I've been teaching English for more than 15 years and one of the most common questions
I get is "how do I become fluent in English?" That's an interesting question and yes I do
have the answer. So today I've chosen the 8 key things you can start doing right now
that will make a spectacular improvement to your English level. If you follow these steps
I promise you, I promise you that you will become fluent. So stay tuned
Hello and welcome to LetThemTalk: so today we're going to look at how to become fluent
in English and I'm going to start by saying what you don't need.
Firstly, you don't need to be young. I know this from my many years of teaching and I
have students in there 50, 60s and 70s who learn very quickly. They say that younger
people have a quicker brain and that might be true but older people have experience and
that's important. My great uncle was going to evening classes to learn Italian when he
was 90 years old. And he was making progress. Having said that there was a problem - not
with the grammar or vocabulary but he was deaf - he couldn't here the teacher. So whatever
age you are you can do it. But if you are 90
GET YOURSELF A HEARING AID!
Secondly. I here many people say that in order to speak English you need to live in an English
speaking country. This is completely false I know many, many people who speak excellent
English but have never even set foot in an English speaking country. Of course, if you
are in England or another English speaking country that's useful if you're listening
to English all the time. But these days there are so many resources online you can still
speak really well in your own country.
Far and away the most important thing is motivation. If you're motivated and you do the necessary
work that's all you need. Let me ask you asking. Imagine you live in, Bogota (unless you live
in Bogota in which case you don't need to imagine) and you're learning English and your
passionate about English and you spend all your free time learning and studying, or you
go to Toronto to learn English but you're not motivated. You skip your class, You meet
your friends, you watch tv, you take some selfies, you watch TV Where are you going
to learn English quicker? Yes, Bogota. of course
So it doesn't matter where you are in the world If you're motivated. You will learn.
End of story. If you're not motivated you won't learn. So my first tip is. find the
passion, love English love learning and it will become a piece of cake and you WILL , you
WILL succeed . Don't tell me don't have the time. If you love doing something you'll find the time
My next tip is reading: I can't stress how important reading is: You know when I have
a new student in the class within a few minutes of talking with them I know if they read
a lot in English. It's clear from the vocabulary and they expressions they use. So find a
subject that interests you and read. It doesn't matter if it's a book or a magazine or something
on the web just read every day. Make sure that it's something just a little too difficult
for you so that get that challenge but not so difficult that you give up after 5 minutes.
So that's my tip - read.
So my next tip is find a good language school or teacher: Of course you can learn English
without going to school or without a teacher but a good school and a good teacher can help
you in so many ways and really make a huge difference. You wouldn't try to become a tennis
champion without a coach would you? and it's the same with English. A good teacher can
focus on your needs can correct your mistakes, teach you things you don't know, improve your
grammar, your pronunciation and so much more. Of course I work at the best language school
in the world. LetThemTalk which is based in Paris. And if you are in Paris you should
definitely study there and bring all your friends and family. But if you can't then
I'm sure that in your town you can find yourself a good teacher. Someone who knows the grammar,
knows the language and can explain and that will really, really make a difference so my
tip is find a good teacher or a good language school.
So my next tip is: write So this is a story I often see. Somebody speaks
quite confidently, quite fluently in English. But then one day you see his or her written
English. And it's a disaster it's like it was written by a child of 5. So writing is
quite a different skill to speaking. And I'm sure it's the same in your language the vocabulary
and the expressions you use in writing are not exactly the same as when you speak. So,
you need to write. It'll challenge you, it will get you to think about the words and
the construction of the sentences. And not only will it be beneficial to your written
English but it'll help when speaking too. So write something every day and don't just
write things that you already know. Challenge yourself Even if you're just writing an email.
Sit down, reflect, choose your words carefully maybe write some nice expressions you've learnt
It doesn't matter if you a mistake. People will forgive grammar mistakes. But you don't
want to sound childish so my tip is - write.
So my next point is: listening This point is easy so I'm not going to say much about
it. But listen to the radio, watch TV shows in the original language (without subtitles,
or with English subtitles if you must). Listen to something like TED talks that's a great
resource (at ted.com) whatever. Just one important thing that I mentioned before. Listen to stuff
that's challenging and a little difficult make a note of the vocabulary you didn't understand
and then listen or watch it again and again and again until you understand everything.
So my tip is - listening.
My next tip is speaking. Now try and speak as much as you can. If you've got English
speaking friends that's good, or if you can join some English conversation groups in your
area that's fantastic. But even if you can't then practice with your non-native friends
speak to your mother. Even if there is no one and you live in a hut in the mountains
with nobody else around then speak to the goats speak to the trees or to yourself. As
long as you get the brain working and mechanically getting the words out so that it becomes natural
and fluent. You can't learn how to drive a car from a book and you can't speak English
without speaking. So speak every day.
My next tip is get a good dictionary and use it! Whenever you come across a new word, a
word that you don't know look it up! It doesn't matter if it's online or a physical dictionary.
Find out the meaning, find some examples. Look up the etymology, and then use it in
conversation or in writing. That way you will remember it and it'll boost your vocabulary.
So here's a word DISCOMBOBULATE there you are that's a challenge for you. If you don't
know what it means look it up, write an example in the comments or use it with your friends.
So have realistic goals. You cannot learn to play a musical instrument or learn advanced
computing or become a great tennis player in a few days, or a few weeks and it's the
same with learning a language. Any complex task takes time, takes effort, takes hard
word so don't be unrealistic with your goals. Don't look into the future and say - "In six
months I want to be fluent in English". Instead focus on the now. Every day, learn 10 new
words, learn a couple of idioms, learn a new piece of grammar. Read, write listen and speak.
And I promise you that you will make rapid progress.
So There you are. I hope I haven't discombobulated you with so much information. So follow these
rules and you will be fluent. Simple huh? Thank you for watching and I'll catch you next time