You saw the list. The best free apps to finally speak English. You downloaded one, maybe two, full of good intentions. Then opened them twice.

Your English is already good. An app that scores every sentence only adds one more place to be marked wrong, all day.

A client told me last week she had three of these on her phone. She still held her breath before every English call. The apps were never what held her back.

What helps costs nothing, and no app sells it. Permission to be understood instead of perfect. To let a sentence out before it’s polished, and stay in the room as yourself.

Quick win: Before your next English call, take one slow breath and tell yourself, “Understood” is enough today.

A new client proudly told me she’d learned 1,000 new English words in a month.

Then Monday came. And a colleague asked, “How was your weekend?”

She froze. Not because her English was poor. And not because she didn’t know the grammar. She’d spent so much time collecting new words that she stopped trusting the ones she already knew.

She could explain complex ideas. She understood specialist vocabulary. Yet she struggled to say, “It was sunny.”

A lot of professionals make the same mistake.

They download vocabulary lists, save useful expressions and mark up every article they read. But they rarely use the English they already have.

So they end up with a larger vocabulary, but not more confidence.

Most conversations don’t need impressive words. They need words you can reach for quickly. Words that sound natural coming from you. Words you can use without searching for them.

Fluency isn’t about how much English you know. It’s about how much English you can use when you need it.

Quick win: Before you learn five new words today, use five you already know.

There’s a quick test for “I” or “me” that never fails. You already use it without thinking.

It usually slips in when you’re being careful. “She invited my colleague and I.” The extra effort makes it sound polished, so it feels right in the room.

Here’s the test.

Take the other person out of the sentence. “She invited I“? No. You’d say, “She invited me.” Put your colleague back in and it stays “me“: “She invited my colleague and me.“

You don’t need to remember a rule for this. Your ear already knows the answer the moment the second person is gone.

Quick win: When you’re unsure, drop the other name and listen to what’s left. The word that sounds right on its own is the right one.

💬 Which version slips out of you in meetings?

A client showed me a list last week. Everyday words on the left, “advanced” ones on the right, an arrow between them. “Get” became “obtain”. “Help” became “assist”. “Ask” became “enquire”.

She’d started using them in her emails. Correct, formal and somehow not her. One line read like a letter from a solicitor about a parking dispute.

The real skill is quieter than vocabulary. It’s register: knowing which word belongs in the room. A surgeon obtains consent, then gets a second opinion from a colleague. Same person, two registers, both right.

You’re allowed to use the simple word. Most of the time, it’s the clearer one too.

Quick win: Next time you reach for the impressive word, try the plain one first. Ask whether it actually fits the room.

💬 Which “advanced” English word were you taught to use that you later stopped using?

You know that hot feeling in your face when you say something in English and the other person looks confused?

You want to disappear. You think about the sentence again and again, wishing you could take it back.

But that hot feeling is doing something good. It helps your brain remember. We forget the sentences we say perfectly. We remember the ones that go wrong, and then we make them better.

I still remember a mistake I made in a talk twelve years ago. I have never made it again.

So when your face feels hot, don’t run away. Stay and keep talking.

Quick win: When a sentence comes out wrong, just say it again in a better way. That second try is the one your brain keeps.

💬 Which mistake taught you the most?

This summer, watch a football team. The players come from many countries. Not one of them stops to ask, “Is my English correct?“

A player from Senegal, a goalkeeper from Germany, a coach from Italy. They shout three quick words to each other while they run. The English is messy. Some words are missing. But it works. They only care about one thing: Did my teammate understand me?

In your next meeting, you ask two things. Did they understand me? And was it correct? The second question makes you wait. You wait so long that the moment is gone.

Play it like the football players do. Say the messy version. Get understood. Keep going.

Quick win: Next time a sentence feels not quite right, say it anyway. Ask, “Did they understand me?” — not “Was it perfect?