3 Ways To Respond Fluently In English Conversations Like A Native Speaker

over here all right I think we're working  I am Drew Badger the English fluency guide   and it is a pleasure to welcome you to  another live video here on YouTube this   should be a good one we're talking about  ways to respond fluently in conversations I know this is a really big common problem that  a lot of people have and so we want to talk about   specifically not just learning vocabulary but  how to actually communicate how to have better   conversations and to not feel really nervous  when speaking or you know feel like you can't say   anything because ah your mind gets stuck and you  don't really know exactly how to express yourself so hopefully looks like all right so we should  have some people in the chat right now but it   looks like we're doing all right I want to get  right into it uh hopefully this video will not   be very long again usually what I do is try to  have my lesson at the beginning and then I'll   stay around to answer questions if people have  them uh but it's nice to see you there everybody   I'll come back and answer questions later if you  have questions as I go through these also I'll ask   you to do some commenting uh because this will  help you communicate better we'll give you some   good practice all right so the three basic things  I want to talk about in this video These are going   to be three strategies very simple things that you  can do right now today in your conversations even   right after you finish this video it will help  you feel more confident and also over time so   we want to give you some things like some quick  wins this just means something that you can feel   great about right now that will help you again  in your conversations today but also help you   for your conversations in the future so really  show you how to learn the language well so you   communicate in general more fluently so the first  thing you can do very simply is to mirror people   to mirror what people say to mirror so just put  number one up here make sure people can see that all right to mirror what other people are saying  now this is a very simple thing you can do all   you can really do is uh or all you have to do I  should say is just repeat what the other person   says now there are a lot of good reasons to do  this but the most important number two and one   uh are number one that you can really have  empathy with the other person it shows that   you're a good listener and really they want  to speak with you more if you are listening   more and then the second thing that's really  important about this is that it doesn't stop   the flow of the conversation and it doesn't  matter you don't need to know any phrases or   prepare anything beforehand so this should be  a really simple way for you to communicate and   just being in the conversation with the other  person really you're focusing on listening uh   and again you're just repeating what people are  saying so I'll go back in just a second look at   comments but I want to give a very simple quick  example of this and then let you kind of have a   conversation with me so as simple example  I might say let's say let's say tomorrow I am going to the beach see to the beach   so if I'm in a conversation with someone and I  tell them hey tomorrow I am going to the beach a   very simple way they can respond to this is just  repeating back to me what I just said the beach very easy now I know this is very simple  but a lot of students forget to do this   because they they are uh the English  expression we use here is to be in your own head so to be in your own head means  you're spending a lot of time worrying you're   trying to listen to what the other person is  saying and you want to think about what you   want to say next so my advice really is to clear  your mind really try to pay attention to what the   other person is saying just relax don't worry  about having a perfect response to people just   listen really to what they're saying and try  to get the other person to speak this advice   is particularly important for people who feel  very shy but you're in the conversation someone   is saying something to you and you have to  respond or maybe you will feel nervous about   that so the easiest simplest thing you can do is  simply to repeat back what the other person is   saying and you can ask this like oh the beach  so you're asking a question without making a   long question all you're doing is having a rising  intonation like you're asking a question oh the   beach and then you just pause and let the other  person explain more that's all you're doing so   you're trying trying to get more information  from the other person and you're letting the   other person speak because people love to talk  about themselves and explain what's happening   and so you can do this and you will actually  be seen as a greater conversational list so   a conversationalist is someone who can have good  conversations and really this is just by listening   even if you're not saying anything so really  pay attention for key words in what they are   saying forget about your own thoughts or trying  to prepare responses or anything really focus on   the other person it's much easier and you can  relax you can get out of your own head and not   worry about what you're trying to say all right so  tomorrow I'm going to the beach now I could also   change the focus of this I could instead of talk  about where they're going I could say oh tomorrow so I'm focusing on tomorrow so maybe I  thought like they're going on a different   day or something it doesn't really matter  but I can change the focus of what I want   them to speak about by what word I repeat but  notice I don't have to think of my own phrases   I don't need to remember any vocabulary  the point is again number one to keep the   conversation flowing and number two just to  get more Rapport in the conversation rapport so Rapport is your connection with the other  person your Rapport is the connection you have   with the other person so if you are thinking  about what you want to say next and you're not   really listening to the other person then of  course they won't feel listened to they won't   feel listened to and they won't really want  to talk with you more so you want to get more   people relaxing more people using their vocabulary  whether it's a native speaker or not but getting   them to speak you see how easy this is though  you're really just repeating back what the other   person said usually asking as a question now you  can also use this so the same thing you're just   taking these things let's say they ask you a  question so they're asking me a question in   this situation oh what are you doing tomorrow so  what are you doing tomorrow I can say same thing   tomorrow I'm just giving myself time to think  so even in the conversation like maybe