Simona Sermoneta

𝗜𝗳 𝗜 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱?
Many Italians wouldn't. Translating from their mother tongue, they tend to say:

❌ I changed my idea.

But in English, we don't say that.
Instead, we say:

✔ I changed my mind.

😂 ...as if you had to change your entire mind every time you realised that you had been wrong about something.

It sounds funny, but that is the correct expression.

So next time, 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱, not just one idea!!

𝗜𝗳 𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲, I've got something for you.
⛱️To celebrate Ferragosto, 𝗜 𝗽𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱 - researchers, biologists and health professionals.

It's a treasure of authentic material that will help you learn spoken English, improve your fluency and have a ball, even while on vacation. 🚵

I do hope you enjoy it and trust you will find it useful.

🎤 𝗧𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗼𝘄:
Do you read comic strips in English?
If so, which one/s? Can you recommend any?

Comic strips for fluency - a guide for life scientists Comic strips are a fantastic resource to improve your fluency. They are perfect to learn spoken language.

𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒅𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐? It looks like a question, and yet... 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 ❌.
What if somebody said this to you? How would you respond? 🤔
👇👇👇
"How do you do" just means "It's a pleasure to meet you", or "pleased to meet you".

It's a 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗹 greeting.
🤝🏼 You use it when you meet someone for the first time.

The way to reply is by simply saying "How do you do" back to the person who greeted you.

You can also say:
🔸 It's a pleasure.
🔸 It's a pleasure to meet you.
🔸 Pleased to meet you.

In 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗹 contexts, people don't greet with "How do you do". Instead, say:
🔸 Nice to meet you.
🔸 It's nice to meet you.

Ok. So next time, you'll know what to say!
See you around ☺️

☺️ This is me, having fun... in a dangerous minefield called Madrid 💃 (Paseo del Prado, to be exact)

💣 First, I got lost - I thought I had asked where I should get 𝗼𝗻 the bus (salire), but I actually asked where I should get 𝗼𝗳𝗳 (salir);

💣 Then, at the restaurant, I ruined my salad - I asked for 𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗿 (aceto), but they gave me 𝗼𝗶𝗹 (aceite);

💣 Finally, I tried to say that I was 𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 (imbarazzata) by all of these misunderstandings, and it turns out I said I was 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗻𝗮𝗻𝘁 (embarazada).

🇪🇸 So, yes, Spanish and Italian are very similar, and the similarity certainly helps, but it can also lull you into a false sense of security.

🇬🇧 But what about English? Surely, things are easier with English in this respect. After all, it's a Germanic language.

Sure, English is Germanic, but its vocabulary is 60% Romance.

This is a big advantage for us Italians, but it can also make things maddeningly confusing.

There are many of these "false friends" and we must always be careful.

💣 Here are a few examples:
𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 (coerente) is not 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲
𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁 (pertinente) is not 𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲
𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗯𝗶𝗱 (morboso) is not 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗯𝗶𝗱𝗼
a 𝗹𝗶𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗿𝘆 (biblioteca) is not a 𝗹𝗶𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮
to 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱 (far finta) does not mean 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗲

🤗 This is one of the reasons why I love helping Italian-speaking researchers - I can make sure they take advantage of the similarities, and avoid the pitfalls.

💌 Tell me in the comments -
Have you had trouble with an English-Italian "false friend"? What was it?

🧐 I'm not sure why this happens. Perhaps it's the fact that the two words share some of the letters, but I've seen more than one person confuse the words 𝙝𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙙 and 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙖𝙣𝙙. So here are two tricks you can use to remember:

𝟭 - 𝗮 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗸 👓
Imagine that the two Ds in the word 𝗵𝘂𝗻𝗗𝗿𝗲𝗗 are two zeros, so that, for example:

5DD >> 500

In other words, five hundred refers to the number with the two zeros (500).

Clearly, the other (five thousand) would then refer to the number with the three zeros.

𝟮 - 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝘁𝘆𝗺𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗸 🏺
The root 𝙝𝙪𝙣𝙙 in the word 𝙝𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙙 is a "cousin" of the Latin root 𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩.

hund(red) >> cent(o)

It may not be obvious, at first, but if you think about it, it does make sense:
c >> h - Tuscans often pronounce /k/ as /h/
e >> u - The sounds are not that different
n >> n - Well... you know.
t >> d - Here the position of the mouth is the same. The only difference is whether you vocalise or not.

Can you see the similarity now?

💌 Feel free to message me if there's anything more I can do to help you.

