Connected to English Claudia Markovic

Hello ... Good morning ... Good afternoon ... Good evening ...

How are you?

I'm fine, how about you?

I'm fine, too.

In English we use ALL these words to GREET each other.

It's a very interesting greeting.

Some people question

why ask ‘How are you?’

if we don't really want to know

how the person feels.

Well let's have a look at that question:

The ‘I’m fine’ response gives a lot of information.

It can be upbeat, in which case the person is feeling good.

It could be hesitant, then you know there might be something wrong.

At this point in the conversation,

if you have a close relationship with the person,

you can now ask more questions to show interest.

You can then ask a second level question:

‘What's happening? You sound excited!’

Or

‘You don’t sound so fine. What’s wrong?’

If you don't have a close relationship,

you're going to understand that maybe you need to be more compassionate,

but you’re not necessarily going to ask second level questions.

In English we use this greeting to gauge how the person is feeling.

Their response determines the second level questions,

depending on our relationship.

Hope that's given you more of an understanding into the English greeting:)

In this call you will


Create a crystal clear vision of how better English will help you with your business goals.

Undercover hidden challenges that could be sabotaging your overall language skills.

Explore which next steps to take to improve your English.

Hello, everyone. 

So good to be here with you. I'm just so amazed at how this podcast has grown. And I just wanted to tell each and every one of you who is listening. I really appreciate that you listening to this podcast. I'm so, so grateful and so thankful.  I've gotten some feedback from some from you. And you've just told me that it's also really useful and that you appreciate the work that I put into the podcast. And so yeah, I just want to honour that. And I want to say thank you. And it's amazing to know that I'm connected to so many people around the world. So just wanted to start off by saying thank you. 

So let's get to our episode today. Today it's all about networking, in your second language. So, of course, I live in Germany. My second language is German. And also Afrikaans, because I come from South Africa. And so in Germany, I often have to network in German. And oh, my goodness, it's, it's tough sometimes, you know, I'm not gonna hide that it really is tough. Sometimes,  I'm struggling to find the words. Sometimes I want to express something that I know I could express really easily in English. And it's just not happening in, in German, it's one of the things that I really notice inside of myself, I use the mindset that I teach my clients. And I have mindset tools to help me through that.

Mindset is so important when you're speaking in your second language. And that's the part that's actually going to get you through most of the barriers that you face and encounter, in your experience with your second language. So the first step I always do is I breathe. Well, actually, you know, the first step is to just to notice that that's actually happening inside of your head. That's the first step. The second step is actually then to breathe. And let it go. And the third step is to break the wall. And this perceived wall, this feeling of, oh, there's something holding my language back. Just like break it visually, with your hand, like, I like to punch through that wall. And just say - this is not going to hold me back - I'm still going to give the message that I want to give in the best possible way that I can give it and I just plough through that. And I deliver my message and I feel great about it afterwards. So maybe like yeah, of course I'm human. I have thoughts of like well, could have been better. But actually overall, I feel really great about the fact that I didn't give up and I just delivered the message I wanted to deliver. 

Hello, everyone. 

Yes, I am really enjoying the summer weather at the moment. Tomorrow, they're expecting a storm. And the weekend is going to be super hot. Another word that you could use for super hot is it's going to be a scorcher. It's going to be a scorcher.  So scorching: to scorch something means to burn, to burn it, you know, it's been scorched. It's been burnt. So when it's really really hot! 

I know in places like South Africa, India, parts of South America. The weather is really, really hot. And yeah, so there's scorching weather. I know, in South Africa it's winter now and so there it's currently freezing. So I don't know which part of the world you're in. Maybe you're experiencing scorching hot weather. And maybe you're experiencing freezing weather. It's freezing. So you can practice those phrases. 

Either, 

"I'm freezing" or 

"It's freezing outside." Or 

"It's a scorcher." 

"It's a scorcher out there." 

Hope you have a beautiful weekend and connect with you soon. Remember, stay connected.

Professional English Discovery Call: https://calendly.com/connectedtoenglish/60min

Hi everyone,

What a glorious day!

The insects are busily getting on with their insect ways.  The amount of life you can observe in just 1 square meter is incredible.  I just saw a small yellow and black striped spider scuttling across the pathway - he was definitely in a hurry.  Every insect here seems to be on a mission, gathering food, catching the sun, finding love, building a home. And they do it like they know it.

Do you know your English mission? Do you know how to get there?

Do you want to be more confident with your sales conversations / speaking to your team in English?

Are you aiming for that next promotion?

If you want help in any of these areas, book your free Path to Professional English Discovery Call with me. Just book a time to get started. Click the link: https://calendly.com/connectedtoenglish/60min

In this call we'll look at:

1.  What your business/career is all about

2.  What gaps need to be filled

3.  And we'll map out your path to better English.

Be well.

Find me on IG: @connectedtoenglish

Language is a communication tool.

There are many advantages to speaking an additional language. Developing confidence  is one of them.  

Start with a “Close your eyes and just do it” attitude.

Realise that if you want results you cannot be scared or passive - no one is going to meet you halfway.

Learn to become expressive; point at things and forget about being shy and timid.

What matters is making yourself understood.

Business English is the same

If you want results:


Step forward in confidence.
Show up in your language powerfully.
Show your competence.

Ask yourself:


What do you need to master your English?
Do you have a daily word-learning habit?
Do you use your English, no matter what?

You need to find what works for you and steam roller ahead.

Non-stop!

Link to the newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/c53325ae5f4b/connectedtoengnewsletter

Prefixes are letters we add to the beginning of a word. For example pleasant -  unpleasant. We have a range of prefixes in English. In this exercise we will focus on three: un-, im- , il-

(This is a great way to build up vocabulary! So keep a list of your new words in a notebook)