Shadowing Practice: Why Studying More Isn't Making You Fluent - Learn English Speaking with Video
Les maken...
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I want you to tell me if this sounds a little like you.
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Every time that something negative happens while you are speaking in English, maybe you freeze or you forget a word,
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the conversation doesn't really go the way that you wanted it to.
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In that difficult moment, your default reaction is, I don't know enough English yet.
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I need to learn more.
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If I learn more, I'll be better.
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And so you start looking for YouTube lessons to watch
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or spending more time using language apps and you start to feel better
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because it feels like you're doing something to fix the problem, right?
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And even though you have notepads full of sentences that you've never actually said to anyone,
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even though you have a login to 10 different courses online that you've never actually finished,
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you still tell yourself, I'll be able to speak fluently soon.
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I just need to learn more.
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hey ladies welcome back to our regular listeners and a big welcome
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if you are joining us for the first time this is
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the confident english podcast my name is emma i'm the founder of hey lady an online community
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that brings together women from all around the world to meet new friends and practice speaking English.
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To find out more about what we do and how we can help,
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head over to our website where you can sign up for our free seven -day guest pass.
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The link to get it is down in the description or in the show notes.
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But in the meantime, let's dive straight into this episode.
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Around eight years ago, I spent six months learning Spanish and about three months living in Spain to immerse myself in it.
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And by the end of that time, I could have conversations in Spanish.
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My Spanish was not beautiful in any way, but it was enough to meet and connect with people.
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And that was great.
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But then I took a break.
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I didn't have anyone to talk to in Spanish, so I didn't talk much at all.
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In truth, I didn't speak to anyone until recently when I decided
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that I needed to pick it back up again because I'm going to need it when I travel to Mexico.
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And I found myself trying to cram, trying to learn as much or remember as much Spanish as I could every single day.
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And instead of using my Spanish to talk to people, I've been avoiding that.
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because it feels harder.
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It feels more complicated.
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It feels more embarrassing.
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And I really just felt like I needed to learn more first before I spoke so that I never got stuck.
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I'm laughing because this is the opposite advice that I give to you every week.
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And it's because I caught myself doing it.
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And the fact that I'm a language teacher,
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that I wanted to make this episode for you because I realized just how easy it is to fall into this trap,
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this loop of endless study, even when I know that it's not the best use of my time.
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i want you to imagine a bucket the size of your
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bucket is how much english you actually need for the life
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that you actually live some people need an enormous bucket like
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if you are writing research papers in the academic department of an english -speaking university you need a big bucket,
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a huge bucket.
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Most native speakers don't have a bucket anywhere near that big.
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Most English learners spend years and years trying to fill a bucket the size of a swimming pool,
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learning English that they don't actually need for the life they live.
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Now, if you are a B2 learner,
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your problem is not that you need a bigger bucket to fit more English in it.
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The problem that you have is that your bucket has holes in it.
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The English that you don't use consistently and regularly is leaking out those holes.
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That's why it feels like you keep forgetting your words.
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That's why you feel like you need to know more, to learn more.
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But what you actually need to do is stop the leaks.
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And the only way to do that is to practice using the English that you already have.
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When you can use the English you already have, then you'll be ready to pour more in.
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And when there's no more room to pour more in, that's when you know you're ready for a bigger bucket.
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You don't need to know all of English before you start using the English that you already know.
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And this is the part I really want you to hear from me today,
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because practice takes less time than studying does, much less, certainly less time than you're spending right now.
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And the reason is, you only have to practice the English that you're actually going to use.
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Think about the last few things you sat down to study a video about slang,
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30 phrasal verbs, or 50 words that you need to know?
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Was any of that for a conversation that you actually had?
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A moment where you used those 30 phrasal verbs?
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Or was it just in case one day I'll need these?
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Maybe you were just curious or you were interested in learning all these phrasal verbs, but they weren't really practical.
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They weren't something that were going to help you in a moment where you really needed it.
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Because just in case is where the years go.
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Into things that you might need one day for conversations that you're not having right now.
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Tell me this.
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Is this something that you've been doing?
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Do you notice these patterns in your study behaviour?
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Do you have pages of notes and sentences that you've never actually said to anyone?
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Let me know down in the comments because this is something that I see with my students all the time.
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Now, I do not want you to hear the wrong thing here.
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Learning more can be valuable.
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And it's necessary too, right?
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More vocabulary and more grammar will make you more accurate and it will give you more range.
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It will help you to express yourself better.
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It will help you to understand more.
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But there is an order to it.
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The right time to learn phrasal verbs is when you keep hearing them in conversations and they're confusing you.
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They're stopping you from understanding what's happening.
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Or maybe there's a topic that you want to be able to talk about
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and knowing these phrasal verbs or some expressions related to this would help you to express your ideas.
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Let your conversations tell you what you should learn.
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They will guide you so much more effectively than YouTube ever will.
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And with your own conversations guiding you, you're pouring just a little more English into your bucket, just the right amount.
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And then as you practice using these phrasal verbs, you make sure that they don't leak straight out of the bucket again
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because you keep focusing on bringing those phrasal verbs back into your conversations.
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So how much speaking practice are we actually talking about here?
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Not so much, actually.
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15 minutes, three or four times a week.
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That is all it takes.
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And consistent practice is so much more important than the length of any one conversation that you have.
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15 minutes of speaking practice every Monday,
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Wednesday and Saturday will do more for you than a big extended three -hour batch of practicing once a month.
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And those 15 minutes They will guide you as to what inputs you need to improve your speaking skills,
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and you'll be able to improve it the next time that you speak.
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Now, anyone can find 15 minutes.
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That's not the hard part.
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The hard part here is in order to have just one 15 -minute conversation,
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well, four different things need to happen.
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You need someone to speak with.
