28K views · 3.9K reactions | Some people are afraid to speak in their target language. It needn’t happen. We can prepare for speaking. We can recognize speaking as a part of our learning process, not a performance to be judged by others. | Steve Kaufmann | Facebook

I like analogies, they help us understand. An analogy I thought of recently was how our knowledge of a language is like an iceberg: what we can produce or think we know at any given moment is just the tip of the iceberg and there is deep familiarity with the language underneath. | Steve Kaufmann

Pronunciation and spelling can both give problems to learners of English. They are connected. Unfortunately, however, the spelling is not a reliable indicator of how words are pronounced. It takes a long time to get used to this. | Steve Kaufmann