Hello!
This will be my last Substack email for 2024 because I’m going to have a whole week off next week!
I’d like to tell you a bit about what happened in 2024 and my ideas and plans for 2025.
Substack
Up until June, I was writing two Substack newsletters a week, one for everyone and one for paying subscribers. Looking back, I don’t know how I found the time!
I decided to turn off the payments in June so I could focus on writing just one Substack post a week.
Now I’m thinking about whether to turn the payment option back on again. Don’t worry! These posts/emails will continue to be free for everyone! But I might add some extras for paying subscribers.
I’m not going to write an extra email every week like I did before. It took too much time. Instead, I might add a monthly group Zoom chat or a Telegram group. I haven’t decided yet. You would also be able to unlock all the old locked posts. You can tell me if you have any ideas about this by leaving a comment or replying to this email.
Up until now, this Substack has been quite general. It’s been for anyone learning English, male or female, professional or not. But as you may know, my business is moving more towards working with professional women. You might see that reflected in future Substack newsletters.
Popular posts
According to Substack, these were my top posts in 2024. Maybe you missed them the first time round or maybe you’d like to read them again.
Do you know when to use the infinitive (to + verb) and when to use the gerund (verb+ing)? Read this lesson and try my quiz:
Would you like to listen to a short story and hear my voice and my accent? Listen to (or read) it here:
We have countable and uncountable nouns but did you know there’s a third group called plural nouns? You can learn more here:
I also wonder if you might like to read this post from last year about how we celebrate Christmas in England:
My other newsletter
My other newsletter - “Confident English for Professional Women” - is more aimed at professional women. Obviously! You can see that from the name! But I do get a surprising number of men signing up!
I’ve been much better at writing these emails consistently every week! At first, I sent the same message to both lists (Substack and the other) but then I decided they should be different. So now I’m back to two newsletters again!
If you’re a professional woman and you’d like to subscribe, you can sign up here.
In yesterday’s newsletter, I wrote about what happened in my business in 2024 and what I’m planning for 2025. You can read it here.
Other plans
I’ll continue my Facebook group, at least for a while, and I might start a new group for women.
I might try running group lessons again, if enough people are interested.
I’m planning a few free PDFs and workshops.
I’m looking for more people to join my “She Speaks English” programme in 2025.
I’m also thinking about what other paid offer I might be able to bring you that’s cheaper.
Your turn!
That’s about my past year and some plans for next year. What about you?
The end of the year is a good time to reflect on the past twelve months and make plans for the future. Here are a few questions you might like to ask yourself!
What is something that you can now do in English which you couldn’t do a year ago? (E.g. watch a movie, understand a song, write an email)
What is something you tried for the first time this year? What new thing are you going to try next year? (For example, listening to English songs, or joining a Facebook group.)
Why are you learning English? How will knowing English change your life? Thinking about the reasons can help you to stay motivated and decide what to study.
What are your strengths and weaknesses in English? (For example, reading, listening, confidence when speaking, phrasal verbs, verb tenses) What are you going to do about it in 2025?
What are your English learning goals for 2025? (Make sure you keep it realistic. Going from beginner to advanced in a year is not possible. Learning 50 new words each week or reading English for 10 minutes a day would be easier to achieve.)
What little things can you do every day to get more English into your life? (E.g. listen to a podcast while you cook dinner. Or read something in English while you’re on the bus.)
If you celebrate Christmas, I hope you have a wonderful time!
And I wish everyone all the best for the end of 2024 and the beginning of 2025! Happy New Year!
See you in January!
Katie
Thank you so much for everything you've done for us, in real!🙏🙏
I am eager to learn from. Coming soon in January.