🎙️ Foreign Language Communication Tools: Show Your Stuff
Many language learners strive for brevity, believing short answers signal confidence and control. But when you’re speaking with native speakers, brevity can backfire—turning dynamic conversation into a rigid Q&A exchange. And once the learner starts playing ping-pong with questions and answers, the conversation loses flow, and fluency begins to fray.
That’s where Show Your Stuff comes in—a powerful tool introduced by Boris Shekhtman in How to Improve Your Foreign Language Immediately. It flips the script by encouraging learners to give expansive, intentional responses. Not rambling—but rich. Not performative—but personal.
⚙️ Why Verbose Responses Matter
Imagine this: a native speaker asks, “Do you like Italian food?”
A short answer—“Yes, very much”—shuts the door. The next question might follow, but the learner remains passive, reactive.
A fuller answer opens the door wide:
“Oh, absolutely. I first discovered real Italian food when I traveled to Milan during my final year of college. What stood out wasn’t just the pasta but how meals were shared—slowly, with multiple courses and lots of storytelling. Since then, I’ve tried to replicate that at home with my kids. They love it, especially when we make gnocchi together from scratch!”
Now, the learner takes the reins. The conversation is no longer a test—it’s a dialogue. The native speaker is more likely to follow the learner’s lead, responding to shared experience rather than probing for language gaps.
🎯 Tips for Showing Your Stuff Effectively
Here’s how to maximize this strategy in real time:
🧠 Use Everything You Know
- Include personal anecdotes, preferences, comparisons.
- Pull from recent experiences, even if tangential to the topic.
- Connect to broader themes—food to culture, hobbies to history.
🚦Avoid What You Don’t Know
- Stick to vocabulary and structures you’ve mastered.
- If the topic is unfamiliar, pivot toward a related one:
💬 Keep It Natural
- Use filler phrases to give yourself time:
- “Well, let me think...”
- “That’s a great question—so actually...”
- Practice prepared “speech islands” about topics you love.
💡 Why It Works
Verbose responses shift the conversation from interrogation to collaboration. They allow you to:
- Control the rhythm of the dialogue
- Highlight your strengths and fluency
- Reduce cognitive pressure from reactive listening
- Signal confidence and warmth
Most importantly, they invite native speakers to respond to you as a person—not just a learner.
Next time someone asks you a question in your target language, don’t reach for the shortest answer. Reach for the richest. It’s not about showing off—it’s about showing up with all you’ve got.
This post was inspired by Boris Shekhtman's book, How to Improve Your Foreign Language Immediately.
Book description:
This is the fifth edition of a popular book that provides a unique set of tools designed to enhance an individual's success in communicati0n in a foreign language environment. The devices presented allow the speaker of a foreign language to demonstrate the level of his/her language more impressively, so impressively, in fact, that it appears that the speaker's language itself has improved overnight. These techniques were developed and tested by the author with adult professionals in such varied fields as journalism, diplomacy, government, and international business. Many of these professionals have attested to the efficacy of these tools in their own columns.
Read more posts about Boris and his books HERE.
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