A family lunch with an elder
Address the eldest person at the table correctly and hold three exchanges without dropping the formal register.
Scenario rooms
Practise the room before you stand in it.
Twelve rooms, three per language. Each has one objective and a role brief the tutor plays straight. There is no dialogue tree to memorise — the tutor is generating the room live, so it can go somewhere a scripted exercise could never go.
Spanish
The Spanish house →A supplier negotiation
Decline the first price, name your limit, and leave the relationship intact.
An apology for being late
Apologise once, precisely, without over-explaining, and move the meeting forward.
French
The French house →A dinner where you must compliment and decline
Compliment the host sincerely, decline the second helping without insulting the kitchen.
A market and a price
Ask the price, question it politely, and settle without irritation on either side.
A phone call with poor line quality
Keep a call alive when you cannot hear, without apologising for existing.
Italian
The Italian house →A gallery opening
Introduce yourself, offer one opinion on the work, and be introduced onward.
A business introduction and small talk
Introduce yourself and your work in under forty seconds, then ask one good question.
A train delay and a complaint
Complain about the delay and get a useful answer, without losing composure.
Japanese
The Japanese house →A hotel arrival and a room problem
Report a problem with the room at the correct politeness level and accept the remedy.
A doctor's reception, logistics only
Give your name, state the appointment, and ask what happens next. No medical advice is given or sought.
A farewell that must not be clumsy
Take leave of a host and a colleague at the right level, and leave the door open.
After the room
The Cognitive Autopsy
One page: what held, where you went quiet, the one repeated error, tomorrow’s single focus, and a caveat that is always present.
Read what it does and does not measure“This reads your pace and your choices, not your accent. We measure hesitation, not phonemes.”
Begin the free exchange