BROADCASTS.com

Published: July 20, 2015, 5:47 a.m.

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Making mistakes while speaking in a foreign language can be terribly embarrassing and even upsetting. We have all made mistakes ranging from the simple ones that didn\\u2019t affect much to the really, really big ones that make your eyes wide and your heart beat faster.

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Learning English is no different. There is a lot of room for human error, and we can generally open our mouths, and before we know it, we say something that we don\\u2019t even mean. Sometimes we don\\u2019t even realize we made a mistake until some points it out to us.

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In this English tip, Gabby, explains that in most cases, it\\u2019s OK. Native speakers usually understand what you meant to say and are not offended. In the off chance that they didn\\u2019t understand what you meant, they will usually ask you to either repeat it, or explain what you intended to say.

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For more tips like this, be sure to visit gonaturalenglish.com and see all the helpful tips that Gabby has for you. You will be glad you did.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9guf_U0CLFI

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Episode transcript below:

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Hello! Hello!

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What\\u2019s up?

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How are you doing?

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This is Go Natural English and I have a quick English tip for you.

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I want to talk about making mistakes.

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Imagine that you\\u2019re having a great English conversation but you stop \\u2013 you start turning red and sweating because you realize you just made a mistake, and you feel embarrassed, and oh my gosh, what do you do if you realize you\\u2019ve made a grammar mistake in English in the middle of a conversation?

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It\\u2019s not like you\\u2019re writing a paper and you can just erase and rewrite it, or you\\u2019re on a computer like most people do these days \\u2013 you just delete and rewrite it.

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You\\u2019re in the middle of a conversation, so, what do you do, oh my gosh.

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Well, two things:

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It depends on if the mistake affects the meaning of what you want to say.

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So, if you realize that your grammar mistake means that the other person didn\\u2019t understand you, or might think something that\\u2019s wrong that you didn\\u2019t intend to say, then I would say, \\u201cOh, I\\u2019m sorry, I made a mistake. What I meant to say was ...\\u201d you don\\u2019t even need to apologize.

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You don\\u2019t even need to say you made a mistake.

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You could just say, \\u201cWhat I meant to say was blah, blah, blah.\\u201d

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Two \\u2013 if the mistake you made was kind of superficial, meaning it doesn\\u2019t affect the meaning and everyone\\u2019s understanding everything that you mean to say \\u2013 there\\u2019s no miscommunication, then let it go.

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It\\u2019s totally OK.

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Just let it go.

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It\\u2019ll feel so good.

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Just don\\u2019t worry about it.

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It happens all the time.

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Everybody makes mistakes, even native speakers.

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So, if it doesn\\u2019t affect the understanding or your communication, just move on.

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Alright?

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Trust me, this will help your fluency overall because you won\\u2019t be stopping the conversation \\u2013 say, \\u201cooh, oh, I meant, ooh, uh,\\u201d and people will enjoy talking with you more because if the mistake was little, then it doesn\\u2019t really matter.

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Just keep talking and it\\u2019s all good.

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So, I hope that this tip is helpful for you.

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If you\\u2019d like more tips, and \\u2013 if you\\u2019d like to learn English the natural way, which is fun, easy, and relies on our own ability as humans to learn a language the natural way, then come back to gonaturalenglish.com where I have a lot of tips for you and I\\u2019d like to give you a free eBook, and you can find out about the premium course as well.

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So, thank you so much for watching.

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I believe in you, and I hope that you make a lot of mistakes.

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Why?

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Because mistakes are the way that we learn.

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So, keep going.

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Don\\u2019t worry about your mistakes.

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Just do your best to clarify and make sure that you\\u2019re understanding other people and other people are understanding you.

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So, you\\u2019re doing great.

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