WHY You Feel Like Your English Isnt Improving Teacher Tiffani

American idioms English expressions

American slang English phrasal verbs I’m

sure that you’ve studied all of these

books or at least some books related to

English phrases English expressions

English vocabulary and the list goes on

but I’m also very sure that you feel

like your English is not improving and

it gets a little bit annoying right one

of my students two weeks ago told me the

exact same thing he said TIFF I’m

studying so hard but I still feel like

I’m not improving and as I listened to

him I realized many students just like

him have the exact same complaint but I

don’t want you to worry because today I

have seven different things you can do

to stop feeling like your English is not

improving now before I tell you those

seven things you know I need you to do

something for me my goal is to help 1

billion students that’s right around the

world gain confidence in their English

speaking ability but I need you to do

something for me I need you to like

share and subscribe because when you do

that it tells YouTube that wait a minute

this video can help many other students

so I need you to like share subscribe

here we go come on like share subscribe

one more time I said like subscribe

I’d really appreciate it I’m teacher

Tiffany let’s jump right in

[Music]

all right to get started we are gonna

look at these three letters F R and s

now the first thing is feelings second

the reasons and third the solutions so

basically what we’re going to do is

we’re gonna look at the feelings that

you are having related to not improving

in English then we’re gonna look at the

reasons behind those feelings and

finally the solutions oh how I love

solutions so let’s look at the first

reason or the first feeling connected to

that reason here we go first you feel

like you’re not able to understand

something you hear or see on TV now

think about it you’ve watched a lot of

American television programs or English

movies and you feel a little bit

confused you don’t feel good even though

you can understand my videos why can’t

you understand the movies or the

television programs now here’s the

reason why you feel this way

because you want to enjoy and understand

real English in other words you don’t

want your English to sound like book

English man I’ve had so many students

tell me this he’s a teacher I’ve been to

lots of English Institute’s I’ve studied

with lots of teachers but it seems like

when I hear another English speaker a

native English speaker speaking English

I have no idea what they’re saying or

when they use slang or other expressions

I don’t understand because they’re using

real English well don’t worry I told you

I got a solution for you don’t even

worry about it here we go here’s the

solution to this issue first I want you

to get a notebook or a journal then I

want you to write down real English now

again I said real English refers to

those expressions or vocabulary words or

concepts that you are made aware of when

you watch English television programs or

watch English movies or

when you hear teachers like myself or

other amazing English teachers on

YouTube say something that you’ve never

heard before those phrases those

expressions those vocabulary words are

real English so write them down in your

notebook now after you write them down I

want you to also use a picture a sketch

or a specific note remember I said your

brain always needs a trigger so write

something down draw a little simple

picture next to the word that you can

remember when you see something later so

for example let’s say for example I’m

gonna get a piece of piece of paper real

quick got my little note right here

let’s say for example I learned a new

expression now I’m gonna do it

actually right now let’s say I learned

the new expression mmm let my hair down

now let my hair down just means to relax

and stop being so uptight so let my hair

down think about the facial expression

when you are able to relax okay

so in order for me to remember this

expression let my hair down so maybe

I’ll draw a picture of a woman right and

she has a big smile on her face right

and maybe my sketch can you see it can

you see it I just did it real quick but

again it doesn’t have to be a perfect

sketch I just did a circle real quick

and a big smile with someone’s eyes

closed right so again the sketch right

here real quick in my notebook would

look like that

so whenever I think of let my hair down

I would remember that ah the sketch of

that woman looking so happy and relaxed

that’s what I want you to do alright so

again this first feeling you have the

solution is to write down real English

and connect it with sketches or drawings

alright okay now next we have seen other

students speak English better than you

now I’ve know that you have experienced

this I experienced that when I was

studying Korean I’d hear someone

now speaking perfect Korean there was a

student and I’d say man they’re really

good why can’t I speak like them and it

would kind of bother me a little bit

here’s the reason the reason why you may

experience this is because you admire

their ability to speak English well but

you really want to speak English like

them one day you really want to be like

them you want to sound really good when

