A member named Norhafzan recently told me this:
“This is interesting. I experienced this and always get stuck cause I was focusing on one word instead of try to think of other vocabulary. The ‘move like water’ thing really gets me to other level of speaking and confidence. Thanks for the concept.”
Most English learners get stuck because they learn only one way of saying something…
And this is usually through a translation…
So when they can’t remember this one word or phrase, or they get too nervous, their mind goes blank and they freeze up.
But when you watch natives, they DON’T always describe similar situations in exactly the same way.
For example, when failing a test:
“I bombed.”
“She really crashed and burned.”
“He just choked, even though he studied a lot.”
Natives connect vocabulary with situations, and they learn MULTIPLE ways of expressing themselves, so they never get stuck when they speak.
One very simple way to do this is to use the opposite word of the one you can’t remember.
For example, if you forget the word “hot,” just say, “not cold.”
Even if the meaning isn’t exactly what you want to express, people will understand what you mean, and you’ll be able to keep speaking.
I call this “moving like water,” and it’s one of the many native communication secrets that can improve