They had been trained in formal, academic English – with a focus on grammar rules. I think this is
totally backwards.
Common, casual conversation should be the first thing you learn. The first need, after all, is to
communicate with other people. You want to chat with people in a café. You want to make friends and
understand what they are saying. You want to talk to your co-workers. You want to understand TV
shows and movies.
Common English should be what you learn first… then, and only if you need it, focus on academic
English.
To help you, we have a new collection of recorded, real, spontaneous conversations. These are real
conversations with friends, family, and business partners. We aren’t reading scripts. We aren’t actors.
You’ll learn the real English that we use every day with each other – including slang, idioms, swear
words, jokes, cultural references, etc.
You’ll hear filler words, too (such as “ah,” “um,” “you know,” “like”), which are a common
element of English that is missing from textbooks. You’ll hear the natural rhythm of English – the way
we go back and forth, the way we use phrases, the ways we interrupt each other.
We have all the conversations transcribed, and include short notes to explain the slang, idioms, etc.
that you can’t find in a dictionary. We did this because there’s a huge need. In fact, it’s probably the
biggest need our members have.
My friends and I created a course from these conversations, with text and explanations. You can
