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expire hi everybody welcome back to ask

Alisha the weekly series where you ask

me questions and I answer them maybe

first question this week comes from Ali

Riza heigen Ali Ali says hi Alicia

what’s the difference between where have

you been and where were you hmm there’s

not a big difference here if you’ve been

waiting for someone for a long time like

you expected someone to be at a place

like at a meeting or maybe a restaurant

or a cafe and you have been waiting for

a long time you might use where have you

been to mean where were you from this

point in the past until now

like I expected to meet you so we might

use where have you been in a case like

that we might use where were you in a

situation where we’re asking about a

finished situation or something that’s

done it’s it happened in the past like

for example if you miss class one day

you are supposed to go to school but

you’re sick and you go to class the next

day your classmate could say where were

you yesterday so that sounds like

yesterday something happened and they

want to know about that situation at

that point in time only so this is a

little bit different from where have you

been which means like there was some

expectation that you would be there and

you were not so in some cases you can

use both yes like for example if you are

late for a meeting and your coworker

asks where have you been like you’re an

hour late you could use that or the

co-worker might say like where were you

you’re an hour late

those are some cases like where it’s

kind of up to the speaker to decide a

little bit but generally if someone has

been expecting you for a period of time

they’ll probably use the where have you

been pattern if it’s just a past action

a past situation it’s over it’s done you

might use the where were you pattern

instead so I hope that this helps you

thanks for the question okay let’s move

on to our next question next question

comes from shoe high shoe shoe says hi

Alicia your lessons are helpful cool my

question which one is correct most of

the movie takes place in LA or most of

the movies take place in LA nice

question actually both sentences are

correct and they have very different

meanings so let’s take a look the first

one most of the movie is set in LA means

the majority of this movie only takes

place or happens in LA with the plural

most of the movies take place in LA it

means most movies in this specific group

happen in LA so to give an example of

this let’s

imagine like a movie series there are

three movies in the series and the first

two movies movies 1 and 2 take place in

LA and in San Francisco a little bit

movie number 3 takes place in New York

City so when we want to talk about movie

1 for example we could say most of the

movie takes place in LA so that means

the majority of movie number 1 happens

in LA not all of it because a little bit

happens in San Francisco but the

majority of the movie happens in LA so

we say most of the majority of most of

the movie takes place in LA if however

we want to talk about the series this 3

movie series and we want to talk about

where the series happens we could say

most of the movies take place in LA so

that means most of the movies meaning

two of the three movies are set mostly

in LA so that means movies 1 and movies

2 are mostly in LA movie 3 is in New

York City so it’s in a totally different

place so in that case we’re talking

about a group of movies most of the

movies in this group in this series in

this case take place in LA so both of

your original example sentences are

totally correct yes but they just have

very different meanings so think about

it are you talking about one specific

movie and what things are happening in

that movie or are you talking about a

group of movies so this example is just

about movies yes but you can apply the

same idea to many other situations too

so I hope that this helps you thanks

very much for the question

ok let’s move on to your next question

next question comes from on health hello

again on a hill on houses hi Alicia and

team could you please explain the

meaning of the word whatsoever sure ok

whatsoever means at all or of any kind

so you could replace whatsoever in a

sentence with of any kind and it would

still make sense we tend to use this a

lot in

get tip situations like when we’re

saying you cannot do something so it’s

used a lot for like rules or policies or

whatever for example students may use no

devices whatsoever he gave no hints

whatsoever about the new product we had

no help whatsoever with our homework so

in each of these example sentences we

could replace whatsoever with of any

kind and it would still make sense so

again this is not so commonly used in

everyday speech because it’s used a lot

to talk about policies and rules and it

kind of sounds a little bit on the

formal side a little bit but if you’re

ever not sure just try replacing

whatsoever with of any kind and see if

it makes sense so that’s what whatsoever

means I hope that it helps you thanks

for the question

ok let’s move on to your next question

next question comes from saya dosa toh

here hello sy dosa cytosis s hi Alicia

can I learn English with lyrics from

songs yes to some degree sure we get

this question every once in a while so

here are a few reminders first of all

please remember that the lyrics to songs

may not always be grammatically correct

