So, just today I had one of those moments when I said something and they didn't get it . 'They' being speakers of my foreign language - actually, my best one (Russian). It was a video conference and there must have been a dozen of them. So why didn't they 'get' it? Why did I fail to get my point across? And how can my experience today help you and me with language learning? My first mistake was the order in which I provided information . Rather than saying what I wanted to say straightaway, I started with something less important, a qualification, and that distracted my hearers. If it's not your native language, say the main thing straightaway, don't get sidetracked . Secondly, I waffled, cluttering up my sentences with long words and phrases, again creating 'noise' which hindered my listeners from getting what I was on about. I need to learn to keep it simple . Thirdly, there was a key word I couldn't quite find in the moment. I wan...