Why Chatting Like a Native Matters More Than Sounding Correct | 35-Minute English Podcast (B2-C1)

Claire spent two and a half hours at a dinner table in Hamburg, eight months into her German, and did nothing wrong. She answered every question in a complete, correct sentence, she built a relative clause while somebody was still asking, and she understood almost the whole evening. At the door the host walked her down and asked, kindly, whether something had happened at home, because she had not said anything all night. She had spoken for twenty minutes. What she had never done, not once in two and a half hours, was make a sound while somebody else was talking. Six weeks later she went back to the same flat and the same people, said fewer full sentences than the first time, made about forty small noises instead, and was told at the door that her German had come on a lot. It had not changed by a single word. This episode is about the half of conversation nobody teaches you, because there is no correct version of it to mark: the short signals you produce while the other person holds the floor, and why a reaction that arrives late is not a reaction at all. Four families, fifteen sounds, none of them a full sentence and none of them longer than five words. THE 15 SOUNDS IN THIS EPISODE - "Oh, did she?" - "Oh no." - "Go on then." - "No way." - "I bet." - "Same here." - ...and 9 more, all said out loud in the episode. Every one is said slowly, repeated more than once, and then used in a real situation, so you can say it out loud with us instead of only recognizing it. The Fluency Plateau is for people who already understand English but freeze when it is time to speak. Each episode takes one exact moment where you get stuck and hands you the sounds that get you past it. SPEAKING CHALLENGE Which of these do you already say in your own language? Say your answer out loud before you write it. #EnglishPodcast #EnglishConversation #SpeakEnglish #EnglishFluency