English isn’t Daniel’s mother tongue, but with his podcasts, My Fluent Podcast and The Vocab Guy, he is intentionally going outside his comfort zone to improve his speaking fluency.

How would you describe My Fluent Podcast to someone who has never heard it?

What motivated you to start My Fluent Podcast and how has it helped you to improve your English over time?

My Fluent Podcast: https://www.myfluentpodcast.com/

“Many students are afraid to get involved in a conversation in case they get stuck.” What would you say to students who are anxious about going outside their comfort zone?

If anyone listening wants to follow in your footsteps and create a podcast in English, what advice would you give them?

What’s The Vocab Man?

The Vocab Man: https://www.myfluentpodcast.com/short-stories/

I can’t put my finger on it: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/51374444

Reza interviewing Craig in 2014:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3cSZp0Usgc&t=1017s 

Disfluencies

What are disfluencies?
Disfluency is any interruption in the normal flow of speech. – technical definition.

A crutch word is a word or a noise that you repeatedly use when you speak. Crutch words are sometimes called filler words.

1. Filler words (the ums and the uhs + ) I…er…think that like…erm you should..erm like practise this. Or ‘y’know’ I think, y’know, that you, y’know, should, y’know….
2. False Starts – restarted sentences In my….Why don’t…I think you should practise this.
3. Repeated words I…I think you…you should…should practise this.
4. Long, extended vowel sounds Iiiiiii think yoooouuuuu
5. Repeated syllables I thi…think you should prac…..practise this.

How aware are you of disfluencies when you speak English?
Daniel’s crutch words are ‘like’ and ‘right’?
Craig’s crutch word is ‘so’.

Do you have any tips for reducing disfluencies?

Slow down and leave pauses

How can people use technology to improve their fluency?

Record yourself on your mobile phone. Listen back and notice ways to improve.

Use the speech-to-text function on YouTube and apps like otter.ai and descript.

Descript audio editing software: https://www.descript.com/

Matt Halsdorff explains that Keanu Reeves was using “you know ”8 times within 45 seconds.
https://youtube.com/clip/Ugkx9HUPTB5DOHN29MB84d5TRfJHYpdFmM4f

The whole interview with Keanu Reeves:

Too many disfluencies in speech can make the speaker sound unsure, nervous, or even dishonest.

Speak to Siri, Google Voice and Amazon’s Alexa to improve your pronunciation and fluency.

Stress can make you less fluent and create disfluencies.

Daniel’s interview with Luke Thompson

Apart from improving your fluency, podcasting is a wonderful way to meet people, expand your horizons and make new friends.

Daniel’s Instagram https://www.instagram.com/myfluentpodcast/

Daniel’s YouTube channel – where you can see the video version that Daniel has created for this crossover podcast:
My Fluent Podcast – YouTube

…and now it really is your turn to practise your English. Take Daniel’s advice and record your voice. You can start slowly, gradually. if you’ve never sent us a voice message before, record your voice and tell us your name, where you’re from and also tell us what you think about this episode and what’s your opinion on the things Daniel and I talked about.

Send us a voice message. https://www.speakpipe.com/inglespodcast
Send us an email with a comment or question to craig@inglespodcast.com or belfastreza@gmail.com

Visit our online store: https://store.mansioningles.net/

Thank you to all of you who are helping us by supporting this podcast on Patreon. Join our Patreon program for as little as $1.20 per month (including VAT) and you get instant access to recent transcriptions. https://www.patreon.com/inglespodcast

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The music in this podcast is by Pitx. The track is called ‘See You Later’