This is an All-Ears English Podcast, how to feel really comfortable with natives.
Welcome to the All-Ears English Podcast, downloaded more than 200 million times.
Are you feeling stuck with your English? We'll show you how to become fearless and fluent
by focusing on connection, not perfection. With your American host,
former Isles Examiner Jessica Beck and Lindsay McMahon, the English adventure,
coming to you from Denver and Portland, USA.
Do you get uncomfortable when the conversation gets deep? Are you worried that you'll never have
a real connection with natives? Because you can't get past surface-level topics.
Find out today how to make real connections with real people and feel comfortable talking about
anything. Good morning, Lindsay. How are you? Hey Jessica, I'm doing great. How are you today?
How's everything? Everything's wonderful. I am very comfortable to be here on the mic with you.
I'm happy to be here. Let me do. Let me do. It's good to have you on the show. We don't hear
your voice all that often, but it's always a pleasure. We are lucky to have you here. I'm excited
to get into this bonus today. Are you ready? Yes. Guys, we are discussing, really, this is like the
number one thing that I hear from students. Why do you want to improve your English? What are you
scared about? What is your challenge? No matter how we ask that question, we hear this all the time.
I don't feel comfortable with natives. You and I have experienced that in other languages. Yes,
like that's everything. Oh my gosh. That's how our whole motto of connection, not perfection,
came about because feeling uncomfortable, not understanding everything. The truth is we're never
going to understand everything. It's just impossible in our second language. How do we reach that
moment of connection? Exactly. It's our task in life to help you figure out how to feel comfortable.
The thing is, it's often not what you think it is, right? Because we get in our heads about
the grammar, about the vocab, and the reason you think you're not comfortable, that may not
actually be it, right? It's our job to help you figure that out. It's not so obvious. That's
why we're here, guys. We do consider it, at least I do consider it my mission in life. This is the
reason I'm here is to help people connect. You know what I mean? That's it. This is what we do at
all there's English. Exactly. Exactly. So guys, we are going to give you some tips today about how to
do exactly that, how to feel comfortable with natives. And we are also going to invite you to
join our back to school connection bundle, which is amazing, but we'll get to that in a second. But
first of all, let's explore this. If our students do nothing about this feeling, if they just remain
uncomfortable around natives, what are the consequences of that? Oh my gosh. Major repercussions,
Jessica, right? So if you avoid conversations, you are going to basically, it can feel lonely,
right? Yes. And we all know that feeling of being outside of the group. This is what we what could
happen. And then we miss opportunities to build relationships and relationships are what makes us
happy in the world, right? So there are major repercussions. If we just hang back and let that feeling
of not feeling comfortable, if we let that guide us. Yeah. Think about all of these possible
connections that you could be missing, right? New friends, being a part of a community, maybe
talking to other parents around you or your neighbors, right? Yes. And it worked too. Of course,
co-workers, clients, you know, we have students come to us who have been living in the United States
for so long, like years at this point. And they still come to us with this idea that they can't
feel comfortable around natives. They can't be themselves. And that just that breaks my heart.
Yeah, it's true to not be able to truly be yourself, especially if you're permanently
set up here in the US or the UK. I mean, this is the future, right? We need to find a way around
this. Exactly. Exactly. So what could be some possible reasons? What is getting in our students way
of feeling comfortable, of making that connection? What do you think that could be? Well, I think
legitimately the first thing is our mind. But if we want to write, we decide our mind is the
ultimate block. But if we want to talk about actual language functions, right? Students tell us
that the problem is right lack of vocabulary, right? Afraid being afraid of being misunderstood
because of their accent, right? You guys have told us this. What else, Jessica? What else have we heard?
Oh my gosh. I hear you guys say like, I'm afraid I can't go beyond simple conversations. You know,
people are like, I'm good for five minutes. Yes. When people start talking about the news or
like deeper topics about culture and society, like I can't participate in that conversation.
It could be like listening skills. It's hard to track native speakers. It could be any of these
reasons, right? Oh my gosh. Yes. What an awful feeling, right? We don't want you guys to feel like
you can start that conversation. You're going to have what they call the pleasantries, right? The
niceties, the ways of greeting each other or the weather's great today. What do you think about
the scenario? What do you think about where we are in this beautiful park? And then you know,
there's going to be a point in which you can no longer be in that conversation. We don't want
that for you guys anymore. This is where the real connection happens, guys. When we go beyond
that small talk. So how do we go beyond that? How do we get past these hurdles? It could,
it could seem like a lot to improve all of this at once, right? My mindset, my vocabulary, my
grammar, like how do we, how do we improve that? I think it comes back to the way that confidence
is gained. It's not gained by, you know, reciting some kind of a affirmation, right? We don't gain
confidence by sitting there and meditating. That's not what confidence is. It's taking measured
action on a daily basis doing one or two specific things. And that's where the study plan comes in.
