Best web resources: Presentation Zen

Presentation Zen is a marvelous website created by Garr Reynolds. It concerns the art and craft of giving great presentations, and I always find it excellent; written with care and creativity. Garr puts a huge number of resources there, and if you like the site, you might also enjoy his personal blog. I admire Garr's creativity, constancy, sense of humor and Zen aesthetic. Also, if you're interested in Steve Jobs, there are some wonderful posts there with some of his presentations. I hope you enjoy!

University of Cambridge: Test your English

Are you thinking about taking a Cambridge exam? You can use Test your English as a free online resource to find out which Cambridge exam is closest to your current level.
After you've done this test, you can buy books with "past papers" (previous exams) to further check how you would score and what areas you need to work on. Of course, it's always good to consult with a reliable English instructor to find out which exam is right for you.

P.S. If you read this blog with regularity, you know that although I support taking exams if you feel you need to or want to, I believe that the most important thing in English is always communication!

The confidence paradox

"The reality is that the universal language is English. It doesn't have to be perfect English! My English is broken but I can still communicate!" --The Dalai Lama, in Japan Times online.


Paradox is defined as "a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth."
Confidence, in this usage, is the feeling that you can do something.
The confidence paradox when you're learning a new language is that the less confident you are in speaking, the less you will learn. I think this is because when your confidence is low, you feel bad when you make mistakes, and you start to lose your trust that you know what to say. Then you make more mistakes and this seems to support your low confidence! You may think, "I can't speak correctly and I will never be able to." You lose your ability to take risks, and finally, you become so worried about making mistakes that you forget the real objective of speaking, which is to communicate.
I'm very familiar with this feeling. Sometimes when I speak Spanish, I have problems and my confidence starts to decline. Then I have to remind myself that my objective is to communicate.
Communication is more than speaking a language properly, and we understand this easily when we speak our native language. Sometimes we communicate with others well, and sometimes not. If you have an unsuccessful communication with other people in your native language, do you lose confidence in your ability to speak properly? Probably not. You may focus on your listening skills, body language, your feeling during the conversation, the topic you were discussing, etc. This shows that many elements form part of communication.
So I want to encourage you to focus on communication when you speak in English. Here are some ways to do this:

• Look at the other person and listen to what he or she is saying.



• Smile.



• Ask questions if you don't understand.



• Try to put your attention on understanding the other, not on whether you might make a mistake.

Trust me, when you focus on understanding another person, you won't be so worried about your own mistakes. If you make a mistake, smile, correct your mistake if necessary, and go on. I promise you that you will learn more this way!

My most successful students

Today I was having coffee with one of my most successful students, and we were talking about her approach to improving her fluency in English. In my opinion, her success is related to the following things:


1. She believes that communication is her first priority.
2. She listens and pays attention.
3. She reads and watches TV series and films.
4. She takes advantage of opportunities to speak.
5. She works to incorporate new grammar and vocabulary immediately.

All of these practices are key to her success, but I think the first one is absolutely the most important one. Because she believes this, the other ones follow more easily. If using English "perfectly" were her objective, it would be much more difficult for her to improve, because the idea of "perfection" would be a barrier. She would probably feel less disposed to speak, and it would be harder for her to listen and pay attention, because she would be distracted by her idea of being "perfect".
In education and business today, people are talking a lot about the value of making mistakes and taking risks. It's easy to talk about it but difficult to do it. When I see a student taking risks in order to communicate, I'm very impressed, and I know that she or he will learn and improve a lot!
It would be very interesting for me to hear other ideas about this, from students or teachers...