Supercharge your English speaking skills

Sometimes a little boost is all it takes to get you moving forward!

Are you uncomfortable participating in meetings and discussions in English? 

This free, five-day challenge can boost your vocabulary skills and confidence in English in just a few minutes a day. 

Practice the English words and phrases you need to contribute to group discussions.  They'll help you push past the barriers that have held you back in the past.

Details

Each day, February 16-20, 2026 (Mon. to Fri., at whatever time works best for you), you'll watch either a short video (or study a PDF) on using English words and phrases, especially in professional settings (Days 2, 3, and 5) or a TED talk demonstrating some of the words and ideas. Then there is a short exercise or speaking assignment to practice the English you just studied. 

The TED talks are under 14 minutes each. They're valuable English listening practice-- and they tell fascinating stories about leadership and effective communication. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I do! 

My videos are much shorter. You may want to download and use the PDFs made from the video slides as you do your speaking assignments (and for future reference).

You should be able to complete each day's assignment in half an hour-- or 45 minutes if you want to take extra care with one or more of the speaking assignments.

How to Submit Your Speaking Assignments

Record your answers to each day's assignment questions and 

     > email them to me at simontoncatherine@gmail.com or

    > post the recording on "Share any challenge assignments community board on this platform (see "Community" on the horizontal blue nav bar at the top of each page of the challenge; click on "Share any challenge assignments"...box  or on the left nav bar; upload your recording there.)

     > or, if you prefer to discuss these questions with someone live (in English!), do so, and email me a short summary of your discussion so I can give you credit for the day. This can be with a personal friend or study partner, or with another participant if you can find a few minutes for a Zoom call. 

That's why I made the Community channel "Find Practice Partners." (It's also why I opened the challenge before the first lesson is available.)

I hope, if you don't already have someone to practice with, you can find someone here. Please post your name if interested, and keep checking back while the challenge is open. 

Availability

The challenge is open through March 12, though it will help you most if you do each day's assignment on that day. (Download any PDFs or notes you want to keep before then.) 

If you complete and share/send me all the speaking assignments by the end of Thursday, March 5th, you will be eligible for a free short call with me on how you can keep practicing, or a 2-3 lesson package at half the usual price.

I hope this challenge will boost your English speaking skills (and your vocabulary-- and confidence-- as well.) Let me know!