Having a study plan, Jessica, that's what it's about. Yeah. Yeah. You need a map, right? We all
need some help. We all need, we all need a guide. Sometimes when we're trying to get to a place
and we don't know how to get there, right? You need someone to show you. Yes, exactly. So
our back to school connection bundle guys, we have all of those things listening skills for real
native English, not scripted on a language CD, you know, not AI. This is real English from real
natives and speaking skills, specific pronunciation lessons, vocab, all of that stuff is in that
bundle. But okay, let's give our students a tip first before we talk about that, right? Okay.
So what can we say to students? What is the best tip we can give our listeners today? We're
feeling comfortable finally with natives. Oh, let's go ahead Jessica. You tell us what it is.
I lost in our notes. I love it. Connection, not perfection, guys. Tell us what it is.
Music to my ears. Music to my ears. Well, here is the biggest tip I can give you guys a
preparation. Taking that extra step before the conversation, before that group event,
taking that extra step of preparation, okay? Yeah. Like what does that look like? Well,
it actually comes from a language learning method that we came up with, guys, the bridge to
connection method. Yes. This is the first step, right? Yeah. You have to take a step back and
think about what you're going to experience first. This sounds a lot like our method. And I think
this really is the same thing on the Isle of Energy podcast way back in the day. Oh, I'm sorry.
We came up with the idea of opening your brain box, right? This is really what we're doing here.
And I love that term and that expression. It's fantastic. Anytime we're about, I was just talking
to someone about this method a few days ago. I can't remember what we were talking about, but this
is an amazing way to prepare your mind. You know, and the context example here, Jessica, is the coffee shop,
right? Yes. Exactly. So, um, guys, you've all been to coffee shops. Yes. It doesn't matter where
you are in the world. Yes. You've been to a little tea shop, a little coffee shop, right? So
let's take, um, let's take a really specific example, all right? Let's think about your next
opportunity to speak English. So instead of losing yourself in your head, getting nervous,
maybe canceling the date altogether, right? You are going to prepare. So you know that you're
going to see a specific person there, right? You're going to see your coworker Daniel. Let's say
he's always getting coffee the same place you do in the morning. And you're like, oh,
I really want to talk to Daniel. I've never actually even tried to have a conversation with him
before. So what do you do, guys? You prepare. You make a plan. So like Lindsay said, we open our
brain box. You know what people talk about in coffee shops when they're standing in line or at a
table. They talk about the weather, the weekend, the work day ahead. It's your coworker. So
actually go through this situation in your head. Rehears. Yeah. What exactly do you want to say?
Oh my god, it's so true. And this can be done on your walk to the coffee shop, guys. This is not
asking you to take a ton of extra time and sit down and write a novel to prepare and open your
brain box. No, this is about walking to the coffee shop three minutes away and then going through
these things in your head, especially if it's a coworker, you have a lot to talk about. You have
a lot of common understandings. Yeah, exactly. And so you know that you're an adult. You have great
opinions and great ideas. Yes. You just have to take that extra step, right? So you're prepared
to be yourself. You're prepared to share these ideas. Yeah. And Jessica, this is based on real
science, right? This is not just something we came up with on the fly. This is based on
applied linguistics. Exactly. Exactly. That's what I got my masters in, guys. That's what I fall back
on when I'm designing every single learning activity for you. But here's the thing, right?
Not all the connections are that easy, right? We don't know. Like that's kind of the surface level
that we're talking about just talking in a coffee shop about the weather. Not everything is
that easy or that light. Yeah. So what's going to happen? We're sitting down with Daniel.
We've been talking for about 10 minutes. We've caught up on maybe our weekends and the weather
that day and the basics. Maybe a few things about our company, an upcoming campaign. I don't know,
something or a company party now, or maybe Daniel asked a question about something a little deeper.
Like what, Jessica, what would be a topic that we might, this is the point, where is the moment
of truth? Can we continue that conversation? Yeah. For sure. What if, yeah, you're done with all
that small talk and Daniel goes, oh, did you see the news yesterday? And all of a sudden,
your mind freezes up like, oh, I can't talk about the news. Or what if he's talking about something
specific, right? And he's like, did you hear about the city's plan to close that school?
I don't know. It could be anything, right? Totally. We don't know. But we want to be comfortable
in those spontaneous situations. And we know that these are the topics that you guys want to be
talking about. You don't want to stay just in the weather. I mean, I bore myself when I ask a
person a question about the weather. I just, I'm immediately bored with what I say. I'm so bored
with myself. You know what I mean? And so it's like, we don't want to spend our time. That does
not create real connection. Okay? Exactly. Exactly. Guys, you want to talk about culture, you want
to talk about food, you want to talk about life philosophy, right? Like these are the things that
actually bond people to each other, right? And we want you to experience that. And that's the whole
reason why you took that crazy 1200 mile road trip, 12,000 mile road trip and interviewed
over 70 people, 70 real native interviews. So you guys could learn from these deep conversations.
