How You Can Turn Listening Into a Powerful Tool to Speak Better English.

Dear learners of English
They say that even before the birth, a baby hears when their parents talk to her.
Then when the baby appears into the world she spends a year or more to turn her listening skills into the first shy efforts to produce sounds and short phrases.
Later, as a child grows her skills of listening and speaking grow with her.
This philosophy very often brings a lot of educators to a false, in my opinion, concept of learning English as a second or a foreign language in the way children do.
This approach finds a lot of resistance among adult students, first of all.
Why?
       Adults do not desire to play kids’ games and repeat childish sentences with which children start speaking. I tried this ‘modern’ method a few times and always failed because my university graduates with serious positions in their companies refused to learn English of ‘cats and dogs’ and always tried to say something more sophisticated, normally related to their business duties.

Now, a lot of speculations go around the best way of listening in order to boost speaking.
I believe that listening develops first of all listening.
Here what a lot of educators say: “Listen as much as you can!”
Great. What if I listen to Chinese 5 hours a day without knowing a word of the language?
Will it help me to start speaking Chinese?
In fact, after a week I will possibly be able to repeat most common words of the languages without knowing what they mean in the language I know from the moment I spoke to my parents.
That is why I stand on the position that if you want to improve your English, listening must be a very active process with a strict plan of exercises and desirably under control of an educator.

Here’s the program of listening with the description of exercises and drills that will ultimately guide both a student and an instructor to a desirable result of speaking better English.(Taken from my report: How to improve your English. Fast and easy methods.)

Listening. 
A student listens to the whole text and tries to understand it without looking into the text.
In case she understands the text completely, she has to go to the element of the training on this stage.
If the student doesn’t understand the recording, she can read the text and find out the meaning of the unknown words and then to listen to the text again.
The main task of this element is to hear and understand all the words in the text.
I believe is important to hear all the words in the text, not only to catch the idea of the recording and answer true-false questions.
Why is it necessary to understand every word said?
The way native speakers in various countries pronounce the words in the same sentence may sound differently from the way our instructors pronounce them or we do.
That’s the reason we don’t understand native speakers of English when we hear how they speak. With movies it is even worse.
Yet, when we read the text of the conversation we have just heard, we understand everything.
That’s why we need to compare the written text to what speakers ‘make out’ of it when they speak, especially when we have no chances to ask a speaker to articulate, repeat the phrase or say the same phrase slowly.
I believe listening itself serves us less effectively than when we listen and repeat and check whether we understand correctly what has been said.

How to do so.
• Listen to the passage and try to understand what is said.
• Listen again, this time sentence by sentence.
• Repeat what the speaker says and try to understand the phrase completely.
• Check your understanding with the written text.
If you understand the phrases of the text in the way they are written and pronounced, well done!
If not, try again until you reach the point of complete understanding.
I know it seems like a lot of work and, not too creative and much fun…
                  But if you want to be a champion, that’s one of the ways to the top!

  As for the textbook and recordings, feel free to choose the one on your level of the language expertise.
Try to avoid too much of a challenge, as instead of even slow progress, you may get the feeling that you don’t go forward at all.

At this moment I would like to warn you of asking a language expert for help.
You may find the one who doesn’t accept my method and will try to offer her methods of teaching. In short, do it yourself, follow your intuition.
And remember. I do not promise ‘a rose garden’ to my followers as the most of teachers of English, especially native speakers of English do.
             The way how they learned to speak English does not suit us, for whom English is a second language.
Native speakers of English can educate only children who will learn the language in a similar way as they learned their mother tongue.
             For adults these methods may work only when they are in a community where only English is spoken, which is a rare case. At least for my adult students who always learn English thru their native language and always compare an English sentence to the same sentence in their language.
             Only non-native speakers, teachers of English know how to teach English, especially the ones who have not lived for years in English speaking countries.

Why?
Because the teacher usually says, that it is impossible to speak English without living abroad.(a very popular myth these days)
So, try to do all on your own. Following my instructions you will easily find what and how works for you better and you will start speaking good English even without living abroad.

            Another thing that may also happen as soon as you share your plan of studying with other teachers, they may accept your idea painfully: every teacher is fond of her ways of teaching.
Let me repeat that: I have met a good number of serious educators in various countries and of many nationalities.
Most of them had their individual concepts of teaching their students.
But, it’s not about how intelligent the teacher is, it is about how well you are able to speak after being taught by your teacher, right?
My mentor Brian Tracy often says:
“Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care”
In other words it is not enough to know the subject you teach, it is necessary to lead your student to the results she wants”
That’s the essence of the studying process as I understand it.

George

Your English Grammar Tenses Manual

Dear Friend

          All what you want to say or write should have a strict grammar platform: 

·        the structure of the sentence, 

·        an appropriate word order, 

·        the right grammar tense and 

·        the vocabulary, the words in the sentence.

      The Manual Discover The Secrets of Learning English Grammar Tenses has all you need to make short affirmative, interrogative and negative sentences in all twelve English grammar tenses.

      Who is this Manual for? 

   Anyone who has learned the language for several years and hasn’t achieved good results or for those of you have learned other foreign languages. Your experience in learning other languages will make 

using this Manual much faster and easier!

         This Textbook is particularly important for business people who spend long hours at work and occasional lessons are the only chance to develop their English skills. 

