Do you already have good vocabulary but are you still struggling to express yourself?

One of the hardest things I face teaching foreigners is when students know a bunch of useful words but still feel stuck.

It feels odd because they think they should be able to express themselves but are still looking for words, don’t feel fluent and don’t feel understood sometimes.

The biggest piece of advice is to have a crystal clear idea of what one wants to say.

The second thing is to not lose one’s shit looking for words one doesn’t know.

Stop translating and stop asking. Instead find synonyms or at least similar words that are known very well.

This way, sentences sound more fluent and students feel more empowered.

And accept the fact that it’s not 100% accurate and that's perfectly fine.