Top 10 Tips for Learning English
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i’m learning a language but i’m not sure
if it’s working or if i’m getting better
have you ever felt this way this is a
very normal thought to have
but before you go and blame your
textbook or your app
let’s make sure you’re not the one
making mistakes so
let’s get into part one you already know
the first
big reason if you’ve watched our
previous monthly reviews
people often fail because they set vague
goals like i want to be fluent
which they don’t know how to achieve but
the second big reason is lack of time
they don’t put in the hours learning a
language is a lot like going to a gym
you get what you put in for example if
you get a dumbbell and do nothing
nothing happens it can do great things
for you but it won’t work
until you pick it up and curl it a few
times the same thing goes for whatever
language learning resource you’re using
or not using if you put in one hour a
day you get results
if you put in 10 minutes a day you get
results but if you put in
zero you get zero you can have the best
language learning method in the world
and get zero results if you do nothing
and similarly you can have the worst
textbook ever and make progress if you
put in the time
so you have to make sure you’re
consistently putting in time
first part two getting a return on
language learning
now if you’re putting in time and have a
consistent routine
the next step is to track your effort
and results
there’s a good quote for this what gets
measured gets managed
meaning if you track your progress you
can know what works and what doesn’t
and you know how to improve so let’s say
your dream is to speak the language
and right now you’re using a quiz app to
learn the language
how do you know if it’s working you can
waste months doing this
until one day you realize you can’t
speak or
you can figure this out sooner if you
track your effort
if you step back and track your effort
and results you’ll see that the quizzes
have helped you remember words but
you’ve done zero speaking practice and
can’t speak once you realize this you
can adjust your routine to do something
else that helps you speak
the point is you get to know what works
and what doesn’t work
again what gets measured gets managed
next
tracking helps you see a clear path to
your language goals
here’s an example from our learning
program with our audio lessons the
absolute beginner level ones
we know that three or four audio lessons
can help you master about
one minute of conversation that’s
because the dialogue tracks are about 20
seconds
so 20 seconds apiece that’s 60 seconds
one minute
now you know the return on your time
three or four lessons
means one minute of conversation and
because you know how to reach one minute
you know how to reach two minutes
three minutes and then 10 minutes you
can actually see a clear
path to your goals so the big lesson is
if you track your results you’ll know
what to expect in the future
and you can hit your language learning
goals again what gets measured gets
managed
now how do you track exactly part 3
how to track your results and hit your
goals remember
at the basic level language learning is
putting in time
you don’t need a special language gene
or a talent you just need time
the more time you put in the more
results you get so let’s look at two
ways
an easy way and an advanced way of
tracking your time and results
let’s start with the easy way first one
simply track the time you put in so if
you do a 10 minute audio lesson today
and then spend 5 minutes with flash
cards note this as 15 minutes for the
day
just write it down in a notebook or a
planner then do the same thing tomorrow
the goal here is to track the time and
your effort so you can review later
if one day you realize you don’t speak
as much as you’d like
here’s what you do you look at your
timesheet if you see that you’ve been
just watching youtube videos you can
spot the problem
which is you’ve done no actual vocab
study or speaking practice
and then you can start doing it another
way you can track your time and effort
is with the dashboard on our site
if you visit the dashboard you can see
the lessons you’ve completed
the number of flashcards reviewed and
hours studied
now here’s the second tactic and it’s an
advanced one
track time and results tracking time is
easy
but tracking results is trickier if
you’re learning a language on your own
so how do you do that for example if
you’re studying words with flashcards
study for 5 minutes and can remember 7
out of 10 words
then that’s your return you know that 5
minutes gives you 7 words
if you know this you’ll know what to
expect when you learn new words
another thing you can do is work to
boost that number to 10 out of 10.