         Follow the Manual’s instructions and in a year from now, you will speak to your foreign business partners without an interpreter.

    

   Discover The Secrets of Learning English Grammar Tenses is a must for those of you who have tried to learn English but hasn’t achieved any positive results.

”Everlasting beginners” as you may say.

Now, here's a short description of the Manual. Discover The Secrets of Learning 

English Grammar Tenses consists of three parts.

First part is a description of all grammar tenses with examples of all kind of sentences in all twelve tenses.

Second part is a selection of various exercises for you to practice what you have learned so far.

Third part is the Key section with all the answers to the exercises you had done in the previous part.

Dear friends, 

English has occupied significant position in communication among people in all areas of modern life. That’s why only with solid knowledge of English, you can build your powerful future personal and business life.

       So, without further delay, turn over the page and improve your English easily, quickly, and effectively. 

                                 To download the Manual email me: georgerus@volny.cz

Wishing you the best of success! 

George Rusky
Georgerusky.net

What is easier? To speak English or to listen to someone speak English?

I a sure, most of us will answer:”It is easier to listen then to speak!”

Dear friends,

Let me share with you my opinion.

I believe it is much easier to speak English then to listen someone speak or to understand what others say.

And that is why.

Let me ask you this question:

“When somebody wants you do something in the way he or she thinks is correct, ho do you react most of the instances?”

“Do you immediately agree with this person or you believe it will be done better in the way you think it should be done?”

If you agree with this, then you may also agree that it is easier to make your own sentences in the way you have been doing it for years rather than to adjust your mind to the phrases and sentences someone uses, especially if this person belongs to a special group of football fans or another group where their lingo is used?

Or, another example.

 I am asking a student to retell a story and try to motivate her to use the expressions from the text and she asks me back:

“Can I use my own words?”

Some time ago, I wouldn't agree with this approach.

Not any more!

As soon as I grasped this simple truth that a person feels more comfortable with what she has in her arsenal of spoken English than what she hasn't.

Dear friends,   

I am sure: as soon as you understand this simple trick of using at freedom what you have already known and practiced for some time, you are safe and sound.

Then, surely you may ask a pretty logical question:

“If I use the same phrases and expressions day after day, where is the progress!?”

  I am glad you asked!

And that is exactly when the tutor comes to the scene!

If we believe the wisest who used to say:

“When the student is ready, the teacher will appear,” then it is the time
     to learn English with a specialist in English communication.

Best regards

George Rusky

www.georgerusky.net

Ho to Make a Nice English Sentence

Dear learners of English.

If you want to speak better English and create more interesting sentences, you may use my simple formula of making short sentences longer which I am about to share with you.

Here is a basic formula of an English affirmative sentence in the Present Simple tense:

Who does where when

                               

In order to practice this exercise, let’s take a short sentence:

 I work here on Mondays.  ( five words )

How can we make this sentence more interesting and much longer?

Look at each element of the sentence:

Who. The start of the sentence. Instead of ‘I’ what else can we say?

My wife and I

Now, does the verb ‘work’. We can use a synonym e.g. ‘to labor’ or ‘to toil’

Where: there could be a long list of various nouns, for example: at home, in the garden, in the living room, etc.

When: in the evening, every day, when we are not busy with other things, etc.

Finally we can come with a nice sentence like the one I am giving you now:

My lovely wife and I work very hard in our small garden when we have free time.-seventeen words.

Can you see how simple it is?

A word of warning, though: you should follow the word-order of the basic sentence and keep the grammar formula unchangeable.

Now, you try to turn simple sentences below into more interesting ones.

• I am walking in the rain.
• She loves you.
• They will take a taxi to the airport.

  

Cheers

George

How to Become a Good Listener.

How to Become a Good Listener. 
One.

Before you begin a good listener, you should become a good Reader!
Another paradox? Come on George!
I feel you are getting angry with me and, the way the report is made makes
you nervous.
But, listen to this!
Trust me, I am serious.
In order to listen to a person worth listening, you have to READ as much as
you can about this person!
Agree?
        Listening is also the process of investing your precious time and surely
you must know that you invest your time wisely and effectively. So, go to the
website and read all you can about the one who offers you to listen to him.
       Being a good listener does not mean only having ears and mind open
toward the information, but know exactly that what you are looking for and
forward you will read in testimonials  of other customers.
Actually, I have built my list of who I listen to regularly.
       If you want to know the giants of Public Speaking industry, send me a
message and I will send you my list, it’s not that long.
       By the way, how often do you hear these questions?“How can you listen to this rubbish?”
“I don’t want to hear this BS”
“All I have heard was a complete waste of time…”
          And here goes the resume: Collect information about who you want to
listen to if you really want to be a good listener. A good listener listens to
wise people and valuable information.
NB: don’t listen to your closest who recommends you to listen to someone.
Try to read about the candidate and make your own opinion about this
concrete person.

How to Become a Good Listener. Two.
          Now let’s define concrete steps of getting a better speaker thru
listening to what others wish to hear from you.

Rule number One. Don’t expect anyone to tell you what they want to
hear from you.
I have noticed in some situations people don’t really know what they want!
Help them: ask questions. Be the master of asking questions.
And never say you are asking because you are curious as the majority of my
conversationalists do.
Ask questions because you want to find out what your potential client wishes
to hear.
       Develop your art of asking good, well formed questions that will lead
you in the direction you want and at the same time, help people to express
themselves.
The best questions are the ones I call ‘wh’ questions: what, why, when,
where, who…”
In short the questions that need more than just:’ yes-no’ answers.
So, become a master of asking questions.

