Month: June 2021

  • 5 Steps to Learn the English You Will Use the Most

    When thinking about where you should start your English learning journey, think carefully about the most common words and phrases YOU will use. This is super efficient, and it’s also why following English coursebooks is generally a terrible idea. Why?

    English language books are targeted at everyone and no one.

    What should I do then, you’re asking?

    1. Picture the situations you will get into

    Let’s start with picturing the situations you will get into as a recruiter or even in your free time. Getting to know someone, meeting people in a hotel, speaking to clients, attending Zoom meetings. You will be arguing, agreeing, giving your opinions, and talking passionately about things.

    2. Think of the vocabulary and phrases you will need in these situations

    What topics do you normally talk about with your friends? What hobbies, sports or activities do you normally do? How do you make small talk with clients?

    Write down a long introduction about yourself (in your native language). Pretend you are introducing yourself to someone who is just meeting you, and you’re saying all you can about what you love and hate, what you like to do in your spare time, find interesting, talk about, joke about. Write it all down.

    3. Learn how to express yourself in the most natural way for your personality

    To feel really natural when you speak English, it’s important to think about the phrases and expressions you normally say in your own native tongue. What do you like to say to express liking, or disappointment, great happiness, or curiosity. Start to listen to yourself and notice these expressions. Ask your friends, they will have some fun telling you!

    4. Translate it into English

    Finally, translate your writing into English. Ask a native speaker or an English coach how they might say these expressions if you are not sure. Start to memorize them and use them with enthusiasm. Have fun with it.

    5. Learn it by heart

    Now that you have your own personalized version of English, it’s time to learn it by heart. Why? Because when you memorize something, you feel sure about it, and feeling sure means feeling confident.

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  • Do You Have Limiting Beliefs about Learning English?

    First of all, what are limiting beliefs? Limiting beliefs are things we believe and tend to say to ourselves that are limiting our potential of doing better. They are usually what we think about ourselves. The most common limiting beliefs start with “I am”, “I am not”, “I don’t” and “I can’t”.

    I have no one to speak English with

    That’s ok! You can learn to speak English no matter where you live in the world as long as you have access to a computer. You can find other English learners, just like you online that want to learn English and would love to practice speaking with you. There are many language apps and websites, such as Hello Talk or iTalki, that will connect you to native speakers who want to learn your native language so that you can practice English in return.

    These apps are great for casual talk and to boost your confidence. However, the fastest way to improve is to find a specialized English coach who will help you with the specific language you need. The good news is, even this can be done 100 % online.

    I can’t remember all of the English grammar rules

    No one can remember all the grammar rules. Learning a new language is not about learning rules, it is about learning words and phrases that allow you to communicate with other people. Your grammar does not need to be perfect to be understood and start communicating. Even native English speakers do not know all of the grammar rules and make many grammar mistakes. If you want to speak English fluently, focus on speaking and listening.

    If you focus on grammar rules too much, it will make you insecure about speaking because you are thinking about mistakes you might possibly make instead of communicating with a new person. Take me as an example. I don’t know most of the Spanish grammar rules and I can still communicate pretty fluently.

    I’m afraid to make mistakes

    Mistakes are GREAT! The more mistakes you make, the faster and more you will learn. Everyone makes mistakes all the time, including me. You should try not to get hung up on feeling bad about it. I mispronounce Spanish words all the time, I mix up tenses, and cannot use the subjunctive, but in 99 % of cases, my counterparts understand me.

    The thing is, if you don’t speak because you are afraid to make mistakes, others might misinterpret your attitude and think you don’t want to talk to them. On the other hand, if you speak confidently, you will give off positive vibes and come across as more accessible, and honestly, nobody cares how many mistakes you make.

    By trying your best and focusing on learning more, you will learn English. If you focus on the negative, like telling yourself that you don’t know how to say something or that people will laugh at you if you pronounce something wrong, you are hindering or stopping your learning.

    Are you ready to challenge these beliefs? Start today. I’m rooting for you.

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  • Three Steps to Grow Your Career as a Recruiter

    As a recruiter, you might feel that you spend way too much time trying to improve your English, only to continue having trouble expressing yourself clearly and confidently.

    You’ve watched Netflix in English, studied grammar books, and even spent money on courses promising better English in a short amount of time.

    However, you’re still not at the level you want to be in your career.

    The truth is that if you keep doing what you do, you’re going to burn out before you ever reach the level of English proficiency you wanted. Instead of continuing to learn everything about English, you need to focus only on what’s important to you and your profession as a recruiter, and then improve those skills in a systematic way.

    Let me use an analogy to help you understand.

    Let’s say your vitamin B level is low, and you want to fix it. Instead of taking concentrated vitamin B pills, you decide to take multivitamin pills. You know what’s going to happen next. You can take multivitamin pills every day, but your vitamin B level will not improve as much as you’d like because you are not focused on solving the problem.

    It seems very straightforward, but this is exactly what has happened to your English learning journey. You have tried to learn general English. You are obsessed with passing a B1, B2, C1 general English exam, but what’s the point of doing that if you still cannot conduct an interview in English.

    In order to really improve your English and boost your career as a recruiter you need to follow these 3 steps:

    1. Build your communication foundation

    Learn HR-specific vocabulary, collocations, and idiomatic expressions. For every English word you know, think of at least three more synonyms and practice using them in real situations. Don’t forget to get familiar with business culture in English-speaking countries.

    Why do you need this?

    Firstly, by expanding your vocabulary you will be able to deliver your message more accurately. Secondly, your speech will become much more engaging to your listeners. Moreover, misunderstandings sometimes occur due to cultural differences, not because we cannot express ourselves in English. On top of that, what is considered normal in your culture might be seen as rude in others.

    2. Boost your communication skills

    Now that you have the right words, it’s time to boost your self-confidence while speaking. Polish your pronunciation and intonation, perfect your small talk skills, learn how to deliver presentations, conduct interviews, and speak up in meetings – study how to agree and disagree in English, how to move from one topic to another, or how to express your opinion.

    3. Improve your professional writing skills

    Your ability to write well plays a big part in your success as a business communicator. You will be judged by the quality of your writing. People will draw conclusions, consciously or unconsciously, from what they sense of you in your written work. For example, careless spelling and punctuation give the impression that you are a careless person.

    Good written communication delivers many benefits. It sets you apart as someone worth paying attention to, someone who will succeed, someone who can influence and lead. Writing with clarity, accuracy and elegance gives a powerful message to the people you interact with, and greatly increases your ability to inform, influence, and motivate.

    I am a certified and accredited language coach and I work with my clients by following this 3-step system.

    Don’t waste your precious time trying to figure things out yourself. Send me a message to book a free session, so we have a chat about your current situation and future goals. I will help you reach your full potential in the shortest amount of time!

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