while yes we can communicate ideas and

we can communicate feelings through

songs songs do not always use perfect

grammar second keep in mind that in many

songs there are like slang vocabulary

words they’re inappropriate vocabulary

words or offensive vocabulary where it’s

used also the vocabulary words by one

artist or by one singer may not be used

in everyday speech very much or may not

be used in the people like in

conversation with the kinds of people

you are used to speaking with so for

example if you really like I don’t know

country music or if you really like rap

music but a lot of the people that you

talk to really like pop music or rock

music or something like that you might

find that like they don’t use the same

words or they’re not commonly like using

the kinds of expressions that your

favorite singers are you

so that’s something else to keep in mind

another thing to think about is the

rhythm so in songs it’s great it’s very

important to have a certain rhythm so

that people can enjoy music but this is

very different in many cases from the

way that we actually speak in everyday

life so if you can understand a song

that’s great but that doesn’t mean that

you can apply the same rhythm when

you’re speaking so like rap for example

most people don’t speak in the same way

as they sing or when they perform like

rap songs so that’s another thing to

keep in mind finally remember that even

if you can fluently sing a song it

doesn’t mean that you can fluently

communicate in English so maybe you can

remember all the words to your favorite

song that’s great that’s fun it’s a

great study tool a great motivator for

sure but that doesn’t mean that you can

automatically use all of those words or

you can communicate well in English with

those things that you’ve learned they’re

kind of like supplements they’re like

extra bonuses for your study so don’t

use only song lyrics like they can be

really helpful and they can help you to

identify with culture and make friends

and stuff but I would suggest maybe

using that a little bit using lyrics

from songs a little bit and it’s

important to keep those reminders in

mind that I talked about do so I hope

that this helps you and good luck with

your studies ok let’s move on to your

next question next question comes from

Maxine Maxine Maxime says hi Alicia how

do I use regardless and regardless of

thanks a nice question we use regardless

at the beginning or at the end of a

sentence you may also see it used to

like connect to ideas in the middle of a

sentence some examples well I left my

phone at home

regardless I’m going to enjoy my day our

team is under a tight schedule

regardless everyone is happy

I see you’ve prepared a lovely meal I

have to leave regardless on the other

hand we use regardless of before a noun

phrase regardless of the managers

decision I think our team did a great

job we should respect other people

regard

of their race so regardless of is used

before a noun phrase regardless without

of typically comes at the beginning or

at the end of a sentence I hope that

this helps you thanks very much for the

question hi everybody my name is Alisha

in this lesson I’m going to talk about

the difference between question asked

and inquire these are three verbs that

seem very similar but have a few

different uses so I’ll talk about some

definitions and then I’ll share some

examples to give you an idea of how you

can use these verbs okay let’s get

started I want to begin with the verb

question two questions so please be

careful today I’m not talking about the

noun form question I’m talking about the

verb form to question something so two

question as a verb has a couple of

different meanings first it means to ask

for information to ask someone for

information this often has the nuance of

interrogating someone so to interrogate

someone this is a verb we used for

example in like police situations or

like suspect or crime related situations

where police or authority figures ask a

lot of questions to a person who is

suspected of a crime that’s

interrogation as a noun or in the verb

form to interrogate so maybe a slightly

less serious form of interrogate is

question so it means you’re asking for

information usually about a serious

matter so let’s look at an example here

the reporter questioned the CEO about

the year’s changes so in this case it’s

a business situation a reporter is

talking to a CEO about changes in the

company perhaps for the year and the

verb question in past tense questioned

is used to mean the reporter is asking

for information in a serious manner so

this probably also means that the

reporter is asking many different

questions not just one question but

asking a series of questions about the

same

okay let’s take a look at the second

meaning for this lesson of the verb

question the second meaning here is to

doubt to doubt so like if you’re

suspicious of something something

doesn’t seem true for example it doesn’t

seem genuine we can use the verb

question to describe that let’s look at

an example I can’t believe you’re

questioning my loyalty so here question

in the progressive form questioning

refers to doubting someone’s loyalty so

this could be is like a member of a team

a member of a group a member of a

company whatever in other words the

person listening is questioning or is

doubting the speaker’s loyalty meaning

they’re not sure if it’s true or not so

two question can mean to doubt as well