Rule number Two. ‘Don’t interrupt’
How often we hear this:” Don’t interrupt, let me finish…”
It’s impolite in everyday, casual talks, it’s a ‘must not’ in business talks.
Do not interrupt a potential client, let her dominate the talk!
Go on with the conversationalist with nodding, showing your interest in any
ways you can think of trying occasionally direct smoothly the talk to the
destination you plan.

Rule number Three. Define the key points of the story you hear.While listening, define what the biggest concern of your conversationalist and
re-ask her what she has said, but say that in your own words. It’s a very
powerful tool of listening that shows better than anything else that you are
interested in what you hear.
Use the following short questions:
1. ” If I understood you correctly, you…?”
2. “Let me check whether I understood well what you have said…?”
3. “Do you mean to say that…?”
4. Or, the favorite question of Brian Tracy:  “How do you mean it?”
When you repeat the information correctly, the other person will be pleased
with her ability to explain and your skill of understanding all in the way that
it had been said.

Rule number Four. Hold on!
Whenever you feel like adding something or trying to encourage your fellow
speakers, resist the temptation to do so. I have noticed that very often
instead of helping them to move on in the direction we want, they ‘jump’ into
another topic or just endlessly try to explain their point differently and fail to
find the right words and examples for it.
Be careful with providing this kind of support
.
 Rule number Five. Practice the three above described rules.
Yes, exactly so: “Take action!”
It’s never enough to be familiar with what should be done and how it must
be done. The crucial element of any activity is DOING.
Armed with the best possible knowledge of any existing subject, a man will
never become wealthy if he only enjoys his profound knowledge.
He must sell his knowledge, exchange his knowledge for another product.
So, take action!
George Rusky
www.georgerusky.net

How you can choose a book for reading

Let’s start with the cover of a book.

I believe, it reflects the author’s attitude towards his work.
Even today when the modern books are enveloped in covers that can hardly survive two or three readers,
there are still some works of the writers who believe that their novels will be read by more than one generation of booklovers.

On the contrary, the look of a tattered book will please the next library shelves’ explorer who may think:”Oh, that one’s been read by lots of folks.
I should read it too”
The first impression may be deceptive!

Here are some suggestions for selecting the reading you look for.

1. Before you come to a library ( not a book-store):

a) Carefully identify the area of your interest. What exactly you want to read.

b) Know your purpose of reading: pleasure, research, etc.

c) Have a list of the authors who wrote or write about your subject. What aspects of the problem they are dealt with in their works. Spend time for the research.

d) Get a general orientation of the authors and/or their works you think may suit your interest.

e) Choose a day and hours when there are fewer visitors in the library.

f) Prepare some change for Xerox-copying.

2. In the library:

a) Find a librarian who works in the section where you suppose to find the materials you need.

b) In details explain to her what you need. Show her the list you have prepared (see 1c above)

c) Let her know how important these materials are for you.

d) Get all you are advised plus anything you may find on the shelves.

e) Sit at a quiet place, get ready to work. (Don’t forget to switch off a mobile phone :-)

3. How to work with the book/books you have on a library table.

a) Place a book in front of you. Feel it, touch it, guess what the book is about.

b) Read the title, think if the title matches your subject.

c) Open it and read all the information on the first page esp. where and when it was published/republished.

d) Read the back cover of the book where there’s information about the writer and the resume.

e) Go through the dedications and acknowledgements: you will know how the writer himself values his labor. (The same and deeper information you may get from a foreword) Try not to skip it.

f) Read the contents and make a general impression of the manual.

4. How to read the book.

Reading is a very serious process. Depending on the type of literature, you must vary the approach and attitude to the whole process of reading.

Some general observations before we get to the a, b, c points.

A book, any book, is an act of an individual or group men’s creative activity that may be compared to, say, delivering a baby, building a house, tailoring a suit or anything else that a human being may produce.It’s an act of passion, hard labor, doubts, long chain of successes and failures, physical and mental efforts, sleepless nights, nerves breakdowns and so on and so forth.

It’s, after all, an act of a high responsibility of the writer before the readers of today and the readers of tomorrow.
Nearly all authors rewrite their sentences, paragraphs, even whole chapters several times, before their final versions are ready to meet the first readers.

After these comments, you may look at a book with more respect.

So, back to the reading.

a) Start with what directly related to your topic: go to the topic that is the closest to your theme.

b) Always read with a pensile in your hand and tick the phrases, thoughts, ideas that attract your attention, shed the light on the subject from another POV and so on.

c) On the sheet of paper fix accurately your thoughts that come into your head while you are reading.

d) Pay a special attention to the author’s ideas you may use in your work. Put them in brackets and write down a page on your sheet with notes: you will easily find them later.

e) Compare your own thoughts with the writer’s. Place exclamation/question marks next to the writer’s text. You’ll come back to them later.
Have a good reading
George
georgerusky.net

How to keep your thoughts under control: six points

How to keep under control your thoughts
When a thought comes to us we have a choice: to accept it for further contemplation or to reject.
One should know, however, that all the thoughts are sent to us with a specific purpose, we are in charge for taking them as the ones worth our attention or the ones to neglect.