you speak in English you want to sound

confident so here’s what you need to do

alright here’s the solution first write

three things you admire for example I

remember some students that spoke Korean

better than me

I admired their ability to express

themselves without being nervous

I admired their ability to speak

fluently like their pace was very good

there were no pauses when they spoke and

third I admired their whole composure

but they were able to be composed no

matter what the situation was I really

admired that alright so again write

three things you admire right why you

admire them and then add them to your

goals remember I said you always need to

have goals why do you want to do

something write your goals down this is

gonna help you focus on your goals

instead of that person all right so

that’s number two now number three is

also something that many students

complain about getting overwhelmed by

the amount of English you have to learn

you have to learn a lot right and

sometimes you look at the entire amount

and you get overwhelmed but what’s the

reason why do you get so overwhelmed you

see it’s because instead of focusing on

the tasks you have to do for the day you

start to look at everything you must

memorize and learn so for example if you

have an exam right you have to study ten

chapters now the exam is in two months

if you focus on ten chapters every day

you won’t pass the exam but if you break

it down into small parts and only focus

on what’s important for that specific

day then eventually you will accomplish

your goal so that

what happens you need to focus on your

tasks for the day and not the big

picture all right so how do you do this

I got you first look at your long term

goals for example if you want to

memorize a thousand vocabulary words

okay

1,000 vocabulary words is your long term

goal then divide them into twelve months

now you probably remember me giving you

this formula in a previous lesson

several months ago break down your goals

into small parts break them down first

into twelve months then after you do

that what I want you to do is divide

those into four weeks that’s right there

are four weeks in a month and I want you

to break down your goals into small

parts then you will know what to focus

on for each specific week and it will

help you stop being stressed all right

now number four let’s move on to number

four here we go you feel nervous

whenever you speak in English it’s kind

of like you can’t find the words to say

because you get so nervous and that

makes you feel like your English is not

improving so what’s the reason why do

you get nervous you actually still focus

on what other people think about you in

other words you think they might laugh

at you now listen to me I want you to

pay attention right now

I completely understand what you are

going through when I was studying Korean

I got so nervous when I would speak in

front of certain people now it was my

close friend I was okay but if it was

someone I thought may look at me and

laugh if I made a mistake I would

suddenly not be able to speak so I

completely understand but I also have a

solution and I promise it will help you

so if you feel nervous when you go to

speak in English here’s what you need to

do find the root cause is it a specific

person is it something dealing with the

way your voice sounds find the root

cause then what you need to do is

analyze the situation all right

when you get nervous stop and think why

am i nervous right now is it the person

I’m speaking to is it because I don’t

know a lot about this subject what’s

causing you to feel nervous

I almost said me because again I

remember when I used to feel nervous but

again find the cause then analyze the

situation then you need to write some

specific ideas figure out how you can

overcome that feeling in that moment for

example I used to feel nervous and I

remember one specific person whenever I

spoke to her I would get nervous because

I felt like she was judging my ability

now she’s my friend but again it was in

my mind so whenever I would start

speaking to her in the back of my mind

I’d say ah she doesn’t think I can speak

Korean well she thinks I’m gonna make a

mistake so I had to get that thought out

of my head because she never said

anything but I just felt like that when

I spoke in front of her so I had to

analyze the situation and then figure

out a way to actually stop that thought

from coming into my mind you can do the

same thing all right okay now let’s move

on to our next one number five number

five is discouraged when you make

mistakes as you speak in English

listen I know it gets very very

difficult to speak properly in English

but as soon as you make a mistake you

feel dejected hey brand-new word for you

dejected just means discouraged and not

having any hope or sad dejected you feel

I made another mistake I’m not good so

so why are you feeling that way why do

you feel dejected or discouraged when

you make a mistake here’s the reason you

seek perfection but sometimes you forget

the importance of the process never

forget the process I’ve mentioned to you

all before as I watch my niece my niece

is three years old as I watch her

learning the English language man she

makes so many mistakes but it’s the

