The other day I read the word Aibohphobia meaning the fear of palindromes*.

I wanted to learn more about uncommon phobias and found an article on the BBC website about five of them.

But what are phobias anyway?

Phobias are intense, irrational fears of specific things or situations. They can cause a lot of anxiety and panic. Even when there is no real danger present.

Phobias can make it difficult to do everyday tasks and can interfere with your daily life.

Which phobias does the BBC website mention?

1. Sesquipedalophobia – the fear of long words (like “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”)
2. Nomophobia – the fear of being without your mobile
3. Omphalophobia – the fear of belly buttons (Bauchnabel)
4. Turophobia – the fear of cheese
5. Phobophobia – the fear of having a phobia

*By the way, palindromes are words or phrases that are spelt the same forwards and backwards.

Examples are “racecar,” “level,” and “A Santa at NASA.”

Do you know of any other examples? Even in your own language?

In education, considerable emphasis is placed on numeracy and literacy – the ability to understand and work with numbers and the ability to read and write. But what about the capacity to listen and to speak? Why is so little importance attached to oracy?
David Gurteen

I have often asked myself the same question.

I left school not being able to speak my two foreign languages (French and German) well.

And I hear this from the people who come to me to improve their English speaking skills.

But we might have different reasons for learning a foreign language.

You might want to:

• gain insight into a culture and its customs, beliefs and way of life;
• have more job opportunities, particularly in fields such as international business and translation;
• study abroad or participate in exchange programs;
• improve your cognitive abilities and increase your self-confidence;
• read, watch and listen to stories, music and art from other cultures;
• improve your memory, attention, and problem-solving skills.

But if we want to be able to communicate with people who speak that language, we might have to change something in the system.

What do you think?

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numeracy – understanding and working with numbers
literacy – reading and writing
oracy – listening and speaking
A-level – similar to the German Abitur

The easiest success measurement tool is a simple question. What did you do today to move forward?

The easiest project plan on earth is also a simple question. What will you do tomorrow to move forward?

At the end of each day, document your success and design your next move.

Rich DiGirolamo

Here are some possible answers to the two questions, with a focus on learning English:

1. What did you do today to improve or progress?

“Today, I listened to a podcast in English and watched a short YouTube video—and wrote down new words and phrases that I discovered.”

2. What will you do tomorrow to improve or progress?

“Tomorrow, I plan to spend some time reading a news article in English and practise vocabulary by reviewing my flashcards and doing some online exercises.” 

Doesn’t that sound good?

Of course, I have lots of other examples of activities that you might like do to boost your language skills.

You can:

• watch English-language films or TV shows,
• listen to music in English,
• attend one of our free Speed Networking sessions,
• join my Chilipeper Your English community, or even
• work with me on a 1:1 basis!

Whatever you choose, the key is to find activities that are enjoyable and engaging.

My fingers fly over my Mac’s keyboard like a hummingbird flitting from flower to flower.

But if you find it difficult or tiring to type, you might like to use the magic of speech recognition. And generate written text by speaking into a microphone.

Go over to Dictation.io (best using Google Chrome). Choose your language and start dictating.

There’s no need to register, log in, download or install anything.

Just check that you know the voice commands beforehand.

Or can you recommend a different site?

 

We often use icebreakers at the beginning of our online meetings, workshops or other group events to help our participants feel more relaxed, connected and engaged.

We want to help our people get to know each other, break (or rather melt) the ice—and create a friendly and comfortable atmosphere in the group.

But where can we find great questions to ask?

You’ll find lots of ideas here:

https://icebreaker.range.co

https://tscheck.in

https://checkinsuccess.com/question-archive

https://hypercontext.com/meeting-questions-bot

https://checkin.daresay.io

https://questionsgenerator.com

Tell me, where do you get inspiration for your questions?

„Because“ is a magic word if you want to get people to do something.

Imagine this

You’re lining up in front of a photocopier waiting to make copies.

A person approaches and asks:

Excuse me. I have 5 pages. May I use the photocopier?

A bit later a second person appears and asks:

Excuse me. I have 5 pages. May I use the photocopier because I’m in a rush?

And then a third person arrives and asks:

Excuse me. I have 5 pages. May I use the photocopier because I have to make copies?

Would you let anyone jump the queue. If so, which person?

The experiment

Harvard psychologist Ellen Langer ran this experiment with her team in the 1970s.

And the results?

They were quite surprising:

• 60% of the people let the first person skip the line.

• 94% of the people let the second person skip the line.

• 93% of the people let the third person skip the line.

Yes, this sounds rather crazy, doesn’t it?

So what does all this mean for you?

The lesson here is that people are more likely to agree to something if they understand why it’s being asked.

Giving a reason (almost any reason!) can be a good way to persuade people to do something.

That’s the power of that little word „because“.

Now over to you

Perhaps you’d like to add this word to a request, a statement or a call to action and see what happens?

And don’t forget to tell me if it works for you, too.

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to jump the queue – die Warteschlange überspringen, sich vordrängen