Meet Say WHAT now?!, a nonprofit that helps students and young professionals, who live in the Netherlands, develop more effective communicative skills so as to prevent communicative challenges from happening that cannot be overcome. Preventing such instances from happening is done by introducing them to plain English conventions and a wide range of discourse tactics that is available to them. By raising awareness regarding how language use affects communication, such issues of potential misunderstanding are tackled that affect both interlocutors, i.e. the Dutchie and their interlocutor or audience.

Instructing them how to use the English language may help them to preserve or potentially restore the relationship they have with others - both native and non-native speakers of English- in various domains of communication, which may be work, school, or private life. For example. these Dutchies are made aware of the various types of register that exist for the purpose of helping them to communicate more appropriately. Ultimately, this is all understaken to help them navigate communicative situations more effectively to set them up for success.

What does say what now mean?

Say WHAT now?! is a phrase commonly used for asking someone to repeat what they have said, especially when you are surprised by it - MacMillan Dictionary, 2019. Besides this dictionary definition indicating what it's most basic meaning is, native speakers often use it to indicate manner, not genuine surprise due to a knowledge gap or anything. This phrase is dus an indicator of manner and has a pragmatic function, for it expresses an attitude towards the speaker. When using the phrase this way, the listener/interlocutor may actually show being taken aback by a comment that was made, and may just be in shock as a result of what was said. Words that are often used in such a context are: #seriously?#you're kidding #what! #come again #pardon. Such words can be found in urban dictionary for example. Please note that there is a substantial difference between semantic and pragmatic meaning and that both types of meaning relate to sub-fields in Linguistics. How intonation is used by speakers of English often determines how it should be interpreted by their interlocutor, which is also culturally-determined. In the case of this phrase, it isn't commonly used to express surprise, whereas some of the synonyms presented earlier can also be used for this purpose; use a dictionary to figure out which ones. In Say WHAT now?!, WHAT is emphasized for effect in written discourse and has pragmatic meaning, as do the punctuation marks.

To prevent say-WHAT-now moments on the interlocutor's end of things, we will help you improve your skills in English to communicate more effectively anytime anywhere.

Workshops are scheduled in January and February of 2020 in Nijmegen, The Netherlands and are going to be facilitated by Léonieke Ariaans, M.A.; stay tuned for updates...