Well hey there! I'm Emma from mmmEnglish!
Can you believe that we've made it to the end
of another year?
2018 is almost over!
Time flies when you're having fun, doesn't it?
Well I hope that you've been having fun here at
mmmEnglish and that you've been learning a few
new things along the way.
But before we finish up the year,
I want you to tell me which was your favourite lesson
of this year
and also tell me
what lessons do you want me to teach you in 2019.
I've had lots of requests for conditionals
and relative clauses which will be fun but necessary
and also lots of requests for more
common English expressions too.
So let me know in the comments
what you want me to teach you in 2019.
And while you're thinking about the year ahead,
let's talk about your study habits because I think
that we can improve a few things to make 2019 the year
that your English leaps to the next level.
We'll set clear goals in this lesson, we'll optimise
your study time and find out if it's your mindset
that's been holding you back.
Today I'm going to share some English-learning hacks
with you, ones that will help you to make huge progress
in the new year. But before we do that, let's spend
a few moments looking back at the progress
that you've made this year.
Try to be kind to yourself here. What's one thing
that you've done in English this year that you couldn't do
at the same time last year in 2017?
Perhaps you couldn't watch an English movie
without subtitles or maybe you couldn't understand
a whole lesson of mine.
Perhaps you spent the entire year saving enough money
to enrol in a language school and now you're planning
to start at the end of January. Perhaps you've spoken
with an English native speaker
and you've never done that before.
Maybe you took your IELTS from a seven to an eight.
Just tell me one thing that you're proud of about your
English. What progress did you make throughout 2018?
It doesn't matter how tiny or insignificant it might seem.
Write it down now. You could also add something
that's been quite difficult for you this year,
something that you want to keep working on in 2019.
And if it's something that I can help you with,
then let me know.
Now my year has been full of ups and downs,
highs and lows and I'm sure that yours has too.
But I'm really excited about what's coming
and I hope that you're feeling really positive about
the year ahead. Now make sure you have subscribed
to my channel so that you can find out what's changing,
what new things we'll be trying in 2019.
Just click that red button down there.
I've already been having some conversations with my
community here on YouTube to talk about
what those things are so come and join us there!
Let's kick off the new year with five steps that you can
take to improve your English and your study habits.
The first one is: maximise your learning time.
What does that even mean?
It means make the most of the time that you have.
Take advantage of the time available in your week
and get the most out of your study time.
We all have different amounts of time to spend
on learning a language, right?
We all have different priorities so when it comes to
studying English, you need to focus on
the time that you have available,
what do you have available to you.
The realistic amount of time that you have.
Don't go telling yourself that you're going to do
twenty hours of study a week
when you have a really demanding job
and you've got young children to care for,
it just won't happen.
What time do you actually have to study English?
Whatever that amount is, we need to maximise it,
make the most of that time.
So to do this, I highly, highly recommend writing your
own study plan. Now that sounds serious, right?
Well it is!
If you haven't been making the progress
that you wanted to make with your English this year
or maybe you're feeling a little lost about
what you should be studying,
chances are you're not spending enough time on it
or you're not studying the right things
or you're not doing it in the most effective way.
You're not maximising the time that you have to study.
Now a study plan is going to help you with that.
It's going to help you practise the right stuff
and make your practice more consistent.
So it becomes a habit, make it part of your daily routine.
Here's a super quick hint. If you watch through until the
end of this lesson, in the bonus section,
I'll show you exactly how to create your own
personalised study plan.
Now if the best that you can manage is thirty minutes
of study each day, that's okay.
In fact, that's great! It's really good!
But make sure that you commit to it and that it's in
your schedule. It's scheduled study time. But what about
incidental study time? Extra time that you might have
where you could study.
Maybe passing time on a bus, for example.
So what can you do?
You can practise in your head constantly.
If you haven't been training yourself to think in English
this year, then 2019 is the year to do it.
Now if you're watching this video and you understand
most of it without subtitles,
your English level is probably at least intermediate level
and that means you have the words and vocabulary
to express your ideas in English, you just need to
get more comfortable using them.
And while it's not always easy and practical to speak
out loud, you are under pressure,
you can regularly practise thinking in English.
And you can do this on your own, at any time.
It doesn't matter.
Now I'll admit that thinking in another language all day
takes a lot of hard work and determination.
So start small, start with an hour then two.
Make sure you take a break.
I'm still learning to speak Spanish, so for me,
this task is painful! It's slow, it's frustrating,
it's really tiring. I always end up finishing the day
feeling like my head has exploded and I start mixing up
English and Spanish and then some other random
languages I've learned in the past too.
By the end of the day, you'll feel like your brain has been
fried.
At least I do.
But this is exactly how you need to feel.
Exhaustion and confusion and feeling like you've
reached your learning limit each day
means that you've been doing an amazing job.
Okay so compare it to going to the gym.
Have you ever felt really fit after going to the gym
every day for six weeks?
You feel fantastic and you look great.
But then you have a bit of blowout.
You go on holiday, maybe you stop working out because
you've injured yourself, whatever.
You put on a few pounds and the thought of going
back to the gym is suddenly terrifying.
You know that it's going to hurt, right?
Because you haven't been practising every day,
it's been a while and this is exactly the same
when you're learning English. So that brings me back
to my earlier point about consistency.
Creating a routine to make sure that you spend
regular times practising English.
It matters less how much time you have
and it matters more how consistent you are
when you study. And although it takes a lot of work
and self-motivation to start thinking
throughout the day in English,
pretty soon it's going to feel like a habit.
