The Speak English Fearlessly Podcast

FAQ: How Can I Improve My Speaking Skills in English - and for the CELPIP?

In this mini episode of the Speak English Fearlessly podcast, I'm going to talk about one of the most frequently asked questions that I get: how to increase one's speaking score on the CELPIP exam.

• You'll learn if it's possible to increase your score from a 6 to a 9 in a short period of time.
• Is there a realistic period of time it would take?
• What you should be doing to see significant improvement in your speaking skills in English.

Get my free weekly newsletter where you'll get a deeper look at what I covered in the podcast, as well as extra tips and strategies to help you develop your English skills. Go here to subscribe - it's free!

Links mentioned:

https://www.cambridge.org/elt/blog/2018/10/11/how-long-learn-language/

00:00 Introduction: Improving Your CELPIP Speaking Skills

02:09 Understanding Your Current English Level

02:52 The Time Commitment for Improvement

07:31 Practical Tips for Daily English Practice

10:42 Avoiding Common Pitfalls

13:00 Conclusion: Setting Realistic Expectations

What To Do After You Freeze And Forget What To Say In English

Freezing in an English conversation or during the CELPIP exam can be nerve-racking and can totally bring your confidence down to zero.

In this episode of the Speak English Fearlessly podcast, you'll learn practical tips and strategies to overcome one of the most commonly held fears: speaking in front of someone else.

I'll share a time that I froze in public while I was learning Spanish, and pass on the lessons that I Iearned from it - and yes, you do survive such embarrassing moments! (I have plenty I could tell you about!)

Listen to get three introvert-approved techniques to handle those awful moments when you freeze and forget everything you thought you knew about English!

Sign up for my free weekly newsletter right here.

The National Social Anxiety Center - Public Speaking Anxiety

University of Florida - Public Speaking: Getting beyond the fear through the three P's

00:00 Introduction: The Fear of Freezing in English Conversations

01:59 Welcome to the Speak English Fearlessly Podcast

03:54 Personal Story: Overcoming Freezing Moments in Spanish

08:24 Practical Tips to Overcome Freezing in English

17:24 Bonus Tip: Handling Shyness in English Conversations

18:37 Conclusion and Encouragement

One of the best things you can be doing to develop your CELPIP and English skills is to effectively use the feedback that comes your way each day. Today's episode will help you to start doing that!

In this episode of the Speak English Fearlessly podcast, focus on the power of feedback in the learning process.

You will learn from my own personal experiences and lessons from my attempts at improving this podcast

Learn how to target specific areas for improvement, implement actionable changes, and reduce the time between feedback and action. This episode offers practical strategies to help you develop your skills and excel in the CELPIP exam.

Links to check out:

00:00 Introduction and Personal Reflection

01:12 Welcome to the Speak English Fearlessly Podcast

01:52 Challenges of Creating a Video Podcast

03:31 Understanding and Utilizing Feedback

07:11 Daily Feedback in Language Learning

09:15 Targeted, Specific, and Timely Feedback

14:44 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Overcoming the Spotlight Effect: Embrace Your English Mistakes

In this episode of the Speak English Fearlessly podcast, I'll be talking about the common fear of making mistakes while speaking English.

I'll be looking at a great interaction and an experience in an open air theatre that I had recently to help me drive home a few key points with you:

• Manage expectations.
• Keep going even when you make a mistake.
• People don't focus on your mistakes nearly as long or as much as you do!

Listen in to find out what you can do when you make a mistake with your English.

All Eyes on Us: The Spotlight Effect

00:00 Introduction: The Fear of Making Mistakes in English

01:44 Understanding the Spotlight Effect

02:08 Welcome to the Speak English Fearlessly Podcast

02:47 Story 1: The Ukrainian Refugee

04:56 Story 2: Community Theatre and Embracing Mistakes

06:36 Lessons Learned: Overcoming the Spotlight Effect

09:42 Practical Strategies for English Learners

14:29 Conclusion: Keep Building Your English Skills

Have you found yourself face to face with another mistake with your English?

Have you tried and failed to achieve your desired score on the CELPIP? (Again!)

If you're facing a persistent or difficult to overcome failure or mistake with your English skills, then please listen to today's episode.

I'll be sharing some of my own setbacks from the week and what I've been learning from them. I firmly believe that mistake making = progress.

If you're not making any mistakes with your English, it's because you're not trying to use it enough and in new and challenging ways.

And if you find yourself in the middle of the frustration and discouragement that mistakes can often bring - then I hope today's episode will bring you hope and heart felt encouragement to keep going!

Join CELPIP Success School! Go to www.celpipsuccess.com/listener - join today for a 25% discount in your membership for as long as you stay with us.

3 Lessons I Learned from 3 Mistakes in front of 230 people.

In this episode of the Speak English Fearlessly podcast, we'll dive into mistake making and how mistakes can be powerful learning opportunities if you see them in the right way.

We'll also talk together about how to develop a healthier mindset toward mistake-making: embracing errors, rather than avoiding them, can help you make faster progress with your English skills!