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You need a place to practice.
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You need to agree on the time that you're going to practice.
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And you need something to talk about, right?
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So these four things are really important.
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Every single conversation that you plan to have three to four times a week, you need to do these four things.
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And because that takes so much work and effort just to make that practice happen,
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no wonder you're not actually getting around to it.
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It's no wonder that you're just jumping onto YouTube because it feels so much easier right now, right?
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You can do it whenever you want.
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You don't rely on anyone else.
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But that is exactly why I built Hey Lady.
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It's a place to practice where those four things are already organized for you.
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So all you need to do is to show up.
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We've already found you the people to practice with.
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Women from all over the world who are just as motivated as you are.
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We've already organized the times with sessions happening every single day in your time zone.
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We give you the topics to talk about and expressions
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that you can learn and practice so that you never actually have to sit down and wonder, what am I going to say?
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What am I going to talk about?
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And all of this happens inside the HeyLady platform.
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And you can have your very first conversation today, like right now, right after this episode,
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because we also have a seven -day guest pass so
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that people like you can come in and try Hey Lady for yourself.
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You don't need a credit card.
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You just need to show up
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and see what it's actually like inside Hey Lady before you decide if you want to become a member.
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Ladies, the link is down in the show notes.
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And if you're watching this on your computer or on your TV screen, then you can scan And this link right here with your phone,
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it's going to take you straight to the website.
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If you enjoyed this episode, make sure you hit that like button and subscribe to the channel
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if you haven't already so that you don't miss our next episode.
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It also helps us to reach more women who need to hear this so that we can help them too.
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Thank you so much for spending time with me today.
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And I do want you to remember as you get on with your day, the reason that you don't feel fluent,
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it's not because you don't know enough English.
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It's because you're not using the English that you already know.
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So take that with you today and I will see you in the very next episode.
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De situatie: Waarom meer studeren niet altijd helpt
Veel Engelsleerders herkennen zich waarschijnlijk in het volgende: wanneer je spreekt, stoot je op een moeilijk moment – je vergeet een woord, vriest je op of loopt de conversatie niet zoals gepland. Je eerste reactie is dan vaak: "Ik ken niet genoeg Engels yet. Ik moet meer leren." Daarna duik je in YouTube - lessen, taalapps of cursussen, maar je nootjes vol zinnen die je nooit hebt gezegd en je hebt accounts voor tien cursussen die je nooit hebt voltooid. Toch denk je: "Binnenkort spreek ik vloeiend, ik moet alleen maar meer leren." De video legt uit dat dit een val is: veel leerlingen proberen een "emmer" te vullen die veel te groot is voor hun dagelijkse leven. Als je op niveau B2 zit, is het probleem vaak niet dat je meer taal nodig hebt, maar dat je wat je al kent niet genoeg gebruikt.
Nuttige chunks en collocaties om te onthouden
- "freeze up" – "vriesten op" (bijvoorbeeld: "Ik vries vaak op als ik een woord vergeet").
- "default reaction" – "standaardreactie" (bijvoorbeeld: "Mijn standaardreactie is om meer te willen leren").
- "cram for" – "kramen voor" (bijvoorbeeld: "Ik probeer te kramen om meer Spaans te onthouden").
- "fall into a trap" – "in een val vallen" (bijvoorbeeld: "Het is gemakkelijk om in de val van eindeloos studeren te vallen").
- "meet and connect with people" – "mensen ontmoeten en verbinden" (bijvoorbeeld: "Met mijn Spaans kon ik mensen ontmoeten en verbinden").
Je schaduwspreken - uitdaging: Doe het nu!
Om je spreekvaardigheid echt te verbeteren, is schaduwspreken een effectieve methode. Dit helpt niet alleen met verbeteren van engelse uitspraak, maar ook met intonatie en vloeiendheid – handig zelfs voor diegenen die IELTS spreekvaardigheid oefenen. Hier is je taak: Kies een korte fragment (1 - 2 minuten) van een Engelstalige video of podcast (bijvoorbeeld de video die we bespreken). Speel een zin af, pauzeer en herhaal direct na de spreker, net als een schaduw. Let op de tempo, de klemtoon en de pauzes. Doe dit drie keer per dag voor een week. Als je hulp nodig hebt, kun je een shadowing site gebruiken die fragmenten op splitst. Onthoud: het doel is niet om foutloos te zijn, maar om te oefenen met spreken in plaats van alleen te studeren. Dit is hoe je je "emmer" daadwerkelijk gebruikt – en dat leidt tot echte vloeiendheid.
Grammatica in deze video
De structuren die de spreker het meest gebruikt, met de exacte woorden uit de video:
| Structuur | In de video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — iets dat eerder begon en nog bezig is | I've been avoiding · you've been doing |
| Present perfect have/has + voltooid deelwoord — iets uit het verleden dat nu nog telt | you've never actually said · you've never actually finished · We've already found |
Wat is de Shadowing-techniek?
Shadowing is een wetenschappelijk onderbouwde taalleermethode die oorspronkelijk is ontwikkeld voor professionele tolkentraining en gepopulariseerd door polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. De methode is eenvoudig maar krachtig: je luistert naar native Engelse audio en herhaalt het onmiddellijk hardop — als een schaduw die de spreker volgt met slechts 1–2 seconden vertraging. In tegenstelling tot passief luisteren of grammaticadrills, dwingt shadowing je hersenen en mondspieren om echte spraakpatronen tegelijkertijd te verwerken en te reproduceren. Onderzoek toont aan dat het de uitspraaknauwkeurigheid, intonatie, ritme, verbonden spraak, luisterbegrip en spreekvaardigheid aanzienlijk verbetert — waardoor het een van de meest effectieve methoden is voor IELTS Speaking-voorbereiding en echte Engelse communicatie.