Consider also that the thought left without notice may never come again and, therefore lost forever.

Hundreds of times we’ve heard about lost wonderful opportunities in different areas of our lives that could have changed our lives if only we were clever enough to take them seriously.

Does it sound familiar?

The same with the thoughts: they come according to the caprice of the Sender who doesn’t care weather we are tuned to receive these thoughts or not.

Should we then be surprised that all philosophers, art folks, writers and the like, daily and nightly, wherever they are and whatever they do have something to write on?

Recommendations:

1. Keep you ‘antenna’ ready for any thoughts you may receive. Carefully listen to the signal from the ‘transmitter’.
2. Always, even at night, have something to write on and to write with. You never know when the thoughts may come.
3. While making notes, try to fix the thought as fully as possible: your frame of mind at the moment the thought had come, the place, the time, other details.
4. Never divide the thoughts, when they come, onto important or time-wasting. Trust and respect the Sender.
5. During the day when you are involved in other things, try to concentrate on what you do, block the access to any thoughts unrelated directly to what you are busy with at the moment.
6. If the thought visits you when you are busy with something else, come back to it later when you can spend more/enough time for the thoughts.

Best 

George

georgerusky.net

How To Make Friends On The Internet?

Where To Make Friends
Part Two


How To Make Friends On The Internet?

Yesterday I forwarded the problem of making friends for middle-aged folks who had found themselves living in a new country, new city, in short, far from their birth nest.
Having traveled through a number of places of evident candidates for finding potential friends, I have peacefully arrived at the Internet.

Now, after having spent five years on the Internet, I may say that all Internet visitors are roughly divided onto two categories: those who show their faces names and addresses and the bigger part –who don’t do either of above mentioned.

They even don’t have names, just codes.

Anyway, to make friends at forums and newsgroups is real, provided you follow the rules. Some of them are:
1. Joint a discussion group, a forum or a newsletter.

2. In most of them you’ll be asked to tell about yourself. Do it.

3. Read carefully your fellow – writers’ mails.

4. Discover the writers working in the same or similar areas and contact them.

5. For a considerate reader, the character of their reply will display a lot. If you get a polite respond, bordering with the answer of auto responder, most probably this person just tries to be polite.

6. Important is also, if your new correspondent uses her Christian name or a nickname, weather communicates openly or strives to avoid naming herself.

7. Try to guess on the tone of a message weather the author is a man or a woman. The English tongue is sexless, so use your intuition, chiefly if you want to meet with a man-writer. A scarce, though.

8. Develop your relations very unhurriedly, stay away from bombarding your new acquaintance with more than one mail at a time.

9. Tell about yourself only when asked. Show your likes and dislikes cautiously.

10. You’ll be asked to criticize your friend’s stories. DON’T. Forestall this kind invitation saying that critiques are something you have never been good at.

11. You will also be asked personal questions. Answer shortly, avoid details. Respect you new friend time and patience.

12. Try to know something about your correspondent. We all love being asked about us. Ask only about something directly connected to the subject of her writings or trade.

13. Analyze the development of contacts, experiment with new subjects of your on-line friend’s possible interests. If you feel, that your relations do not have a tendency for progress, it might be wise to eliminate them and see how they will go.

14. The word of warning, if I may. Never use one text of message for a bunch of folks. You will most probably lose them all!

Well, I could have continued with the list of dos and don’ts, but try to find your way in it.

Instead of the Resume.
From my personal experience, I must confess that the Internet has been quite merciful to me, sending interesting, full of positive emotions people.
With them we exchange regularly e-mails, usual letters with photos and souvenirs.
One German guy with his family even came to me in Prague last year.

Keeping and developing good relations on the Internet demands your time, the most valuable we all have.
Invest yourself in your invisible Internet friendship and your life will always be full of joy and gladness.
George Rusky
georgerusky.net

How fast is your reaction?

One of the most effective ways to develop English-speaking skills, reaction and concentration of my students that I often use on my lessons is this.
The client/student hears the statement: "Czech beer is one of the best in Europe."Then I show her the table and say: "A-1", which means (see the table):
Support with a story that led to a similar result.

The student has a few seconds to think how she can support the statement.
She is not allowed just to say I agree/ that's right... but prove her opinion with several sentences.

As soon as she finishes, I give her another statement:
"Subway in Prague is a nightmare on Monday mornings!" and then immediately point at D-3 which is:
 Give advice to avoid a problem next time when a similar situation occurs

The student may offer to travel on Monday mornings by car.... Again, two-three sentences.I could give you more examples of using this method, but I think you get the point. -----


Resume. I have noticed that this drill has been extremely useful for the students who had gone thru this training.After a series of 7 drills they were able to react on various life situations fast, creatively and with much better English.Don't forget one important thing before you start using this method: equip your followers with an arsenal of words and expressions they might need for all language models in the table.
 George

georgerusky.net

Introduction into English Grammar Tenses

Introduction into English Grammar Tenses

Video lesson.

                              To watch the video click here

Video script.

Hello and welcome to our video course

I am George Rusky and today I will tell you about English Grammar Tenses.

Dear Friends

There rare three basic groups of tenses: 

• Past 
• Present and 
• Future, (as it is in many European languages )                                                                                 

In English each of these three has four grammar tenses.

