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

Mentioned in this episode:

The CELPIP Speaking Momentum Series: Get Unstuck and Start Practicing with Confidence

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Speaking Momentum Audio Program

This week I noticed something at work that has the power to transform your English skills.

If you've been feeling like your English isn't growing as fast as you'd like it to be, then I'm sure you are missing one of these three simple strategies that I'll be sharing with you today. Now, before I go any farther, I want to make sure you heard that I said that these three strategies are simple.

That means they're not complicated to implement. They are simple, but they may not be easy. Do you want to know what they are? Well, good, because I want to tell you about them.

I mean, after all, that's why we're here together, right? Well, hello there and welcome to the Speak English Fearlessly Podcast.

This is the podcast for motivated English learners who want to speak English fearlessly and learn practical tips and strategies to conquer the CELPIP exam.

I also love to feature encouraging interviews with regular people, people just like you, who are working towards becoming fluent in English so we can learn from their experiences together. Who am I? My name is Aaron Nelson and I've been an English teacher for well over 16 years.

And I now help students prepare for the CELPIP exam through online classes. Hey, if you're just joining us today, how are you doing? Thank you so much for downloading this episode.

I'm glad that you're here and that you decided to give me a listen. Please sit back, please relax and enjoy today's episode. I really hope that it helps you keep moving forward with your English goals.

And if you are a returning listener, my friend, I'm so glad that you're here today. How are you doing? I hope that you're having an excellent week. I'm so glad that you decided to spend this time with me here today. I hope.

I deeply hope that what we talk about here today helps you too. That it helps you grow and continue growing your English skills and your CELPIP prep. Can you grow your CELPIP prep? I don't think so.

What I want to say is I hope that today's episode inspires you to keep working towards your CELPIP goals. All right, enough with that. I've got a story for you. I've been watching something absolutely amazing happening at my workplace.

Just a few weeks ago, we opened a brand new housing facility for seniors. It's got 96 suites and and we're expecting to welcome easily 150 new residents over the next month. In fact, we've already started.

Since opening back in mid June, we are already approaching 50 residents moved in. The place is starting to fill up.

Part of my job is running activities and events that help promote the development of relationships and community between our new residents. One of my favorite events is to do regular coffee times.

Twice a week, we invite our residents to come down into our comfortable lounge where we serve fresh coffee and treats. The first day that we did it, we barely had enough people to fill up one table.

The second day was basically the same, but something cool was starting to happen. Residents were beginning to learn each other's names and conversations were beginning to flow.

They easily began talking about where they were living before their adventures and getting packed and ready to move to their new spot and unpacking all over again. Connections were beginning to form.

The next time we did it, we needed two tables of six, and the same excited conversations filled the lounge with a happy buzz as strangers began to get to know each other. Now, almost a month since we started, we are up to four large tables and the room is filled with laughter and friendly talking.

During our last get together, I met four new people who I hadn't met yet, while also getting the opportunity to talk with several people I had met already.

Now, I know you're likely thinking, well, that's a nice story, Aaron, but what does a bunch of seniors meeting each other have to do with me and my English or me and my Celpip prep? Well, a lot, actually. Three things at least. There's probably more. But I've got three things that I want to share with you today.

Here's why I'm talking about this with you. We're talking all about how you can develop your English and celpip skills today, right?

These three points will give you exactly what you need to start making that happen. Or it will help you to realize what you're not doing so you can start doing it. The first point I want to share with you is this.

Go where the action is. The seniors I told you about could easily have decided to stay up in their suites, too focused on unpacking or trying to get themselves settled.

Or they could simply decide that being social was not something that they were wanting to be. And honestly, some do that. By the way, coming down for coffee and getting to know others is not a mandatory exercise.

It's not something that they have to do. It's completely up to the resident. The same is true for you.

If you want to see your English skills develop, and I know you do because you're listening to this podcast right now, then you need to make a choice to stay. Step out of your house or your apartment or your cubicle at work and go where the conversations and relationships are happening around you.

Chances are those opportunities won't come to you. You need to go to them. Likely not very far if you're living here in Canada, but you do need to step outside of your regular habits, your system.

If you've been listening to my podcast, if you saw, if you listened to last week's episode, then you'll know exactly what I'm talking about when I say your system. You need to step out of the system that's not working for you in order to make this happen.

But as I just said, you need to step outside of your regular habits and your comfort zone and go where you can use English. So that's the first point. Go where the action is. Number two, you need to engage.

