5 Speaking Rules you need to know!

1. Don't study grammar too much

This rule might sound strange to many ESL students, but it is one of the most important rules. If you want to pass examinations, then study grammar. However, if you want to become fluent in English, then you should try to learn English without studying the grammar. Studying grammar will only slow you down and confuse you. You will think about the rules when creating sentences instead of naturally saying a sentence like a native. Remember that only a small fraction of English speakers know more than 20% of all the grammar rules. Many ESL students know more grammar than native speakers. I can confidently say this with experience. I am a native English speaker, majored in English Literature, and have been teaching English for more than 10 years. However, many of my students know more details about English grammar than I do. I can easily look up the definition and apply it, but I don't know it off the top of my head. I often ask my native English friends some grammar questions, and only a few of them know the correct answer. However, they are fluent in English and can read, speak, listen, and communicate effectively. Do you want to be able to recite the definition of a causative verb, or do you want to be able to speak English fluently?

2. Learn and study phrases

Many students learn vocabulary and try to put many words together to create a proper sentence. It amazes me how many words some of my students know, but they cannot create a proper sentence. The reason is because they didn't study phrases. When children learn a language, they learn both words and phrases together. Likewise, you need to study and learn phrases. If you know 1000 words, you might not be able to say one correct sentence. But if you know 1 phrase, you can make hundreds of correct sentences. If you know 100 phrases, you will be surprised at how many correct sentences you will be able to say. Finally, when you know only a 1000 phrases, you will be almost a fluent English speaker. The English Speaking Basics section is a great example of making numerous sentences with a single phrase. So don't spend hours and hours learning many different words. Use that time to study phrases instead and you will be closer to English fluency. Don't translate When you want to create an English sentence, do not translate the words from your Mother tongue. The order of words is probably completely different and you will be both slow and incorrect by doing this. Instead, learn phrases and sentences so you don't have to think about the words you are saying. It should be automatic. Another problem with translating is that you will be trying to incorporate grammar rules that you have learned. Translating and thinking about the grammar to create English sentences is incorrect and should be avoided.

3. Reading and Listening is NOT enough. Practice Speaking what you hear!
Reading, listening, and speaking are the most important aspects of any language. The same is true for English. However, speaking is the only requirement to be fluent. It is normal for babies and children to learn speaking first, become fluent, then start reading, then writing. So the natural order is listening, speaking, reading, then writing. First Problem Isn't it strange that schools across the world teach reading first, then writing, then listening, and finally speaking? Although it is different, the main reason is because when you learn a second language, you need to read material to understand and learn it. So even though the natural order is listening, speaking, reading, then writing, the order for ESL students is reading, listening, speaking, then writing. Second Problem The reason many people can read and listen is because that's all they practice. But in order to speak English fluently, you need to practice speaking. Don't stop at the listening portion, and when you study, don't just listen. Speak out loud the material you are listening to and practice what you hear. Practice speaking out loud until your mouth and brain can do it without any effort. By doing so, you will be able to speak English fluently.

4. Submerge yourself
Being able to speak a language is not related to how smart you are. Anyone can learn how to speak any language. This is a proven fact by everyone in the world. Everyone can speak at least one language. Whether you are intelligent, or lacking some brain power, you are able to speak one language. This was achieved by being around that language at all times. In your country, you hear and speak your language constantly. You will notice that many people who are good English speakers are the ones who studied in an English speaking school. They can speak English not because they went to an English speaking school, but because they had an environment where they can be around English speaking people constantly. There are also some people who study abroad and learn very little. That is because they went to an English speaking school, but found friends from their own country and didn't practice English. You don't have to go anywhere to become a fluent English speaker. You only need to surround yourself with English. You can do this by making rules with your existing friends that you will only speak English. You can also carry around an iPod and constantly listen to English sentences. As you can see, you can achieve results by changing what your surroundings are. Submerge yourself in English and you will learn several times faster. TalkEnglish Offline Version is now ready for download. In this package, you can utilize over 8000 audio files to completely surround yourself in English. There are over 13.5 hours of audio files that are not available in the web form. All conversations and all sentences are included, so even if you don't have many English speaking friends, you can constantly surround yourself in English using your MP3 player. This package is available at the English Download page. Take advantage of this opportunity and start learning English faster. Click on the link or go tohttp://www.talkenglish.com/english-download.aspx.

5. Study correct material

A common phrase that is incorrect is, "Practice makes perfect." This is far from the truth. Practice only makes what you are practicing permanent. If you practice the incorrect sentence, you will have perfected saying the sentence incorrectly. Therefore, it is important that you study material that is commonly used by most people. Another problem I see is that many students study the news. However, the language they speak is more formal and the content they use is more political and not used in regular life. It is important to understand what they are saying, but this is more of an advanced lesson that should be studied after learning the fundamental basics of English. Studying English with a friend who is not a native English speaker is both good and bad. You should be aware of the pros and cons of speaking with a non native speaking friend. Practicing with a non native person will give you

practice. You can also motivate each other and point out basic mistakes. But you might pick up bad habits from one another if you are not sure about what are correct and incorrect sentences. So use these practice times as a time period to practice the correct material you studied. Not to learn how to say a sentence. In short, study English material that you can trust, that is commonly used, and that is correct.

compelling argument

sleep one's way to the top shower with gifts couvrir de cadeaux

be sorely missed manquer beaucoup ; faire cruellement dfaut ; reprsenter une grande perte bullet point

n
(=important point) point (=symbol) puce f
m important

Use bold type for headings and bullet points for noteworthy achievements.