next if you’re practicing your listening
skills try to gauge how much you
understand
if you understood about 20 of a 3-minute
lesson
then that’s your return for now but by
knowing this
you can start asking questions like what
can i do to understand 50
of this lesson will doubling my time
double my results as well
will reviewing this lesson for a few
minutes a day every day
work better than trying to memorize it
all today
then you put these questions to the test
and try them out
and because you know your return you can
see if it really works
the three powerful language learning
lessons you’ll pick up at the gym
the first lesson is how to approach your
goals and language learning
so why are we talking about the gym the
gym is a great example
because it’s filled with people working
on their goals and it gives you a
snapshot of where most people are with
their goals
and everyone there has one goal to be
fit
but not everyone is there yet you have a
few people that look like fitness models
then you have around 20 or 30 people
that have good respectable physiques
the middle group and then the rest of
the people are still working their way
up
it’s motivating because everyone has a
chance of succeeding
if you’ve been to the gym you understand
the importance of repetition
doing reps a rep is the number of times
you do a certain exercise
like 15 push-ups is 15 reps of push-ups
so even people still working toward
their goals have a chance of succeeding
if they put in the reps if they do a
little bit a day
over a long period of time they’ll get
there
the process is simple the more you do
the longer you stick with it
the more progress you make and the same
goes for learning language or any other
goal in life
it’s about putting in the reps a little
bit a day consistently for a long period
of time
if you want to get bigger muscles you
pick up a dumbbell and you do
reps if you want to learn more words you
do the reps
five new words a day so what can you do
right now
for example if you’re using our program
just do one lesson a day
if you have a textbook do one page a day
if you’re using an app put in five
minutes a day
again everyone has a chance to succeed
they just need to put in the reps and
they need to make the time
this is where the second lesson comes in
you’ll learn how to find
and make time to learn a language
there’s a reason the people you see at
the gym daily
and especially the people you see at 10
pm on a friday
are the ones with above average results
they’re the most consistent
but how do they get that level of
consistency there tend to be three types
of people
first the people that have plenty of
free time so it’s a non-issue for them
second the busier people they make time
regardless of what their schedule is
like
meaning they show up at 1am just to fit
in a session
or they cancel other plans to make time
and third
the people who have made it a habit
they’re so used to going that they don’t
have to think about it
ideally you want to be in the third
group with language learning
but most people fall into the second
group the truth is that to make time
they have to cancel other plans some
wake up earlier to squeeze in a session
in the am
some go late at night it’s the same
exact thing with language learning
you make time the good news with
language learning is
you don’t need to open up a lesson at 1
am and put in an hour
with our learning program you’ll get our
quick but powerful
3 to 15 minute audio and video lessons
and because the lessons are
short you can easily make time you can
do a lesson on your commute or while
walking somewhere
imagine learning a quick conversation
while on your way to the store
finally the third language learning
lesson you’ll learn at the gym is
why you don’t need the best possible
routine to get results
have you ever heard a friend say i have
to start the right way
it has to be perfect well this is a
disastrous way to start anything
whether fitness or language learning and
most learners spend a lot of time
worrying about starting right
instead of just starting and keeping at
it but the point is
if you start learning from a textbook
and stick with it you’ll get results
you’ll improve your reading vocabulary
and grammar
of course it won’t get you speaking
you’ll only get good at what you focus
on
but the fact is you’ll still make
progress same with the gym
if you start off with bicep curls you’ll
see progress in time
but at some point you’ll need to add in
legs as well you can’t skip
leg day so here’s what you can learn
here’s what smart beginners do
they don’t look for the best way to
start they just start
and keep going and once they have a
consistent routine
they start optimizing they improve their
routine
if you start taking one lesson a day and
can easily maintain that routine
then you might eventually realize that
you want to practice speaking
you need to shadow that lesson’s
conversation so you add shadowing to
your routine
and that’s how you grow same thing with
the gym
the smart beginners make sure they do
their reps and come in as much as
possible
and doing the basics is enough for them
to build muscle
later on they’ll start adjusting their
exercises and adding new ones
but you’ll never get to that point if
you overthink yourself into
inaction and don’t build that habit so
as long as you start
and continue most starting routines and
learning methods are good enough
you don’t need the best possible one
right now you could have the best
possible language learning program but
if you don’t use it consistently
it’s useless alright so today you
learned
one how to approach your goals two how
to find time to learn a language
and three why you don’t need the best
possible routine or learning program
if you’re like most language learners
then your number one goal is to speak
more right
you want to have fluid conversations
with natives it’s a great goal to have
but for most language learners speaking
also happens to be their weakest skill
you may not know enough of the language
to express yourself
you tend to run out of words and things
to say and you’re just not sure how to
start conversation
if you have at least one of these issues
then talking points are just what you
need
part one what’s a talking point a
talking point is a topic that invites
discussion or
argument in other words just something
to talk about
it could be about yourself your work
your hobbies the weather
food or what you did this past weekend
