Reading out loud is one of my favorite exercises. It is also one of the most powerful ones that non-native speakers can use to learn to feel the rhythm of English, improve their presentation skills, and achieve native-like fluency. Here is the passage I am reading. Try reading it as well. First there was nothing. Then there was everything. Then, in a park above a western city after dusk, the air is raining messages. A woman sits on the ground, leaning against a pine. Its bark presses hard agains...
Dec 29, 2021•4 min
Many learners of English want to listen to a song in English and immediately understand. They expect themselves to immediately understand everything that their English-speaking colleagues or people on the movie screen say too. It's not how listening works. First, we need to learn to hear what we're listening to. Then, when we hear it, we want to learn to identify what's new and what's familiar information. Then, we need to be aware of the following elements and how they work: Stress, Rhythm, Emp...
Dec 27, 2021•1 hr 2 min
I love reading out loud. That's a fantastic exercise to practice better pronunciation, intonation, though chunking, rhythm, an melody of the language. This time I picked a new memoir by Will Smith (written together with Mark Manson). Listen to this piece and see if you want to read the book. You can read the same excerpt here and practice with me www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/606827…781984877925 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Dec 25, 2021•17 min
The question that students ask is "How long exactly will this take?" How long will it take to achieve native-like fluency? How many exercises a day precisely do I need to do to get there? How much time will it take per day? Yes, mastering a skill is an infinite process. But how do we fit this infinite learning process into a very finite day that we all have? In the second part of this podcast, I'm sharing personal stories about building new routines. I see 3 stages of building a new routine (you...
Aug 05, 2021•48 min
Just listen to how profound human communication can be... and how much time we waste seeking advice in places that have no advice for us. Listen to how beautiful and meaningful human communication can be, how much wisdom we possess as humans... and think how many words are wasted today to convince people to buy life advice or printed words of wisdom. ***** The inimitable Hunter S. Thompson was just 20 years of age and still in the U.S. Air Force when, in April of 1958, he wrote this profoundly w...
Jun 25, 2021•13 min
The question that students ask is "How long exactly will this take?" How long will it take to achieve native-like fluency? How many exercises a day precisely do I need to do to get there? How much time will it take per day? Yes, mastering a skill is an infinite process. But how do we fit this infinite learning process into a very finite day that we all have? When people say they're ready to commit, but they're not sure what this journey will look like... they're not really ready, and that's why ...
May 01, 2021•51 min
Even some advanced students can't ditch the habit of translating every single word. In this episode, we talk about: 1. The reasons why people translate every word (and keep that habit) 2. Why you should not translate the word order. Examples of miscommunication 3. The exercises you can do instead to improve your vocabulary and your listening comprehension skills 4. Things you can try in case you read a book and you do not understand some words. A step-by-step scenario of what you can do instead ...
Jan 20, 2021•51 min
They say you need to speak more if you want to speak better English... If you don't have a speaking partner, the general advice is - "talk to yourself". Many people embrace this idea with enthusiasm, but they quickly give up on the exercise... In this episode, I'm sharing the most common reasons people quit practicing (no feedback, no fresh ideas, no sense of progress...)as well as many ways to make this exercise work. I'm analyzing feedback from people I've been teaching over the last 15 years....
Nov 22, 2020•42 min
This episode is a practical exercise that you can do together with me in real time. I am using a movie in English and a video tutorial in German (if you don't speak German, that will not be a problem:) The link to the video on Intensive Listening Practice & Short-term memory is here youtu.be/PZzdzWM2Jqc To view my courses, visit courses.nataliatokar.me/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Oct 09, 2020•51 min
"What avail is it to win prescribed amounts of information about geography and history, to win ability to read and write, if in the process the individual loses his own soul; loses his appreciation of things worth while, of the values to which these are relative; if he loses his desire to apply what he has learned, and, above all loses the ability to extract meaning from his future experiences as they occur?". John Dewey Big thanks to www.learning-knowledge.com/ for sharing wisdom. courses.natal...
Sep 25, 2020•49 min
This episode explains the differences in stress patterns in Russian and English. We will look at how and why Russians hear/don't hear the rhythm of English, and how Americans/British hear the Russian language. Intonation helps us hear the essence of what's being said, the shades of meaning, the context, the attitude and the intention of a speaker. People who learn a language to succeed in sales or business communication in an international team, rarely pay attention to the effect that intonation...
