It is hard to speak sometimes in our mother tongue – so in our second language, it is even harder! Never underestimate the braveness needed to learn a language. Since you are already here – it means you have taken the first major steps.
When people learn English they are often taught the grammar. English grammar is hard. It is complex and often overwhelming.
Today we are going to show you that grammar doesn’t need to be a problem.
Friends is often used as a great teaching tool for English. The reason for this because the speech is very natural. There are often multiple people in a room and the conversation bounces naturally between them.
I have taken an extract from an episode below and transcribed it. I have not written who says which lines because it isn’t relevant. What you need to look at is firstly the length of the sentences. They are short. What about the grammar? Do you see long complex, compound sentence structures? No, because the way these sentence structures are constructed is through shorter phrases. When you are speaking you don’t need these. Not only do you not need them, but native speakers don’t use them.
Do you guys know what you are doing for New Year’s?
What?
What is wrong with New Year’s?
Nothing for you.
You have Paulo.
You don’t have the face the horrors of this holiday.
A desperate scramble to find anything with lips just so you can have someone to kiss when the ball drops.
Man, I’m talking loudly.
Well, for your information, Paulo is going to be in Rome this New Year’s
So I will be just as pathetic as the rest of you
Yes, you wish!
I’ve got an idea
Dinner
It’s perfect.
We will put it between lunch and breakfast.
Why is it like this? Conversation should be like a rally in a game of tennis. Just as the ball is kept in the air and shot between the players so should a topic when talking. For this reason, we cannot use long sentences because it breaks the flow.
Don’t hold back from speaking because you think you need to have perfect English. Simplify your sentences so you can get the message across quickly and clearly.
I like xx, I don’t like xx, I love xx, I can’t stand xxx
Practice short sentences and word substitution. We can talk more about word substitution in the future. This is an essential skill for learning a language. Check out some simple word substitution exercises here.