Hi everyone. I'm Jade. I'm your new teacher! That's my name. I'm from London. So it's really
nice to meet you all, and if -- I want you to watch my video, and I really do want you
to subscribe at the end of the lesson so you get to see my other new videos on EngVid.
But, first of all, for today's lesson, I've got a confession to make. I am an introvert.
What's an "introvert"? This is a kind of person who, actually, just prefers to spend a lot
of time alone. But people misunderstand introverts, and they always think that it means "shy".
They think that every introvert is shy, and I wouldn't say I'm shy. It's just the way
my personality is. For me, when I spend time alone, that's kind of, like, how I get energy.
And then after, I feel good again, and I can go out into the world. But most people in
the world, they're, actually, opposite to me. They are extroverts, okay? And this means
that -- when you are an "extrovert", you just love to be around people all the time, and
that's what makes you feel great, basically. So we've got some people who are extroverts
in the world, and we've got some people who are introverts in the world.
How does this relate to you learning English? Well, I think it does, because it can really
help you know that the way you're learning English is right for you or, you know, you
could change it and make it better for you. But also, I would say that, in general, the
whole world of English language teaching kind of focuses more on these guys because, actually,
they've got a great advantage when it comes to learning languages.
So we're going to talk a little bit about these guys and give advice for, you know,
the majority of you watching this video. But we're also going to look at the introvert
perspective because this is something that I just found out myself when I was trying
to learn languages. I found out that, although I didn't realize it at the time, I was just
really slow. Like, I'd be trying to remember a word and really, really slow, and everybody
else has already said it or everybody else has already finished. Like, the words came
really, really slowly to me. But I always understood a lot, and that confused me because
I'd think sometimes, "I'm just rubbish at this language." But I understood a lot. So
my speaking wasn't as advanced as my other skills in the language. It's not something
I realized until later. I wish I'd seen a video like this to help me explain why.
So let's take a look, first of all, at some expressions that can describe extroverts and
introverts. So an extrovert who -- an extrovert is somebody who thinks "the more the merrier".
And that means, "The more people there are around me, the happier I am." They love to
be around people. Extroverts also are often "the life and soul of the party". That means
they're the most fun person in the room, and people like to be around them -- great, fun
people to have at a party. Also, very often, extroverts are "chatterboxes", blah, blah,
blah, blah, talking all the time, always got something to say. Extroverts are chatterboxes.
And I'm just pointing out the differences. I'm not saying that you guys are wrong to
be extroverts. That's just the way you are. Let's have a look at the introvert, the person
who likes to spend time alone a lot of the time. For them, you could say their motto
is, "It's just me, myself, and I." Happy to be alone. You could also say an introvert
at a party is more likely to be a "wallflower". A "wallflower" is someone who's not going
to start conversation with anyone, who's not going to be dancing around having great, amazing
conversations. The wallflower is going to be a bit shy and is going to wait for other
people to come to talk to them. And the introvert, also, likes to have deep and meaningful conversations,
okay? Doesn't like small talk. Doesn't like chatter, chatter, chatter, chatter -- likes
to talk on a meaningful level. So they've got different ways of being. How
does this relate to learning English? Well, as I said earlier, the extrovert, really,
has the learning advantage when it comes to languages because most people, you know, when
they learn a language, they do it because they want to be able to speak the other language
because communication is so much about speaking. And the great thing for you, if you're an
extrovert, is you're so curious and social you want to know what's happening all the
time; you want to be in the middle of things; you want to know what's going on. And that's
a great advantage for you because it means that you talk -- you take every opportunity
to talk. It's no problem for you. So you could be in a new situation -- in a
different country or something -- but, you know, maybe you feel a little bit shy because
you don't, you know -- you don't want to say something wrong, but you'll need to be in
conversation. It's so strong, and you're so proactive, that you'll talk. So that means
that you get lots of speaking practice, and that's so good for you developing in your
English. So if you're an extrovert, you'll learn a language much more quickly -- at least
at a speaking level -- than your introverted friends.
Your introverted friends are, really, quite shy speakers. They might not be shy people,
but to say, you know, small talk stuff, for example, to actually be speaking the other
language at a very basic level -- like, "What are your hobbies?" That kind of thing -- an
introvert's almost thinking, like, "I can't bring myself to ask the question." So they
might know what to say, but they might not say it. And because they don't say it, their
mouth is not getting the practice of speaking that other language. They know a lot in their
head, but they're not actually using it. So this can make their progress with the language
quite slow. And also, the introvert very often misses
the opportunity to speak because they're hesitant. It means they're slow. Maybe before they speak,
they think about what they're going to say. Plus, they don't initiate -- they don't start
conversations with people. The introvert waits for the other person to come and speak to
them. And when you're an introvert, you're quite
fearful of mistakes. You don't want to look stupid; you don't want to say the wrong thing.
And that's -- that means it's one of the reasons that you don't speak to people. So this is
not looking very good for you learning a language as an introvert.
But, but, but, it's not all bad because let's look at the other side of the situation now.