all right one more example sentence here

just to kind of refresh

I think the first meaning is applicable

for this sentence the suspect was

questioned this morning the suspect was

questioned this morning so here it’s

used in passive and we see that it’s

again in some kind of criminal or crime

related situation so this is something

you’ll commonly see in news like in

reports related to crime

so do question okay now though let’s

move on to ask and inquire so let’s

start with an ask the verb to ask means

to request one to request something it

also means to look for information so

you’ll see actually this is the same as

I have for inquire but one key

difference here is that ask is the most

commonly used verb it’s more casual than

inquire so I’ll show you some examples

of how to use this first one she asked

him for help with her report

so here asked has the meaning of request

in other words she requested him for

help with her report here we have past

tense asked asked she asked him for help

the second example sentence they asked

where the restroom was again we have

past tense here in this case they’re

looking for information you could

understand it as requesting information

but here

they are looking for some information

this is a fairly simple a fairly casual

situation so ask is a good choice here

we don’t need to use enquire as that

sounds a little too formal

so ask is used in these kind of everyday

simple situations to request help for

example or to get some information okay

so now let’s take a look at inquire as I

said inquire I have the same definitions

listed for inquire as I have for asked

however inquire sounds more formal than

asked so we can use it in similar

situations in terms of the meaning but

when you use enquire it should be for

something that’s a little more serious

or not so maybe everyday so maybe in

like business situations or in customer

client relations for example let’s take

a look at some examples of when inquire

might be used first one reporter’s

inquired about the president’s

motivations so reporters inquired about

so in this case its reporters they’re

searching for information about the

president’s motivations so this is

connected to this meaning looking for

information the reporters are trying to

find some information here let’s look at

the next example sentence

people shouldn’t inquire about the

private lives of celebrities so here

inquire is used in present tense so in

other words people shouldn’t look for

information or maybe even people

shouldn’t request information about the

private lives of celebrities so these

are perhaps more formal situations you

these might be something you could see

in the news for example or in more

serious situations or in serious

discussions so when you’re choosing

between ask and inquire ask yourself is

this a casual situation if so ask is

probably the best choice if it’s more

formal like a

this situation you might use in choir

instead and when you want to talk about

like interrogations and like asking lots

and lots of questions you might use the

verb question here instead 10 useful

prefixes a prefix by the way is like a

small word a few letters that we attach

to the beginning of a word to change the

meaning of that word let’s go

re the first prefix is re re re re means

again so we see the word re in like redo

or replay or we imagine or recreate for

example so it means to do the base word

again so whatever you see re in front of

or not everything but if you see re

before a base word like that it can mean

to do that thing again

so in a sentence I have to redo my

homework ante the next prefix is auntie

auntie or you might hear anti as well

anti or anti both are fine but it means

against or in opposition to or like kind

of the opposite of something so against

against anti so we see this in like

antifreeze or antisocial or

anti-inflammatory or antibiotics so they

all mean against something so like the

word antifreeze for example means like

against freezing so it’s a it’s

antifreeze is a product that prevents a

liquid from freezing for example an

antibiotic is a medicine that we take to

kill like bad microorganisms in our body

germs in other words so we see bio in

that word so relating to like biology

antisocial refers to someone who does

not like social situations they are

against social situations and

anti-inflammatory another type of

medicine is against inflammation so

inflammation can mean like swelling or

like turning you read for example so

anti means against something we see anti

before words which mean like opposing or

again

that thing in a sentence my boss is anti

overtime dis so the next prefix is dis

dis so dis essentially this means not so

we see this in words like disrespect or

disapprove or disconnect or like

disagree for example so these words all

mean not plus the base words so like

disagree for example means to not agree

or disconnect means to not to connect so

something is not connected to the other

thing disrespect means to not respect

something for example so this means not

plus that base word in a sentence a good

editor should be disinterested X the

next prefix is X X X means former former

so something that was once true is not

true anymore we see this very commonly

in relationships so for example my ex

husband ex-wife ex girlfriend ex

boyfriend ex boss so all of these me my

former something my former boyfriend my

former girlfriend my former boss my