If you're anything like me, sometimes taking that step of stepping out of your comfort zone and going where the action is is a big step. Point number two, you need to engage.

If you're anything like me, sometimes taking that step of actually stepping outside of your comfort zone and going where the action is is a big step for you to take. If that's you, I applaud your first step. Way to go.

I seriously know how hard that can be to put yourself out there and surround yourself with English speakers. While you might not feel very confident about your English skills yourself, but here's the next point I need to share with you.

Being where the action is isn't enough. You actually need to engage.

Today, a few residents brought treats they had made at their apartment to share with anyone who came, while others made a point of writing their names on our optional name tags so that others could talk to them a little bit more easily. And others eagerly greeted newcomers and made a point to get to know them. In short, they're not just being there.

They're not just being where the action is. They are actively engaging. They're not stopping with just showing up. Like what I just said.

They're actively pushing themselves to create connections with those who are there. And maybe you're thinking, well, that's easy. They all speak English. True, not everyone. We've got a few residents who are not native English speakers.

One of them is from Ecuador, another one is from Italy, and another one is from Brazil. But they aren't letting that stop stop them. But what I really wanted to focus on here with this point is this.

While English might be a relatively easy thing for most of our residents, taking the risk of getting to know strangers is not simple for everyone. One lady in particular stands out to me.

Today, as I was talking to her in the lobby in the afternoon after the coffee time was all finished, she confessed something to me that I thought was quite amazing. She said that she's so painfully shy that she decided not to share her real name with anyone at the coffee time. She was too scared.

She didn't feel safe yet. But you know what? She was still there. She was still brave enough to talk with the two people that were sitting right next to her. I saw her. For me.

If you've been listening to this podcast for a while, you'll know that I'm more of an introvert myself. I don't gravitate towards big events where there are lots of people. In fact, I tend to avoid them. I like nice and small, like two or three people.

So while I'm running these coffee times that I was telling you about, I am still faced with the challenge of engaging too. You'll see me with my coffee mug filled with steaming hot coffee, smiling and talking with folks. But I want to confess something to you, my friend.

Many times I'm pushing myself hard to get out of my comfort zone in order to do that.

In our last coffee time, for example, the one where we had to push together four large tables so that everyone could fit in, I easily connected with the group of people that I had met before. That was fun and easy. But guess what? There was a whole extra table of new people.

I realized as I chatted with the people I had already met that I needed to get up and and physically move to where the action was. I needed to go where there were new people that I didn't know. I needed to sit down with them and I needed to strike up a conversation.

I had to engage. I couldn't wait for them to come to me because many don't simply because they too feel shy. So that's what I did.

And that's how I met those four new people. The point Maybe English wasn't a big deal for most of these residents or or me, but many, including myself, meeting new people is a big deal.

So being where English is happening around you is a great first step. But then you have to actually engage with the people around you in order for something to happen. You need to engage. Don't wait for it to come to you.

And here's my third and final point that I think that this story has in store for you. Put in the reps. Building confidence and skill at something requires you to repeatedly try whatever skill it is that you're working to master.

My senior friends are great examples of this. With the exception of maybe one or two people, the same people keep coming down to join us for coffee times.

They know that if they want to build friendships in this new building where they've come to live, they need to show up at every event that they possibly can that offers the chance for relationships to happen. And coffee time is one of those events. And you know what? Even though it's only been a short time, the repetition is paying off.

Today, even though we had a lot of new people, the atmosphere, the way things felt around us was relaxed and fun. But that relaxed and fun only happened because they showed up and repeated what they had done before. The same is true for you too.

Go where the action is, engage with the people around you, and then repeat it in order for you to see your English skills grow stronger. Hey my friend, I've got a simple and free way that you can use to engage with English on a regular basis.

You can subscribe to my free weekly newsletter. What's that? You haven't done that yet, my friend. What are you waiting for? Did I mention that it was free? It is.

All you have to do is go to celpipsuccess.com subscribe and you can join my newsletter.

Every single Tuesday, I publish a new edition where I do a little recap of the podcast and I share more tips and strategies that will help you continue to develop and practice your English and your Celpip skills. Like I said before, it's totally free. I've made it just for you. So what are you waiting for? Sign up today. Just go to celpipsuccess.com subscribe.

I hope I'll see you in there. Have a great week and thank you so much for listening. Bye Bye.