Have you ever found yourself confronted with a difficult question?
Maybe you need time to answer the question, or maybe you don’t know the answer! What if you know the answer, but you don’t want to answer?
Now that can be tough, especially when you’re speaking in front of a group people.
Continue reading “Phrases for Responding to Difficult Questions”
A few weeks ago, we received this question from a student: “I’m too lazy to learn English. What should I do?”
Does that sound like you, too?
If it does, you’re not alone. I’ve certainly felt I was too lazy for many things in my own life.
But instead of telling ourselves we’re lazy, we should look at the current situation or phase of life we are in. Maybe we have a demanding job, small children, parents to take care of, or something else that demands our time.
So don’t be so hard on yourself.
In our Facebook Live session this week, we talked about this topic and I also shared a few things you can do to make learning English easy — even if you think you’re lazy.
Watch the replay here.
Continue reading ““I’m too lazy to learn English. What should I do?””
Receiving negative feedback can be hard — even for people who look confident and may seem like they have it all together. It’s hard for me, too.
Although there’s no way to avoid getting negative feedback, there are ways that you can deal with it better.
So this week in our Facebook Live session, we talked about how to handle negative feedback. I shared six ways to help you deal with it.
Continue reading “How to handle negative feedback”
Do you have a problem with pronunciation? Did you know that word stress plays an important role in your pronunciation when you speak English?
Word stress is when one of the syllables is given more importance (stress) than the rest.
The stressed syllable can be:
In our Facebook Live session today, I shared six things to avoid doing when you speak English. The first one is to stop apologising for your “bad” English:
“I’m sorry for my bad English.”
“I’m sorry if I make grammar mistakes.”
“I’m sorry if my English is poor.”
Just don’t do this — especially at the beginning of a presentation!
We often get questions from our students on how they can improve their vocabulary. So in this week’s Facebook Live session, I shared 10 ways to help you with this.
When people say they want to improve their vocabulary, they actually mean they want to improve their active vocabulary.
There are two types of vocabulary: active and passive.
Your passive vocabulary includes all the words you recognise when reading or listening, but you are unable to use them confidently on your own.
Your active vocabulary includes all the words you can comfortably and confidently use when speaking and writing.
So if you want to expand your vocabulary to speak fluently, focus on turning your passive vocabulary into active vocabulary. This was the first tip that I shared in the session.
If you missed the live session and want to know the rest of the tips shared, you can watch it here. I also share recommendations and personal insights in the video.
Continue reading “How to Improve Your Vocabulary”
In our Facebook Live session today, I shared 40 phrases to help you sound polite in email.
We may not even notice that we sound impolite in an email until after it’s sent or somebody points it out!
This is because:
1) English is our second language so we may tend to be more direct in writing, and
2) when we write, people can’t hear our tone of voice and may interpret straightforward language as rude or impolite.
Watch the replay of the session here.
Continue reading “Phrases to Sound Polite in Email”
In meetings, it’s important to be respectful of others. Sometimes you may need to interrupt someone. Sometimes you may be interrupted by others.
What do you say to interrupt someone?
What do you say if someone interrupts you?
Do you have a fear of speaking English?
If you do, you’re not alone. Many second language learners have this fear. We’re afraid that our minds will go blank, that we’ll make grammar mistakes, or that people will judge the way we speak.
But don’t let that fear stop you from speaking.
On Tuesday this week, I went live on the My English Matters Facebook Page to share 10 ways to overcome your fear of speaking English.
You can watch the replay of the live session here.
Continue reading “How to Overcome Your Fear of Speaking English”On Sunday, 14 March 2021, we lost Madam Azimah’s dear husband, my brother-in-law, Abdul Majid Hafiz.
He died of a sudden heart attack at a hospital in Kuala Terengganu.
It was a shock to all of us. We did not expect him to go so soon.
As I write this post, it’s been less than a week since we lost him and so the pain is still fresh in our hearts.
Continue reading “A dedication for our dear brother-in-law, Madam Azimah’s husband”