My dream was to speak German without an accent.

But many years later I realised that this dream wasn’t going to come true. Try as I might!

I’ve now come to realise speaking with an accent doesn’t make us sound unprofessional.

Accents are wonderful. Accents are part of what we are and where we come from. They are a mark of what makes us different.

And just as there’s a difference between fluency and accuracy, there’s a difference between accents and pronunciation.

What is much more important than trying to lose one’s accent is focusing on being able to speak in English clearly. Because poor pronunciation can lead to serious misunderstandings.

So just focus on being understood, pronouncing clearly, speaking at a steady pace—and enjoy your accent.

I’ve learnt to live with my accent. I hope you can, too!

Here’s an online activity I like to do now and again using positive words.

I ask participants to find an adjective that rhymes or starts with the same letter of their first name and that tells us a little about themselves. I might call myself Creative Christine, for example.

If you find it difficult to find positive words, you might like to look at this list of positive words or this list of adjectives in alphabetical order.

Here’s a little fun activity you might like to do with me.

Find positive words for every letter of your name, by entering your first name in the box provided on this page.

This is what came up for me:

Cute, Happy, Relieved, Innovative, Shining, Tranquil, Incredible, Nurtured, Enlivened.

Okay, I think I could find better words myself, but it’s a start!

Would you like to share your name and words/adjectives with me? I’d love to know them. 😊

We know how important it is to wash our hands regularly. And we know that we need to avoid certain foods if we want to stay slim.

Just as we need good physical hygiene, we also need good digital hygiene. 

So what can we do to give our brains a break?

American author and entrepreneur, Seth Godin, suggests five simple steps.

1. Turn off mail and social media alerts on your phone.
2. Don’t read the comments.
3. De-escalate the anger in every email exchange.
4. Put your phone in the glove compartment* while driving.
5. Spend the most creative hour of your day creating, not responding.

Acronyms, songs and jingles, rhymes, pictures or phrases are so helpful when it comes to remembering certain facts.

In German we call them”Eselsbrücken”. The English word is “mnemonic”. Not any easy word to spell and pronounce for a lot of people, I know. (The “m” at the beginning is silent, by the way.)

Let’s look at two examples.

How do you remember the colours of the rainbow in order?

The mnemonic we learnt at school was “Richard of York gave battle in vain*”—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.

And what about the names of the Great Lakes in North America?

Just remember the acronym HOMES. It stands for Lake Huron, Lake Ontario, Lake Michigan, Lake Erie and Lake Superior.

Interested in finding out more? You can see a great list of mnemonics on Wikipedia.

Do you use mnemonics to remember things?

*in vain = erfolglos, vergebens, umsonst

‘Energy and persistence conquer all things.”
Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin’s words remind us that we need to work consistently towards our goals every day if we want to achieve them.

When I lost 90% of my clients two years ago, I applied all my energy and persistence to carry on, knowing that the situation wouldn’t disappear overnight.

I had been running my own in-person language training business for over twenty years, supported by a small team of language professionals. But that was over. It was time to make some drastic changes.

So I attended all kinds of training courses (on live online training, social media marketing and so on), and lots and lots of webinars and networking events.

And while I sometimes felt as if nothing was changing, when I looked back months later, I saw a huge difference. 

Of course, there were moments of frustration and a fear of failure. But now, after many months of hard work, I see the fruits of my efforts.

I now understand how the pandemic has helped me to take a step back and rethink my business, become more innovative with my work, and understand that I am capable of more.

How has the pandemic affected your business?

Do you often hear or read the term “self care” and are not sure what it means?

It simply means: taking care of oneself—looking after oneself mentally, physically and emotionally.

Of course, this can be different for everyone.

So what sort of things can we do?

Here’s a list I found on BMI Healthcare’s website:

1. Get a good night’s sleep
2. Drink lots of water
3. Go for a brisk walk
4. Take a relaxing bath
5. Say no to something you don’t want to do
6. Listen to your favourite music
7. Watch your favourite film
8. Make something healthy yet delicious for dinner
9. Make a list of five or more things you like about yourself
10. Spend time with loved ones 

 I’m sure we could add more things to this list. Do you have any ideas?