English With Kirsty

Some of my customers have come to me in search of English training, not because their companies are not investing in their training, but because something about the courses that are being offered to them isn't quite working.This episode is for managers who want their staff to be more confident users of another language, although many of the points apply to other types of training and development too. If you're not a manager, you could also apply some of the tips to your own learning.I've gathered together feedback about what hasn't been working for people, and included my own tips and solutions. Some points are about identifying and selecting the right type of training for the task. Others are about supporting staff to implement and practice what they have learned. You can find the show notes here:https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode185

Today I am bringing you an interview with Rachel Surtees, a psychotherapist whom I met at a business networking meeting recently. This is how Rachel introduced herself:" As a psychotherapist I am fascinated by people and their interactions with each other. I am deeply curious about the stories we tell ourselves in order to make sense of our world and especially how these stories then become our subconscious guides to our behaviour in future interactions. When we become aware of our unconscious stories it paves the way for us to be more choiceful in our future interactions which can be a very liberating place to be."Our conversations covers many topics, but we talk about what Rachel does, why she believe stories are important, how they shape our interactions, and how changing the stories we believe about ourselves or other people can lead to better relationships and better communication with others.The show notes page is:https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode184

We've probably all experienced them at some time - colleagues who make life that bit more difficult, with whom we find it harder to communicate, or who do things that frustrate us.What are some things that we can do to make communicating with them or addressing these problems a bit easier?These tips won't fix all problems, but ultimately we're only responsible for how we communicate or react, so it's worth thinking about that to ensure that we are being constructive - even when it's really hard!You can find the show notes here:https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode183

Today I’m bringing you an interview with Janina Neumann, a bilingual business owner and graphic designer whom I met recently through business networking.Janina is a bilingual graphic designer, intercultural management trainer, and business owner of Janina Neumann Design. JND is a bilingual design company, helping clients create a social impact in the UK and abroad. Working with social enterprises, charities and councils, Janina helps clients communicate their message equally effectively across different languages and cultures. Janina speaks English and German fluently and has a keen interest in learning new languages, including French and Farsi.The show notes page is here: https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode182

Today I’m bringing you an interview with my friend and business mentor, Lauryn Bradley.Lauryn Bradley is one of the UK’s leading business strategists. Think of Lauryn as the epitome of understated brilliance. No fanfare. Just results. She has owned, started, scaled and sold global businesses for herself and her clients for almost 30 years. Lauryn is an introvert entrepreneur, prefers an easy life and is a cheerleader for building social equity. Lauryn is an online business mentor + trained consultant, not a business coach, so unlike most coaches, Lauryn has the practical experience and geek-ery to show you how to grow your business to 7 figures and beyond. Here are some of the points that we explore in our conversation:•Good communication as a way to build relationships•Communicating well to make a good first impression•Responding to and learning from negative feedback•Making sure that auto-responders and those who work for you are following your brand’s communication style•Lauryn’s resources to support women

Many of us have found ourselves in more online metings during the last weeks and months. Whether you love them or hate them, it looks as though they'll be here to stay for a while!I've put together eight tips about how you can communicate more effectively in online meetings. These include things to avoid, things to change, and things to try.Let me know if you have any tips that you would add, and also whether any of these tips have helped you.You can find the show notes page here:https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode180

Jennifer is a writing coach who helps business owners become confident, happy writers by showing them that writing doesn’t have to be as hard as we make it. She does this so more of us can get our stories and voices out and join the conversation, so to speak, so you can grow your business, help your clients, and work towards creating a society that celebrates and values all of us.In this interview, we talk about different approaches to writing, Jennifer shares the best writing advice that she's been given, and she explains what's coming up in her writing retreat in October. This is not a paid advertisement - I want to encourage people to write and get their voices heard, and I think that this event, which is free to attend if you sign up to attend live in October, will be a great way to help anyone who's thinking about writing their first book.Visit the show notes page for the links and further details about Jennifer's work and her writing retreat:https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode179

On this week's episode of the English with Kirsty podcast, I have another interview for you with Cara from Leo Listening.In the interview we talk about * >Bridging the gap between what you want to listen to, and actually enjoying listening to things, such as your favourite movies or TV series in English* >Differences between the types of listening materials that are available to language learners;* Why it's sometimes hard for learners to find good listening resources, and what they can do to fix the problem;* Practical listening techniques that you probably didn't learn at school;* How practising your listening skills can also help you to become a better speaker of another language, particularly if you're listening to conversations;* Listening resources for personal development;* Questions to ask yourself so that you can find the best listening resources for you.Here's the show notes page:https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode178

I'm a language learner as well as a teacher.I don't believe language learning apps can replace tuition where you can ask questions/get personalised feedback, or practise with other speakers of the language, but I do think they're a great way to support your learning, strengthen your language skills, and help you to build your vocabulary.In this episode, I talk about my experiences of the Duolingo app - which features I find helpful, and which skills are harder to develop with this kind of app.You can find the show notes page here:https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode177

