If you have ever been in a business meeting like this, you know it's hard to understand everything that the speaker says, and even harder to communicate your point or ask a question.
What can you do to make this easier?
Begin to listen to a lot of American speeches in TED talks, podcasts, specific words you want to hear in Youglish videos (www.youglish.com), and even training videos at your job. Have conversations with co-workers and ask them to explain what you don't understand when they use idioms or jokes or talk about a subject that is new to you.
Get USED to the sounds of the language, and how fast-talking native speakers say things.
It is not from a textbook or even an English class, but REAL life, whether in a business meeting or a conversation.
Do you want to know how Americans speak so fast and why we don't say words completely?
In spoken English, we say a lot of reduced vowels and contractions when we speak, as well as some slang expressions and phrasal verbs, even in business settings.
You might want to write down any expressions you hear that you are not familiar with, and also get used to hearing "wanna" and "kinda" and other contractions.
Here is a video I recently made with Rachelle from Dreaming English -
Click on the picture to watch this video on YouTube
After you understand how to recognize these contractions and expressions, you will be on your way to understanding American English.
Email me at laurel@laurelslearninglab@com for more tips on this and a free study guide on vowels.
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