🎙️ 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 o...