This is the second part of my interview with Gabriel Clark, a blogger, podcaster, and language teacher. I have split our conversation into two parts because it became fairly long. In the second part of the interview we talk about:* What learning another language has taught Gabriel about his own language.* How word order is really important in English for communicating meaning * Why pairs of words always come in a certain order (ablaut reduplication) and how this rule can take precedence over adjective rules* Gabriel’s book, “102 little drawings that will help you remember English rules forever probably”, and a description of some of the drawingsYou can find out more on the show notes page:https://englishwithkirsty.com/episode176/

This is an interview with Gabriel Clark, a blogger, podcaster, and language teachers. Gabriel is also a language learners, so he's able to give some practical tips that have worked for him. I split our conversation into two parts because it became fairly long. In the first part of the interview we talk about:How speaking another language reduces barriers when you're living or working in another country* How speaking your students' language can help you as a teacher* How being a language learner can help you as a teacher, as long as you don't project your own learning style all of the time* How it can be good for your language skills to speak with people who don't speak your first language* 3 tips that helped Gabriel with his language learning.You can find the show notes here:https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode175

I mentioned our conversation club before, but in this episode we go into a bit more detail about who would benefit from it, how the club works, and what we do. Further information and the prices can be found on the club page:https://englishwithkirsty.com/conversation Most of our members are from Germany, so the club page page is in German, but if you have any questions, you can use the contact form, or go to the show notes page for this episode, where the contact form is in English:https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode174

I don't think many people really enjoy exams. I didn't mind them much at school, but as an adult who hadn't done one for a while, I found myself slipping into some bad habits. Based on my own experience, here are 8 things to avoid if you have an exam - whether it's for an academic qualification, a language test, or something you're doing to improve your skills in your free time.You can find the show notes here:https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode173

Real life can give you inspiration for podcast episodes. This is what happened to me last week and what I learned from it about picking yourself up and trying again when it comes to using another language.You can see the show notes page here:https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode172

There is plenty of information out there about working from home, but some of it is a bit generic.I decided to share some things that I've learned and that have worked for me during my 8 years of working from home full-time.I also wrote a blog post about this, so if you'd rather read the information, you can find it here:https://englishwithkirsty.com/2020/03/22/things-that-ive-learned-during-my-8-years-of-working-from-home/You can find out more about my 30 ways to improve your English challenge here - the new challenge starts on 14th April 2020:https://englishwithkirsty.com/about-the-lessons/30-days/I also mentioned the conversation club that I've set up with Jane, whom I interviewed on the podcast last time. This information is in German, so if you don't speak German and want to know more, send me a message and I'll help with that.https://englishwithkirsty.com/conversation-club-with-kirsty-and-jane/

Today I have an interview for you with Jane Eggers, who some of you may remember from episode 16.Jane is originally from the UK, but she now lives and works in Germany, where she has a German to English translation business called Jane Eggers Translations. We talk about Jane’s transition from using everyday German to using the language at work, who helped her, and what role her second language now plays in her business – not just because she translates from German to English, but also because a lot of her communication with customers is in German as well.You can find the show notes and links to find out more about Jane here:https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode-170/

I can help people to improve their English because I'm an English teacher, but I also understand the practical challenges of using another language at work because I do it myself every day when I communicate with my German-speaking customers.Here are some challenges that I've faced in my own business journey, and how I've overcome them.You can find the show notes here:https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode169

It's the beginning of a new year, and people are thinking about what they want to change or do differently.One thing could be to not let opportunities pass you by because of fears about your language skills. The job you didn't apply for/the meeting you didn't speak up in/the contribution you didn't make because you were so focussed on the difference between where your language skills are now and where you would like them to be.I've been in these situations too with my German. Some of them are better now because I took action. Others are still work in progress – but I'm getting there!The best way to make sure that something gets done is to make a plan. So a vague hope for change becomes a list of specific steps you want to change – so that 2020 is the year when we don't let opportunities or good things pass us by because we are not willing to leave our language comfort zones!If this doesn't apply to you – is there something else that you would like to change this year? It doesn't have to be something you want

Sometimes my students have difficulties when it comes to talking about their jobs in English. In this episode, I talk about nine of these problems and what people can do to solve them.You can find the show notes here:https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode167

Let's be honest – not everyone enjoys face to face networking, but sometimes we have to do it for our jobs, and sometimes it can be beneficial too. If you're learning another language, it can take even more determination to get out of your comfort zone and go and talk with new people.This is the first part of a short series in which I give some tips and ideas to make these situations easier and even enjoyable!You can find the show notes page here:https://englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode166/