former roommate for example in a

sentence the ex CEO was in the news this

week mid the next prefix is mid mid so

mid means like in the middle of ordering

something so we can see this in a word

like midnight or midsummer for example

or mid-morning so meaning in the middle

of or roughly in the middle of something

during that time period mid night means

in the middle of the night or mid

morning is like in the middle of the

morning so all of these refer to mid to

something we can also use it for like an

action like mid meal for example or she

was a mid presentation when the phone

rang for example so mid means in the

middle of something

in a sentence I was mid breakfast when I

heard the news ill the next one is ill

ill so ill means again not or it’s like

a negative prefix it means the base word

but not that base word so we see this in

words like illogical

or illegible or illegal for example so

these all mean not plus the base words

so illogical means not logical illegible

illegible means unable to read legible

means readable illegible means cannot

read that thing unable to read that

illegal means not legal in other words

so an action that is against the law so

ill means not in a sentence highly

illogical captain

that’s a Star Trek reference in the next

prefix is in in I am it also means not

it means not words that fit this pattern

for example could be impossible or

impeccable or improbable or imperfect

for example so again it means not so

imperfect means not perfect

impossible means not possible so it

means not it means not in a sentence

this is impossible

in the next prefix is in in so again in

also means not it’s a negative prefix

that we use there are a lot of words

that start with this in meaning not so

like inconsiderate incapable

inconceivable inappropriate so they all

mean not plus the base word for example

like the word in appropriate means not

appropriate so behavior that is not

appropriate in a certain situation or

incapable means not capable someone

cannot do something they’re expected to

do so in means not plus our base meaning

the opposite then of that mean in a

sentence he’s incapable of running the

country here then

prefix is ear ear so the pronunciation

is ear even though it’s I are here for

example we see this in like

irresponsible or irredeemable or

irregular so again this means not

something so irresponsible means not

responsible irregular not regular

irredeemable is something that cannot be

made up we cannot redeem that thing so

here is another negative prefix meaning

not or no in a sentence your behavior

was irresponsible none the next prefix

is non non n o n so n o n is a prefix

again it means not or against or like

efficiency against so non also means not

something so for example we see it in a

word like nonsense or like non

sequential or non sequitur so these are

words that all mean like not something

so for example non sense means no sense

essentially not sense non sequitur so

sequitur the base there is like think of

the word sequence we see that same sort

of base in sequence as we see in non

sequitur and that actually comes from

the Latin meaning like to follow

something so it’s non sequitur means

like it does not follow so a non

sequitur means something that just it’s

not part of the conversation it’s like a

random comment is a non sequitur so it

does not follow non sequitur is one so

non means not or no in a sentence this

is nonsense hi everybody my name is

Alicia welcome back to know your verbs

in this episode we’re going to talk

about the verb act let’s get started

acting

it was hard to choose like a basic

definition of this verb because I think

depending on the person there are a

couple different meanings that you might

think is the basic definition of fact so

I’ve kind of picked one for this lesson

okay so the basic definition for this

lesson is to take action to do something

examples act now and save money we need

to act quickly okay now let’s look at

the conjugations for this verb present

act acts past acted past participle

acted progressive acting

so now let’s talk about some additional

meanings for this verb the first one is

to perform as a character to perform as

a character some examples he acted in a

musical last summer I love to act okay

so in the first example sentence he

acted in a musical last summer means he

performed as a character in a musical

last summer so to act means like to

perform in some way in a production so a

musical or a theater production by the

way musicals are the performances with

singing and dancing usually a play is

the same thing but no singing and no

dancing really just talking so a play is

just talking musicals singing and

dancing so he acted in a musical last

summer the second example sentence was I

love to act in other words I love to

perform as a character so this may be is

a common hobby for many people I think

okay let’s go on to the second meaning

for this verb to behave to behave so

this is a very open meaning to behave in

some way it means like your manners are

like the way that you present to

yourself or the way that you show

yourself examples she acts like she’s

angry but she’s actually happy

my dog is acting strange okay so in

these examples we’re talking about a

person’s behavior in the first example

sentence she’s acting like she’s angry

it means she’s behaving in a way that

makes it seem like she’s angry so

something about her behavior maybe her