May 27, 2020•47 min
In this episode I'm sharing unimpressive reasons why you should stop trying to impress people with your presentations. Here are the highlights: - Public speaking in business has nothing to do with acting. Learning acting skills does not help people to become more confident presenters. - Why technical teams don't like public speaking and how to help them be more comfortable with presenting in front of people - Why people feel drained and exhausted after giving a talk in front of a big audience - ...
Oct 11, 2019•48 min
Fluency is measurable. This episode (in two parts) explains how non-native speakers can measure fluency based on 4 criteria: - How much I hear - How much I understand - How clearly do I formulate my ideas in English - Do I speak English or a version of English that other non-native speakers understand? Natalia Tokar, the founder of UpSkillMe, is a non-native speaker herself. She helps international teams communicate their ideas in business in a clear, concise, and powerful way, and in English. T...
May 10, 2019•32 min
Fluency is measurable. This episode explains how non-native speakers can measure fluency based on 4 criteria: - How much I hear - How much I understand - How clearly do I formulate my ideas in English - Do I speak English or a version of English that other non-native speakers understand? Natalia Tokar, the founder of UpSkillMe, is a non-native speaker herself. She helps international teams communicate their ideas in business in a clear, concise, and powerful way, and in English. The blog post th...
May 01, 2019•29 min
How to start a speech? Or a meeting? How important are introductions and why is everyone trying to impress people with their credentials before they give any value? Natalia Tokar Founder & CEO at UpSkillMe (Communication & Public speaking coaching for startups, sales teams, and business leaders) upskillme.ru/ Linkedin - www.linkedin.com/in/nataliatokar/ Instagram - @nataliatokarr Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mar 18, 2019•14 min
This is a podcast on communication for fund managers aiming to get more allocations. - How do you stand out among all the other funds? - How to pitch your value and which common mistakes to avoid? - What is an incubator for fund managers and how to reach $250M AUM when you're starting a fund? - Criteria that are vital for investors. - Cross-cultural communication tips for fund- and asset managers with global outreach. - How to sell and pitch to non-native speakers. Speakers: Tyra Jeffries, Found...
Mar 18, 2019•55 min
People often get thrown off balance when someone interrupts their presentations that they have been prepared meticulously for a long time. People think it's annoying and disrespectful to interrupt while big clients, investors, shareholder, actually....very often interrupt presentations... because everyone craves a conversation, not a presentation. More of my thoughts on how to use interruptions to actually create meaningful connections with people are in the podcast. If English is not your first...
Mar 18, 2019•29 min
Natalia Tokar is a communication coach to business leaders and sales teams and a founder of UpSkillMe.ru. Natalia has been using cross-cultural communication strategies to successfully run business projects in the UK, USA, Middle East, Russia, and Europe. She believes that communication is what helps to clear any mess in any business. Natalia has been actively involved in the blockchain space doing Business Development and Investor Relations. She is currently helping startups crystalize their me...
Mar 18, 2019•32 min
-Did you know that 90% of serotonin is produced not in the brain but in your digestive tract? -Did you know that some people just do not produce enough serotonin by default? -Did you know there’s a way to handle depression and learn from it? Listen to Stefan Siepmann’s story. He is a certified yoga teacher and he’s been going through cycles of depression since he was 25. “I am 25 – I was on antidepressants for the whole year until my condition stabilized” 2011 – I feel the same but antidepressan...
Mar 18, 2019•1 hr 17 min
When people give business presentations in a second language, most of the time they feel stressed. People experience almost physical pain when they have to say something important in front of others who certainly have high expectations of them. They may be brilliant speakers when they present in their first language. However, when they switch to English, they lose all their confidence. This podcast explains how to: - find the confidence when you need to speak in front of people in a second langu...
Mar 18, 2019•23 min
If you need to make business presentations in English, and if English is your second language, you will find this useful! For more tips follow our Business Page on FB -www.facebook.com/upskillme.ru Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mar 18, 2019•6 min
Every tech company today needs to invest in communication skills. We see a lot of brilliant technical teams who are unable to communicate the value of their product (often a true innovation) to the world. Storytelling, marketing, understanding people and learning what empathy is - that’s not exactly a skillset of a tech team today, but can be and should be a skillset of every human team. Human communication is way more complex than AI algorithms or digital marketing manipulative strategies. Tech...
Mar 16, 2019•20 min