So if you're an extrovert, you might be great at talking, but -- I know this for a fact
-- very often, extroverts are not so good at listening because you're -- you just want
to be talking and not so much listening to what other people are telling you. And one
-- the reason this is also a bad thing for extroverts is it also means they have a small
passive vocabulary. You don't, actually, know that many words. But the words you do know,
you can use very well, and, you know, you can have great conversations with it. So that's
good. On the other hand, the introverts might not
be saying much, but they could be great listeners, and they could understand a lot more than
the extrovert. The extroverts really seem like they know everything and can say everything,
but they don't understand so much. Also, the introvert has a really wide passive vocabulary.
There are lots of words they know, but the thing is, it can be -- there can be a time
delay in remembering those words. So very often, you miss the opportunity in conversation.
You know them, but they come too slow. This is one of the reasons that introverts are
good at writing in their own language and also in English because when you write, you
have a little bit of extra time to remember what you want to say.
Also, because introverts very often like to do stuff by themselves, we could say that
maybe they've got more time for actually doing their studies and their work. So very often,
they have better grammar skills because they're actually willing to do that kind of work.
So what can you do now that you know the strengths and witnesses of either being on extrovert
or an introvert? Well, I've got some advice for you. And I think it can help you with
your development when you're learning English, basically. So we'll start with the extroverts.
It's really amazing that extroverts are the kind of people who can learn a language -- or
English -- actually just on the street. They can go to a place, and, you know, just kind
of learn from the people they're around. That's so great. For an introvert, that would be
really hard to do because it would take so much courage to make themselves speak in every
single opportunity they got. They probably wouldn't do it. So anyway, if you're an extrovert,
it's easy for you to take every opportunity to speak. So that's why doing immersive experiences,
travelling to other countries where you can do an exchange, or studying in a different
country -- that's great for you because, again, you take every opportunity to speak.
Also, traditional TEFL (English) classes -- these are great for you as well because there's
a big class of people. You can swap around. You can swap. You can talk to many people
in the room. That's great for you. So much opportunity for you to be practising your
English in traditional classroom situations. What's not so useful for you? I would say
"book learning" in general. You really like to have it -- have your English practice active.
You like to be speaking; you like to be involved; and you like to be doing things. So wherever
you can, make sure you're doing that. Of course, studying is helpful. But for you, know that
you'll really develop your speaking just by being in the right situation around the right
people. Also, I've had a couple of times where extroverts
have told me, "Oh, I could never learn on Skype because, you know, I need to be around
more people, and it's just one person, blah, blah, blah." I mean, that's something you'd
have to discover for yourself -- could a one-on-one situation actually work for you. But just
as a general rule, extroverts do like to be around a lot of people. So perhaps, maintaining
the teacher-student interaction for as much as an hour is not something that an extrovert
is going to enjoy so much. Also, audio learning programs, they could be okay, but not fantastic
for the extrovert because there's no interaction there for them. Moving on.
Advice for my introverted friends. Sounds a bit silly, but talk to yourself, okay? Because
you don't take opportunities to speak, what you know in your head is often at a much higher
level than your ability to actually say it and speak it. So when you try to speak, the
words don't come out in the really nice way you want them to just because you haven't
practised moving your mouth enough. But when you talk to yourself, nothing can go wrong.
You can just talk to yourself. So that's something to try.
You can make a friend -- singular friend. Someone that you feel really comfortable speaking
English with, so you can get a lot of practice with that one person and, you know, feel good
about yourself when you're doing it. And know that some things will be scary for you when
it comes to learn a language, and that's okay. For example, in a -- and I speak from experience
-- in a typical TEFL classroom situation, there's a very strong emphasis on games all
the time, always playing games with this person, speaking about things, moving to the other
table, speaking to another person. And it can be quite draining for an introvert because
there are many people, there's a lot of small talk, and there's a lot of games. So maybe,
if you're like me, you won't like that. Also, big classes might be something you don't
like because there are many people that you will need to speak to. And that can maybe
shake your confidence a bit, and you might not be feeling too good.
I don't know why I put "teach yourself" there. This is in the wrong place. But teaching yourself
is one of your strengths, so it's okay just to do lots of self-study, talking to yourself,
doing your grammar, watching EngVid. You can do all that stuff by yourself.
So I hope that this has helped you understand the way you learn a little bit better from
a personality perspective. What I would like you to do now is go to www.engvid.com where
you can do a quiz on today's lesson. Plus, this is my reminder to you to subscribe here
so that all my English videos on EngVid you're going to know about when they're released.
But my other news -- and I hope you're paying attention -- is that I have my own separate
YouTube channel. And if you go to my personal YouTube channel, I've got so many videos on
there, more than 200 videos to help you learn English, but also, sometimes, some more general
videos a bit like today, just sharing my perspective about different things and English accents.
So please subscribe here and there. I'd really appreciate it. So now, I'm finished. And I'm
just going to do some introverted stuff. So, anyways, I'll see you later.