EDGY - Individual Language Coaching

What are two things that scare many people? Right: speaking English and making art. So let’s do them together at the same time! :)

Actually, neither of these things are very scary at all, especially during this event. At EDGY Collaging Night, you spend an evening with 3-6 other people (and me!) and enjoy some easy conversation while you are make collages, have a drink to loosen your tongue (if you want), and enjoy some delicious snacks. If you’re still scared by the end of the evening, you’ll get your money back :)

Price: 27 EUR (includes all materials, drinks & snacks)

Next EDGY Collaging Night:

Monday, 3 February from 18.30 in my studio at Alsterchaussee 13, in Hamburg. 📚✂️🖼️

4 places left. Post a comment or send me a DM and I’ll send you the registration link! :)

When you see this do you
- remember you need to clean out the basement
- worry about the dust trapped in all those pages
- want to get out a pair of scissors and make some art?

I’m not going to lie — for me it’s all three. But when Hannah from .hamburg asked me if I wanted to have this box of Finnish magazines from the 1960s, I thought — time for another EDGY Collaging Night! ✨

When: 2 December, from 18.30
Where: EDGY Studio, Alsterchaussee 13, Hamburg
What: Making collages with wine and conversation.

At EDGY Collaging Night, I bring together two things that scare many people: art and English. In a small group of nice people, with great foo, a couple of drinks (if you want), and with some help from me, you can safely practice both.

Go to edgycoaching.de/events to register or DM me and I’ll send you the link.

Places are limited. .hamburg Hannah, you get a free spot for the magazine donation of course! 🖤✨

This weekend, the conference is happening in Malta, and for the first time in five years, I won’t be there.

IATEFL BESIG is a global community of business English teachers, trainers, and coaches, run entirely by volunteers and part of the larger family. Having been involved in volunteer work for most of my life, including as Chair of HELTA (Hamburg English Language Teaching Association), I joined the BESIG committee last year, stepping into the role of Joint Coordinator alongside Marjorie Rosenberg at the Stuttgart conference. It was exciting to contribute to join the team, help plan the Malta conference, and coordinate BESIG’s many activities.

However, this year took an unexpected turn.

Over the summer, I worked on a massive performance theatre project with , which (along with other decisions) shifted my career more toward the arts and creative industries, moving away from traditional English language teaching. With my focus there, I couldn’t commit to BESIG as much as I wanted. In the summer, I made the tough decision to resign as Joint Coordinator. I’m sorry for the challenges this caused for the team but I can see that you’ve put together a fantastic conference and I’m confident was an excellent choice to step into the role.

BESIG has been a meaningful part of my journey, and I’ll always be grateful for the friendships, wisdom, support, and insights I’ve found there. Have a great conference, BESIGers! ✨

Hey, are you just here to scroll or would you like to deep-dive and get some real advice on how to improve your English?

Then check out the blog on my website. I’ve just published a new post today about how to incorporate more English practice into your daily life with 25+ fun and easy ideas. They’re not boring exercises, and they’re not a random list I got from ChatGPT. Rather, they’re tried and tested ideas that you can personalise so they are interesting to you and fit into your life.

Comment “blog” and I’ll send you the link to the post! 🐊

Really, there is no such thing as language talent that some people are born with and others are not.

The first difference between successful language learners and not-so-successful language is their MINDSET: do they believe it's possible to improve or do they give up before they even start?

The good news: your mindset is also not something that is fixed at birth! You can change it and shape it so that it lets you achieve anything you want to achieve.

🖤 Share your opinion in the comments!

When you want something to change, it’s easy to point to outside circumstances and say that’s where the problem is.

Now, you may be right: there are so many things in our lives that are unfair, harmful, and cruel that it’s easy to feel defeated by them.

By starting with yourself and focusing on the things that you can control, you are teaching yourself responsibility and you are showing yourself that you have the power to change things.

This power and sense of responsibility will help you effect greater change in the world around you.

