English Harmony - Latest Comments

Re: Phrasal Verbs – Great Way To Improve Spoken English!

Robby Kukurs — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 04:30:29 -0000

Hi Anuj,

Phrasal verbs are simple by their nature and there's nothing sophisticated about them. Quite the opposite - their formal counterparts are often sophisticated!

You're saying that most people in other countries are comfortable using shorter and simpler sentences - and that's EXACTLY where phrasal verbs come into play.

Whether your conversation parter knows the exact phrasal verb you're using is a different question, but then how can you be sure they'll know other words you're going to use?

Re: Isn’t It Weird That I Can Write In English Better Than Speak?

Robby Kukurs — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 04:16:07 -0000

Common Anuj, I know what satire is, I'm just not sure how you meant it in the context of your comment! ;-)

When you wrote "use more satires to criticise wrong English teaching methods", initially that's what I thought - you're asking if I can write more articles highlighting the disadvantages of traditional learning methods using sarcasm and satire.

Then it crossed my mind that you might have meant if I can use more phrases and idiomatic expressions in my articles that can be used in all sorts of satiric comparisons, and that's why I asked you to specify what exactly you meant by this.

Now it's obvious you meant the former one and answer to this is - I've done it enough in the past, just check my Christmas video http://englishharmony.com/esl-... and you'll see that's exactly what you're talking about!

Now I want to move on and rather write about methods and techniques that DO WORK instead of focusing on something that doesn't like a broken record ;-)

Re: Phrasal Verbs – Great Way To Improve Spoken English!

anuj — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 01:46:05 -0000

If you are living in a country where people around you is not able to understand sophisticated phrasal verbs. then what one should do? because mostly people are only able to understand only simple and short English sentences and you might not know other person English level whether they are able to understand phrasal verb or not. As phrasal verbs are mostly understand by intermediate or advanced English speakers.

Please Reply in Detail....

Re: Isn’t It Weird That I Can Write In English Better Than Speak?

anuj — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:08:40 -0000

satire- a way of criticizing a person, an idea or an institution
in which you use humou to show their faults or weaknesses; a piece of
writing that uses this type of criticism

Re: Isn’t It Weird That I Can Write In English Better Than Speak?

Robby Kukurs — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:13:54 -0000

Hi Anuj,

Thanks for your comment and I'm glad you like my articles and find them useful!

I'm not really sure what you mean by satires; do you mean phrases you can use when making jokes and jests?

Re: Isn’t It Weird That I Can Write In English Better Than Speak?

anuj — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 02:10:02 -0000

the way in which you write your articles is 100 times better than any other article written in the newspaper by so called perfectionist writer. i like the way you express your ideas and thoughts on paper. but only one thing is missing in your articles, you dont use much satires (especially in daily use). please use more satires in your articles to criticize wrong methods and techniques of english.

Re: Isn’t It Weird That I Can Write In English Better Than Speak?

YASH — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 01:44:37 -0000

Dear rami It sounds like you started speaking english and attained perfection right when you were not present in this world ..now get this into your thick skull that you should not make any sarcastic remarks if you cannot appreciate robby sharing his knowledge regarding english fluency techniques and helping non native english speakers like me achieve fluency..like many others i truly appreciate robby for sharing his wealth of knowledge with us,only
a selfless man can do :)

Re: English Small Talk Phrases

PALLAVI SOMANI — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 05:02:40 -0000

informative............ n good one.

Re: English Small Talk Phrases

Prasheej — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 03:27:22 -0000

HAI SAN

Re: English Small Talk Phrases

Robby Kukurs — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:00:15 -0000

No problem Jason, and I guess all the comments under this article speak for themselves - foreign English speakers do find these phrases helpful!

Re: English Small Talk Phrases

Jason — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 06:04:35 -0000

Ya, I do believe that this could be helpful for the users of English as their second or third language..Thanks buddy. :)

Re: Isn’t It Weird That I Can Write In English Better Than Speak?

Robby Kukurs — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 02:36:20 -0000

Unfortunately I'm not planning to develop the System for Macs in the near future.

Re: Isn’t It Weird That I Can Write In English Better Than Speak?

Rogério Suguitani — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 18:46:16 -0000

when you going to sell (i don't speak english very well..) your system for apple macbook pro?

