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- Hello, this is Jack from tofluency.com.
Welcome to this English lesson,
where we're going to look at the difference
between accuracy and fluency
when it comes to using English,
when it comes to writing and speaking.
Now, the difference between these two is this:
accuracy is concerned with
how you form the sentences,
if you use the correct grammar,
the correct vocabulary,
and if you use the sentence in the right situation.
Whereas fluency is more concerned
with the speed at which you speak,
or the efficiency in which you speak,
and you can think about times
when you have been concerned about one of these areas.
So, think about a time when you were speaking with somebody,
and you were concerned about using the right word.
You weren't sure if that word was correct
for that situation,
and obviously, when you are concerned
with the accuracy of what you are saying,
that is going to slow down your fluency, too,
because you're going to stop
and think about using the correct word.
Whereas, fluency is all concerned
about the speed at which you get things across,
and you're not as worried
about getting things completely correct.
You're going to make mistakes here
if you try to increase your fluency,
and it's all about getting your ideas across in a quick way,
in an efficient way,
and you're not concerned about making mistakes,
and another way to think about this
is to think about a typical lesson
where you are at a language school,
and your teacher introduces a new grammar term,
or a new word for you to use, or a new phrase,
and they ask you to produce this,
and at first you're concerned about getting this correct,
but after practicing it and saying it a few times,
then your fluency increases, too.
So, after practice you are both accurate
and you are fluent at the same time.
So, although these two things are separate,
they are both important,
and it's important to say
that you're never going to be 100% accurate.
You are always going to make mistakes
just like everybody does,
and also, you're never going to be 100% fluent
because everybody hesitates,
or people get tongue-tied, or people are tired
and they can't get the words out fluently,
but there are certain things that we can do
in order to improve our accuracy and our fluency.
Now, let's start with accuracy
because I think the best way
to become more accurate
is to focus on writing
because when you are writing,
especially if you are a self-taught student,
if you are self-studying at home
on your own or with friends,
then you have the time to get things right,
to form the correct sentences.
There's no rush.
There's nobody waiting for you to complete a sentence
so you can continue the conversation,
and there are certain tools that we can use
in order to improve our accuracy when we are writing.
For example, you can use Google
to check to see if sentences are correct.
You can look up new words and phrases.
You can use Google Translate
to translate from your language to English,
and we can also use tools like Grammarly,
which I highly recommend,
I leave a link in the description,
to correct our writing,
to correct our grammar while we are writing,
and although we tend to write about different things,
like we tend to write emails,
we tend to write comments on YouTube channels,
for example, leave a comment below,
we can also just write out things
that we would say in certain situations.
So, you can think about a time
when you're going to use your English this week.
It might be in a presentation you're giving,
it might be in a meeting that you have,
or it might just be questions you want to ask your friend
who you haven't seen for a long time.
Well, you can open your computer,
or if your handwriting is a lot better than mine
you can use a note pad,
and then you can just think about the sentences
and the questions,
or anything that you want to say, and write this down.
Take your time.
Use the tools that I've mentioned
in order to get this as accurate as possible,
to make the fewest amount of mistakes
so that you can improve this area of English,
and when it comes to fluency,
know that what we're talking about here is speaking
because when you think about writing and fluency,
there are certain situations where,
yes, you want to be able to write quickly,
where you're not constantly thinking about things,
and this just comes with practice.
For example, if you have an exam,
then you'll want to be accurate with your writing,
but you'll also want to do this quickly
so that you don't run out of time,
but generally speaking, when it comes to fluency,
we're focusing on how we can improve this
while we are speaking.
So, I'm going to talk about a couple of methods now
which will help you improve.
The first method is something called shadowing,
and I'll leave a link
to the person who came up with this method
in the description
so you can check this out,
but basically what you do is
you listen to any kind of audio,
and you repeat the audio with about a one-second delay.
It's quite a difficult skill
to constantly repeat what someone is saying
where you have to listen to what they're saying
but speak at the same time.
Try it now.
Just copy what I'm saying with a one-second delay.
So, just repeat the words I'm saying without stopping,
without pausing this video,
and see if it's something that you can do.
Now, it might take some practice in order to do this,
and the audio that you choose
is going to be really important
because if it's too difficult,
then you won't be able to follow along.