all of these are talking points
here’s an example to help you better
understand talking points
think of a conversation you’d have with
a friend you can ask
what did you do this weekend they’ll
reply and then ask you
back the talking point here is the
weekend
let’s say your friend says they went to
a restaurant that’s a natural talking
point to explore next
you can ask what kind of restaurants do
you like now you’ve covered two talking
points
the more talking points you have the
more you can speak
and the same goes for your target
language the only challenge is
you need to know the relevant words and
phrases for that topic
for example if you want to talk about
the weekend you need to know phrases and
questions like what did you do this
weekend
i did this what about you in the next
part you’ll discover 5
easy talking points that you can master
with our learning program
let’s get into part two part two five
talking points you can use
the first one is learn how to introduce
yourself in your target language
why is this a powerful talking point
introducing yourself is something you’ll
do again
and again every time you meet someone
new so learning the relevant phrases
is a must if you’ve done the first few
lessons on our site
you can already do this if not then
check out our absolute beginner lessons
and the top 25 questions you must know
lessons
you’ll learn basic conversations with
our quick 3 to 15 minute lessons
we’ll give you the exact lines to use
along with the translations so that you
can use them in conversations
you can also use this talking point to
continue a conversation
for example if you’ve started with a
different point like the weather
then it makes sense to say by the way my
name is
talking point number two the weather
this is a universal talking point
people like to talk or complain about
the weather all over the world
in fact just saying it’s really nice
today is enough to start a conversation
with a native speaker
if you want to talk about the weather
check out our can-do lesson
pathway called can talk about weather
you’ll find this pathway in the absolute
beginner level of our lesson library
talking point number three compliments
compliments are another great way to
start a conversation or continue one
if you’re running out of things to say
you can quickly transition
and say something about their city their
country or just hey i like your shirt
if you want to learn how to complement
check out our compliments phrase list
this list is free to access for all
users if you don’t know where to find it
on our site
leave a comment in the comments below
and we’ll follow up
point number four ask for help for
example
you can ask for directions or about the
price and let the conversation go from
there
these are very basic phrases that you
learn in our survival phrases lessons
if you want to strike up a quick
dialogue this is a great talking point
to use
point number five learn phrases for
transactions like getting a room at a
hotel
shopping ordering food or telling the
taxi driver where to go
you may think that this isn’t much of a
talking point but for the learners that
are shy about talking to random native
speakers for no reason
this is an easy way to start a dialogue
you have a good excuse
you want to buy something so the staff
will be happy to respond
again you learn all of these with our
survival phrases lessons
ok let’s move on to our last part part 3
how to get our conversation cheat sheets
lastly i’m going to tell you how to get
our collection of conversation cheat
sheets for free
with these cheat sheets you’ll be able
to talk about all kinds of topics
travel hobbies dating family weather and
much more
which means you can master a lot of
talking points and speak more of your
target language
if you’d like to get these cheat sheets
please leave us a comment in the comment
section
four rules for staying motivated with
language learning
want to know how to really stay
motivated then listen closely to these
four rules
these rules might be a little different
from the advice that you often hear
ready rule number one action comes first
are you the type of person who prefers
to make things happen
or are you the type that waits for
things to happen to you
one of the best ways to stay motivated
with language learning
is to not think about motivation instead
take action and start learning
the mistake that most people make is
that they have this backwards
they think they should wait to feel
motivated first and then start learning
but really it’s the other way around
first you do a language lesson
you learn a basic conversation then you
do another
and then you start feeling like you can
do more and learn more
you see results so results bring
motivation
thinking about motivation does not bring
motivation thinking about motivation is
like reading an article about how to go
outside for a run
instead of actually going outside for a
run so action comes first
rule number two always have an outside
influence
it’s very easy to lose motivation if
you’re learning language alone
so what do you do here are some examples
you get a study buddy
you hire a tutor you join a meetup group
you plan a trip to a country where
people speak that language
or you sign up for a proficiency test
like many language learners do
why do this because now you have other
people depending on you
you have outside factors that keep you
going with the language
for example if you signed up for a
language proficiency test
you know you have a few months to study
and you have to take the test on a
certain date
someone is going to pass or fail you
this is a lot more motivating than
learning alone
if you’re learning with our program you
can get your own teacher with the
premium plus plan
they’ll hold you accountable send you
homework and give you feedback
if you have a study buddy well now you
have someone that expects you to show up
and improve
and if they’re better than you that
should give you extra motivation
because you want to be at their level so
get some outside influence
the next rule is rule number three
always have a go-to study method
when you arrive at work or the gym or
when you start your homework
you always have that one thing you do
first right
what do you do for example with work
maybe the very first thing you do is
check
emails then you check your tasks for the
week
after that you get started well you need
to make the same kind of habits with
language learning
