Hello this is Jack from ToFluency.com.
Welcome to this lesson,
where I'm going to explain or give you
10 amazing things to do if you want to become
fluent in English, or I'm not sure what I'm gonna call
this video, but it's something like that,
where I am going to give you 10 methods
and things that you can do
so that you can learn English fast.
These are the most effective ways for you to learn English.
So, I highly recommend that you go through
all 10 of these things.
Then at the end of the lesson,
tell me which ones you are going to start doing today.
Now before we get into these 10 things,
this video is sponsored by italki.
Now, italki is a platform, where you can find
an English teacher, who is going to help you
improve your speaking.
Now one of the ways that's coming up later
is about getting speaking practice.
And italki is going to help you with that.
Now, you can take the lessons online
from anywhere in the world and on your own schedule.
What I recommend you do is click the link
in the description, find a teacher, who you think
is going to help you,
somebody who is within your budget
and take a lesson with them.
See what this is like.
And if you go through my link
and italki is going to give you a $10 credit,
after you sign up for your first lesson.
So, get some speaking practice,
find a teacher who is going to help you,
and be sure to use my link to get that special offer.
Okay so, let's go through these 10 methods
to help you speak better English.
Again I haven't thought of a good title yet.
Okay number one, on my computer,
it's the To Fluency reading method.
I love this method because it solves the problem
of whether you should be reading intensively or extensively.
Now intensive reading means you are focusing on the grammar
book and you're looking up new words and phrases.
And you're looking at the language that's been used
and you're trying to learn new words and phrases
and new grammar.
Whereas extensive reading is when you're just reading.
You're reading for fun.
And both of these things are good to do.
And there's a way that you can do both.
And it works like this.
You find a book that you like.
You read a chapter
and when you don't understand something
or you want to learn something new,
you can highlight that word or phrase in the book.
I recommend highlighting the whole sentence.
But you continue reading it,
so you're highlighting as you're reading it.
And then at the end of the chapter,
you go back, you look up these new words and phrases,
and then you continue reading again.
Now to take this method a step further,
you can enter those sentences
into space repetition software.
I'm going to talk about that soon,
so that you can get the repetition that you need.
Now I made a full video on this reading method.
So, go check that out.
There'll be a link in the description,
so you can go watch that after this video.
Number two is to listen as much as possible.
Now the reading method that we just talked about
means that you have to focus
and you have to dedicate time to this,
but listening is great because you can do
this while doing other things.
So, when you're in the car driving to work,
listen to something in English.
When you're doing housework listen to something in English,
when you're exercising at the gym,
listen to something in English.
ABL, always be listening.
Now what you listen to is important as well,
because you don't want to listen to things
that you don't understand or listen to things
that don't interest you.
Find things that are at your level
or just above it, and find things that you find interesting.
And then listen to them as much as possible.
After a while you'll get used to that level of English
and then you can just keep increasing the level
until you are at a C1 level,
and you can more or less understand
everything that you listen to.
So, input is important.
Input means inputting words and phrases
and listening to things and reading things in English.
So, do as much as you can
and listen while you do other things.
Number three is to copy the way that English speakers speak.
So, it's to listen to the way that somebody speaks
and copy that person.
So, what you can do is you can take a phrase in English,
you can take a sentence,
listen to that sentence, repeat it,
record it while you're repeating it,
and then compare the two.
This is the LRRC method.
Listen-repeat-record-compare.
And then you can notice the mistakes that you make
or you notice how you are saying something differently.
Then you can make changes, do it again,
and try and sound just like that original version.
This is the way that you're going to dramatically improve
the way that you speak English.
And if you want to take this further,
then join the To Fluency program,
because I have these phrases for you,
and a full tutorial on things like relaxed pronunciation,
vowel sounds, consonant sounds et cetera.
And I'm going to give you all the materials
you need for that.
So, check out the To Fluency program.
Again there's a link in the description.
Number four is to use flashcards
and to use spaced repetition software.
I recommend that you do this digitally
instead of writing them down on paper,
because it's so much easier,
and also you can use audio with these flashcards too.
So, when you come across a sentence you don't understand
using the reader method or an interesting sentence
in a grammar book, or any kind of sentence that you find
anywhere enter it into the software,
and then get repetition over the long term.
Now the software is going to give you the flashcards
in the most effective way.
So, you'll see a sentence today, tomorrow,
two days, four days, eight, 16, 32,
64, 130 or so,, anyway 128.
And then that means that you're retaining the English
and internalizing words and phrases and grammar
in the most effective way possible.
Again this is part of the To Fluency program.
This method works so go check out that program.
Number five is a method that I didn't
used to like all that much.
But I've been talking to a lot of learners
who use this method and they tell me it works,
but you have to be very specific about it.
And it is this, shadowing.
Now shadowing is when you listen to audio in English
and you repeat that audio,
but you don't pause it.
