From Paris to New York—Confident English Spotlight with Anne-Laure

In Confident English Spotlight Episode 11, I interview Anne-Laure about her experience moving from Paris to New York City. She shares some of the challenges that surprised her and her need to improve her social English.
We also talk about the challenges of working for a start-up company and the need to ‘wear many hats’ in the job. (Be sure to listen to the interview to find out what this idiomatic expression means.) 🧢🎩⛑👒
Plus, a bonus!
Get 3 things Anne-Laure reads in English every day to build her vocabulary and learn colloquial English. You can find links to these three strategies below the video.
If this is your first time joining me for a Confident English Spotlight Interview, in 2018 I’m interviewing a woman in my Confident English Community every month. I’m interviewing women who have developed a successful career, are doing amazing work for others, are doing something inspiring and have overcome challenges in English. In each interview, I also ask how they became more confident and fluent in English.
And I want to share their stories with you for inspiration and motivation.
If you’ve missed previous episodes of Confident English Spotlight, you can find them here:
- Episode 1 with Beatriz in Spain
- Episode 2 with Emilia from Brazil
- Episode 3 with Wilma in Germany
- Episode 4 with Cida from Brazil
- Episode 5 with Olga from Ukraine
- Episode 6 with Yulia from Russia
- Episode 7 with Bayan from Jordan
- Episode 8 with Jenny from Ecuador
- Episode 9 with Aide from Ecuador
- Episode 10 with Iryna from Ukraine
Anne-Laure talks about the challenges of moving to New York City and using English.
Lesson by Annemarie
“It’s your ego that tells you you’re not good enough and that’s not true. You don’t have to be perfect actually.“—Anne-Laure on English confidence.
Notes from Today’s Confident English Spotlight with Anne-Laure
In this Confident English Spotlight Interview, Anne-Laure shares 3 email newsletters she likes to read every day in English.
Try out these daily newsletters to boost your English:
- Morning Briefing from The New York Times
- The Skimm
- Morning Brew
If you start reading one, be share to tell me about! I’d love to know what you think. You can do that by sharing in the comments section below.
Now that you’ve watched my interview with Anne-Laure, I’d love to hear from you. Review my two questions and share your answers in the comments section below.
- In the interview, Anne-Laure and I discuss how challenging it can be to work at a start-up. I used the expression ‘to wear many hats.’ How would you explain this idiom to someone? And, have you ever had to wear many hats in a job? Tell me about it.
- I love Anne-Laure’s strategy of reading 3 daily newsletters in English to learn colloquial English. What is one strategy you use? Do you have a favorite e-letter, blog, or podcast? Share it below. You might have the perfect recommendation for someone else in the Confident English Community.
The best place to share with me is in the comments section, which you can find at the bottom of this lesson. I read and give feedback to comments, plus it’s a great way to learn from others in the community. I look forward to hearing from you.
~ Annemarie
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Hi Annemarie, I just watched the video of you interviewing with Anne. I believe, in today’s day and age one has had to wear many hats in life to keep more occupied. I have had to wear many different hats on a daily basis. I work as a swimming teacher during the day, at night I work in our local grocery store, and at the weekend I help out at a library for girls club. Thanks for sharing the newsletters information with us. I know about the skimm for a long time and have already subscribed it. I get to… Read more »
Hi Hyder,
Are you enjoying the newsletters you subscribed to? They’re definitely great ways to get a little English every day. And thanks for sharing your experience at work and the need to play many different roles.
In my view, if someone starts a new job in the field or industry he/she has never worked before it will be hard to adopt and feel confident at the beginning. So, the person needs to wear many hats meaning that he/she will face more challenges and difficult moments prior to reaching out the confidence and flexibility. I personally had to wear many hats when I moved to a new country and started working at a new international organisation. I usually focus on reading and listening to my YouTube English teachers. One of my favourite channels is Sky news which… Read more »
Hi Dulat, it sounds like you’ve already got some good methods to do something in English every day. That’s great.
And you’re right about starting a new job. Sometimes it take awhile to adapt.