Please, look at this:

• Simple, Continuous, Perfect and Perfect continuous tenses

Each of these groups, past, present and future has four tenses.

• Past simple. Past continuous. Past perfect and Past perfect continuous
• Present simple. Present continuous. Present perfect and Present perfect continuous
• Future simple. Future continuous. Future perfect and Future perfect continuous

Altogether twelve grammar tenses.

In our first lesson I will tell you about the Present Simple tense with the verb to be.

Till next time

Bye-bye.
Georgerusky.net

Where to make friends. 6 Places.

Making friends today is getting more difficult than ever before.

I’ve asked tens of my clients how and especially when they had made friends. From all my respondents about 70 % found their classmates at a basic school

About 11% agreed and added high schoolmates and university mates.

The next making friend institution was work, clubs, common trips, recreation activities, and the like.

This quick and amateurish survey won’t hold any serious critic, but even done unprofessionally, it gives a general overview of the subject of making friends.

Indeed, as we come back to the days of our childhood, we can agree, that the whole process of forming our buddies, was not at all complex.

Try to remember your first day at school. Wasn’t that the same?

After a while, some of the initial making friend’s steps had been remained and strengthened, while others went through some changes.

The end of the process of forming and developing close relations can be considered the graduation from the school. I believe that this period is the one that really makes friendship strong and long- living.

I’ve even met a couple of former classmates who then got married.

Most of my respondents agreed that university studies hadn’t brought much chances to make new friends.

Why?

Most probably, there’s not much that draw students together.

Lectures? Hardly so. Big auditorium, voluntarily attendance, individual tests.

Students have few chances to meet and become friends. Agree?

Work. Is it a good place to make friends?

Well, yes and no. First of all, who with?

The one who occupies the same position as you do? Possible.

Don’t forget, however, that in this competitive world everyone has a chance for a promotion, which may destroy good terms.

Your superior? Good, if only she doesn’t think you want to ‘dig a hole for her’

and overtake her position.

Your subordinate? If you are not scared of losing your ‘chair’.

Someone from another company, operating on the market in the same industry?

Forget it! You’ll be immediately figured out as a potential double agent.

So, what?

Are we doomed to die alone?

Almost so. Yet, there’s a slight ray of hope.

Consider these places where it is still possible to gain some acquaintances with the hope that they may become your friends.

1. Clubs.

This is where birds of the feather rub shoulders. Membership gives you, sort of guarantee that you may meet the one you’ve been looking for.

2. Education centers for learning new skills: language courses, writing courses, mountain climbing training, playing games and other activities where folks of similar interests go.

3. Church is another great place to meet nice people. In many congregations church-goers dine together, organize trips, visit exhibitions, discuss various life problems.

4. Dating agencies. I, personally, dislike this way of meeting new people and have no experience of that kind, but it looks these businesses are getting quite popular.

5. If you live abroad, cafés, restaurants run by your compatriots where English is spoken. Places full of potential, with lots of openings to meet someone.

6. Our list of making friends ‘establishments’ will definitely not be complete, if we pay no attention to the Internet, this ‘Monster’ of knowing all.

But, this is a topic of our next talk. Let’s call it:
”How To Make Friends On The Internet?”

So, till next time!

George Rusky

Georgerusky.net

12 steps for finding a great mentor

Today I will tell you how to find a mentor and what qualification a mentor of your dream should have.

First you have to determine clearly in which area of human expertise you would like to achieve top results and if you can do without help. To be successful we need

By going to people who are ahead of you in the personal or professional arena you can save months (maybe even years) and thousands of dollars to learn what you need to learn all by yourself. To be successful, we have to find people who have already paid the price to help us learn the things, that we need to learn to achieve our goals.

The mentors you choose should be people you respect, admire, and want to be like. The advice you seek should be guidance regarding your character and personality and specific ideas on how you can do your job better and faster. Remember, you can't figure it all out by yourself. You must have the help of others. You must find men and women who will guide you and advise you on the road of life, or you will take a long, long time getting anywhere.

So, for a good mentor-protégé relationship, you must be wide open to the influence and instruction of the other person, and at the same time, the mentor must be genuinely concerned about your well-being and your ultimate success. These are the two essentials.

Your ability to choose your mentors can be a crucial step toward achievement in all areas of your life. So here are 12 steps for building successful mentor-protégé relationships:

1) Set clear goals for yourself in every area of your life. Know exactly what you want to accomplish before you start thinking of the type of person who can help you accomplish it.

2) Determine the things you will have to do in order to achieve your goals, the obstacles you will have to overcome, and the roadblocks you will have to surmount.

3) Identify the areas of knowledge, skill, and expertise you will have to acquire in order to overcome the obstacles existing between you and your goals.

4) Look around for the most successful people in the areas in which you will need the most help.

5) Join the clubs, organizations, and business associations these people belong to.

6) Once you have joined these organizations, become actively involved and volunteer for responsibilities. This will bring you to the attention of the people you want to meet faster than anything else.

7) Work, study, and practice continually to get better and better at what you do. The very best mentors are interested in helping you only if they feel it is going to be worth their time. You will have no problem attracting people to you when you develop a reputation for being up-and-coming in your field.

