Hello. This is Jack from ToFluency.com and in this episode of Ask Jack I’m going to
talk about how you can become a more effective English learner.
Sara from Egypt asks, "How can I learn English without wasting my time?
Thank you for your question. Now, I have answered a question on what to do if you’re too busy
to learn English. So, there’s a link to that somewhere on your screen where you can
watch that video. But, in this one I’m going to focus on the 80-20 rule and how you can
become a more efficient English learner. Now, the 80-20 rule or the Pareto Principle was introduced
by Wilfredo Pareto from Italy and he observed two things. The first thing that he observed
was that 80% of his garden produce, the vegetables that he grew came from 20% of the plants and
he also observed in Italy that 80% of the land was owned by 20% of the people. Before I talk
about how you apply this to learning English, I want to give an example from business. So,
it is said that 80% of a company’s sales come from 20% of the clients. So, what a business
does is it focuses on finding out what a typical client is like in that 20% and puts its energy
into finding more of those clients. So, what it’s doing is it’s trying to focus on
finding clients that bring the best results. And, this tells us that focusing on certain
things is more effective than focusing on other things so we can apply this to learning
English and I have two examples for you. The first example is all about the methods
that we can use to learn English. So, let’s think about two different things that we can
do. One is practicing our pronunciation with a teacher who gives us feedback and the other
is memorizing irregular verb tables. So, practicing your pronunciation is going to create better
results. It’s going to help you to improve your English faster so what we can do is think
about the different methods that we can use to learn English and focus on the ones that
are going to help us the most. The second example is to think about high-frequency words,
phrases and grammar, those that are used in everyday English all the time. And, using
this 80-20 principle, we could focus on the 20% of the words and grammar used in order
to master that and once we master that 20%, then we’ll be able to use English in a much
more efficient way. We’ll be able to speak more freely. We’ll be able to have conversations
because we’re learning the English that we need to know. And, once we master these
high-frequency words and master the type of grammar that is used on a daily basis, then
the other words are going to be easier for us to understand.
Now, when I say master, what I mean is to be able to use it without thinking about rules,
use it in a natural way. I don’t just mean recognize it but I mean get to a stage where
you can use it freely. And, if you do this and focus on those high frequency used words,
the words that are used regularly, then you’re going to be able to have conversations with
people in a more natural way. We can take this further by focusing on the
words and phrases that are specific to us. So, if you are somebody who meets with American
business people, then what you should do - thinking about the 80-20 rule - is focusing on the phrases
and the words that are used in business and focusing on American English. This is a more
effective way of using your time. So, you’re going to learn the English that you need to
know. So, take a moment and think about what kind
of English you need to learn. Do you need to learn Business English? Do you need to
learn English so that you can communicate with non-native speakers. It’s important
to think about this so that you spend your time more effectively. So, you can use the
80-20 principle in order to become a more efficient learner, a learner who does the
things that are actually going to help you progress. Now, if you have any questions,
then please leave them below. Thanks for watching this video and I’ll see you next time.