It Begins with You. You Got This!
Do not be afraid. As a speaker of any language, you are an experienced professional. Every day you add new words and learn new phrases and ways of talking (communicating). The label of American English (or any other language, for that matter) does not need to be intimidating. This is the key; it is not the language it is your state of mind or state of emotion.
- New words in new places: You encounter new words in new situations every day. Think about a visit to Starbucks!
- Difficult topics: It is hard to talk about things that are important in any language (even your home language). Think about any conversation involving money.
- Stressful and emotional situations: It is difficult to find the right words (in any language) when the situation is stressful or emotional. Think about getting in a minor car accident.
- Uncomfortable or awkward moments: It is uncomfortable to say or do the "wrong" thing. Think about when someone goes in for a hug and you go in to shake hands.
- Frustrating: It is frustrating when "autopilot" has the wrong reflex. Think about driving a different car or getting a new phone.
- "I just can't!": It is hard to get past all the fears and reasons that we make up.
In all of these cases, things worked out and you survived. Here are some techniques to use in any situation:
- Identify your feelings: knowing that feelings are driving actions helps clear your mind to work
- Breathe: a couple of deep breaths automatically relaxes your mind and body and slows you down
- Put your hands on your hips like Superman: this bold pose makes you confident
- Do a couple of jumping jacks or air punches: clear your fight or flight reaction with action
- Smile: a smile is the most simple and a proven way to put you (and people around you) in a positive mood
Effective American English Is Usually Simple
There are three elements to any language:
- Vocabulary or words: the raw materials
- Grammar: the rules and structure
- Culture or context: the place where the language is used
There are two participants:
- The person/people speaking (or writing)
- The person/people listening (or reading)
Thinking About Vocabulary
Start with your personal vocabulary. These words and phrases are important for you. It does not matter what language you are using. At this stage, you need the raw materials to build your conversation.
Find YOUR Words
- Listen to yourself.
- Review your texts and emails.
- Record phone calls to see and hear what you are saying (ask permission first and then after the recording starts: Do you mind if I record this call to practice my English conversation?)
- Talk to yourself out loud (use your phone Voice Memo app or dictate notes) and record and review what you say (word and phrases).
- Identify the topics you talk about regularly at home, with friends, and at work.
- Narrate your day by saying out loud what you are doing.
I am emptying the dishwasher. There are three cups that go on the second shelf of the cabinet and four clear, short glasses that go on the shelf below the cups. The silverware drawer is a bit of a mess and needs to be reorganized, but not now. It is cool inside, and bright and sunny outside.
Build YOUR Personal Conversational Vocabulary
- Make simple (or complex) drawings to represent the words and phrases.
- Begin with one word/topic and brainstorm. Set a timer for three minutes. Write down any and all words and ideas come to mind. Do not list, just put the words randomly on the page. Draw pictures. Do not worry about spelling or think about why. This is about speed and connections.
- Use a Word Cloud Generator or a Word Count Generator to target where to focus. Word Frequency is a simple full-service generator. Copy and paste texts and emails and see what words appear most frequently.
Compare Word Lists
Compare your words with other frequency and content lists.
- Target common words, identify uncommon words. Get lists of words often used in your home and target languages. Wiktionary: Frequency Lists are a good place to find words and compare overlaps.
- Find overlaps in your personal vocabulary with the American English most common words. Review 1000+ Most Common Words in English from A-Z.
- Find words by topic or content. Vocabulary Lists from Vocabulary.com is a fun place to find gold. Other common word groupings can be found in My English Pages: Vocabulary.
- Identify words other people are using. Different locations and situations require different words: the pool, concerts, parks, other cities, the store, the garden center.
- Notice jargon (words that are specific to a particular place or field/industry), slang and/or idioms (informal common speech, often specific to a location or group of people).
Categorize Words
For now, there are eight parts of speech (classifications of words) in American English:
- Nouns: words that represent people, animals, objects, substances, states, events, ideas, and feelings
- Pronouns: words that replace nouns or phrases (I, he, she, it, they, this, that, etc.)
- Verbs: words that communicate actions or states of being (or mental/physical descriptions)
- Adjectives: words that describe or specify nouns or pronouns and include articles. Examples of adjectives include good, beautiful, nice, my, etc. and a/an, the
- Adverbs: words that modify (further describe the meaning of) verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. Adverbs often end in -ly as in nicely, beautifully, slowly, etc., (formed by adding -ly to an adjective)
- Prepositions: words located before a noun, verb, or pronoun that create a phrase a group of words) show the relationship (physical position, for example) with other words in a sentence
- Conjunctions: words that connect clauses (parts of a sentence), sentences, or words
- Interjections: words that express surprise or emotion
Build Your Ideas
Grammar is the rules for word order in sentences (words linked together). Use grammar to make messages easily understood and meaningful. Grammar rules can be broken to call attention to the information or make a joke. Make sure that the meaning is not lost and the result is not written off as an error.
Simple Sentence Structure
Much of American English communication occurs in "simple" sentences. Basic American English sentences have:
- Subject: who or what the sentence is about.
- Verb: what the subject is doing.
- Object (of the verb): what the subject is acting on.
Simple English sentences usually follow the "Subject-Verb-Object" word order pattern.
Cats eat fish.
Start with the subject (usually a noun). Add descriptive words (adjectives) before the subject.
Fat cats eat fish.
Add descriptive words before the verb (adverb).
Fat cats usually eat fish.
Add adjectives or other descriptive words before the object.
Fat cats usually eat tuna fish.
Ask Questions
To ask a question, put a verb before the subject. Add "do" or "does" before the subject (and add a question mark if writing), and/or add a "question word" (who, what, when, where, why, how).
Do fat cats usually eat tuna fish?
When do fat cats usually eat tuna fish?
Will fat cats usually eat tuna fish?
Tense: When Something Takes Place
Keep tense simple to start: present, past, future. There are plenty more tenses, but these three serve in most situations.
- The cat eats fish.
- The cat ate fish.
- The cat will eat fish. The cat is going to eat fish.
- Things that are usually true.
- Situations that are true at the time (although they may change).
- Habits, or things which happen regularly.
- Things that have happened.
- Things that may/will happen.
- Things that are going to happen (plans).
Now take the words and build ideas using the grammar to form the structure.
Create Sentences
Write and speak sentences (capture your conversations and ideas using the dictation function on your phone). Watch and listen for common word patterns. Check word order and look for missing words.
Play With Your Words
Have fun! No one is looking. No one is listening. Just mess around. It is important to "make mistakes" and observe yourself. Do not be critical of your skill.
- Play with the word order.
- Rhyme endings.
- Create sentences using words that start with the same letter sound.
- String words together just for fun. Nonsense combinations help develop an ear for (create an instinctive understanding) what is common and flows.
- Sing your sentences.
- Make poetry (rhyme, syllables, phrasing).
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