After years of coaching, I started noticing patterns. The person who freezes mid-sentence. The one who obsesses over grammar while the meeting continues. The professional who compares herself to everyone in the room and goes quiet.

There are thirteen of them. They have names, mottos and a description that will feel a little too familiar.

The quiz is short, free and ends with at least one quiet “Ah, that explains it”.

Take the quiz here

P.S. If your result resonates and you’d like to work on it, I’m happy to have a free, no-pressure conversation. Just reply to this email.

In German, “Ich habe das gestern gemacht” is correct. You use haben + past participle even when you mention a specific time.

English works differently. The moment you say “yesterday”, “last week” or “on Monday”, English switches to simple past: “I did this yesterday”.

“Have done” tells English speakers the time is open and unspecified. Add “yesterday” and the sentence breaks.

This catches almost every German speaker at some point. It’s a language trap, not a careless mistake.

Quick win: Specific time? Simple past. “I did this yesterday.” “She called last week.” “We finished on Monday.“

She was a senior executive. Experienced, sharp, respected in her field. But in English, she compared herself to everyone else in the room and always came last.

“Everyone else is so much better than I am,” she told me. (I hear this more than any other sentence.) So she waited. The meeting ended. Her ideas stayed inside.

The comparison was the problem. Her English was fine. She was measuring herself against a standard that existed only in her head.

Her perspective was exactly what the room needed. It always had been.

Quick win: Next time you hesitate, ask yourself, “Do I have something useful to say?” If yes, say it. The English will follow.

Most grammar details don’t matter. This one does.

A client sent me a report last month. Seven times she wrote ‘then’ when she meant ‘than‘. She hadn’t noticed a single one – and neither had the colleague who checked it.

The difference is small but real.

Then is about time – what comes next.

Than is about comparison – what is more, less, better, worse.

Quick win:

Comparing two things? It’s than. “Better than expected.” “More than enough.”

Describing what comes next? It’s then. “First the call, then the email.”

Most professionals I work with set a different one. Perfect grammar, no mistakes, native fluency.

Seth Godin put it well recently: “The search for perfect never ends, and it’s a great place to hide”.

He was writing about careers. But I see it with English every week. Emails not sent, meetings skipped and promotion conversations put off until the English is “ready”.

Better is already here. Better is one word you use more confidently than last month, one meeting where you spoke instead of waiting.

Quick win: Next time you hesitate, ask yourself, “Is my English better than last year?” Then speak.