So, it's constantly being played in your ear,
and you're constantly speaking.
It's quite difficult to do
and because of that I highly recommend
that you find the right type of audio to help you with this.
So, something that isn't too difficult,
and something that you can repeat
without having to pause the audio.
So, one of my videos might be perfect for you,
because a lot of people say I can understand
what you're saying in your videos,
but using movie dialogue won't be the best.
Now I also recommend that you work on your accuracy first.
So, you improve your accuracy before
you work on your fluency.
So, that you're saying the right sounds
in the right way,
because if you can't formulate the sounds in English
then shadowing won't really help you.
So, shadowing is a way to build up your fluency.
So, try it out.
If you feel like you're quite accurate in the way
that you speak, try some shadowing to improve your fluency.
Number six is writing to improve your grammar.
Now not many people do this,
but I think this is a super strong method.
And you have to use an application.
There's a free version for this called Grammarly,
and I use Grammarly on my computer,
because it tells me when I make a mistake.
Not a spelling mistake, although it does that too,
but a grammar mistake.
So, if I use the wrong preposition or if I don't put
the comma in the right place,
if I use the wrong tense,
then it tells me and therefore I'm still learning
the correct grammar right now.
So, what I recommend you do is you practice your writing
to improve your grammar.
And when you learn something new,
like new phrases, a new grammar tense you didn't understand
before, practice your writing or practice this by writing,
and it's a great way for you to learn grammar
and to correct your grammar at the same time,
without having to get somebody to do this for you.
So, try the app.
I'm sure you're going to love it.
Number seven is to change everything into English.
If you haven't done this yet, do this now,
and do what you're doing now but do it in English instead.
So, let's say you are researching new microphones.
This is my new microphone.
I did some research about this.
Do it in English.
Change your phone into English, the language into English.
Change the language of your computer into English.
Watch TV in English.
Play computer games in English.
I'm sure a lot of you are doing this,
but it's important and it's going to help.
It's going to give you lots of input
and lots of repetition as well,
because we perform the same tasks every day.
So, do what you do now, but do it in English.
Number eight is to practice your speaking in a natural way.
So, what we have talked about so far
is dedicated practice,
where you're doing things like imitating native speakers,
you're listening, you're doing things
that you can do on your own,
but it's also important to get natural practice,
even if it's just for 30 minutes a week
or 30 minutes every two weeks.
Now you can use italki to find a teacher.
You can use italki as well to find friends.
You can find language exchange partners in your local area
or online or you can make friends in English.
It's just important that you get that natural practice,
and try and find somebody who you feel comfortable with,
so that especially if you're shy and you're fearful
of making mistakes, then you'll feel confident
with this person and you can improve
your confidence over time.
So, it's important to get this natural practice.
So, find a time during the week,
where you can do this.
Number nine is just like the others important as well
and it's to learn the type of language
that you need to learn.
And there are two things to think about here.
First think about what type of English you're going to use.
So, if you work in a business,
where you give presentations about energy
and the energy industry, solar panels,
and this is a very specific example.
Solar panels and gas and oil et cetera.
Then learn that type of language.
If you are a server in a restaurant in Madrid,
then learn the type of language you need in that restaurant.
What I'm trying to say is learn the type
of English that is specific to you.
Also learn English about topics that you're interested in
because that's what you're going to talk about.
When you meet new people you're gonna talk
about what interests you.
I love football, soccer, football.
I talk about this all the time,
and I do this in different languages too or in Spanish.
And also focus on commonly use words and phrases,
because those are the types of words and phrases
that you're going to use.
So, what we're doing here is focusing
on the language we're going to use in everyday life
or in our business.
Number 10 is to set goals,
and this means to know what you want to achieve
and when you want to achieve this by.
And I've made a video on this recently.
And I think a great goal to have is
that C1 level of English, a C1 level,
where you can speak with people in a natural way,
you're not making many mistakes,
you're not thinking about grammar and vocabulary.
Instead it's just all happening naturally
and you can understand people
and you can do this in different settings.
It's a great level to have,
and then to say okay I want to have that level this year.
I want to have that level within six months,
because once you have that goal,
it gives you the motivation to do the things
we've talked about in this lesson,
but it also helps you create a strategy and a plan
and a study plan so that you can achieve that goal.
So, you can say all right this is what I need to do
every week in order to achieve that.
So, set your goal.
The Five-Step Plan for English Fluency, my book,
which you can download for free will help you do that.
Okay I hope you have found this lesson useful.
10 things to do in order to be an English speaking ninja.
I might call it that.
I don't know what the title is yet but you know what it is.
And yeah be sure to check out the description
for a summary of this lesson, and for all the resources
that I've mentioned, including my To Fluency program.
And I highly recommend that you check out this program
because it's going to give you the methods I've talked about
in this lesson in more depth.
And it's also going to give you the material.
So, I'm going to give you flashcards with audio based
on commonly used phrases.