8) When you find a potential mentor, don't make a nuisance of yourself. Instead, ask for 10 minutes of his or her time, in person, in private. Nothing more. Remember, most potential mentors are busy people, and they may be opposed to someone's trying to take up a lot of their time. It's not personal.

9) When you meet with a potential mentor, express your eager­ness to be more successful in your field. Tell him or her that you would very much appreciate a little guidance and advice to help you move ahead. Ask for an answer to a specific question, for a specific book or audio program recommendation, or for a specific idea that has been helpful to him or her in the past.

10) After the initial meeting, send a thank-you note expressing your gratitude and appreciation for his or her time and guidance. Mention that you hope to meet again if you have another question.

11) Each month, drop your mentor a short note telling him or her about what you are doing and how you are progressing. Nothing makes a mentor more open to helping you further than your making it clear that the previous help has done you some good.

12) Arrange to meet with your mentor again, perhaps on a monthly basis, or even more often if you work closely together.

Over the course of your life, you will have many mentor-protégé relationships. As you grow and develop, you will seek out different mentors, the people who can give you the kind of advice that is most relevant to your current situation.

Successful people are very open to helping other people who want to be successful. This is especially true if they know you are willing to be a mentor to others who are younger and less experienced than you. The more open you are to helping others up the ladder of success, the more open others will be to helping you.

George Rusky

Georgerusky.net

What is your true calling?

“Every calling is great when greatly pursued.” Brian Tracy
“There is no greater calling than to serve your fellow men. There is no greater contribution than to help the weak. There is no greater satisfaction than to have done it well. Walter Reuther:
“Each person has their own calling on this Earth.” Billy Ray Cyrus ( Am singer, author, country music)
                   Dear Readers,
                       I wonder if you ever thought why so many people are unhappy and unsuccessful. What is the true reason for that?
  I think the reason is only one: these people don’t discover their gifts and talents that were given to them By the Lord, as I believe, or the universe or the parents or whatever you may believe in.
In other words, they do not want to discover their true calling. What they are here for! What is their mission!
       They are not quite pleased with what others prepared for them and always complain about their bosses or their jobs. They repeat the same activities every day and hope that one day things will get better.
        One day, however, people who are not following their true callings begin to feel helpless. They feel that there is nothing they can do to change things.
         But your aim in life is to become everything you can become and enjoy full expression of your gifts and talents.
---------
 If you do, let’s move to another point of our topic:  how to get rid of the problem and entirely change the situation.
           Discover your true calling.
Answer the question: "what is it that I love doing, spending time with, enjoy going to, most of all?"
Success comes from being excellent at what you do.
And you are excellent at what you do only if and when you love it!
Remember: The market only pays excellent rewards for excellent performance. It pays average rewards for average performance and below-average rewards for below-average performance.
       All really successful and happy people know in their hearts that they are very good at what they do. If you are doing what you really love and enjoy doing, you will always try to become better at it, you will always want to develop your skills and finally become a superstar in your area of expertise.
        You will go to courses, buy books, go to see top performers in your business.
        You will have a constant desire to learn more about it.
want to join the top 10 percent of people in your field.
be willing to start a little earlier, work a little harder, and stay a little later.
        Very often people ask me how they can get better at what they are doing, more successful.
And I always ask them: do you do what you really love doing?
Most of my responders say: “I have to do something, to get money and, you know…I hope things will get better one day.”
No, they won’t.
Because average performance leads to average results.

       Find your true calling! 
       Some say: ”I’m not sure, I don’t know’
Then I recommend, ask someone you trust, they can help you to define what you are good at.
Remember, we you here to do something wonderful with your life.
       You have talents and abilities so many that you could never use them all even if you lived a thousand years. There are no limits on what you can be, have, or do if you find your true calling, and start doing it with you hear passion and will.
      And here’s the last point of my talk:  What you should do to become successful and happy:
1. On a sheet of paper write down the answer to this question: ”What is my true calling?”
2. Define what you have to do to start doing it
3. Go to it!
Wishing you best of success
George Rusky
www.georgerusky.net

Improve You Business Performance with English For Business Communication Manual

Introduction into                                                                    English for Business Communication

    A concise Manual of Basic English                

   For English-Speaking Business Executives

         By George Rusky 

Introduction into

English for Business Communication.

There is nothing exceptionally new or unusual in the English language that business executives speak.

English is still English whatever subject of the talk you may choose.

Granted, there are some communicative formulas that business executives use on their meetings, presentations, negotiations and if you want to become a successful English-speaking businessman, you should learn and practice these formulas regularly.

          In this report I have collected the most frequently repeated words and expressions that are used by business executives around the world, the phrases I have heard on business meetings, negotiations, presentations, etc.

           Dear readers,

   Armed with an arsenal of business communication tools included in this report you will be able to 

speak English with your business partners without any problems at all.

George Rusky

Contents

Introduction. 

General phrases for socializing                           

Part One. 
Chairing a Business Meeting.                                                                        

Part Two. 

Useful Phrases Used During Business Negotiations.  

Part Three. 
Business Language phrases for Presentations.         

Part Four. 

Telephoning                                               

Conclusion                                                                     1

--------------------------

To read the Manual

send me an email: georgerus@volny.cz

georgerusky.net

How to Become a Good Listener. Five Rules.