facial expression or her body language

or something like that we think she’s

angry she seems angry but she’s actually

happy in the second example sentence my

dog is acting strange there’s something

about my dog’s behavior that is strange

so maybe my dog is behaving in a way

that is not typical for my dog so maybe

my dog is running in circles but he

doesn’t usually do that that’s strange I

could say my dog is acting strange so my

dog is behaving in a strange way okay

let’s go on to another additional

meaning for this verb

the third additional meaning is to

perform a function to perform a function

some examples my phone case acts as a

credit card holder she’s acting as

liaison with the new clients okay so on

both of these sentences we see one thing

or one person is behaving or performing

a specific function in the first example

sentence it’s a phone case my phone case

acts as a credit card holder so it has

the function of a phone case yes but

there’s also this other function I can

use my phone case to put credit cards

inside so it acts as a credit card

holder to in the second example sentence

she’s acting as a liaison with the new

clients it means she is performing the

function of a liaison a liaison is a

person who’s kind of a go-between for

communication between two groups so she

is the go-between she’s performing the

function of a go-between she’s acting as

a liaison for the clients the fourth

additional meaning for this verb is to

have an effect to have an effect some

examples the poison acted quickly

the sad story acted on the audience’s

emotions okay in the first example

sentence the poison acted quickly we see

the poison had an effect quickly that’s

what acted means here we’re seeing it in

the past tense and it means to have an

effect in this case so the poison had an

effect quickly in the second example

sentence however we’re talking about an

effect on people’s emotions not like a

medicinal effect like we saw in the

first example sentence the second

example sentence was the sad story acted

on the audience’s emotions in other

words the sad story had an effect on the

audience’s emotions so that means

probably that the audience felt sad or

the audience felt maybe disappointed or

something the audience’s emotions were

affected by the story by the sad story

so we say the sad story acted on the

audience’s emotions so this means to

have an effect

okay let’s move on to some variations in

how we use this verb the first variation

is act up to act up this means to

exhibit negative behavior to have bad

behavior some examples my asthma is

acting up the kids acted up at the

dinner party last night

okay so in the first example sentence I

mentioned asthma actually asthma is a

sickness it’s a disease asthma asthma is

very common it’s a lung problem or kind

of a breathing related problem where it

becomes difficult to breathe depending

on different situations for different

people so if I say my asthma is acting

up it means my asthma is behaving in a

negative way my asthma is there’s some

problem with it my condition is not good

because of my asthma my asthma my

illness in other words is kind of strong

right now it’s acting up so I’m having

problems because of my asthma right now

in the second example of sentence

however it’s a person in this case kids

so kids acting up at a dinner party

means kids were displaying bad behavior

negative behavior at a dinner party so

acting up means something negative is

happening some kind of negative behavior

is occurring okay so the next variation

is to act out to act out also does mean

to behave in kind of a negative way but

the difference between act out and act

up is act out has the feeling of doing

this bad behavior in order to get

attention so you act out because you

want to be noticed some examples of this

your son has been acting out in school

she’s only acting out because she wants

attention

so acting out is like you’re making some

kind of extreme behavior or maybe it’s

like kind of scandalous or maybe it’s

really rude or maybe like too sexy there

can be lots of different ways to act out

but the idea is that the action happens

because this person wants to get some

attention whether negative or positive

doesn’t matter it just wants attention

but we should be careful because this is

different from to act something out to

act something out is different from to

act out to act something out means to

represent an activity with your body so

that means to showcase a scene or to

explain a scene in a movie or to kind of

show somebody a gesture with your body

so examples we acted out our favorite

movie scene she acted out the story so

acting something out means using your

body like physically using parts of your

body to act out to show something so for

example like a simple action if I want

to act out making a phone call I would

do this like making the gestures of

making a phone call we could say this is

acting out a phone call hello that’s

acting something out I’m using my body

and I’m using gestures to explain

something to explain a behavior so this

is different to act something out and to

act out have very different meanings so

be cautious to act something out takes a

direct object to act out does not so

please be careful of this there are some

grammatical hints for you hey everyone

welcome to the monthly review the

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today’s topic is are you improving how

