Julian Northbrook sends daily email tips for speaking better English – Click the button on the right, sign up, and you'll get a new email every day packed with ideas and tips for speaking better English.

Subscribe to Daily Email Tips
Filed Under: 

Do You Struggle with Small-Talk?

January 6, 2018 , by Dr Julian Northbrook
"Don't sleep, There Are Snakes" by Daniel Everett.
One of the best books I’ve read... ... is “Don’t sleep, there are snakes”, by Daniel Everett. Everett was a Christian missionary. He went to live in the jungle with a tribe of Amazonian Indians called the Pirahã to spread the word of god. But his experience was so profound that he gave up Christianity and become a linguist. One of the things Everett talks about is “phatic” language in Pirahã. Phatic communication is a very important part of English. Watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3JCVt0XjMU The Pirahã is an extreme (and very rare) case. But this is important because no matter how you try to translate “how’re you?” into Pirahã, it’ll never make sense. Because you’re expressing a concept that the Pirahã people don’t have. If you’re struggling with small-talk in English, start by asking yourself: am I stubbornly trying to express things that the people I’m talking to don’t express? We’ll continue this conversation tomorrow. But in the meantime... On the 27th of this month, I'm doing Small Talk Superhero, live in Tokyo. Click here to claim your place. The price goes up on January 12th at 11:59 pm JST. Cheers, Julian Northbrook The Language Punk

P.S. You need to be a member to access this. If you're not a member, you can become one here.

  If you liked this video, share:

Subscribe to Dr Julian Northbrook's Daily Emails for Speaking Better English & get FREE access to the Doing English App, packed with free lessons:

More Shizzle on the Blog:

What pilots can teach you about fixing your mistakes in English

Here’s a random Airline fact for you: The number of plane crashes are constantly going down. Compare 41 crashes in 1972 with just 3 in 2015. Bearing in mind that around 100,000 flights go out every day now (far more than 46 years ago). That’s a tiny number. Why are they going down? Because every

Read More

Your English Grammar and Spoken Skills: A Beginner’s Guide

Do you struggle with English grammar while speaking? This beginner’s guide will help you improve your spoken English skills with ease. Understand Your Challenges: Improving grammar in spoken English starts by understanding your specific difficulties and reasons behind them (and they’re not normally what you think). Focus on Spoken English: To speak fluently, shift your

Read More