process that every child has to go

through they make mistakes

then somehow their brain helps them

correct the mistakes as they hear other

individuals speak properly so she

doesn’t get discouraged when she makes

mistakes because her goal is to get her

point across so again it happens to us

we get discouraged a bit when we make

mistakes we feel dejected but I have a

solution don’t worry here’s the solution

first I need you to record a short video

clip that’s right record a short video

clip of yourself what I want you to do

is find your mistakes that’s right I’m

telling you to look for your mistakes I

want you to take your phone take

whatever camera you have record yourself

and then watch it again you will

recognize your mistakes find them then I

want you to do this I need you to

correct your mistakes there is power in

correcting your own mistakes remember

you’re looking at yourself so there’s

something that happens in your brain

it’s like a connection is made like oh

we said this last time but we don’t need

to say this next time let’s correct it

and do this but you need to record a

video of yourself doing it so you can

watch your facial expressions you can

watch how you say certain words man is

it gonna help you so much it’s helped so

many of my students alright so number

six here we go now the next one is

frustrated about always thinking in your

own language men this is something I

hear almost every week teacher how can I

think in English I’m always thinking in

my mother tongue or my mother language

what’s the reason why do you get

frustrated because you haven’t learned

how to properly organize your thoughts

and ideas in English now remember

there’s something that happens in the

brain of someone who speaks English

because as an American growing up we

were taught how to think so my thoughts

in English are organized in a different

way from when I think in Korean because

I learned how to think in English you

need to do the same thing but don’t

worry that’s my job I’m here to help you

learn how to think

English so you can stop being frustrated

and stop feeling like you’re not

improving alright first you need to

practice the five W’s rule remember who

what when where and why at a

conversation with my students last night

about when to use up three details or

three examples and when to use the five

W’s who what when where and why you can

practice on your own you can get

pictures and try to think creatively ah

who is this person what are they doing

where are they why are they there you

can practice and train your brain to

think in that way even when you’re by

yourself now that’s the five W’s rule or

you can use the three details rule which

I mentioned that I spoke to my students

about last night I love the three

details rule alright because it’s

basically saying no matter what the

topic is you need to be able to give

three details about that topic it will

help you a lot now the final one right

here is practice the example rule this

is when you’re looking for stories like

story time think about it why do you

like story time so much why do you enjoy

the stories I tell you about my personal

life at the end of each lesson if you

haven’t seen the story time videos come

on man you gotta wait to the end alright

well think about it

it connects you to me right it’s

something that happens when someone

tells you a story and gives you an

experience or an example you need to

figure out how to do that pick a topic

and think of a story a personal story or

something you’ve heard that can connect

to the topic you are training your brain

to think in that way and I guarantee the

more you practice the easier it will

become for you

alright now let’s look at the next the

next thing you’re struggling with I mean

the next thing that causes you anxiety

is as you focus on a destination and not

the journey this right here happens a

lot it’s the tendency to focus on hey I

want to be here and forgetting that it’s

a journey and not a destination but I

understand you know we talked about

focusing on goals but English even

though you have English goals

have to realize it’s a journey now

what’s the reason here’s the reason

right here

you forgot the joy of learning something

new and exploring everything about it

like a child that’s right think about

children they’d love to learn something

new but as adults sometimes as we learn

a second language over some of you a

third or a fourth language we forget the

joy that is supposed to be attached to

our journey we get so focused on on

books and writing notes and making sure

everything is correct that our brain

doesn’t get an opportunity to enjoy the

process so how can you do this how can

you enjoy the process oh I’m so glad you

asked let me show you right here first

figure out what you enjoy

there’s something about English you

enjoy what is it find it out and write

it down then I want you to write the

experiences connected to those things or

connected to that one thing that brings

you joy right an experience you had

maybe with me when you first came to see

my videos or for those of you who have

actually met me in person how did you

feel when you met me in person if you

were my student in Korea how did you

feel right those experiences down and

then think about when you first used a