How to Become a Good Listener.
Listening is an active process. Here are some rules how you can become a better listener.
Rule number One.
Ask questions. Be the master of asking questions.
And never say you are asking because you are curious as the majority of my
conversationalists do.
Ask questions because you want to find out what your potential client wishes
to hear.
       Develop your art of asking good, well formed questions that will lead
you in the direction you want and at the same time, help people to express
themselves.
The best questions are the ones I call ‘wh’ questions: what, why, when,
where, who…”
In short the questions that need more than just:’ yes-no’ answers.
So, become a master of asking questions.

Rule number Two.
"Don’t interrupt"
How often we hear this: "Don’t interrupt, let me finish…"
It’s impolite in everyday, casual talks, it’s a ‘must not’ in business talks.
Do not interrupt a potential client, let her dominate the talk!
Go on with the conversationalist with nodding, showing your interest in any
ways you can think of trying occasionally direct smoothly the talk to the
destination you plan.

Rule number Three.
Define the key points of the story you hear.While listening, define what the biggest concern of your conversationalist and re-ask her what she has said, but say that in your own words.
It’s a very powerful tool of listening that shows better than anything else that you are
interested in what you hear.
Use the following short questions:

1. "If I understood you correctly, you…?"
2. 2. "Let me check whether I understood well what you have said…?" 
3. "Do you mean to say that…?"
4. "Or, the favorite question of Brian Tracy:  “How do you mean it?"

When you repeat the information correctly, the other person will be pleased
with her ability to explain and your skill of understanding all in the way that
it had been said.

Rule number Four.  Hold on!
Whenever you feel like adding something or trying to encourage your fellow
speakers, resist the temptation to do so. I have noticed that very often
instead of helping them to move on in the direction we want, they ‘jump’ into
another topic or just endlessly try to explain their point differently and fail to
find the right words and examples for it.
Be careful with providing this kind of support.

 Rule number Five.
Practice the three above described rules.
Yes, exactly so: "Take action!"
It’s never enough to be familiar with what should be done and how it must
be done. The crucial element of any activity is DOING.
Armed with the best possible knowledge of any existing subject, a man will
never become wealthy if he only enjoys his profound knowledge.
He must sell his knowledge, exchange his knowledge for another product.
So, take action!

George Rusky
Georgerusky.net

Listening-Understanding English vs Speaking English

                                                                                  Русский язык
How many times you have heard the following phrase:

“I understand completely what he is saying but…

I cannot speak.”

Whenever I hear this statement of regret, I am always surprised by naivety of those people who say that.

Why?

Because listening and understanding are the skills standing very far from the skill of speaking.

Think for a moment of watching Rafael Nadal playing tennis.

Do you not understand how he hits the ball or how he moves on the court?

Or NBA super star Michal Jordan?

Do not you understand how he attacks a basket?

On the contrary, all is clear as day light.

One thing is forgotten, though.

You know what it is?

How many hours champions spend daily with practicing the same skills?  

Interested?

Eight-ten hours and more!

And scores of learners of English hardly spend two hours a week for English and want to become good speakers of English?

No way!

Almost every week someone asks me how she can start speaking good English?

I always ask her back what she thinks about practicing English every day for an hour or so.

Nine out of ten asked respondents normally answer negatively.

With such an attitude, will any one be able to speak good English?

Very often I say to my students something like this:

“You know, Martina, what is the difference between you, an English-speaking girl from Prague and an American girl of your age?
You listen, read, speak and write English 2 hours a week when you come to my lessons, and she listens, reads, speaks and writes English 10-14 hours a day.”

After such a resume, my listener feels discouraged and doomed to develop her English endlessly.

However, not all is so bad.

Here’s my business offer to every one who wants to speak good English.

First, ask yourself the following questions:

• “How badly do I want to speak English?”
• “How fast do I want to start speaking good English?”
• “How much am I ready to pay to become a good speaker of English?”

As soon as you answer these three simple questions, e-mail me and I will send you a detailed plan how you can become a good speaker of English.

George Rusky

Georgerusky.net

Seven Benefits of English Learning Drills.

Drills as a method of better speaking English is hard to overestimate.

Even though this approach has gained less popularity among practicing teachers I had a pleasure to meet, I strongly believe it is one of the most powerful and effective methods of developing English communicative skills.

Let me show you how it works.

A student is sitting in front of the teacher and the latter starts the recording with the following phrase:

“Do you ever go to the theatre on Mondays?”

Another recorded voice adds:” Never”

A student then at once reacts:

“I never go to the theater on Mondays,” just to hear the right recorded answer that follows almost immediately after the student’s phrase.

Next question is shot immediately:

“Last Saturday?”

“I went to the theater last Saturday,” answers the drilled.

And so on.

You can record as many sentences on this pattern as you wish on all possible grammar tenses and word combination, in both active and passive voices.

The set of drills and the time depend on the level of the student.

What are the benefits of drilling? There are seven of them:

1. A learner is forced to concentrate fully on the question.
2. She hears the right version of the reply right after her answer.
3. A trainee learns how to react quickly on the question.
4. A learner works under time pressure: she’s got only a few seconds for the reply.
5. A student is completely focused on the process of training, no time to relax.
6. A student is able to imitate correct pronunciation of English.
7. A trainee develops a good speed of speaking without spending much time on trying to find the right words and appropriate grammar construction.

Dear learners of English.