It's going to happen naturally and constantly.
My students are always thrilled when they start
dreaming in English. Have you had this yet?
Speaking of which, here is another item on our list.
Get a good night's sleep.
If you're going to bed every night with your brain
feeling like mush because you've been practising
English all day, then getting a good night's sleep
is so important. It helps your brain to work effectively.
Now this sounds kind of basic, right?
But it's simple. A good night's sleep will improve
your concentration and your ability to think clearly.
In fact, eating a clean, healthy diet
is also going to help.
If you wake up feeling hungover because you've been
out drinking and dancing all night.
You're probably not going to be leaping out of bed
to practise English, right?
New Year's Eve is an exception though, you can take me
as day off to celebrate.
But can you honestly say that you regularly get
a good night's sleep?
If you don't get enough sleep then your brain feels
kind of fuzzy, right?
You have a hard time thinking about
problems and concentrating.
Not to mention, you just look like a zombie.
Plus, there's another more serious reason
why sleep is important.
Memory consolidation happens while you're sleeping.
Yeah.
What does that mean? While we're awake, we acquire
memories or we make new memories.
We learn things, we see things, we study things.
Sometimes we'll forget those things in an instant
and others will become cemented in our mind
permanently.
Now it's believed that that process happens
while we're sleeping.
So memories - the things that we learn,
become stabilised or more permanent in our brain
so that we can access and use
that information in the future sometime.
So all the new words and the grammar that you've been
learning in English every day,
it gets stabilised in your brain, while you're sleeping.
So if you don't get a good night's sleep, there's a good
chance that you won't remember all of the new things
that you've learned throughout the day.
So my main point here is don't let your hard work
and your study go to waste, right? Make it a priority
to get a good night's sleep as often as you can.
Another thing I want you to focus on in 2019 is
asking for help. Now I get it, it can be awkward,
embarrassing, uncomfortable to make a mistake
while you're trying to communicate in English, right?
It's hard to admit that you need help.
I wish that I didn't have to ask for help with Spanish
and that I just knew it. But I don't.
But you know what? Getting help from someone
at the moment that you are in the middle of a
conversation having trouble is the perfect time to ask.
Most people are happy to help you
improve your English.
If you're in an English-speaking country
and you aren't really sure about
something that's on the menu or what
something's called in a shop, then ask.
Make this part of your plan in 2019.
Ask for help. Now part of the problem and what
maybe you feel nervous about is actually knowing
the phrases that you need to ask for help.
In fact, I made a lesson about asking for help in English,
right here.
But really what you need to do is just learn
a handful of phrases like..
or
Practise these questions so that they come out naturally
Most people are going to be happy to help you out
and if they're not, then move along.
You don't need that in your life, put it behind you
and keep going, keep focused on your goal.
There are grouchy people all around us unfortunately.
There are grouchy people right here writing comments
under my lessons on YouTube.
Do I let it stop me from showing up here
every week to teach you? Not at all.
They're not going to stop me!
They ain't getting in my way.
Now after you've learned all of these new words
and expressions, the next thing you need to do is use
what you've learnt.
Maximising your study time,
thinking constantly in English,
getting a good night's sleep
and asking other people for help,
these are all really great ways to improve
and advance your English but most importantly of all
is taking what you've learned and actually
using it yourself.
Passive learning, memorising,
all of these things could be great ways to learn
new vocabulary. You can do this by reading books
and watching movies.
Thinking in English is a great way to practise
fluency on your own but memorising and thinking
for yourself can only take you so far.
What we really, really want to do in 2019 is find a way
to help you practise and make that practice
part of your routine.
If you're not living in an English-speaking country
and you don't have many people around you
that you can practise with, don't worry.
There are still so many different ways that you can
practise using your English on a daily basis.
So you can look for an online community where
non-native speakers practise with each other.
Remember what I said in an earlier lesson? This one
about finding the right group and the right speaking
partner and how important that is?
I've also mentioned The Ladies' Project before
which is an online membership community for women
which I run to help women develop their English
speaking skills together and there are so many groups
like this online. Most cities have weekly meet-ups.
Maybe at the local cafe where people meet to practise
their English skills. Even if you're in a non-English
speaking country, there are still others around you
who are trying to learn English.
So finding them just takes a quick Google search.
You might want to hire a tutor either online or in-person
to practise your speaking skills and pronunciation with.
One of my favourites that's so easy to do is
to write a journal, keep track of everything that you did
during your day in English.
So practise writing sentences using the new words
that you've come across throughout the day.
You'll see so much progress in your language
if you practise regularly, habitually. Make it a priority.
Now I know that out of all of these steps
that I've shared today, this one is probably
the most challenging. It requires the most
thought and energy. It might be difficult to imagine
how this will happen but don't let it stop you.
This is what a new year is all about, right?
Setting new goals for yourself, pushing yourself
a little further outside of your comfort zone.
I've got a feeling that 2019 is going to be an excellent
year for us and I hope that I can be here with you
throughout the next twelve months
teaching new lessons and sharing new pronunciation
tips with you.
If you're looking to make progress with your English
and maximise your study time this year then,
these areas that I mentioned during this lesson
are a great place to start.
And if you have any other tips and tricks of your own
that you'd like to share with everyone watching
then please add them in the comments below.
If you're keen to get some new ideas about how to
take your English to the next level, then make sure you
check out that lesson right there.
And if you stick around now for a few more minutes,
I'll share my tips to help you create a killer study plan
to improve your English in 2019.
Let's do it!