Max asks: "How can I hold Skype conversations if I'm just a beginner?"

In this episode: * Many people freeze up as a beginner because they lack vocabulary and confidence * If you're willing to make mistakes, you can go far!

Keeping conversations going as a beginner:

• "How do you say ___?"
• Ask questions
• Become a master at paraphrasing
• Success with this depends a lot on your teacher - see Olly's teacher in Thailand for an example of how this can work well:

https://youtu.be/RWfVYUktRkE

All this develops your communicative competence.

• But a "Tarzan" approach can leave you with gaps - e.g. grammar and key vocabulary
• It can be different between languages too
• You might prefer a more structured approach
• Choose a textbook to work through, and use your lessons to practise the content of individual modules

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