🔜 July 31, 2022!
Join our Community LIVE call to learn to understand articles and to make the right decisions in spontaneous conversations.
This is a 2-hour workshop for advanced English learners. If you think you know every rule about articles, but you're still confused ... join us to learn to ask 5 simple questions and to do 3 effective exercises.

I could never learn grammar rules... And I never did.

I'm inviting you to try a new strategy. Instead of memorizing rules, we will practice understanding.

🥁 The LIVE call is in English. Join if you are ready to learn in English

🥁 The call is FREE for Community members with full access. If you're not a member, a fee applies.

🥁 You will learn 3 exercises that you can include in your practice routine. Do them for 6 months, and you will find it so much easier to make decisions on articles! You will receive ongoing support if you choose to do the exercises (without any extra fees)

🥁 I will introduce a new course on articles that we recorded for you with Jason. If you choose to enroll in the NEW course on Articles, you will get a discount.

➡️ Here is what I do to practice articles:

1) I ask myself 5 questions instead of trying to remember a specific rule
2) I do 3 exercises. We will do all of them during the Live call together
3) I include exercises on articles in my weekly practice routine.


Join the practice!
Learn to explain things to yourself. The link is here -

https://community.nataliatokar.me/c/calendar/community-live-call-understanding-english-articles-practice

Others have seen what is and asked why. I have seen what could be and asked why not. ~ Pablo Picasso

It's time to edit and self-correct. I decided to work on some of the texts that I wrote for my LinkedIn page and during the Creative Writing SPRINT!

One of the articles is here https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/dont-put-your-best-foot-forward-when-you-try-connect-someone-tokar/

I asked a professional book editor and coach to look at my texts and give feedback on my writing skills. I should say I am very happy with the progress I have made during the last 6 months. The coach suggested a few minor changes and her feedback was overall very positive. The Creative Writing SPRINT helped a lot too. Every Friday for 8 weeks, no matter what, I was in class, leading that class. Every week I wrote one text. Every day I thought about the text I wanted to write.

I miss writing, and I want to continue exploring. Would you want to join the next Creative Writing SPRINT!?

Creative Writing means you get to explore your inner world, you tell stories, and you learn to become fluent in the language of feeling and emotion in English.
Every week we get together to line edit and share feedback on grammar, structure, syntax, logic, etc.

This time I'm inviting a native-speaking writing and editing coach to our weekly edting sessions. It's going to be priceless! And it WILL sell out.


Leave a comment to book to get in early. The event hasn't been published yet, but when it gets published, you'll be the first I get in touch with. The number of people is limited because it's a small group coaching. I want to make sure everyone gets detailed and professional feedback on their writing skills.

I started cycling this year.
I had no proper equipment and while I still don’t have my own cycling gear, I do have a bike.
What’s funny is that I had a bike in my garage last summer. A friend had asked me to keep an eye on it while she was away… But, I didn’t touch it.

What needs to happen for you to start taking action?

When I learn a new skill, the Number One thing I need is to create the right environment for practice. I create out of a burning desire to learn or to change something. If you tell yourself that you really want but no action follows, ask yourself: what do you need in order to start acting?
Sometimes a tiny change can inspire a big step forward.

For me, simply having a bike was not enough.
I didn’t know where to go, and I was afraid of going alone. So, finding a more experienced partner was vital for me. It was the missing piece of a puzzle.
I don’t feel confident enough to go to wild places alone, and I feel much safer with someone who knows the route.
I learn a lot faster when I follow someone who’s in better shape than myself. I used to be terrified of riding downhill after having a bad fall 10 years ago. These cycling trips are healing the old trauma because I’m consciously changing the scenario. I’m no longer terrified and I ride downhill gracefully and with confidence.

Find your missing puzzle piece. What needs to happen for you to begin? You already have everything you need. So, what’s holding you back?

See the original post with this episode here https://community.nataliatokar.me/c/ask-anything/audio-instagram-3-mp4-students-who-want-to

Find the full text here https://community.nataliatokar.me/c/ask-anything/find-your-writing-voice-writing-advice

A good point on "Manufactured Empathy" https://www.thesellingagency.com/these-outdated-sales-tactics-will-cost-you-opportunities/

I used to hate routines. I used to think they were boring until I realized that I was actually stuck in dozens of unhealthy routines that I had unconsciously created for myself with one intention - to resist change.

I was consistently eating badly. Every six months I'd start a sugar-free diet, and every two weeks I'd fall off the sugar-free wagon..

I would carry a gym bag to the office with the intention of doing a workout after work, and I would bring this bag home, untouched, unused... That was my "routine". I never made it to the gym after work.

I had countless routines and didn't even recognize them.
I chose to NOT do many things in life, and that was my routine. I routinely interrupted people. I routinely expected other people to tell me what I should do with my life, and I routinely blamed them for giving me bad advice.

Yet, the idea of consciously creating a routine to improve aspects of my life terrified me and threatened to take away the "freedom" I thought I had.

I realized the power of a deliberate routine when I achieved my first tangible results. I wanted to do more and to receive more...JOY. For me, deliberate routines are about creating more joy inmy life and creating change. Things inevitably change (for better or worse) after you've stuck with your routine for enough time.

I found this beautiful article by Ash Ambirge about routines. It's worth sharing, so that's why I am posting it here:

P.S. Remember to pay attention to vocabulary as you read it. 🙂
**
Are You Budgeting Enough Joy in Your Life?
In my twenties I hated routine—but that’s because I confused it for stagnancy.

Anything that whiffed of repetition was automatically on my shit list: schedules, affirmations, habits, recurring obligations, things that put a vise on my freedom. I never wanted to live feeling beholden to a calendar, letting it rule my days more than I did.

To me, routines were for the weak: people who weren’t disciplined enough to get it done without force. When I’d get on interviews and they’d ask me about my morning routine, I’d laugh: every day is a new adventure, I’d say!
https://community.nataliatokar.me/c/updates/can-a-routine-bring-joy-to-your-life
Read the full article in our Community of Practice

Many people reach out to me saying they want to improve their communication skills and learn to take on different perspectives when they talk to people at work.

Many of these people speak different languages at home and work. Some struggle to be heard and understood when they present their ideas in a foreign language. Some struggle to hear and understand their team members and clients who come from diverse cultural backgrounds and speak more than one language.

My job is to help people find clarity. However, it can be equally challenging to express yourself with clarity in another language and to thoroughly understand the perspective of someone who thinks in a different language.

I don't give generic communication advice because it's useless.

Instead, I choose to listen closely and give people high-quality, personalized feedback.

Maybe you're someone who needs feedback on their communication skills at work. Perhaps you're asking yourself these questions:

Is my message clear?

Do I consciously choose to take on a different perspective in conversations? (we can't become other people and feel what they feel, but we can learn to admit that their perspective exists).

Is my message cluttered or is it well-structured?

How do I make other people feel when I speak?

I'm hosting a free event where everyone can gauge their presentation skills. Both native and non-native speakers are invited. Ultimately, we all need to understand each other because we value our relationships.

Every participant can request feedback on their presentation skills.

Join the practice, it is free and private.
Any recordings taken during the event will never be shared with the public.

https://community.nataliatokar.me/c/calendar/gauge-your-public-speaking-skills

Cognitive reserve is the brain’s ability to find alternate ways of getting things done. You can only improve it by performing new tasks and challenging the brain to learn new skills.