I don't   remember because remember that native speakers  are having these same things in conversations   as well so they might not remember what they  want to say in a conversation okay so they're   thinking okay someone asks me like hey what did  you have for dinner yesterday what did you have   what did you eat for dinner yesterday what did  you eat for dinner yesterday and I'm thinking   yesterday yesterday so I'm kind of asking myself  as a question and usually people people feel the   need to to say something to have some kind of  sound coming out uh because if they don't do that   then the other person will just start speaking  again this is why people usually say uh or   um and these using these filler words just to  have some Voice or some kind of sound coming   out so that the other person doesn't just get  into the conversation and continue talking so   if a waiter comes up and asks oh what would  you like for lunch I might be thinking oh   what would I like for lunch if I don't know so  I'm I just I repeat the conversation or repeat   the question back to myself so again this works  whether you're using it just as a way to to kind   of pause or slow down the conversation or as  a way to get more information from the other   person now this is great practice just listening  to what the other person says because remember   the real practice that you get that builds  your fluency is from what other people say   to you especially native speakers so you really  want to get more details about the information oh   you're going to the beach now if you're feeling  a bit more confident you can ask oh which beach   which beach or you can ask a question about this  like are you going with anyone are you going with   anyone okay but again the point is that this  is the the really magical simple thing you can   do where you don't need to remember or prepare  anything there's nothing you need to think about   like okay do I do I remember the right words or  phrase before you get into the conversation all   you're doing is listening and repeating back  to people what they say okay so right now I'd   like to do this with you I'm going to have  a conversation with you and I'd like you to   just type in the chat just respond back to me  using this same simple idea just to make sure   everybody understands what I'm doing I know this  is a very simple exercise but it's important and   it will hopefully get you doing it automatically  it will feel much more confident or you will feel   much more confident you will feel more comfortable  in conversations if you can start doing this so   tomorrow I'm going to the circus tomorrow I'm  going to the circus tomorrow I'm going to the   circus tomorrow I'm going to the circus so imagine  I've just said that to you just type a response   using my words back to me in the conversation  all right so keep the conversation flowing by   typing in the chat right now a response to me  so tomorrow I'm going to the circus the circus tomorrow I'm going to the circus tomorrow I'm  going to the circus just type in the chat right   now just make this very easy tomorrow I'm going  to the circus so I want you to respond to me   very good so Christian right there the circus  look at that so basically the same exact thing   as this uh this example over here so tomorrow  I'm going to the beach and Christian responds   with the beach but in this one I'm talking about  going to the circus yes I'm going to the circus   okay so you don't need to respond with exactly  the same thing you could do that so there are   longer ways I could I could respond and  actually repeat actually the same thing   so tomorrow I'm going to the beach or in the  example I just gave tomorrow I'm going to the   circus I could repeat that whole thing back  to you oh tomorrow you're going to the beach   tomorrow you are going to the beach so I  changed the sentence slightly because I'm   talking about the other person but again I  can make that longer if I want to it's not   necessary often native speakers are just looking  for key information and they're asking for more   okay so you're just repeating a little bit back so  tomorrow I am going to the circus so I want you to   respond to me so uh Christian already said the  circus so he responded back to the circus uh yes   uh I really like the circus my favorite animal  at the circus is the elephant I really like the   elephants I really like the elephants I really  like the elephants now you can pay attention to   what I'm doing here I'm giving you clues in the  conversation about what I'd like to talk about   but I'm looking for you to ask me all right  Andreas again the elephants yes so when I was   young uh I I used to go to the circus with my dad  and we would love to feed peanuts to the elephants   okay so you see how this works so you can get more  information from me you don't have to continue   like continue repeating or everything like that  if you want more information that's that's fine   again this is just to keep the conversation  flowing and to let the other person speak   okay so a couple of you guys have got it there  pretty easy all right any questions about this   all right uh do that type of questions break the  grammar rules no remember that grammar is less   important in a spoken conversation uh especially  if we just want information but grammatically I   can say like the beach question mark I can say  that and even in like a novel or written form   like I would I would you know I I could I could do  that if you're writing maybe an essay or something   for professional work uh maybe you might not want  to do that obviously you would have some kind of   uh subject an object and you're talking about what  what the thing is the point is to be clear but in   this case if if we know what we're talking about  that's the whole point of the conversation so just   to keep the conversation moving and just asking  for key information uh where you're getting that   response from the other person so I feel excited  because I said yeah I really like the elephants   and most people will like to continue talking  about things if you let them but most people do   not they are they want to like they want to say  something in the conversation so a conversation   becomes much more enjoyable especially if you are  feeling shy if you just let the other person speak   and let them continue to speak by you directing  them and if you listen for the key words they're   intonation what they're interested in talking  about uh then they will obviously feel more   confident about speaking all right so the mirror  technique very simple you're really just repeating   back to other people what they're saying all right  and then again you can you can if you're feeling   more confident obviously you can bring up your own  stories or you can ask different questions I just   wanted to start this lesson in this video with  