Are you sleeping your way to the top: It means "you had sexual
relations with people who were higher than you in the organization in order to gain their favor and support so that you could climb higher."

compelling argument n.
argument convaincant ; argument dcisif ; argument irrfutable

"White trash" Les "white trash" sont un peu les "beaufs blancs amricains". Mais autant en France, le beauf peut tre sympathique et agrablement franchouillard, autant l'expression amricaine "white trash" ("ordure blanche") est vraiment injurieuse et doit tre utilise en comit restreint et familier. Les "white trash" sont la population blanche, pas bien riche et pas tres cultivee de l'Amrique. En banlieue, par exemple, la jeune fille "white trash" porte souvent un jogging rose fatigu, du maquillage mal fait, des grands anneaux aux oreilles, des cheveux gras (blonds avec racine fonce), des baskets, un sac a main en faux cuir avec des paillettes et une poussette avec un enfant (son petit frre ou, plus souvent, son fils).

Une Barbie "white trash"

"Jeopardy" Eh oui : comme le jeu ! "Jeopardy" signifie "danger". On entend en fait beaucoup plus souvent sa forme verbale : "to jeopardize". Exemple : "I'm afraid this cake is going to jeopardize my diet..." ("J'ai bien peur que ce gteau ne mette en danger/compromette mon rgime ..."). Evidemment, ce verbe s'emploie aussi pour des sujets srieux. Prononciation : "djpeurdi" et "tou djpeurdailleze".

Jeu "Jeopardy!" avec trois acteurs de cette srie

"Can you break this for me, please?" Comme moi, vous pouvez utiliser cette phrase pour demander a un serveur, au restaurant, de vous faire de la monnaie sur votre billet de 20 dollars. Littralement, a veut dire : "Pouvez-vous casser a pour moi, s'il-vousplait ?"

"I'm good" Littralement : "Je suis bonne". Mais vous l'entendrez en fait surtout pour dire "Je suis doue" (c'est alors soit un peu prtentieux, soit ironique/humoristique) et, encore plus souvent, "Je suis bien". Moi-mme, je le dis tres souvent au restaurant, par exemple. Quand le serveur me demande si j'ai besoin d'eau ou de sel et que je n'en ai pas besoin, je lui dis : "I'm good, thank you!" (= "a va comme a, merci !"). Si belle-maman me demande si j'ai froid ou faim, je peux aussi lui rpondre : "No, I'm good. Thank you!"

"Kind of"

Expression tres courante qui ne veut pas dire grand-chose mais que je suis la premire a employer. C'est plus un tic de langage qu'autre chose. Ce n'est pas vulgaire du tout ; c'est juste familier et on l'emploie avant tout a l'oral (ce n'est pas de la grande littrature). Littralement, a veut dire "Genre de" mais quand on l'utilise, c'est pour exprimer l'incertitude, le questionnement (ne pas hsiter a froncer les sourcils et a avoir une tte perdue quand on emploie cette expression) : "It's kind of strange..." = "C'est un peu trange..." "It's kind of raining, today..." = "Il pleut (en quelque sorte), aujourd'hui..." (on sous-entend que la pluie va et vient ; que ce n'est pas un temps bien net et dfini) "He's kind of stupid, don't you think?" = "Il est un peu stupide, tu trouves pas ?" ; ou bien : "S'rait pas un peu stupide, lui ?" "I'm kind of tired, I'm sorry..." = "Je suis un peu (en quelque sorte) fatigue, je suis dsole..." "I'm kind of smart..." = "Je suis plutt fute..." (dans cet exemple, "kind of" est utilis avec humour) NB : "Sort of" sera parfois utilis a la place de "Kind of".

"Toasty" L'un des premiers mots que j'ai appris quand je suis venue vivre ici. a veut dire "bien chaud" (pour une pice). Par exemple, si vous entrez chez quelqu'un ou dans la chambre de quelqu'un, vous pouvez trs bien dire, s'il fait bien chaud (et que c'est une temprature agrable) : "Mmm... It's toasty in here!" ("Mmm... Il fait bon, ici !").

"Good for you!" Expression que l'on entend souvent ; un peu passe-partout. a peut tre dit tout a fait sincrement, srieusement ou encore avec beaucoup d'enthousiasme ; on peut aussi dire a quand quelqu'un nous dit un truc pas trs passionnant mais qu'on veut quand mme lui faire comprendre

qu'on a entendu et qu'on est content pour lui - mme si on s'en fout un peu. Littralement, a veut dire : "Bon pour toi". Autrement dit : "Ah, c'est bien !" - presque dans le sens : "Je suis content pour toi" (c qui peut tre sincre ou simplement poli) Quelques exemples : "Ce midi, j'ai pas craqu : j'ai mang une feuille de salade et c'est tout ! - Good for you!" "Mon frre va enfin quitter son imbcile de femme. - Good for him." "J'ai russi mon examen au bout de la trentime fois !!! - Oh, good for you!" "A partir de Thanksgiving, je ne porte plus que des pulls Nol ! - Good for you." (vritable conversation entendue devant les ascenseurs, a mon travail...)