to assess your language skills have you

ever wondered am I actually getting

better with my target language if you

want to know how to check and see if

you’ve improved or not then keep

watching today you’ll learn why

assessment can mean the difference

between fluency and failure how to

assess your language skills even if

you’re learning on your own and much

more

are you improving how to assess your

language skills so have you ever

wondered am I actually improving with my

target language feeling like you’re not

improving can hurt your motivation on

the flip side if you notice yourself

understanding more of the language than

before you can feel good and that can

fuel your motivation to keep going but

it’s not easy to spot your improvement

it’s tricky with language it’s not like

going to the gym where you can see your

muscles in the mirror this is where

assessment comes in what’s assessment

the easiest example of assessment is a

test if you go to a language class

you’ll get a test on the first day the

goal of the assessment test is to

understand where your language level is

and any test after that is a way to see

how much you’ve improved this is ongoing

assessment so assessment is checking

where you are now and how far you’ve

come with your language learning

assessment lets you see where you’ve

improved and helped you find what you

need to work on if you’re serious about

learning a language it’s one of the best

things you can do to stay on track stay

motivated correct your mistakes and

reach fluency but assessing yourself is

also hard if you’re learning on your own

so what can you do here’s how you can

assess your language skills whether

you’re learning with our program or not

number one if you’re a Premium Plus user

retake the assessment test technically

you can only take this once but if you

get in touch with our support team we’ll

give you the link if you’re using any

other resource find a way to test

yourself look for practice tests apply

for a proficiency test take online

quizzes anything that forces you to test

your language skills

number two revisit old lessons an easier

way to self assess your language level

is to revisit old lessons you can do

this with any program you’re learning

with if you’ve truly made progress then

you should be able to understand the

lesson dialogues with no problem if not

then you know that you need to review

them some more number three try harder

lessons also something you can do with

any language resource if you’re using

our program try lessons from a higher

level if you’re a lower intermediate try

upper intermediate lessons if you don’t

understand anything that’s fine but if

you do then that’s a good

that you’ve improved and are ready for

harder lessons number four for reading

check out our extensive reading books

these are available for all levels from

absolute beginner to advanced you can

reread old ones or try harder ones to

see where your current level is you’ll

find these books in our lesson library

this will help you assess your reading

and comprehension skills number five for

speaking use our voice recording tool if

you can easily repeat the lines from the

conversation that’s a good sign or if

you’re using another program try to

shadow the provided conversations if you

can do it without a problem then you’ve

made progress and are ready to go to the

next level

number six for writing try and copy out

our lesson dialogue by hand the point

here is to see if you can write smoothly

or not as a way of assessing your

writing you can also do this with any

text book you can also take a picture of

your writing and send it to your Premium

Plus teacher for feedback number seven

use our premium plus assignments if

you’re a Premium Plus member you can ask

your teacher to send you weekly

assignments based on your knees

whether for reading writing speaking or

listening and they’ll provide you

feedback so you can see where you are

with each skill so to recap one take our

assessment test to revisit old lessons

three try harder lessons or use our

extensive reading books for reading five

use our voice recording tool sixth right

out dialogues by hand and seven take

advantage of our assignments remember

the point of assessment is not to pass

or fail but to see where you’ve improved

and where you need to work if you’re

trying to learn a new language you’ll

sometimes have to contend with a whole

new alphabet complex grammar and

difficult pronunciation many new

learners start out strong but peter out

after a short time but that doesn’t have

to be your story

don’t let the harsh reputation of some

languages scare you away

yes it’s not easy but it probably isn’t

as hard as you think either in this

video we’ll give you four ways to

improve the way you study while learning

a new language follow these and it will

be hard not to see improvement in your

language

number one develop a good accent when

first trying to learn a new language the

words might overwhelm you some words

might be extremely long or complicated

in ways you aren’t used to as a result

the new language can sometimes sound

more like noise in an actual language

this could be because you don’t yet have

a good grasp of pronunciation in that

language so focus on this weak point by

learning and practicing how to correctly

pronounce each individual sound in the

language start with one’s most similar

to your native language and then move on

to the more difficult ones then start

practicing with full words phrases and

sentences work your way up to listening

to recorded audio of native speakers and

try your best to mimic their flow of

speech while this method probably won’t

make your accident perfect it will help

you improve greatly even more

importantly you’ll be able to hear the

language differently and continue to

improve when you intuitively know how to

correctly pronounce a sound it’s a lot

easier to recognize that sound when it

is spoken or read knowing these new

sounds gives your brain some context for

what it hears when you’re using the

language our language learning program

is a great tool for working on your

pronunciation it lets you play back the

words from a lesson in isolation you can

also play audio at a slower speed this

is perfect for pinpointing the nuances

of the language and developing your own

accent as well as your ear

number to break down the writing system

every language has its own unique set of

rules and challenges when it comes to

writing your best bet is to focus on one

point at a time trying to learn the

entire system at once can be

overwhelming work with a section of the

writing system until you become fairly

comfortable with it the point of going

slowly in doing one piece at a time is

to ensure that you have a firm

foundation if you rush through this

stage you might miss essential details

and this may negatively affect your

learning in the future number three