vocabulary word properly or an

expression when you’re speaking to

another native English speaker that

feeling of accomplishment right that

experience down now after you write it

down I want you to write future

experiences you are awesome you are

amazing and you are going to have so

many more experiences related to English

focus on those experiences because they

are a part of your journey and the

future experiences will make your

journey even better so here’s the deal I

know that sometimes you feel like your

English is not improving don’t get

discouraged

don’t be dejected instead pick yourself

up put a smile on your face realize that

you are amazing you’re listening to me

and you

understand what I’m saying that’s a huge

accomplishment realize it’s a journey

don’t judge yourself based on others

abilities

write down the things that you enjoy

write down the real English expressions

and words you learned follow this lesson

follow the tips I gave you and I promise

you will start to enjoy your journey and

realize that you are improving now I do

have one other thing that I want to tell

you about I actually did an interview

with another English teacher this is at

our and this is part of part 2 we had a

great conversation about a 30-minute

conversation and she talked about her

own students and how they experienced

this this problem of not feeling like

they were improving and she gives a lot

of tips and gives her advice as well the

conversation was so much fun so again if

you want to see part 2 remember it’s

available for all of my Academy students

you can join by clicking this link right

here let’s jump right in calm the link

is right in the description or you can

type it in your url remember part 2

always gives you some extra information

and extra boost to encourage you alright

so thank you so much guys I’m so happy

that you watched it’s lesson and I hope

it encourages you and helps you know

that you are improving every single day

all right well I am so happy that you

were here remember to always speak

English and I will catch you next week

[Music]

oh yeah it’s story time

hey I said it stop stop stop stop

story time y’all like the little DJ move

right there alright so today’s story you

know what I may have told you all this

story but I’m gonna tell it again

because I really like it if you haven’t

heard it I think you’re gonna enjoy it

so I love my family I love my family so

much and I actually had a nephew

unfortunately he passed away we’re okay

you know God blessed with my other niece

and we’ve been showering her with love

but so my nephew he man he was my guy so

there’s something that might never used

to do that really even to this day

thinking about it makes me laugh so when

he was little him and my other niece

right when they were about 2 or 3 I used

to always play with them and I say I’m

gonna spank you right so spanking is

just on your butt like that but I do it

playfully like if they do something I

said Oh auntie TIFF is gonna get you I’m

sorry you’re in trouble and they just

laugh and run around the house because

they wanted me to chase them like a game

so I would chase them pick them up

tickled them and then spank them not for

real they would be laughing the whole

time this is something we did in the

house whenever I had to babysit so one

day I had to go to the store and my

nephew was with me again he called me

auntie TIFF so he was about 3 or 4 years

old this time so we’re in the store and

he’s walking next to me so I’m looking

for something on the shelf and he says

auntie TIFF and he’s behind me so I

didn’t look and I said yes baby what’s

up

he’s on teat if I said ok my skin I call

him munchkin so I put down whatever I

was holding and I turned to look at him

and he was bent over like his his butt

was toward me and he was bent over I

said what is this kid doing now we’re in

a public place he’s bent over and as

soon as he realizes I turn around he

looks at me and says spank man now I

burst out laughing but I say

Bradon his name was Braden I said braid

and don’t say that don’t say that now

the reason I told him to have to say

that was because for example in America

you know you can’t spank children in

public or they think it’s abuse but he

didn’t know what he was saying because

again it was a game for us I would play

I would chase them around the house and

I would spank them very lightly and they

would start laughing so he just thought

auntie TIFF I want you to play that game

with me today even though we’re in the

store he just kept saying Oh

my spec so needless to say he just

laughed when he realized that I was

getting frustrated or flustered not

freshly I was like much Ken don’t do

that don’t do that he just laughed and

kept saying oh who spank me spank me

auntie tip spank me everything was fine

but whenever I think about him and I

think about that story it makes me laugh

so hard

children are so innocent and sometimes

they don’t know what they’re saying so

you know I’m sure you guys have really

good memories of family and friends so

you guys can put some of your memories

in the comment section but yes that

story makes me smile every time that

little boy woo he was so much fun and he

was a joy to our family so alright guys

I hope you enjoyed that story I will

talk to you next week