Losing Words

by Rita Johnson
(Canada)

Hi Robby,

I was pretty okay in english and explaining myself. But last few months I am finding that I am losing words and having really hard time in finding words and explaining myself.

What do you think could be the reason?

I tried to investigate myself and one reason could be that I am focusisng too much on catching phrases and I am not being myself. I saw your video for fousing on phrases and applying. I sort of am using that in my own style.

Other reason which is sort of linked with first one is that I am being very tensed and so I lose words.

Can you help in this?
Thanks Rita

Comments for Losing Words

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Feb 17, 2011
 Gaining English Confidence
by: Robby Kukurs

Hi Rita,

I think that the answer to your English fluency issue is quite simple - you're being too hard on yourself.

I'm familiar with the symptoms you describe as I've gone through the same fluency problems and to be honest with you - I still experience them to some degree every now and then. The key element here is managing such "bad fluency cycles" so that you can recover from them as soon as possible and get back to your normal "English speaking mode".

A very likely reason why you're experiencing the inability to find the right words when speaking English is trying to speak too fast.

Just do the following little experiment - right after you've had a conversation with someone and you've struggled for words, go back to it when you're on your own and go through it once more. I bet you'll discover that you can speak much better and also words don't elude you when you speak at your own natural pace. There's no reason why you can't speak like that in front of other people!

But if you just feel overwhelmed by it all and you can't seem to gather your thoughts and even slowing your speech down doesn't work, here's what I'd do on similar occasions.

One of the most effective ways of dealing with such moments when you suddenly lose your ability to speak English in a normal way is described in this blog post of mine: http://englishharmony.com/increase-english-fluency/ It's all about getting rid of mental pressure which always accompanies English fluency issues and facilitates their self-perpetuating nature. Basically you have to force yourself to stop thinking, speaking or doing anything in English for a period of time to allow yourself to calm down and get rid of the so-called "monkey-mind".

Hope this helps,

Best Regards,

Robby

Robby Kukurs is the creator of www.englishharmony.com, a website he created in 2007 to help struggling foreign English speakers gain real English fluency.

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