Re: Using Past Participles As Adjectives vs Passive Voice

Robby Kukurs — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 04:08:34 -0000

No, "Active" mustn't be changed to "Passive" in this context! That's the whole point of this article - it LOOKS like Passive voice, but it isn't!

Re: Isn’t It Weird That I Can Write In English Better Than Speak?

Robby Kukurs — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 04:06:16 -0000

Hi LCM,

Thanks for your comment and here are a few thoughts that crossed my mind while reading it:

* it's hard to enjoy a conversation if you're not interested in the topic you're discussing, so it could be that you wouldn't enjoy those particular conversations in your native language either;

* also - do you get to speak in English with someone on a regular basis? I'd find it hard to have meaningful conversations with random people as well; truth to be told I can only "open up" for real with people I've known for some time!

And here are a couple of articles I want you to read which might answer your question as well:

http://englishharmony.com/don%...
http://englishharmony.com/get-...

Hope this helps,

Regards,

Robby

Re: Using Past Participles As Adjectives vs Passive Voice

Kwanbhan — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 21:29:58 -0000

.....if you say “He is bored”, it’s the same Active Voice construct as “He is contacted”"Active" must be changed to PassiveVery useful informationThank you very much.

Re: Isn’t It Weird That I Can Write In English Better Than Speak?

Rami — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 17:45:45 -0000

it can be understood that their english isn't in fact better than yours they just aim for perfection,thats all right?if not, then how the hell did they surpass you?

Re: Isn’t It Weird That I Can Write In English Better Than Speak?

lcm2012 — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 21:51:43 -0000

Hi Robby! I'm from Hong Kong! I've been following your blog posts for a while. I appreciate your work. I like the fact that you make use of your experiences to help others to improve.

I am a Uni student. I want to become an English teacher in the future. Hehe, I want to be like you:) You are the best teacher i ever knew. It's true.

Truth be told, like the you in the past, I focus too much on writing but not speaking. I agree that speaking is actually the most important area of any language. And I want to change.

Robby, I have a problem when I talk to people in English. When I talk, I can't enjoy the talk. Whereas when I speak in my own language, I can. When I speak English, well it's okay if it is just a few line-exchanging, but when it comes to a conversation, a long one, I'm like a motionless machine just saying the English words out. Few or even none interaction. I think the reason is when communication, my focus is on my English but not on the enjoyment of making friends and interacting. I want to change but this problem is always bothering me. Did you have the same problem before? If yes, what did you tell yourself when you have the problem?

Thank you for reading Robby:))) Keep in touch!

Regards,

lcm

Re: How To Speak Fluent English with Limited Vocabulary!

Robby Kukurs — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 19:21:50 -0000

Hi Anuj,

The course contains 60 speech exercising lessons and there are 900 phrases, expressions, idiomatic expressions and sentences you'll be repeating 20 times each over the duration of the study plan.

As a result, you'll imprint natural speech patterns into your mind and you'll find it much easier to speak instantaneously and without much thinking!

Best Regards,

Robby

Re: English Small Talk Phrases

Robby Kukurs — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 15:32:11 -0000

Thanks!

Re: How To Speak Fluent English with Limited Vocabulary!

anuj — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 10:18:03 -0000

i am good at english reading and understanding. Also i can speak daily english usually one or two sentences. but the problem with me is that i cant speak english in lengths? is your course is beneficial for long conversations ?

Re: English Small Talk Phrases

Sangeeta Sjar,a — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 01:54:53 -0000

It was nice , I really liked it

Re: Print This Poster to Motivate Yourself to Improve Your English Throughout 2012!

Robby Kukurs — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 03:20:28 -0000

No problem, and many Happy Returns to you!!!

Re: English Fluency Monitoring & Management

Robby Kukurs — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 03:19:56 -0000

Thanks for your comment Adriano, and I have to say you've achieved a very good level of English in a year!

Especially I'd like to point out that I'm amazed at how you express yourself using words your own unique way. Yes, it might sound awkward, but I'm certain with enough practice you'll get there and given another year you'll be much more fluent!

Keep up the good job as well!

Regards,

Robby

Re: Print This Poster to Motivate Yourself to Improve Your English Throughout 2012!

Nishavenunath — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:50:14 -0000

Thanks Robby A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU. And thanks also for your sincere suopport