Weekly Newsletter
Why is English hard and painful to master?
You already have a certain style in the way you express yourself in your mother tongue. This is your personality. And I bet you have many idioms and phrases that cannot be translated into English.
You might feel comfortable using 2-3 words to express something in your native language, but to do the same in English, you might need 4-6 words—or very likely, there are no words to express the same feeling, the same rhythm, or melody.
So at times, learning English might feel like taking one step forward and one step backward at the same time.
Explore yourself through the lens of the English world
You have built your current personality over years, and many friends and relatives have contributed to the way you currently express yourself. Your voice. The way you put words together. And I bet the way you speak your native language is not the same as many of your friends.
This is also true of the English language. Many people in the UK and the US speak differently, but they all seem to have a common trait that makes them native English speakers. Each one of them has a solid personality in English.
This is what we should actually be chasing here: building up your own personality in English. You already have one in your mother tongue, so this makes things even better. All you need to do is consciously adjust it to English and possibly fill in some gaps with what is natively English. This will eventually put you on the path to having a solid English persona.
Summary: You should not be learning English. You should create your new personality using the English language.
What this Newsletter offers
Every week, you will receive in your mailbox:
- 1 segment from a random movie
- 1 segment from a podcast—so you see how people speak English in the real world
- 1 audio story based on the TPR method, which forces you to actually speak out and find your own style in speech so that your words flow effortlessly
This is called brain rewiring—regularly creating new pathways in your brain that make speaking natural.
My story
My name is Sergio. I come from Moldova, where we speak two languages: Romanian and Russian. I moved to London when I was 20, and I observed the stages I had to go through in order to inhabit the English language in such a way that I don't feel nervous or have to think about what word to say, while not losing the actual meaning of what I want to express.
At first, I just got blocked whenever I wanted to say something simple and casual. At work, in professional situations, I had no issue saying things because most of them were technical. My biggest problem was actually connecting to people. I found that I got along easier with people who were not native English speakers.
My English improved during that time. Then, after 4 years, I started to make progress in improving my English accent, but what I found was that each time I wanted to say something, I had to replay everything in my head before speaking. After about 6 years, I could no longer sustain this process—it was too tiring. I just gave up.
All I did was study segments from movies, then practice my accent and rhythm from podcasts, and do the same TPR story from a premium product for 1-2 weeks, 2-3 times a day. After 3 months, I realized I had made it. I no longer think about English. I no longer make pauses or delays. My words just flow out easily. And this is true for my writing as well.
At this point, I no longer have issues connecting with native English speakers. It's clear that my accent is not British, but that doesn't matter anymore because the conversations I have are so connected with people. And I'm realizing now that I'm becoming a new person who inhabits the English language—I can play with it, I feel it.
This is what I want to offer to other people in case they struggle with the same issue. The weekly newsletter I'm sending follows the structure I went through: a movie segment to study the rhythm and meaning, the same thing but for podcasts where you can practice your accent by recording your voice, and a TPR story to practice speaking freely.
If this feels like something you resonate with, subscribe to this free weekly newsletter, and you will make this journey easier.
I also offer 1:1 video calls, monthly or weekly, which you could use to have someone to practice your English with. You can find the link to this subscription here. Every month or week, all you have to do is book a slot, and we'll just have an easy conversation about you, your hobbies—I'll talk about my stuff too—just so you can get this confidence in speaking with someone in English and remove this fear.
If any of this sounds good to you, I'm looking forward to meeting you.
All the best to you,
Sergio