We'll discuss the significance of continuous practice, realistic expectations, and the growth that stems from imperfections.

00:00 Introduction: Admitting My Mistakes

01:10 The Importance of Mistakes in Learning

01:30 Welcome to the Speak English Fearlessly Podcast

02:11 Common Mistakes and Their Impact

03:32 Revealing My Podcast Mistakes

04:45 Reflecting on My Mistakes

06:46 Learning from Mistakes

09:34 Embracing Imperfection

15:03 Final Thoughts and Encouragement

17:15 Subscribe for More Tips

Links mentioned today:

If you liked today's episode, you'll love my weekly newsletter. (It's free!) Every Tuesday I pull out something from the podcast and take a closer look at it to help you review what we've been talking about. I also share additional tips and strategies to help you develop your English and CELPIP skills. You can subscribe here.



The quote by Jeffrey S. Nevid, Ph.D., ABPP

How To Stop Overusing Words and Phrases in English To Get A Higher CELPIP Score

This episode discusses the importance of avoiding repeated words and phrases in your CELPIP answers and provides practical strategies on how to break this habit.

Key takeaways:

• You will learn about the listability and vocabulary filters used by CELPIP raters to score your answers.
• How and why you should be recording yourself to identify overused phrases,
• As well as how to change those overused phrases by finding alternative expressions, and seeking supportive feedback.

Link Mentioned: Grab your free checklist of the process I described today at www.celpipsuccess.com/resources

00:00 Introduction: Recognizing Overused Phrases

02:21 Understanding the Impact on CELPIP Scores

02:42 Welcome to Speak English Fearlessly

03:20 The Problem with Repetition

06:34 Strategies to Break the Habit

06:58 Recording Yourself: The First Step

09:56 Finding New Ways to Express Yourself

12:15 Getting Supportive Feedback

15:44 Encouragement and Resources

If you struggle with just getting your CELPIP Speaking task answers started, you need today's episode.

Spending too much time on polite, flowery introductions with your speaking task answers will steal valuable time from you - and they are just not necessary!

Instead, you need to do what I share in today's episode! Get straight into the main content of your answer!

You'll also learn about

• Why building momentum with your answer matters so much.
• Being loud and proud with your answers.
• Efficient 'in the middle of things' openings for various CELPIP speaking task types.

Key Link: Subscribe to my free weekly newsletter where you'll get additional tips and strategies to help you develop your English skills.

00:00 Introduction: The Importance of Starting Right

02:03 Welcome to Speak English Fearlessly

03:29 Why Politeness Can Be a Pitfall

05:36 Get to the Point: Strategies for Effective Answers

07:42 Practical Examples and Tips

10:07 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

11:05 Subscribe for More Tips

Have you been wondering why your English skills are not developing as quickly as you'd like them to be?

It might just be because you're not using one or all of these three simple, but not always easy, strategies.

1) Going where the action is,

2) Engage!

3) Put in the reps.

I will tell you an inspiring story that has been happening at my workplace that will help you see how you can apply these three steps in your own life.

Don't forget to subscribe to my free weekly newsletter where you'll get a recap of this podcast + additional tips and strategies to help you develop your English skills. Go to: https://celpipsuccess.com/subscribe/

00:00 Introduction: Transform Your English Skills

00:45 Welcome to the Speak English Fearlessly Podcast

02:26 A Story from Work: Building Community

05:04 Strategy 1: Go Where the Action Is

06:41 Strategy 2: Engage Actively

11:15 Strategy 3: Put in the Reps

12:24 Conclusion and Newsletter Invitation

Don't Try To Set More Goals To Improve Your English. Do This Instead!

If you know you are working hard to improve your English skills, but you're still not getting the results you want to be getting, then this episode is for you.

Together we're going to talk about the power of systems and specifically, we're going to talk about how your system is the problem AND your system is the solution to helping you start making progress again with your English or CELPIP prep.

If you're stuck right now, even though you're working harder than you ever have to make progress: then you need to hear this!

It's not about working harder.

It's not about setting better and more goals.

It's not about blaming a lack of people you can practice with.

Progress with English is completely under your control - and today you're going to learn what you need to actually be working on in order to get yourself and your English unstuck!

You are invited to join a three-month book club program to work on developing effective systems for language improvement.

Forget About Setting Goals. Focus On This Instead. - By James Clear. This is the article I quote in the podcast. Please do take a moment to read through it if you are at all interested in what you can do to begin transforming your results with your English or CELPIP prep.

Join my new bookclub! We're going to study James Clear's book: Atomic Habits - as mentioned in the episode. Together we'll work on developing your English and CELPIP learning system so that it produces the results you need.

00:00 Introduction: Struggles with Practicing English

01:38 Welcome to the Speak English Fearlessly Podcast

03:06 Common Challenges in Practicing English

04:39 The Danger of Excuses and Obstacles

06:45 A Realization: The System is the Problem

09:35 Changing the System for Better Results

20:16 Invitation to Join the Book Club

23:44 Conclusion and Final Thoughts