I know you need to “shut down” for a few days and recharge your mental batteries.

And you know what? Improving or at least maintaining your business English level can be fun. You must be mindful and do the right thing without pushing yourself too hard.

It’s about making small maintenance steps while on holiday. They can prep you for the new season coming in September (which is just around the corner). 

You may have personal self-blockages such as “My English level is low”, “I will mess up again next time at work”, or “I should’ve done better at the meeting”. 

No need to focus on past trauma and let it define your future.❌

Take your summer break, have fun with your loved ones, and spend some time sharpening your English skills mindfully. Be it for calls and meetings, presentations, or even networking or job interviews in English.

Today, I gathered the Top-5 fun ways to do it during your summer holidays! Read on!

3+1 essentials for keeping up with your English during your summer holidays 

Before getting to the tips, let me clarify: You deserve a break. All hard-working professionals like you deserve that.

We need to unwind, mentally and physically, but what happens when guilt hits you?

For instance, you’ve been working hard on your English all year long, but now it’s the summer break, and you feel you need to keep up with it. But you also need to rest and relax.

 That’s a real struggle. On the one hand, it’s your hard-earned summer break and your needs. On the other hand, it’s the urge to keep working on your business English and improve it more now you have more free time.

 It’s challenging, I know. Been there, done that.

 So, is there a way to do both? Relax and rest while sustaining your English level?

 Good news is on the way! Yes, there are ways to do it.

Here are the Top-3 things to keep in mind at all times:

 ✔️ Preparation. Practice makes a champion. Keep that in mind, and find fun and easy ways to stay sharp with your spoken English during the summer break. More on that tomorrow! 🙂

 ✔️ Mindfulness. It’s about setting realistic goals and not beating yourself up for not going the extra mile. You don’t have to do it during your break. Set the bar lower and make sure you achieve your expectations.

 ✔️ Minimalism. It will make it easier for you to pick your battles. Choose 1 to 3 things to focus on, like one app, one English book and an extra fun activity like an English movie night. 

EXTRA TIP: to make the best out of your summer break without compromising your much-needed rest and fun, you must combine all the three elements above.

They are intertwined and can work wonders if you apply them to create the most appropriate mix of English activities for your summer break.

See? It’s not about ruining your holidays to reach a breakthrough with your business English. You just have to do it thoughtfully and effectively. Here is how!

5 activities to help you stay sharp with your English skills during the summer break without missing out on the fun

Before getting down to them, give me a second to remind you this: there are many activities you can do to work on your business English during the summer break.

However, not all of them suit your needs as a highly-skilled professional with limited resources (like time and energy) and quite a few people who rely on you (loved ones, kids, etc.).

I picked the following five because they can fit your lifestyle and are easy and fun to do.

Keep in mind that building new healthy habits, albeit short ones as they are only for the 3 or 4 weeks of your summer break, requires ease of execution and consistency.

Instead of starting your holidays with a burden, and a long list of tasks and activities for improving your business English, pick two or three of them and do them consistently, even if it is for 15 minutes a day.

I can’t stress enough the importance of consistency. It can help you make it or break it.

Furthermore, as I highlighted above, the summer activities for your business English must be fun. It will also help you integrate them into your family schedule without compromising summer togetherness.

Without further ado, here are the Top-5 summer activities you should take on during the summer break.

#1 Read

When you have time, read books or websites online that are in English. Reading is the best way to maintain and boost your grammar and vocabulary. 15 minutes per day would suffice.

#2 Organise an English film night

Instead of watching a movie in English with subtitles, turn them off and get comfortable with understanding what they say just by listening. Learning how to get the context is essential even if you don’t understand everything.

#3 Speak English

Practice makes perfect. Pick a friend or your spouse and talk to each other in English for 30 minutes daily. It doesn’t have to be about business or a specific topic. You can switch your communication language to English.

#4 Record yourself

Make short videos recording yourself talking in English for a few minutes. These recordings can help you practice pronunciation and style and track your level and progress over time. You can even post them on your social media!

#5 Cook yourself through English

Prepare a lovely summer meal for your family and friends. Follow a recipe in English (either by reading it or watching a video) and practice your English skills. It’s an effective combo of comprehension and action, plus it’s also fun!

You deserve a summer break, and you can also practice your English skills & stay sharp in a fun way. Don’t wait until September to resume your efforts!

Fancy saving the list for future use? Click on the image below to download it as a pdf file.

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Here at ProEnglish, this is my end goal: to empower non-native, highly-skilled professionals like you to claim what you deserve by breaking down the language blockage in a safe, kind and trustful environment.

I am Vera Daskalaki, your mindful English coach. You, being here and reading this, really means a lot to me. Let me know if anything above hits a nerve, and feel free to send me any questions.

If you want to talk about your goals and struggles in English and create a customised plan, just like I’ve done for dozens of professionals in the past, book a free Clarity Call by clicking below.

BOOK YOUR FREE CLARITY CALL

It’s a free 30-min call. No commitment, no obligation. We will talk about your challenges and needs for business English and lay out a path to achieve your goals. 

No catch. Let’s talk and take it from there.