We’re finishing a 6-month program and I’ll be happy to welcome a new cohort.

Two new groups this time!
And a slightly new approach, which is inevitably going to be better 🙂 (I always adapt and innovate).

Apply here https://community.nataliatokar.me/c/calendar/native-like-fluency-2022

Here is one awesome free tool to practice better writing skills in English (available only for IOS unfortunately) https://apps.apple.com/ru/app/daily-prompt-writing-app/id1448668946?l=en

Some brilliant examples from history...
Do you also find that sometimes you would rather die than be politically correct🙂?

Learn to express the full spectrum of your emotions in English. Don't learn new words to be only polite and "empathetic". People are obsessed with "empathy" and "vulnerability in business communication, even though they mistake vulnerability for oversharing, and empathy for sympathy.

Learn to be direct, even blunt at times. Learn to be honest, serious, playful, straightforward, open, clear, kind, silly, funny, and learn to talk like YOU in any language.

So many people just copy paste good phrases never moving past that stage.

We learn a second language to understand more about our own identity and to learn to express ourselves. Go for it! Expland. Express yourself. Explore.
Play. Chase your Joy. Ask questions.
Learn every day.

We begin accepting applications! Join the next cohort of the FREE course "9 essential skills to achieve Native-Like fluency"
June 1, 2022 - August 1, 2022

Application deadline - May 28, 2022

https://community.nataliatokar.me/c/calendar/9-skills-june2022

⬇️⬇️⬇️A fragment of a meeting with students.
When you think you know what "rally" means and you try to change the meaning of the entire sentence so that it matches your expectations of what you think it should mean....
Don't play this game. Check again.
You're not supposed to know everything.
You're not supposed to be right, it's not the point.

Get it right - that's the point. The faster you can get it right, the more advanced you are as a learner.

"Only focused energy creates anything" - a universal truth

Conflict is the fuel of any story. If you 're planning your presentation and you're thinking of introduding a story, make sure your story has conflict. EVERY good story has a conflict. Take any story and deconstruct it - Cinderella, Gone with the Wind, Rapunzel, Sherlock Holmes, The Lion King - each one has a conflict.

Your learning journey is also a STORY. You put yourself in uncomfortable circumstances. You discover your polar opposite (for many people it's feeling stuck and confusing it with laziness and procrastination), and this "infringement on a character's cushy life is the essence of story". You're the main character of your own story. If the only thing you want is for it to feel good, you avoid conflict, which means you avoid creating and telling your own story.


https://youtu.be/9Rffc3veslM

For those of you who did a SPRINT! on thought chunking and pausing, watch this video and practice again with Jill.
You have many exercises in the program that you could do with various content.

We did a whole episode on the rhythm of English with Jill earlier this year. Did you see it?

https://youtu.be/F5GPTwXD97A

https://youtu.be/3dZuIXHMFHc

Here is our conversation about rhythm, stress, pitch, melody, and intonations. We give plenty of examples.

Don’t put your best foot forward when you try to connect with someone. Put your usual foot forward.
I realized that the best way to explain what I do is “I teach relationships in a foreign language”

How do you connect with people who speak a different language? Not with an intention to get their business card and have them invest in you or give you a job, but with an intention to genuinely get to know them?
How do you present your idea in English so that people HEAR you? I’m not talking about presenting ideas at meetings because it’s your job and you want to impress everyone and be done with it asap. I am talking about building a connection and starting a relationship as you speak. How do you present in English to communicate a whole new vision instead of simply saying the right words in the right order and with the right intonations?

That’s what I teach.

Many people ask “What’s the driving force that keeps you going? What motivates all these people to continue investing in their English skills?” Let’s be honest: we all know enough people who are content with what they know. Over time, they have become content with being “knowers” rather than “learners”. Their English skills are enough to do their job, and they can’t find the motivation to continue practicing even though their rational self can easily find a bunch of strong arguments for why they have to keep going.

I can’t speak for all the people; I can only speak for myself. Having meaningful relationships with people is what keeps me going.

And yes, I often find that I need to improve my English skills to have better relationships with people who speak English from birth. I keep improving my English so that I can enjoy more meaningful conversations and understand people at a deeper level. Better English is simply a tool, not the desired outcome. I don’t learn English to look smart, to be smart, or to convince others that I’m smart enough. I don’t learn English so that one day I’m good enough for other people to give me a job or have me as a friend. I don’t learn English with an intention to hopefully feel more confident one day.

No, instead I’m focused on the relationships that I already have and want to have.

I look at the barriers that I need to crush to improve the quality of my relationships with people. For example:
⁃ Poor vocabulary. Let’s say, I can’t find the words to express how I feel. That’s totally a barrier to having honest conversations. So, I go ahead and learn the words that I’m lacking
⁃ Messy sentence structure. Let’s say, people can’t follow my thought process. That hinders great communication. So, I go ahead and practice clarity. I designed 5 mini-courses to practice 5 levels of Clarity this year for myself in the first place. And when other people join the practice, I can give feedback not only to them, but to myself too
⁃ Weird intonations. Let’s say, people don’t understand if I’m done talking or if I am going to say more. They are not sure if I assert something or ask a question, if I’m making a suggestion or asking them to suggest what we need to do. So, I go ahead and practice my intonations and the rhythm of English
⁃ Poor writing skills. Let’s say, I can’t explain what I need and why I need it in my emails. I sound rude or demanding when I say what I need. I write too much instead of building clear and concise sentences that people would immediately understand and relate to. I spend way too much time planning the text of my presentations in writing struggling to find the right images and metaphors. This is painful… So, I go ahead and start working on my writing skills.

Relationships stay a priority for me.
Language skills and better speaking habits are tools and mechanisms that help me achieve better quality of my relationships. If you follow me, Native-Like Fluency becomes the obvious and the very needed skill.

Make no mistake, when I say “people”, I include myself here too. When I say “relationships”, I mean a relationship with myself too.
That is why I write journal entires in English; that is why I am writing this