When I discovered the magic power of drills in English learning and started using them with those of my students who were smart enough to agree with this system, all of them had made significant improvement in all areas of English language communication.

Try the method of drilling and you will see good results in no time!

George Rusky
To know more about leaning English,
click: Georgerusky.net

The ' War ' of Tenses

Which English Grammar tense is the most important for us?

                  As you perhaps know, there are 12 grammar tenses in English:

Four past, four present and four future grammar tenses.

( To revise all, ask for my free e-book Discover the Secrets of Learning English Grammar Tenses)

I guess the frequency of used tenses depends entirely on our thoughts which could be about past, present or future. I, for one, more think about present and especially future: that’s where I am going to spend the rest of my days, therefore in my daily activities most often used tenses are present simple to describe what I do regularly, present perfect to tick what has been done, present continuous to plan future intentions and future simple to change plans if something unplanned occurs.

 Ok, how about conditionals?

There are four of them-zero, one –two- three conditionals.

How often do you say, for instance: “If I were/ had/could, I would….”?

 Why to regret about something that had never happened and then to daydream about something that might have been but never came into being?

Is that worth doing?!

Try to use zero and first conditionals for they are about present and future.

OK, just a few thoughts to share with you.

Thank you for reading.

Till next time in the air :-)

George

Georgerusky.net

Future Belongs to Askers

Asking questions in English might cause a serious complication for those students of English who has never been taught how to do so.

No worries!

Here’s how you can develop a skill of asking great questions and enjoy listening to the answers.

First, let us define the categories of questions

Question one:Yes/no question. The one you answer either ‘yes’or ‘no’

e.g. Do you live in Prague?

Yes, I do. No,I don’t

Question Two: Special question. The one/ones asked with special question words:

What

When

Where

Why

How

Who

e.g. Where do you live?

Question Three. Alternative question. The one asked with the word ‘or’

e.g. Are you learning English or German?

Question Four. Tag question. The one asked with the ending after a coma.

e.g. You speak English, don’t you.

Now , here’s a question to you: “Which one is the simplest to ask?”

Surely, yes/no question.

So, if it is true, then let me offer you my system of practicing all kinds of questions.

You start with an affirmative sentence, e.g.

I go to work every day.

Yes/no: Do you go to work every day?

To ask special questions, you have to put question words in front of the yes/no question:

When         do you go to work?  

Where       do you go every day?

Why          do you go to work every day?

A bit different with ‘What’: What do you do every day?

More different with ‘Who’:

Who goes to work every day?  

 (not ‘go’! When ‘who’ is used in the question, we always put a singular form of the verb) 

With ‘how’ we use an adverb of frequency:

How often/seldom/ many times, etc. (for example) and then the same continuation:

How often do you go to work?

Always start with yes/no question. As soon as you have asked yes/no question, then follow my recommendations and you will be on the right track of becoming masters of asking questions.

 Remember: future belongs to askers!

So, ask questions!

Cheers

George
Georgerusky.net

Describing a Picture will Help You to Speak English

To read the Report          

Click the link

How Good Is Your Business English?

Become a Master of Business English

Useful phrases used on a business meeting

Hi

There is nothing exceptionally new or unusual in the English language that business executives use to communicate with their business partners.

English is still English whatever topic or subject of the talk you may speak about.

Granted, there exist some communicative formulas that business executives use on their meetings and if you want to become a successful English-speaking businessman, you should practice these formulas too.

          With this article I am starting the list of expressions that I have heard on a big number of business meetings, negotiations, presentations.

           Armed with a solid arsenal of business communication tools, you will in no time become
an outstanding English-speaking business executive.

 George Rusky

Part One. Chairing a Business Meeting.

Starting a meeting.

• Shall be start?
• Shall we begin?
• Let’s get down to business
• Let’s get started.

Opening a Meeting

• Thank you for coming
• Welcome to…
• It’s nice to have you here
• Today we will discuss
• As you can see on your agenda…

Agreeing

• I agree with you
• I think it’s true
• I think you are right
• I think we can accept it

Disagreeing

• I can’t agree with that, I am afraid
• I have to disagree with you
• I am not sure it could be the best solution for us
• I am afraid it is not exactly for we can accept

Giving opinions

• In my opinion
• As far as I can see it
• From my point of view

Interrupting

• Excuse me but…
• Could I have something?
• I’d like to add something
• Hold on a moment…

Preventing an interruption

• Could I just finish?
• Let me finish
• Could you wait one minute?

Suggesting

• I suggest that …
• What about …
• Why don’t we try this?
• Let’s do it …
• Wouldn’t it be better to…

Returning to a previous statement

• As I have said earlier
• That brings us back to…
• I wonder if I can repeat what I have said…

Asking for repeating/not understanding  

• Could you repeat that?
• Could you say tat again?
• What are you trying to say?
• I didn’t quite follow you.
• I am not sure what you mean

Reassuring

• I can assure you
• You needn’t worry
• Let me assure you

Giving reasons

• It’s because
• It’s due to
• The reason is that

Summarizing

• To sum it up…
• Before we finish, let me recap…
• I ‘d like to summarize

Ending the Meeting

• I think that’s all for now
• Let’s wrap it up
• Thank you for coming
• I’ll see you next time

Good luck with your business English!

George Rusky

georgerusky.net