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Hi! I'm Catherine, the founder of A Star Formation

If you work in an international environment, you need some tips and ideas on communicating effectively in English - in meetings, in presentations or just at the coffee machine . Have a look at some of my publications here and sign up to be on the list. You'll get an email with useful tips a few times a month!

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Speaking in front of an audience in English

Hi Reader, How do you feel when you are speaking in front of an audience in English? Whether you're answering a question in a meeting, or you're making a presentation to a room full of people, it can be really stressful! (Even in your own language it can be stressful, right? And it's even worse in a foreign language...😰) 👉 You worry that the audience is judging your mistakes or can't understand your accent. (I would just like to tell you that most people listening to you are NOT judging your...

2 months ago • 1 min read

Hi Reader, Are there some words in English you just can't pronounce? (For me in French it's the word "grenouille" - I have decided to never use it and I only see "crapauds"). "Clothes" and "months" are extremely difficult to pronounce for non-native speakers, because you have the combination of "th", which is already terrible, plus another consonant. I explain in this video how to make pronouncing these two words easier. You also need to know that it doesn't matter if you don't pronounce "th"...

3 months ago • 1 min read

Hi Reader, We do a full needs analysis at the beginning of every training programme, and the comment we hear the most is: "I'm not sure about which tense to use when." Most of you learnt a lot of different English tenses at school, and now you feel a bit confused, right? 😰 There are 12 different tenses in English, but most people (yes, even native English-speakers) rarely use most of them. But which ones are most common and how do you use them correctly? I've created a new course, in which...

3 months ago • 1 min read

Hi Reader, I hope the rentrée is going well and it's not too hard 😅 Do you have meetings in English on Microsoft Teams? Would you like to be able to understand everyone easily, or would you like to not have to concentrate on every word? I have a really simple tip for you, that will make it so much easier for you to understand everyone in your Microsoft Teams meetings - just watch this video here 👇 (And if you find it useful, why not join our Programme Boost and feel at ease in all your...

8 months ago • 1 min read

Hi Reader, I hope the rentrée is going well and it's not too hard 😅 Do you have meetings in English on Microsoft Teams? Would you like to be able to understand everyone easily, or would you like to not have to concentrate on every word? I have a really simple tip for you, that will make it so much easier for you to understand everyone in your Microsoft Teams meetings - just watch this video here 👇 (And if you find it useful, why not join our Programme Boost and feel at ease in all your...

9 months ago • 1 min read

Hi Reader, Do you feel that you don't know when to use all the different tenses in English? Maybe you feel that you should be using some of them much more than you do. It's one of the key issues that people I work with have: you learnt English at school where you learnt a lot of different tenses, and now you have forgotten or you're worried that you're not using them correctly. Does this sound like you? Today I'm going to present to you some scientific proof that you need to stop worrying...

11 months ago • 1 min read

Hi Reader, Picture this: you're in a meeting, and someone asks you a question. The pressure is on, and you don't want to be caught in an awkward silence, desperately searching for the right words. I understand that fear all too well when I'm trying to find the words I need in French 😰 Imagine having a toolkit to retrieve words from your memory without effort, even in the heat of the moment. I've made you a guide to how your memory works and how you can use this knowledge to improve your...

11 months ago • 1 min read

Hi Reader, Have you tried Chat GPT yet? I've been experimenting with it for different things (when I have to write a formal letter in French, it's the best!), especially looking at how it can help the people I work with. I'm going to show you two ways you can use it to help you when you're speaking English at work. The first is for a meeting. Let's say you have to lead a meeting to see how your team is doing with a project and you want to have some useful phrases in front of you. Here's what...

12 months ago • 1 min read

Hi Reader, I don't usually like to talk about grammar as I think that people often worry about grammar unnecessarily. (If you went to French school, you were probably traumatised by your English teachers shouting at you every time you made a grammar mistake - in real life, no one cares if you make a grammar mistake. There is no mark out of 20.) However, I'm very often asked about the past simple (also known as the preterite) and the present perfect. In this video, I give you two simple tips...

about 1 year ago • 1 min read

Hi Reader, Do you like speaking in front of an audience? I used to hate it, but I have grown to really enjoy it over the years (probably because my job involves speaking in front of groups of people all the time!) I even participate in speaking competitions 😅 and yes, not only in English, but also in French. I can confirm that presenting in a foreign language is definitely more difficult than presenting in your own language. Not only do you need to think about your body language, your voice,...

about 1 year ago • 1 min read
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