Oh my gosh. And when we say real English in this course, in this program, we are not talking
about real English. We're talking about spontaneous, unrehearsed English. It's not like we sat down
in a studio. And I said, here's the question I'm going to ask you. And here's what you should say
in response. Now there was nothing planned or prepared. This is kind of another level of real English
Jessica. It's a whole other level, guys. I mean, that's why it's called the bridge to connection
because you guys have listened to all the language CDs. You've done those apps with the little AI
sentences that you copy. Like you've been to the classroom. Why can't you still have the deep
conversations? Because that's not real English. This is real English, right? So deep topics
from racism to tacos. I mean, you're going to learn to talk about and understand conversations
about everything, right? This is where you actually prepare and practice the tough stuff.
Oh my god. Just some examples, right? So I went to a gun show in Texas and interviewed people
on their perspective about guns, having guns in the US gun ownership. You and I, Jessica,
went out on the streets in Portland and talked to some people who are suffering homelessness
and houselessness, right? These are real issues, right? And of course, we went to a diner in Chicago,
enjoyed some beers. And we know how to talk about beer and food. It goes from serious to silly to
fun, to deep to intense, to heartbreaking, to joyful and everything in between. Yeah.
Yeah. Completely. Completely, you guys. And we would love to invite you to get this connected
communicator course, but it's not just connected communicator because we want you to take advantage
of the fall. We are back to school. We are back to work. We are back to being motivated to
achieve our goals, right? So that's why we made this back to school connection bonus. It's all
about connection guys. So you get the connected communicator. You get the how to be polite and how
to start the conversation. Many courses. It's lifetime access to all three courses for the price
of one. So that is what we're talking about. So guys, you could check it out. Go to allhearsenglish.com
slash school. When should they do that? Should they do that like right now? Should they
post right away? Yeah, because you know, this is this is a special offer, right? This offer is not
going to be available forever to be able to have these extra mini courses included in your course
guys. It's going away. When is it going away, Jessica? When is the offer end? September 21st at
5 p.m. New York time guys. This offer will go away and never come back. Yeah, you know, I love
the season. Well, the two things I love. I love that we were kind of in a new era for allhearsenglish.
We've really upped our game in terms of the quality of our courses guys. We have added an incredible
amount of teacher and community feedback and practice for you guys at every level of our courses.
That means monthly fluency parties. Everyone who joins his course will be invited to monthly fluency
parties as a special bonus open conversation club. Another special bonus weekly conversation
sessions with other students and the list goes on and on Jessica. The other piece I love is
September is a time of kind of that freshness. Like you said, it's the back to school. Maybe our
listeners have children. They see their kids are back to school. It's a time to start something fresh.
I feel a sense of freshness right now. How do you feel? I have had so many conversations in the past
week about this amazing like joyful motivated feeling that I've had lately and maybe it's the
seasonal change. I don't want to look too closely at it, but I am feeling it and I know that you guys
are too. This is such like an inspirational time of the year. That's the whole reason we're doing
this guys. So three fluency courses all online lifetime access. You get personal feedback on your
goals in every course now, right? Guys, this is amazing. So all ears english.com slash school
is where you want to go before September 21st. Oh my gosh. And to speak to that personal feedback
on your goals, how cool to get a personal video welcome message from a teacher in our course.
As soon as you let us know what your goals are when you enter the course, you will get a personalized
response. How cool? We didn't have that before. Just a good now. We have this as well as a final
exam, right? Where we get it graded by a teacher. Isn't that right? With also a video message,
guys, like you get so much support in these courses now. Oh, I created all these new like reflect
and connect conversation activities. You guys, there's so much more in here for you to practice and
really use this new English guys. So yeah, biggest takeaway for today. You guys as the toughest
connections, the deepest connections are possible. Those conversations and friendships you want,
they're out there, guys. You can feel comfortable with the right practice and strategies, right?
So go to all ears english.com slash school and check this out. All right, Jessica. So where can we
invite your listeners to go to get this deal one more time? Yes, you guys go to all ears english.com
slash school. That's SCH OOL. You know how to spell school. Go there before September 21st,
guys. This offer goes away then three amazing fluency courses. We've already told you all the
stuff. There's so much stuff in there. Go to all ears english.com slash school. Yeah, and just
go one more time. How much are we saving by going and getting it now rather than later? What's our
total savings? Over 30% guys over 30% savings. Amazing. It's huge. Yeah, this is a crazy, awesome deal.
I love it, guys. So go over there and get the study plan. That's what it is. It's about the
plan knowing exactly what to do to get to your goal. Jessica, thanks for hanging out today.
We'll talk to you soon. Bye, pleasure. Have a good day, Lizzie. Take care, bye. Bye.
Thanks for listening to Isles Energy. Hit subscribe now and don't forget to find your
estimated band score at all ears english.com slash my score.
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