learn grammar in context this tip is

applicable no matter what language

you’re learning once you move past the

basic vocabulary in the language try to

pick up the patterns of the grammar by

learning the rules in the context of

phrases or so

census example sentences found in the

lesson notes of each of our lessons are

extremely helpful for this after each

lesson you can look at the examples to

get a feel for how a particular aspect

of the grammar worked then you can

practice making your own similar phrases

using the same rule

slowly but surely as you work through

each episode you’ll take greater

ownership of the language this approach

is a lot more effective than memorizing

tables or rules if you can use the

grammar and vocabulary you just learned

you’re much more likely to internalize

it and thus remember it the next time

you want to say something in your target

language number 4 get feedback from

native speakers receiving correct and

accurate feedback from native speakers

is vital to improving your skills in the

language whether you’re reading or

writing you need to find out what your

mistakes are so that you can correct

them some people are willing and able to

pay a private tutor or take a formal

class in order to help them progress

these things will certainly help but

they aren’t the only options if you live

near a major city there’s a chance that

there are some native speakers in your

area keep your eyes and ears open

because you might be surprised where you

can find them you can look for a nearby

meetup group or a language exchange

you’re likely to find speakers there as

well if these options don’t work out you

can take your search online there are

several free language exchanges where

you can chat via video or audio with

other language learners look for a

native speaker learning your own native

language so that you can practice

together and correct each other’s

mistakes don’t be afraid to put yourself

out there and make mistakes it’s all

part of the process as long as you’re

getting good feedback when you use the

language your skills will improve

hopefully this video took some of the

fear and mystery out of learning a new

language remember that the most

important tip is to enjoy the language

for its own sake if you enjoy the

process of learning then studying will

seem more like a journey of discovery

than work use these pointers as tools

for the road ahead as you work your way

to fluency in your target language some

language learners progress more quickly

than others is this because they’re

smarter more

or maybe just lucky this is not the case

most of the time a lot of what

determines your success in a language is

the amount and consistency of the time

you put into it and the way that you go

about practicing in this video we’ll

take a look at five techniques of

successful language learners that you

can use in your own studies number one

hit the easy targets start with easy

attainable goals in the beginning you

might want to do as much studying as

possible when you first start learning a

new language but this is a good way to

get burned out fast by all of the

obstacles you’ll hit whether you’re

trying to learn ten basic vocabulary

words a week or just want to review some

grammar that you’ve already studied and

might need a refresher on having easier

goals to get you started on your

language learning journey can make it

easier to keep progressing and then when

you hit those goals you feel motivated

to make even more challenging ones it’s

okay to start small and work towards

hitting the harder targets but when

you’re just starting to learn a language

go for the easier ones rather than

overwhelming yourself with too much at

once there’s always been a bit of debate

in the language learning world as to

whether or not you should learn grammar

explicitly or implicitly a lack of

grammar should never keep you from

trying to speak a foreign language

however implicit learning by itself

doesn’t work well when dealing with more

complicated grammar number two break

down the most difficult parts of the

grammar tenses verb conjugations noun

inflection there are a lot of tough

spots you’ll find in grammar as you come

across these foreign grammar concepts

take some time to study and practice

them hone in on one aspect at a time and

practice it by writing out sentences or

simply by speaking read different

grammatical explanations and example

sentences well you don’t want to spend

all your time grinding out grammar

exercises 10 or 15 minutes a day of

focused practice will help you master

these otherwise difficult areas of the

language another great way to master

grammar is to work with whole phrases or

conversations this isn’t as easy to do

while you’re speaking with someone but

it can be done by listening to audio

our language podcast lessons are ideal

for this because they feature native

conversations that you can pause or

replay over and over again as you study

and work through a conversation first

look at the words and phrases that you

do know then without resorting to a

translator or dictionary

do your best to figure out what any new

or unfamiliar words mean after that feel

free to look them up if you work this

way with whole sentences you’re much

more likely to internalize the new

grammar number three practice with

native speakers language course books

apps and podcasts are all great ways to

learn the language but eventually the

rubber will have to meet the road and

you’ll need to start using what you

learn the best students take every

opportunity they can to practice the

language with real people you might not

be learning the most popular language

but even so there are still a lot of

other learners out there trying to

master it like you take advantage of

this and try to link up with a meet-up

or a language exchange in your town or

city this way you can connect with other

learners and get tips and tricks from

them that might help in your own studies

if you’re unable to find an exchange in

your area take the search online and you

can even find some native speakers on

free sites the connect language learners

around the world here you can help out a

native speaker who’s learning your

language you can learn from each other

it’s a win win number four

focus on being understood not being

perfect undoubtedly when you begin to

speak with native speakers you will make

a lot of mistakes this is a natural part

of the language learning process in your

first few conversations you’ll probably

mispronounced miss conjugate or

altogether forget words but that’s okay

learn to embrace these mistakes as long

as you’re practicing with a native

speaker who can give you accurate

feedback those mistakes can do nothing

but help you improve after getting

feedback on your mistakes the next most

important thing in your spoken language

practice will be to keep the

conversation going if you make a mistake

