Using simple sentences to gain fluency - a podcast by Alan Palmer

Hello everybody,

Today I wanted to talk about practicing phrases to make it easier to remember how to say things and the right words to use


I want to go shopping because my sister is coming and we enjoy going to the shops together.

It is surprising just what language you can practice with only one sentence:

Because my sister is coming, I want to go shopping and we enjoy going to the shops together

We enjoy going to the shops my sister and I and my sister is coming, so I want to go shopping

That is three sentences saying the same thing, more or less - but if you practice the sentence in different ways - then you can become more fluent.

You can then expand it a bit more:

My sister is coming to see me. We always like to go shopping together because we like going to the shops together.

It is always nice when my sister comes, because we like going to the shops together to do some shopping. I want to go shopping anyway - so I will wait until she comes

This way, you can build up the language practice.

Just keep thinking of different ways to say the same thing and If you make a mistake, it isn't such a problem because people will still understand

So, say for example you said

I want to go to the shopping when my sister comes, because we like shopping together
(saying "shopping" instead of "shops" will still be understood)

You could always simplify it more...

When my sister comes, we like going to the shops together.

We like going shopping together my sister and me

(maybe it should be "my sister and I" but most people in England would say "my sister and me"

Try making up a sentence, writing it in a few different ways and then saying it. Or you could just try making a sentence in your head and then say it - you will become more fluent!

Have you ever tried learning words from a visual dictionary? I like these type of dictionaries because you can see the picture and read the word. I have just found a very good one that shows many pictures and photos with the words in 4 languages. This is called "5 Language visual dictionary by Dorling Kindersley. English, French, German, Spanish & Italian

The ISBN number is ISBN 0-7513-3681-5
You can find it on www.amazon.com

It is quite expensive at around £20/ $27 but I think it would be worth every penny and a very interesting way to learn new words.

Bye for now and see you next time bye!

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