Vocabulary Bank:
- sure-fire – (adj.) certain to succeed or to meet expectations
- retain – (v.): to retain – to hold on to something for the long term, to keep
- (an) auditory learner – (n.) a particular style of learning where the learner interacts with new information best through sound and speech, rather than through just the written word.
Hi and welcome to “The Better English Blog” – the place where advanced non-native speakers of English can enjoy quality reading material while exploring the English language in depth.
I’m Michelle Charles and I am a Business English Coach and Soft Skills Trainer with over 20 years of experience in international communications consulting in both the United States and in Germany. Since going fully online in 2020, I have also had the privilege of working with students and clients from all over the world.
Here, in these blog articles, I gather my answers to the questions that have been most frequently asked by my Business English students and clients over the years – questions that you most likely have, yourself.
Among these articles, you will also find examples of some of my best advice and sure-fire tips for improving your Business English that have been tested and proven in real-world situations.
Some topics that you can expect to see covered include: how to improve your English as an adult, the spelling differences between British English and American English explained, how to master the issue of “gender” in English and much more.
People tend to say that they are too old to learn. Actually, the tools that have been traditionally used to teach adults need to be changed.
– Michelle charles
It is a commonly accepted fact that adults learn new information and learn how to retain information differently than children.
Once upon a time, we were all children and we learned new information as children were taught to in school – through repetition, memorization and testing.
But as we grew into adults seeking to learn new skills – such as speaking a language for business, for example – the “school English” tools for acquiring and holding on to the new knowledge – which expanded to include advanced vocabulary and grammar, failed to work in the same way as when we were kids.
People tend to say that they are too old to learn. Actually, the tools that have been traditionally used to teach adults need to be changed.
Simple repetition, memorization and testing or fill-in-the-blank exercises just don’t provide the kind of results that are needed for successful communications as adults in business.
“The Better English Blog”, aims to close the gap between when you experience new information and how you manage to retain it for the long term – for practical use, spontaneously, in your international relations. In fact, my entire website, www.michellecharlesenglish.online, is set up for this exact purpose!
For added support in your learning, at the top of each article, a “Vocabulary Bank” of likely new vocabulary words can be found. This tool is meant to help you to increase your understanding of the content of the articles in real-time and to help you to more quickly and easily retain the information for your own use in the future. Learning new information “in context” is the name of this strategy.
Additionally, I have included an audio recording of each article.
Not only does an audio recording of the article provide an added level of convenience for spending time with the blog (you can listen while doing the laundry, for example), but it is also a good way to listen to pronunciation by a native speaker. If you are an “auditory learner”, then this feature is a bonus for you!
And last, but not least, I have also taken short sections of each article and turned them into word games.
You can find these games as links at the end of the articles, or you can simply click on the “Think In English” menu item at the top of each page on my website. Clicking on this menu item will display a drop-down menu from which you can choose your games or puzzles of choice or your preferred downloads.
Instructions for playing the games and for using the associated blog article as a reference are included.
I hope that you enjoy reading “The Better English Blog”. I would look forward to seeing your comments and receiving your feedback in the comments section below each article.
See you on the blog!
– Michelle