Image by Hung Tran at Pexels

I used to speak French, Spanish and Portuguese. Fluently. Yes - all of them! ... and some Dutch. But now, I can barely put together a sentence in these languages. Why? I didn't use them.

😟 In English, we say: Use it or lose it.

🧐 But... this is not the whole truth.

The good news is, your brain remembers a lot more than you think, and when you pick up the language again, your knowledge comes back.

👉🏽 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 "𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵".

Here is just one quote:
"Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology have been able to show that new cell contacts established during a learning process stay put, even when they are no longer required. This enables a faster learning of things forgotten."

So don't be discouraged if you forgot much of your English.
Don't worry.
🤗 Get back to it and it will come back to you.

🌈 Tell me in the comments -
Have you forgotten any language you used to speak fluently?

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081117110834.htm

🤐 𝗙𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻'𝘁 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝘁? 😶 You may be trying to translate your ideas from your mother tongue. 👇👇👇 Read the article for an easy, five-step strategy to help you stop translating, and 𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 by thinking directly in English.

Five steps to fluency and confidence - a guide for life scientists Or: Stop translating in your head and start thinking in English! Frustrated that you can't get the words out? You may be trying to translate your ideas from your mother tongue. Here's how you can stop translating, and gain fluency and confidence by thinking directly in English.

🤒 In times of COVID, tests are on everybody's lips, and I often hear clients say that a sample, or a person, ❌ "resulted" ❌ negative or positive for the virus. This is incorrect.

Next time, use "tested" instead:
✔️ The sample/patient TESTED positive/negative for the virus.

This is how we use the verb "to result" in English:
✔️ Numerous deaths have RESULTED FROM the pandemic.
✔️ The pandemic has RESULTED IN numerous deaths.

That's all for now.
Take care and test negative!

🍃 Turn over a new leaf? No, not THAT kind of leaf!
"I remember that when I was little this expression sounded strange to me. Why turn over a leaf at all, and why a new one, and what is a new leaf anyway? A young leaf? A green leaf? New is not an adjective one would naturally use for leaves. But when you start to understand that it's a page, it all starts to make sense."

That's what my Canadian husband told me.

📝 The expression is metaphorical, and leaf here does not mean foglia but foglio.

📖 Your life is like a book, and making important changes in your life is like turning to a new page, where the story gets better.

So let's hope that we all - personally and collectively - turn over a new leaf in 2022.

Let me know in the comments below:
🙋 If you've resolved to turn over a new leaf in 2022, how would you change?

I'd love to hear from you :)

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Connect: Simona Sermoneta CELTA, BA, MPH

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝙖𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙜
𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗯𝗹𝘆 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸!

"But I was always told that 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙣 is used for two elements and 𝙖𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙜 is used for more than two!" one of my clients protested after I explained the difference.

It's a common misconception, so I thought I'd share the explanation.

HERE IT IS:
📌 𝘽𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝗶𝘀 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗰𝘁.

✔️Tests were conducted to assess baseline differences between those who remained in the study and those who dropped out.

✔️To standardize measurements, an elastic bandage was placed between the foot and leg...

✔️Respondents were divided between freshmen (29.8%), sophomores (23.6%) and juniors (27.2%)

✔️The remainder of the inheritance was divided between his widow, his son and his daughter.

✔️Random assignment would ensure that all unmeasured confounding factors were equally distributed between comparison groups.

📌 𝘼𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝗶𝘀 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗰𝘁, 𝗮𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽.

✔️The trend is particularly prevalent among migratory birds.

✔️Three hundred children were among those killed.

✔️Three billion acres of land were distributed among 285,000 farmers.

✔️Based on the fossils, Gigantopithecus is now placed among the Asian apes.

𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿:
👉 Between - separate and distinct
👉 Among - indistinct, part of a group

Now test yourself: 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗼𝘄
1. This syndrome is much more common ______ males.
2. Here, it is important to distinguish ______ causation, correlation and prediction.



The Moon among the stars :)

🌞 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘂𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘂𝗽 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗱𝗮𝘆. 🌞

For me, it is my students.
I look forward to meeting them, interacting with them, having fun together and learning from them too.

I also derive satisfaction from seeing them progress and reap the benefits of our common efforts.

I find that incredibly rewarding, especially when they employ this knowledge to change things for the better - contrast disease, deforestation, climate change, pollution, or loss of biodiversity.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 to invest time and effort in your work every day? (choose the most important motivation)

Is it:
💰 Financial security for me/my family
💡 The hope of helping to solve an important problem
✨ Curiosity, challenge and satisfaction
❓ Something else (comment below)

Let me know in the comments!

Also, what other elements does one need in order to succeed?