Hi! My name is Danita. Welcome to our first lesson of Bare-Naked English. I’ve been studying languages for almost 50 years (gasp, am I really that old?). My very first foreign language was Swiss German when I was a foreign exchange student, although you might say that I learned two languages simultaneously: Swiss German at home and Standard German in school. Then I went on to study German at San Diego State University. I also speak some French, Spanish and Portuguese, and have studied Latin and Scots Gaelic! These days I live in Italy, and I have improved my spoken Italian tremendously by using the method I’ll describe below while learning Italian with Gianni at Italiano Semplicemente, and it’s incredibly effective. I’m excited to share this method with you and help you succeed in learning English.

One of the things I’ve learned in all of this language study, is that once you get to a certain point in your language learning journey, the grammar becomes harder, the vocabulary more advanced, and it feels like either you get “stuck” at about an A2 level, or you have to leap into complex grammar to keep moving forward.

This is the beginning of a series designed to help you master the beauty of English as it’s spoken every day. This English blog will hopefully be simple and fun, focusing on real-life language use instead of boring grammar rules. We’ll use a method called TPRS, which stands for Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling. This approach is all about learning through stories and everyday conversations.  TPRS incorporates natural language, fun content, repetition and interactive learning.

My posts will contain an MP3 for you to listen to, a transcript of what I’ve said for you to read, and when appropriate some exercises or questions for you to work on and answer.  I’ll probably tell you stories that are relevant to what’s happening that day in my life, or explain subjects that you, my listeners and readers ask me to discuss. I’ll certainly try to use practical examples as to how to use various words and phrases in daily conversation.

I would suggest that you listen to the transcript first. English is really hard to read, because there are so few real spelling rules. Listen to my voice, try to understand what I’m saying by the explanations I give to the words, and then you can read the transcript if you like.

Over six months, you’ll see significant improvement. By consistently listening and practicing, you’ll be able to speak English confidently and naturally. You’ll gain a vocabulary of around 5,000 to 10,000 words, depending on the time and effort you put in.

In our upcoming episodes, I’ll explain the rules in more detail. Remember, the key is to listen, listen, listen every day. And then speak, speak, speak.

I’m excited to take you on this journey of learning English. If you have any questions, or if you need me to slow down or speak more clearly, let me know. I want to make sure my lessons are as helpful as possible for you.  And if you have any specific topics that you would like for me to discuss, just send me a message!

The goal is to move from understanding what I’m saying to expressing yourself confidently in English. You’ll find that speaking becomes easier over time because you get to choose the words you say.

Today, I was going to take a little walk, but it’s looking like rain, so I decided instead to finally get this website started! I’m looking forward to hearing from you and helping you on this exciting journey. Let’s uncover the beauty of English together!

Talk to you soon!