Photo thefashionpolice.net

"High/low maintenance" Mon amour aime a dire a ses copains que je suis "very low maintenance" ; littralement : "Trs basse maintenance".

Autrement dit, je ne ncessite pas beaucoup de "maintenance" : je me contente de peu en general, je brosse a peine mes cheveux le matin, je peux tout a fait porter la mme chose (ou ne pas me laver) plusieurs jours de suite, etc, etc... Par exemple : une personne "low maintenance" voyage toujours leger alors qu'une personne "high maintenance" a toujours de lourdes valises qui contiennent 5 maillots de bains, un seche-cheveux, trois trousses de produits de beaute, 10 paires de chaussures... sans lesquelles cette personne ne peut exister.

"Cheeseball" Littralement : "Boule de fromage". Il existe d'ailleurs des recettes. Mais "cheeseball" peut aussi vouloir dire la mme chose que "cheesy" ("fromageux"), c'est--dire : "ringard". Par exemple, l'autre jour, mon amour et moi regardions la mto quand mon amour dclare tout d'un coup : "Cheeseball..." C'tait adress au prsentateur de la mto (et non a moi), prsentateur que mon amour trouve donc "ringard". Vous pouvez donc dire de quelqu'un : "My neighbor is such a cheeseball..." ("Mon voisin est un tel ringard...") "My god, what a cheeseball!" ("Mon dieu, mais quel ringard !")

"Wrong pipe!" Littralement : "Mauvais conduit". On le dit quand on a mal aval et qu'on s'touffe, pour rassurer les gens : "Wrong pipe!" First come, first served Littralement : Premier venu, premier servi. Vous direz ou crirez cela si, par exemple, vous avez des places de spectacle a donner et que vous souhaitez les offrir a la ronde, au premier qui se manifestera et sans prfrence pour quelqu'un en particulier.

L'autre jour, au travail, nous avons tous reu un e-mail nous disant qu'il y avait des entres gratuites disponibles pour le zoo. L'e-mail disait bien : "A maximum of four passes will be distributed on a first come, first served basis" ("Un maximum de quatre entres sera distribu sur la base du "premier venu, premier servi").

RSVP Ceci est l'acronyme du franais "Rpondez S'il-Vous-Plait". Ici, on le trouve crit sur toutes les invitations (mariage, soire d'anniversaire...) qui ncessitent une rponse de la part des invits. On peut utiliser "RSVP" : en tant que nom commun : "Did you send the RSVP?" = "As-tu envoy la rponse (a l'invitation) ?" ou, encore plus souvent, en tant que verbe (comme sur la carte ci-dessous) : "Have you RSVPd yet??" = "As-tu rpondu a l'invitation ??"

Photo customcreationsunltd.com

"As if"

Expression trs utilise par les adolescents dans les annes 90, d'aprs ce que j'ai entendu. Mais on peut encore l'entendre de nos jours. Littralement, a veut dire : "Comme si". On peut donc traduire a par : "Genre" ou "Dans tes rves". On le dit pour se moquer, plus ou moins mchamment. Voici plusieurs exemples dans un mlange des deux langues pour vous faire comprendre comment utiliser cette expression : "Mon pre habite a Beverly Hills et il vient me chercher dans son jet priv tous les week-ends. - As if." (sous-entendu : "Oui, bien sur... Comme si c'tait vrai !") "Tu viens avec moi a la boum de Vic ?? - As if." (sous-entendu : "Comme si j'allais y aller avec un type comme toi...") "Demain, je t'emmne en week-end a la Villa d'Este ! - As if." (sous-entendu : "Comme si tu en avais les moyens...")

Say that again...? "Rpte a...?" Expression trs courante utilise pour demander a quelqu'un de rpter ce qu'il vient de dire (parce qu'on n'a pas bien entendu). On peut tout a fait dire a comme a, sans dire "please" ("s'il-vous-plait").

A dry sense of humor C'est ce que belle-maman dit souvent de moi : "You have such a dry sense of humor. I love it!" En effet, j'aime bien l'humour pince-sans-rire.

Littralement, "a dry sense of humor" veut dire "un sens de l'humour sec".

Aujourd'hui, nous allons apprendre l'anglais avec le magazine scientifico/intellectuel "Us Weekly" (l'hebdomadaire "Nous").

"To be bullied" C'est tre moqu mais dans un sens assez fort, avec de la mchancet. Par exemple, c'est un terme beaucoup utilis dans le cadre de l'cole : le "bully" (ou les "bullies") malmne(nt) leurs camarades "diffrents". La, la chanteuse Jessica Simpson a t "bullied" par la presse pour une rcente prise de poids (4-5 kilos a tout casser). Ah la la...