.  Sometimes a student already knows the word, which means that it is comfortably in their passive vocabulary but not in their active vocabulary.  Every word that I suggest from our speaking is added to a Google Doc such as the one in the link below:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1whaBU-3Pp_xWtq5e2XhiMhQTY39sqceUb9n_lRoo4dE/edit

The 3-step process to getting new vocabulary into your active speaking

• • Review the word through sentences
    • At the beginning of each lesson, I always review some old vocabulary by making sentences.  It is important not only to review vocabulary from the previous lesson, but to review vocabulary from 5 lessons ago, 10 lessons ago etc. to keep everything fresh.  I normally around 10 random words and phrases throughout our Google Document to make sentences.

• • Use the word in guided speaking
    • I then make a list of around 5 or 6 phrases on my board, and my job then is to guide the discussion towards using one of those phrases in our discussion.  If the student manages to use the phrase, I do a tick on the board, and we see how many new phrases the student can use in active speaking. Each lesson, we try to improve on the total number of new phrases that we use in active speaking. I also consistently use these phrases in my speaking, so that the student is constantly hearing the word used in context.

• • Use the word in your free speaking
    • Once we have established a habit of attempting to use new vocabulary in our speaking, what usually happens is that students start using new words automatically in their speaking without thinking.  Soon you will be using words from 5 lessons ago or 10 lessons ago automatically.

I believe that one of the main reasons for this is the way that grammar is usually taught.  Many types of courses spend 1 lesson on 1 grammar topic, and then they ignore that grammar topic for a further 6 months before covering it again.

In my opinion, when it is clear that a student understands the grammar, it needs to be continuously reviewed so that it can be used correctly in active speech.  Grammar is the same as vocabulary.  It is a whole different level from knowing a grammar topic to being able to use it in active speaking.

If a student makes certain grammar mistakes continuously, I add these to a Google Doc, which I update at the end of each lesson.  One example can be found in the link below:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1whaBU-3Pp_xWtq5e2XhiMhQTY39sqceUb9n_lRoo4dE/edit

Then at the beginning of each lesson, I review 5 or 6 grammar points from the document with some mini 5-minute exercises.

Practice the grammar point with 1 or 2 spoken sentences, then immediately train a separate grammar point with 1 or 2 sentences. When this is repeated over a series of lessons, it will gradually improves your agility to use correct grammar without thinking about it. Of course, in a normal spoken sentence, there may be several grammar points that you need to think about at one time, and this is where the quick-fire exercises really help.

For each grammar point that a student gets wrong, there are certain hints which can help them to get this grammar point right.  In certain cases, I can write these hints on the board, and then help to move the conversation towards using one of these grammar points.  This helps the student to slowly begin to implement more accurate grammar in active English.

The key here is to find specific situations when these grammar structures can be used in the types of discussions you have.

For example, many students say that they cannot use conditional sentences in their speaking.  The "2nd conditional" is great for talking about something which is not good now, but could be better in the future.  For example:

"If we had a bigger budget, we would be able to expand the company."

When we talk in business about something which is not good now, but could be better in the future, we are normally talking about the fact that we don't have enough of something, and we want more of it.  It means that a lot of conditional sentences used in business begin with the phrase:

"If we had more.....we would....."

As a teacher, I can move a conversation to talking about something which you would like more of, and it can help to get conditional sentences into your active speaking.

These different hints can be used with all grammar points, and by moving the conversation towards these hints, we can get them into your active speaking.

 

Another area that students have problems with is "complex sentences".  Many advanced English learners still feel like they only use simple sentences in their speaking.  There are some areas that we can train again and again in order to get more complex sentences into your active speaking;

1. 1. [Verb + preposition + ing]  structure
   2. Use of 'the fact that'
   3. Use of 'whereby' and 'in which'

Again, with consistent training of these, and attempting to use the phrases 'the fact that' and 'whereby' etc. we can gradually form a habit of using more complex sentences automatically.

• • Moving words from passive vocabulary into active vocabulary
    • This automatically gives you a wider range of vocabulary that you can use in active speaking, meaning that you are less likely to need to search for new words.
  • Training in finding synonyms spontaneously
    • One key aspect about training fluency is to train students to think of a more simple word as quickly as possible to keep the discussion flowing. If a student can't think of an appropriate word in speaking, we always try to find an immediate synonym before learning a new word.  This reflex is a real key to eliminating pauses.  I sometimes do exercises with this with students in order to train this reflex, whereby I give a certain complex word, and you have to find as many synonyms that you can think of for that word within 30 seconds.  This improves general agility and quick-thinking.
  • Improving your ability to build complex sentences in active speaking
    • Sometimes English learners start a sentence and they don't know how to finish it.  This is often due to the fact that the speaker is not familiar with verb patterns, or is not aware of certain "cheat codes" to build complex sentences whilst sounding professional at the same time.  Training verb patterns as well as the use of other phrases including 'the fact that' and 'whereby' can really boost fluency.
  • Improving your ability to think quickly in English under pressure
    • If you struggle to speak fluently in challenging situations such as business meetings or interviews, I can help to simulate those situations through role-plays.  With all of my students and classes, I research their job positions thoroughly, so that I can participate in meaningful discussion about their work.  This also allows me to create role-plays specifically tailored to your role.  It also allows me to disagree and challenge the student in a discussion in order to simulate a more pressurized environment in English.
  • Improving your ability to think quickly under pressure
    • Another way to simulate a pressurized environment is to do an speaking exercise with a time limit. How confident are you in your ability to speak about any topic for one minute in English?  One exercise that I like to do with students is what I call "rapid topic switching", whereby I take a random topic, and the student has to tell me whatever they can about that topic within the space of 1 minute.  Maybe you don't know so much about the topic, but the exercise is to think of something to say regardless, and to think under pressure. After 1 minute, we switch to a completely different topic, and then a completely different one.  I often like to do this exercise at the end of a lesson.  It can be quite fun, and it trains the student or the class to think quickly in English under pressure.

Confidence is so important in fluency, and as a teacher it is one of my most important roles to explain to students exactly what they are doing right as well as what they are doing wrong.  I make an extra effort to explain to students when they are speaking in exactly the same way as a native speaker would speak.

I also make an effort to demonstrate to you that your fluency is progressing.  During speaking training with my students, I am consistently making notes of all areas of vocabulary and grammar that a student is now using correctly after they were using it incorrectly before.  I also make a note of every time a student uses a word which is on our vocabulary list.  I count up the number of new words and new grammar points that a student has used each lesson, and we see if we can beat that number each time. I adds extra motivation and confidence if a student sees that they have used 10 new words in their active speaking without my help.

How much do lessons cost?

The price is made for each individual lesson, with a discount for packages of 5 lessons or 10 lessons

Due to the fact that lessons are specifically adapted to your personal English goals and needs, there is no fixed length to the course.    This is the same for group lessons.  Courses can be put together, for which we can specify a specific course length, or alternatively we can run lessons continuously.

It is possible to pay for as many lessons in advance as you like.  It is also possible just to pay for 1 lesson at a time at the beginning.

You don't have to pay anything until we have spoken in a free 30-minute consultation.

Alternatively, email me at [email protected] for more information!