🖤 Share your opinion in the comments!

Working with Simon was a real pleasure: not only because the problem that brought him to me was a good fit and I was able to help him. But also because Simon is a close friend of mine.

In my old job at a language school, I felt very uncomfortable with the idea of having people I knew in my courses, or teaching friends who asked me if I could help them with their English. The reason was that I had a whole separate ‘teaching persona’ that was different from my actual self: let’s call her “Miss Sarah”. Miss Sarah felt that she always had to be entertaining and authoritative, a knowledgeable ambassador of the English language and British culture.

“EDGY Sarah” is a very different person. A bit like Simon with his small talk problem, I can now be much more relaxed and natural in my work. Because I only do work that I believe in and only use methods and frameworks that I actually stand behind, I don’t feel like I have to sell or perform anything. I can just be myself, relax into the conversation, and help my client on the level that they need.

And the extra bonus for me is that I can work with my friends. Thank you for your trust and for your feedback!

🖤 If Simon's story has inspired you to feel more at ease when speaking English, reach out to me and let's begin your journey together.

If you asked me “Sarah, what would you put on a billboard?”, it would be this.

I really really really wish people knew that “language talent” is not a real thing. This is not my personal opinion, but what we know from research in applied linguistics and neuroscience: there aren’t some people that are born with this amazing capacity to learn languages while others just don’t. It’s not real!

Your capacity to learn languages easily is influenced by many things:
- Your ability to make mistakes and not be afraid.
- How well your learning methods work for you.
- The time you have to practice.
- The level of attention you can pay.
- The priority this project has in your life.
- Your memory (which can be trained!).

All of those things (and many more) will determine if you are successful at improving your language skills.

So if you are struggling to learn English, don’t blame it on your “lack of talent”. As yourself if you have really found the right way for yourself yet.

And if you need help, get in touch with me. 🖤

Do this to focus on what you want to say.

Leave a 🖤 if you liked this post.

Stop holding yourself back. It's just not worth it.

In coaching, it's very important to connect emotionally with a vision: what would the world look like if your problem was solved? How would you feel? What would you be doing?

Really thinking about this and letting your intuition paint a scene around your wish is a much stronger mechanism to pull you forward and keep you moving than setting a superficial goal like "I want to improve my vocabulary" (though goals are important too!).

The vision is more powerful because it's personal, emotional, and when you realise it, it will really make a difference in your life.

My client Tanja is a perfect example of someone who has fantastic English, but who is also fantastic at telling herself that her English is terrible. :)

Tanja normally works as a newsroom editor and came to me because her news channel told her that she had to jump in for one of the correspondents abroad. Scary. Very scary.

For weeks, we prepared for all of the situations she would have to face: interviewing experts, researching stories, interacting with the English-speaking crew.

When she came back from her 2-week job as the foreign correspondent, I was anxious to hear how it had been. Her first words were "Sarah, it was great – I'll tell you about it in a minute. But first: can you tell me how in the world you order coffee in English?!".

We both broke down, laughing. Tanja told me that the work had been fine, no disasters, no crises, and that it had actually been quite fun. But then she had all of these ordinary, everyday life moments where she didn't know the right way to say something:

"One coffee please?"
"I would like a coffee please?"
"Can I have a coffee please?!"

It's crazy to me: how can powerful, smart, amazing people like Tanja be brought down by questions like that? But that is what happens and how it feels to them: it didn't matter that she had rocked her job and done great all week: one moment like that was enough to shake her confidence again.

Slowly, as we continue to work together, Tanja is starting to see that actually, there is nothing terrible embarrassing about her English. And that if there are moments when she doesn't know the one perfect, most elegant way of saying something, it really doesn't matter.

Whatever you say, as long as you get across what you wanted to say in the end, it should be okay. And, of course, whatever she ended up saying, she did get the coffee :)

🖤 If Tanja's story has inspired you to feel more at ease when speaking English, reach out to me and let's begin your journey together.