If you're wondering what Deliberate, Sustainable, Well-Structured, and Creative Practice routine looks like, watch this video https://youtu.be/AYyIKVafEg0

How do you connect your ideas in English to achieve clarity, consistency, and flow?

I identify 5 levels of Clarity, and I need to master all of them to tell better stories and communicate with more clarity.

➡️1. Precise wording. Instead of 10 similar words, I need one precise word for what I mean to say. Instead of ❌"We had something with meat on grill" I wanna say ✅"We had grilled chicken skewers".

➡️2. Strong verbs and adjectives. See my previous posts with exercises to practice using better verbs. Instead of ❌"I said to him that my boss had said we all need to be at the meeting", I wanna rather say ✅"I repeated to him that the boss had reminded all of us to show up at the meeting" This is more precise and more clear.

➡️3. Structure. I can't demonstrate this one in just one sentence. By "structure" I mean sentence structure (I posted examples of run-on sentences earlier), paragraph structure, the structure of answering important questions and delivering ideas (for example, job interview questions and business presentations). Join teh space SPRINTs! in our Community to SEE how people work in structure. You wanna see it and try for yourself.

➡️4. Connecting your ideas. That's what this post is about. Listen to the whole message and do the exercise in our Community of Practice. The post is Public.
The new SPRINT! to master LEVEL #4 begins on May 29, 2022.

➡️5. Intonations. Probably, the most difficult level for non-native speakers. You need to understand the rhythm of English, the attitude, the chunks, the pauses , and the intentions... We begin the SPRINT! on May 16, 2022, and we will learn the exercises to understand other people's intentions as well as communicate our own with clarity and kindness.

Practice telling stories in English out loud to see if you can connect your ideas. record yourself to give yourself feedback. Don't be afraid to iterate and record again. When you practice storytelling in English only in your head, you hinder your own progress because you aren't in touch with the reality.
If you want to join collective practice, you can choose to join any of the SPRINTs! above or purchase all of them in one bundle. If you want to participate in real time, consider joining SPRINTs Level #4 and Level #5. (April 29 and May 16, 2022)
You will find them on our Scheudle page https://community.nataliatokar.me/c/calendar

The full audio is available in the Community of Practice - https://community.nataliatokar.me/c/ask-anything/deliberate-practice-of-structuring-your-message

Thought of the day: You can't really help someone if you're hurting yourself in the process

“To love means loving the unlovable. To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable. Faith means believing the unbelievable. Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless.”
- G.K. Chesterton

FREE content in the Community of Practice.
A creative exercise for everyone who wants to learn to improve their Listening Skills in English.
FOCUS: intensive listening, vocabulaty, and self-correction
See my process and try it yourself. It will take you 16 min to listen to the explanation, 7:30 min to listen to the audio , and ? min to take vocabulary notes. Let me know in the comments how long it took you. https://community.nataliatokar.me/c/ask-anything/do-this-exercise-to-improve-your-listening-skills-and-build-your-vocabulary-for-coaches-who-want-to-work-with-english-speaking-clients-and-for-everyone-who-is-learning-to-tell-their-story-in-english

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn. ”― Alvin Toffler

Interesting fact: It took Thomas Edison hundreds of ‘mistakes’ before he created a practical light bulb. Experimentation requires to be okay with living in constant uncertainty. Our brains are wired for certainty — when we don’t know an answer, we use speculation to fill the gap.

Similarly, when people don't hear everything that a native speaker said (or even smeone who speaks the same language), they imagine what they didn't get only to fill the gap. The tragedy is that people don't realize they do this.

⬆️listen to this episode to learn more about well-written emails 🙂

https://podcasts.apple.com/ru/podcast/soft-skills-engineering/id1091341048?i=1000559331608

See example exercises and try to achieve consistency and flow.
I'm inviting you to join and learn to do these things yourself. We have 8 more sessions to go.

https://community.nataliatokar.me/c/ask-anything/clarity-level-4-example-exercises

Thought of the day (inspired by Brené Brown and her book): Shame chooses perfectionists because they are the ones who will keep quiet.

I have been talking about metacognitive strategies in learning a lot lately... Well, they have been the center of my research and my practice.

It sounds like a long and sophisticated phrase, but I fundamentally believe that these principles of learning should be embedded in every school, college, and post-graduate learning program, whatever the subject. They are simple and practical. They should be learned, trained, and harnessed.

I wrote my thesis on the Theory and Methods of Teaching Foreign Languages and Cultures. Five years later, I wrote another thesis - on Collective Memory in American Culture.

To this day, I apply a lot from both of my theses in my work. I can't quote any of my papers today, but I can clearly remember the process of writing each. I learned a lot about my learning style in the process of writing and researching. I didn't know back then that I was already working on my metaskills, and that I was already teaching metacognitive strategies in class.

The science of learning should not be complicated. It must be available and accessible so that whoever has the thirst for knowledge and the ambition for mastery can learn to apply it.

I am inviting you to join our NEW Open Community Project (May 16-30, 2022)

We will learn what metacognition is and how to effectively apply metacognitiive strategies to move toward Native-like Fluency in English and uncover deeper layers of truth.


Dates: May 16-30, 2022

How it works:

- You will do ONE exercise with a partner (someone from the Community, most probably a new person for you)

- You will have to defend your project with your partner in English

- You will receive detailed feedback and further guidance

- One 20-min LIVE session to get instructions and one 2-hour session to hear feedback on your work

Fees: None. Everyone is welcome to participate

Number of participants: only 5 teams (10 people). I won't be able to manage more during one project.


Please vote here to participate https://strawpoll.com/polls/e6Z2ej855gN (PLEASE write your EMAIL address in the NAME field so that I know how to contact you)

and get your seat before it's taken!

Practicing brevity. What’s integrity? It’s choosing what’s right over what’s easy.