Speak English Like a Native

Course details

Have you been learning English for a while and feel stuck? Do you find yourself making the same mistakes over and over when you speak? Are you ready to improve your spoken English and grow your vocabulary? If so, I have developed a course that is just for you.

Speak English Like A Native is an online course that will

• Enhance your vocabulary

• Increase the rate at which you speak

• Improve your pronunciation

• Promote better listening skills

• Lessen common mistakes you might be making

• Decrease pauses or hesitations when you speak

• Boost your confidence in speaking English

This course was developed for people who:

• Don't have a lot of free time

• Are motivated to learn

• Are inherently curious

I am a certified English/ESL teacher from the United States. I have taught in international schools around the world for more than a decade. I have studied three languages, and taught myself two more (one being Mandarin!). I understand what kinds of challenges and frustrations my students face because I have faced them as well. This course was designed with those frustrations in mind. No matter if you are a beginner or advanced English language learner, this course will foster growth in areas in which you knew needed improvement and even areas in which you didn't know needed help.

Methodology

If you are interested in how I designed this course, note that it is based off the work of Professor Alexander Arguelles. I have been using this technique for years, not knowing it by name, but still going through the steps. It is a proven method that has helped me tremendously. In every language I speak, native speakers of that language always compliment me on how "native" I sound. This technique is, in part, why I sound so "native."

This method is called shadowing. Here is how it works in five easy steps:

• Step 1: listen to the content once. It is important at this stage you are not reading anything. Just listen. If you can't understand most of what is being said, choose something easier. This course comes with an index that is organized by level of difficulty. Use it to help you find where to begin.

• Step 2: once you have found content you can mostly understand, listen to it a few more times. Listen to the inflections in my voice. Listen to the cadence of each sentence. This part is kind of like when you hear a song you like. The first couple of times you listen to it, you're not memorizing the words; you are listening to the melody. The idea here is the same.

• Step 3: you can either use the video provided to then look at the text or just the transcript for the lesson. The idea is you go through the text and make sure you can understand everything. Why? Because your voice changes with the words you speak. You put more emphasis on some words and less on others. If you don't know what the words mean, you'll sound like a robot.

• Step 4: listen to the audio and say the text along with me - at the same speed, without delay or hesitation. Do this until you feel confident with the text. Then move on to the next lesson. I would recommend recording yourself and listening back to it. Most times, what you think you sound like isn't how you actually sound. That can be a good or a bad thing.

• Step 5: finally, and most important, get up. Don't sit in front of your computer, laptop or phone. It is important to get up and move around while listening to the audio. Why? Because it forces your brain to learn to process English whilst doing other things. This is particularly important if your goal is to be more confident when you speak and spend less time searching for words you already know. It basically starts to automate your English. So move!