correct it and move on if you can’t

remember a word do your best to describe

but in your target language to your

language partner use what words you have

in order to be understood even if your

sentence or addiction comes out a little

weird

number five keep a journal in your

target language most people talk about

how important it is to speak a language

you’re learning but not nearly as many

mention how powerful writing in the

language can be writing in your target

language lets you use all the material

you’ve learned but without the demands

of a real-time conversation writing is

also an excellent way to expose the

words or phrases you don’t know or are

unsure about you can write in an

old-fashioned paper journal and do your

best to check it or have a friend look

over it you can also write entries

online and have them corrected by native

speakers while it’s not always easy to

speak successfully it is always

rewarding use these tips as a guide to

jump-start your progress no matter what

keep your head up and after a bit of

patience and hard work you’ll be

speaking your target language soon

enough for some learning a new language

seems to come naturally for others the

entire process feels more like a tooth

and nail struggle however if you’ve had

a negative experience learning a new

language at one point in time don’t let

that discourage you from trying again

the truth is that learning any language

is never easy but it’s definitely

possible sometimes the difference

between success and failure has less to

do with your abilities or talents and a

lot more to do with the way you look at

things in this video we’re going to look

at how to avoid five serious mistakes

made by new language learners number one

listen before you speak being slow to

speak and quick to listen is good life

advice whether or not you’re learning a

foreign language effective listening is

essential to communication as a beginner

there is a tendency to concentrate so

much on what you’re going to say and how

you’re going to say it that you can

completely miss the meaning or heart of

what the other person is trying to

communicate not only will this impair

your ability to listen in your target

language

it will also stall what little

conversation you had going remember the

conversations are a two-way street if

you’re speaking more than listening then

you actually have more of a monologue on

your hand

than a dialog the inputs of language

learning listening and reading are just

as important as the outputs speaking and

writing for a beginner inputs are even

more crucial as they are the main way

you acquire new vocabulary we even go so

far to say that for new students the

best method for learning involves more

listening than it does speaking though

that may change with higher proficiency

levels number two don’t be embarrassed

when you do speak people’s next mistake

usually comes from the other side of the

spectrum where new learners are too

scared or embarrassed to contribute to a

conversation the fear of making mistakes

and embarrassing yourself can paralyze

your language learning it’s vital to

remember that everyone makes mistakes

even native speakers had to find their

way through the language when they were

children making mistakes while learning

a new language is inevitable but it’s

also a good thing

the faster you make mistakes the quicker

you can correct them and move on with

your learning so instead of being afraid

to make mistakes

try looking at them as steps towards

progress in reality that’s what they

really are number three don’t fixate on

minor issues if taken in all at once a

new language can feel overwhelming to

learn it’s so easy to get discouraged by

all your little mistakes and

conversational mishaps and you lose

sight if the progress you’re making in

addition to mistakes you’ll also come

across plateaus where you study and

practice consistently but don’t see any

results for a significant amount of time

but whether you face errors or plateaus

remember that these things are minor

obstacles on the road to fluency the

most important thing is not to give up

stick with it if you stay persistent

your mistakes will be corrected and your

abilities will improve but if you slow

down or throw in the towel completely

then you’ll either subvert your progress

or Nix it all together so remember that

as long as you’re still studying and

learning the language you can’t lose

it might feel like you’re losing the

battle for language learning for a

little while but hang in there a

practical way to help you stay motivated

is to make small weekly goals

research shows that goal-setting has a

significant impact on learning try

picking one aspect of grammar or a

collection of new words or phrases to

study for the next seven days at the end

of the week check your progress and

measure your success setting little

benchmarks like this will give you a

rightful sense of accomplishment number

four remember that immersion isn’t

magical a lot of people think that by

moving to a foreign country they will

learn the language by osmosis but

whether you learn abroad or at home you

still need to study and practice the

language living in a new country gives

you way more opportunities to do this

than staying at home but if you don’t

consciously take advantage of these

opportunities while living abroad it

won’t benefit your language learning if

you’re an expat living in a foreign

country there’s a natural inclination to

hang out around other expats learning a

language and living in a foreign culture

is hard and uncomfortable for better or

worse we’re often drawn to the easier

road if you made the decision to study

abroad then you want to hang out with

native speaking people as much as

possible you have the rest of your life

to be with people who speak your

language

this doesn’t mean ignore your expat

friends just be sure that you’re giving

proper attention to your language

learning languages are better lived than

they are learned number five be

open-minded languages are better lived

than they are learned when learning a

new language your brain will want to

conform the new grammar and vocabulary

to your native language norms and

grammar rules ignore your brain on this

one at first you might feel completely

wrong saying a sentence that is in fact

correct after a certain point in

language learning there is a switch that

goes off when your brain finally

realizes that you’re not speaking your

native language but a new one altogether

this could take a while though

especially if this is your first time

learning a new language until then do

what you know is correct even if it

feels a bit weird when you say it

the same goes for culture just as you

want to be open to the differences in

the language don’t forget to be open to

the differences in the culture too

[Music]

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