Q-Eng

phrasal verbs are the conversational forms of more complex verbs that are much easier to remember and say, like pick up, pull over, get into, etc., and they're the most important part of conversational English.

Of course, knowing the definition of "phrasal verb" is far less important than being able to use them automatically when you speak - and my sister does this just fine - but it was interesting to quiz my family about about some common terms that many non-native speakers know.

The thing that really interested my family, though, was hearing me explain how non-natives can actually get fluent faster than natives if they learn the right way.

I reminded them that natives spend years learning English, but most of what we learn isn't used very often, if ever.

So my family was actually surprised to discover that I only teach students the most important information they need to know for everyday speaking situations, and that I basically ignore everything else found in traditional schools.

What you know that natives don't is that you don't need to know the entire language to be able to communicate fluently and confidently.

In fact, you can become a really great speaker even if you know very little English.

Isn't that cool?!

You just need to know enough for common conversational situations. And then you can build on that if you want to become more advanced.

The "native" way, I told my family, is actually really slow.

The world's best English learners just master the most commonly used vocabulary and grammar in simple steps, instead of taking years to learn a lot of information they'll never use.

When you impress people with native words and phrases in conversations, they think you know much more than you do.

But only you know the truth:

You just learned the most common speech patterns and vocabulary and you can use them automatically when you speak.

Always keep your ears open for the things people say again and again...

And watch for the patterns in how people communicate...

This is what you must learn, and it's the secret to fast fluency. :)

If you're not yet a member of Master English Conversation, you can join my sister and I in a very interesting conversation right now about networking and marketing during our current Business English Mini-Course.

But this lesson set disappears in just two more days.

Master English Conversation is the place to learn the most commonly used conversational English in simple, easy steps, and if you need help knowing what to remember and what to ignore, click here to join us in the program.