If it's too quickly, then you won't be able to do it either,
and also know that I'm not a huge fan of this method
because I think it takes away
a lot of the accuracy part of this,
and when you think about it,
it's not just about saying the right words and phrases,
it's also saying the correct sounds,
using the correct intonation and stress,
and the whole rhythm of English when you are speaking,
'cause you want to be accurate with this, too.
Otherwise, people won't know what you're saying
if you use the correct sounds,
or if you use the wrong sound at the wrong time,
and when you are shadowing,
what you're doing a lot of the time is you are mumbling.
(mumbles)
You're not saying things.
You're not enunciating clearly.
It's all mumbled together,
and it's difficult to focus on the correct sounds
because you are focusing too much on fluency.
Having said that,
it might work for you if you get the correct audio.
If you already know what this audio means
and you can say these sounds correctly.
So, once you reach that level,
then it might be useful for you,
but just like anything else, try it and see what it's like.
Another way to improve your fluency
is to get speaking practice, which is obvious, right?
The more you speak, the more you practice,
the better you'll get,
but I think it's important to find somebody
who will also correct you at the same time,
and somebody who is going to be patient with you
because if you try to force fluency too much,
then everything breaks down.
What you want to be able to do
is just to get the speaking practice,
but to be able to build up your fluency over time,
not to try and force it too much to begin with.
So, find a language exchange partner, somebody who's good,
somebody who listens to you, and somebody who is patient,
or find a teacher,
and this teacher can also correct you
when you make mistakes.
So, you're working on both things here,
but it kind of goes without saying
that getting speaking practice
is going to improve your fluency.
The next method is something that I have come up with
over years of teaching English
and learning languages myself,
and it's called the To Fluency method or the LRRC method.
I haven't got a really good name for it yet.
Basically, what you do is
instead of shadowing and continuing the audio,
you pause audio,
or you get lots of sentences
instead of one long dialogue.
So, you listen to a phrase: I've been to London two times.
Then you repeat it, 'kay?
So, you listen, and then you repeat,
but then you also record your version.
So, you record it on your phone or on your computer.
Then you compare you version
to the original audio,
and you listen.
You listen carefully.
You listen for mistakes you make,
for the sounds that you make,
and you think, okay, what do I need to do
in order to make my version,
or what do I need to do
so that I can say this phrase
just like the original?
So, maybe you need to change your intonation.
Maybe you need to learn a sound of English
that you're saying incorrectly.
Maybe you just need more practice,
but the idea is that
you are working on your fluency of saying a phrase,
but also improving your accuracy at the same time,
and then, if you use something like Anki,
which is spaced repetition software,
and you import this audio,
or you create your own flashcards,
and you repeat them in a smart way over the long term,
then you'll find your accuracy and fluency improving
at a very fast rate
because you're getting the practice you need.
You are making sure
that you're saying these phrases correctly,
and then you're repeating them over the long term
so that they can just come out more naturally
when you're having conversations,
and the key to this is finding phrases
that are suitable for you.
Now, I have a program where I take phrases from lessons,
from conversations my wife and I have had,
from some of my grammar lessons,
and I give you the downloadable flashcards
so that you don't have to spend the time making them,
but you might want to make them yourself instead,
or in addition to the program,
where you find audio online,
you put it into a flashcard,
and you repeat it,
and you might not want to even do the repetitions
with the flashcards.
You might just want to repeat the phrase a couple of times
to improve your accuracy and fluency.
It just depends on you.
It depends on you in your situation,
how you learn and how much time you have.
In summary, both of these areas, accuracy and fluency,
are important, and you want to constantly improve both.
So, that method I've just given you will help you do that,
but also do things like writing,
where you can focus on making sure
that you are completely accurate with what you're saying
so you can take your time to build that up.
Have conversations with people.
Work on your speaking at home,
where you're practicing on your own,
and also try shadowing and let me know what you think.
Have you used shadowing before?
Has it worked for you?
And if it has, share tips.
So, share what worked for you below
so that other people can learn from your experience,
and like always, if you have enjoyed this video,
then please like and share it.
Check out the description
for all the resources I mentioned in this video,
and also, for my book,
if you're new here get my book,
The 5-step Plan for English Fluency,
and welcome if you're new.
It's just great to have new people here.
If you're an old subscriber,
thank you for watching another one of my videos,
and speaking of videos,
check out these two here
if you want to continue learning with me today.
Okay, bye for now.
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