Mindfulness Reflections

  I am so happy to be sharing this English transformation story with you, from unreachable dream to facts and reality: Galileo's interview! Galileo joined my English Coaching programme just under a year ago, looking to transform his English and become more advanced. His goal was to be proficient enough to get a band 7 in IELTS, in order to apply for a PhD at the very prestigious John Hopkins University in Baltimore, USA. In this engaging interview, Galileo and I speak about where he was with his English when he joined, as well as where he wanted to be, and the EXACT STEPS he took to make sure he was working towards achieving his goals. Galileo shares his experience openly and candidly, speaking in English naturally, without thinking, and communicating fluently about how he has attained his English objectives: for now! Is his English 100% accurate? No, it isn't, but that doesn't stop him from being a confident and effective communicator .   WATCH HERE: ENGLISH TRANSFORMATION

As a learner, what do you expect from your teacher? As a teacher, what do you expect from your learners? Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh says: You should not expect small things. You should not expect him or her to bring you a cup of tea, a good meal, a cake, some words of praise. These things are nothing at all. You should expect from your students their transformation [...] For transformation to happen, there must be sufficient conditions, both in the teacher and in the learner. Join me in today's video as we explore the top 10 characteristics of a quality teacher. WATCH HERE: HOW TO FIND A GOOD ENGLISH TEACHER Hope you enjoy and see you in the comments!

  As part of our daily communication, we frequently need to let others know what someone else said. In English, we use reported or indirect speech to do this, and when we use the 4 rules of reported speech correctly, we let the listener or reader know that these are someone else's words and not ours. If you get stuck or frustrated when trying to explain what somebody else said in English, then this is a must-watch video for you, as I break down the 4 basic steps to creating reported speech easily. Make sure you watch until the end because there's some practice exercises for you to try. As part of our daily communication, we frequently need to let others know what someone else said. In English, we use reported or indirect speech to do this, and when we use the 4 rules of reported speech correctly, we let the listener or reader know that these are someone else's words and not ours. If you get stuck or frustrated when trying to explain what somebody else said in English, then

If you want to be proficient in English, knowing how to use relative clauses to join your ideas together is very important, especially because they help you express yourself seamlessly and without effort. In every language, there are certain devices used to identify the subject (or object) and to provide additional information about them. In English, we call these devices "defining, non-defining and reduced relative clauses". Being able to use them correctly really helps you become more fluent and articulate in English. Now that you know about relative clauses in English, have you ever wondered if you're using them correctly? In today's video, I show you what relative clauses are, as well as the 3 main types of relative clauses, which will help you with accuracy as well as boost your confidence when interacting in English. WATCH HERE: HOW TO USE DEFINING, NON-DEFINING AND REDUCED RELATIVE CLAUSES Hope you enjoy! Let me know in the comments! #relativeclauses   #english

  If you're struggling to find balance between fluency and accuracy in English, there might be an issue with understanding how structural complexity works, that is, the ways in which language fits together so that certain ideas can be expressed in English.  But complexity can always be broken down into smaller, digestible bites! Join me in this week's video as we take a closer, step-by-step look at  how verb patterns work . It might be the case that you've attended a lesson or two on verb patterns, but really integrating them into your everyday use of English means reviewing what we know every now and then, and building on that little by little. There's plenty of opportunity to practise this week and I've included a .pdf for you to download in the description box beneath the video, so make sure you check that out and grab your copy after watching so that you can start practising using verb patterns in your own context! WATCH: HOW TO USE VERB PATTERNS CORRECTLY IN EN