you need a go-to study method that
you’re comfortable with an easy starting
point
and this totally depends on you and your
style
choose something you enjoy some people
listen to audio lessons
some people like flash cards for some
people writing is easy
you can write out song lyrics and
translate them it’s up to you
the point is you should give yourself an
easy first step to get you started and
get into the flow of learning
if you’re learning with our program you
can start with the word of the day
email or do a quick three minute audio
lesson you can copy out the lesson
dialogue
read through the lesson notes or even
easier just review and re-listen to
a lesson you took the day before if you
have your own go to study method you’re
already miles ahead of most learners
leave a comment and tell us about it and
finally
rule number four always be working on
something
so here i want you to stop and think
about your friends
do you have a friend that’s always up to
something some project
they’re working on a song or they’re
making videos
they finish one thing and they start
another well if you wonder
how they stay motivated it’s because
they’re always working on
something and this goes back to taking
action
if you’re not learning or working you
can’t stay motivated
so you need to apply this to language
learning how
for example like i mentioned in part 2
about outside influence
you can make a plan to travel to a
country that speaks your target language
or you can sign up for a language
proficiency test if you do that
you’ll have something to look forward to
something to do
if you’re traveling you need to learn
travel phrases
if you have a proficiency test coming up
you have to study grammar and do
exercises
what else can you do if you already have
a textbook or workbook
make it a goal to finish that book if
you have a learning program
make it a goal to finish it or reach a
certain level
if you’re using our lessons make it a
goal to finish one learning pathway
then when you’re done give yourself
something else to do
something to stick with something to
look forward to
so let’s recap one action comes first
two always have an outside influence
three always have a go-to study method
and four always be working on something
how to double your speaking time in your
target language
okay let’s get into part one why is real
speaking progress
so hard to make let’s say you’ve studied
the language for a few months
and now you finally have a chance to
practice speaking
maybe you have a tutor or a native
speaker friend who is willing to
practice with you
you start talking and your friend helps
you improve bits and pieces of your
speaking
like pronunciation and grammar and maybe
you can talk about your day
and common topics but without proper
preparation on both sides the person
learning
and the person teaching that’s it you’re
limited to what you can talk about
you don’t know enough of the language to
keep going and they aren’t prepared to
help you speak more of the language
so if you try to have an open-ended
conversation
you’ll fall flat at some point you’ll
run out of things to say and talk about
you’ll run out of words and topics and
this is true
outside of language learning it’s easy
for conversations to die when you run
out of things to talk about
a freestyle approach to conversation is
nice for advanced learners or people who
do serious preparation
but it’s not so great for beginners this
is one reason it’s hard to make real
progress with speaking
you run out of things to say but there
is a way to double your speaking time
even if you’re an absolute beginner even
if you’re low on words and grammar
and that’s by adding structure that
you’ll find in our lessons
let’s get into that part two how you can
double your speaking time with our audio
and video lessons
let’s say you’re having a practice
conversation with that same friend
except this time both of you have a list
of topics to follow
then your conversations won’t die out as
quickly
the point is if you have a structure to
follow like a lesson
there’s always something for you to fall
back on and
if you’re already using our audio and
video lessons you get just that
so here’s how you can use our lessons to
double your speaking time
one make sure to listen to and review
your current audio or video lessons why
each lesson conversation is based on a
certain topic
like talking about the weather talking
about family ordering food and so on
so by simply taking a lesson you learn a
conversation around a certain topic
lessons will give you a lot of topics to
talk about along with the relevant
grammar and vocabulary which many
beginners might not have
think about it if you wanted to talk
about a vacation
you’d need to know words like vacation
cruise and holiday in your target
language
you’d also need the right grammar points
to help you express ideas
our audio and video lessons will provide
you with all of these
so listen to the lessons and prepare
ahead of time
two use the dialogue presented in the
lesson
in other words you can memorize the
lines from the lesson dialogue
you’re already learning conversations in
the lessons so you may as well use them
for yourself
and doing this will help prepare you for
future conversations
think about it we often use lines like
where are you from
what’s your name my name is how was your
weekend
i went out last weekend once you
memorize these expressions you can
and will use them over and over as an
example
imagine you do a few lessons about the
weather you’ll master a few
conversations about it
the next time that topic pops up in real
life you’ll be able to talk about it
and three each lesson comes with
cultural insights
what does that mean for you it gives you
more things to talk about with a native
speaker
so if you bring up a cultural point in a
conversation with a native speaker
you’ll likely get a good reaction and
extend the conversation
because you’re talking about what they
know best their culture
so today you learn one why it’s hard for
many learners to make progress with
their speaking skills
it’s because we tend to run out of
things to say and two
how you can double your speaking time
accomplish this by
taking our lessons memorizing the
dialogues and using the cultural
insights
want to speed up your language learning
take your very first lesson with us
you’ll start speaking in minutes and
master real conversations
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