There are two aspects to successful communication. The first is making yourself understood. The second is understanding the other person. In order to be a good communicator in English, you need to develop both.
So, when you are speaking in English with somebody you should check and be clear that you understand correctly. This even more important when you can’t see the other person’s face, such as on the telephone.
Here’s a simple interactive exercise you can use to test yourself or review the language from the video. It’s an easy game, click on the ? symbol to see the instructions.
If you have any questions about this exercise, leave a comment below.
One of the most common reasons people need to improve their English is so they can socialise and network with other people. In the business world, these other people are colleagues, customers and clients – both current and future.
Barney and his regular collaborator, Pete Sharma, wrote a book called Networking in English. It is full of language and advice about how to be a more effective networker.
In the introduction to the book, Pete and Barney list nine skills a language student needs to be a good socialiser and communicator in social situations.
You are able to express yourself fairly fluently.
You have the vocabulary to speak about a range of topics.
You have reasonably accurate basic grammar.
You have fairly good listening skills, and have strategies to deal with problems like listening to fast speech and catching the main message.
You have a knowledge of the same kinds of communication strategies used by good native speaker communicators, such as an understanding of non-verbal communication.
You know the typical forms of interaction in various social situations, such as in a restaurant, and can use a good range of appropriate and useful phrases.
You speak with clear pronunciation.
You are sensitive to cultural differences between you and people from other parts of the world.
How would you rate yourself for each of these skills? Be honest. Many people speaking English for business can talk with confidence about their companies, products and services but do not have enough vocabulary to make small talk. Some people are able to talk and talk and talk but find it difficult to understand when other people are talking, especially at noisy social events. Other people find socialising with people from other countries and cultures stressful because they are unsure about differences in acceptable behaviour.
Here are a few videos and activities you can use to test or develop your knowledge and skills.
Listen to two conversations between people meeting each other in social situations. They use a lot of standard phrases. Notice the questions they ask and the answers they give. Think about the questions and answers you would give in the same situation.
The rules of small talk are simple and easy to remember but how do you apply them in English? Watch our video. Notice how the people in the video respond in the wrong way. Pause the video and think about how you would reply before seeing the answer we gave.
Everywhere you go in the world, the restaurants of France, the cafés of Italy, the diners of America, the hawker centres of Singapore and the pubs of Britain, there are rules and vocabulary unique to those places that are ‘natural’ to local people but confusing to visitors from other countries.
Try our short quiz about the vocabulary used in British pubs, what it means and how we use it. What vocabulary and advice would you give to a visitor to your country?
The Old Thatch Tavern pub in Stratford upon Avon – drawing by Barney Barrett
Pubs are an important part of British culture.
How much do you know about the language of pubs?
Test yourself by watching our new video.
There are six questions. Use the comment box at the bottom of this page to tell us how many you got right.
Of course, the most important thing we do in the pub is make conversation. Watch our video on the rules of small talk for advice on how to start and keep a conversation going.
After last week’s video about saying large numbers, we now have a video that focuses on saying small numbers.
Did you know there is more than one way to say the number 0? What are the important pronunciation points to consider when you say fractions like 3/4? Watch the video to find out.
stratfordteachers.com 