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Ever listened to your favourite song and asked yourself why you liked it? It’s usually because there is a certain part of the song you really like the sound of – and when you are listening to the song you can hardly wait until that part comes. Well this is because that particular part of the song had ‘hit a chord’ with you (and often many people who love the song). There are plenty of people who have written philosophical research papers on exactly what that moment is and how it is created, but for the most part people generally accept that it is all about somehow it is the part of the song that ‘connects’ with the listener on a human level.
So too can you do this with your English – it’s called finding your ‘voice’.
Many people have described a language like a piece of music. Some languages are just beautiful to listen to and others are very difficult. It doesn’t mean that the language that is difficult to learn is nto good – it just means that it’s difficult for ‘you’ to learn.
English as a language has never been described as a ‘beautiful language’, in the way that perhaps French or Italian has, but there are some accents in English that are much easier to listen to than others. Even within England itself, the range of accents is so vast, there are many native English speaking people in England who just can’t understand each other. Some accents would be considered ‘posh’ and some would be considered ‘comedic’…. It just depends on what you are used to hearing.
So what does this have to do with hitting your English in the right way?
Well it is really all to do with connecting with people. Once you have managed to get people listening to you you are off to a great start. If someone listens that means they want to know what have to say. The moment when you notice people are listening to you, you can be sure that you have ‘hit the right chord’ in your speaking of English.
How do we connect in such a way that someone will listen to you?
Simple: Say what you mean and mean what you say.
It really doesn’t have to have anything to do with correct grammar or the right accent. It just has to do with being clear about your intention for speaking. Do you know why you are saying something and do you know what it is that you need to say or ask?
Once you have this clear, you’ll be shocked how many people will listen to you and will engage with you.
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