something very very simple that anyone can do so   even if you don't feel confident about making your  own sentences or you're worried about how do I how   do I have maybe five or ten words I don't want to  give you a long list of phrases or something that   you need to remember the point is the information  is right here in the conversation already   so if you're just listening to people you will  become a better listener and you will improve   your fluency and have better Rapport at the same  time in a conversation so let me go back make sure   I don't like the beach yes so I'm surprised a  shark would not like the beach but it happens   now maybe you like the beach sharks like the beach  so they can come up and you know get the get the   swimmers who are by the beach but even if you  don't like the beach you can certainly use that   in a conversation so if I say oh I'm going to the  beach but then you say oh I don't like the beach   you're kind of ending the conversation right  there so often in conversations you can talk   about things or get the other person to speak  more even if you don't care about that thing so   an example I might be talking with my daughters  about something they are interested in but maybe   I don't really care about so they bring me look  daddy here's a here's a doll that I'm playing   with and I say oh like tell me about the doll  and I'm asking them questions about that part   of that is for me to get give them lots of input  so that I can help them improve their listening   and their their fluency as well but also I'm  just encouraging them to speak so encouraging   them to to feel confident about that so even if I  don't really care about a doll I don't have a doll   myself I don't do anything with that but it's  important to the other person and that's okay   all right so remember again there are lots of good  reasons to do this but this is very simple anybody   can do this in a conversation any questions about  this let me know I think people got it though all   right I haven't been to any one of the circus you  can also yeah so you can you can ask again like   same questions about that let's see why we don't  use the future tense well again this is there's   nothing about like uh tenses you don't have to  think about any of that in in this example all   right so it's understood that they will be going  to the beach from this so tomorrow I am going to   the beach like I am going uh it's just another way  of saying you will be going to the beach because   you're not doing it right now you were talking  about when you will do it so tomorrow I will   go to the beach you can use both of those all  right remember there are usually more than one way   or there are often many ways to express yourself  in a conversation okay so when we're talking about   the future tomorrow I will go to the beach or  tomorrow I am going to the beach you can use both   of those all right this is why we put tomorrow in  there if you just say I am going to the beach it   means I am doing that right now but if we talk  about when we're doing it next week I will be   going to the beach or I will go to the beach or I  am going to the beach okay often we we use the the   kind of present continuous like that to just make  it sound more like it's it's happening and it's   it's something we're doing right now even though  we're not physically going to the beach right now   okay I think we got any questions unconditional  uh what specifically so if again like it the the   point is to listen for the key words and what  people are saying because it doesn't matter   what the tense is or whatever this could be about  the past yesterday I went to the beach Okay so   yesterday I went to the beach I can still respond  in the same way because this is about uh keywords   oh the beach so yesterday I went to the beach oh  the beach tomorrow I will go to the beach oh the   beach the response is still the same it doesn't  matter what the tenses are uh or like if you want   to use a conditional we're talking about like  if I do something so if I go to the beach then   I will do this so I could say oh like the beach or  or where I could be talking about what they what   their what they want to talk about so if I go to  the beach I will surf if I go to the beach I will   Surf and I could say oh you will you will surf  we're surfing all right so I'm just I'm asking   without without making a longer question that  could be grammatically correct I don't have to   worry about that again uh this this specific thing  this specific idea about mirroring is for people   who really don't have a lot of confidence about  making longer sentences or having more information   in the conversation so you can respond simply  without having a whole bunch of things to say okay   so you see how easy this is so this is not about  like I could ask a longer thing oh tomorrow if you   will go to the beach what will you do if if it's  raining so I could answer something and and go on   and talk about something else oh I remember when  I was young I used to go to the beach all the time   okay isn't it dangerous to do surfing for children  I don't know that's a good question dangerous so   look at let's say you just asked me that question  is it dangerous for children uh to do surfing or   is it dangerous for children to Surf a way I could  respond to that is just dangerous and then I just   wait and let you ask me more questions about  that so is it dangerous for children to serve   dangerous so you might be thinking okay well  let me let me think about what I mean by that   maybe they get I don't know maybe they fall off  the surfboard or they do something I don't know   uh I took my my older daughter in Hawaii one  year we went uh did a little bit of just kind   of standing on a board and obviously she was  too young to do it by herself but standing with   me I could walk her through and she enjoyed  standing on the uh standing on the surfboard   so that was something we could do so again I  could take a story if I'm feeling confident   about telling a story or explaining things in more  detail but I don't have to you can still keep the   conversation flowing just by using the vocabulary  that the other person said okay so it doesn't   matter what it is usually you could go back and  continue adding more and more things or getting   into more detail or doing something else and then  as you feel more confident or you're using other   things you want to tell your own stories you can  do that all right but this is great for people who   lack confidence and really just want to have more  uh just better conversations and not feel nervous   about about having to say something okay so really  just use the other person's words all right let me   go back before we go to number two uh let's see  if it's raining you better stay home yep do you   know speak Spanish a little bit I can understand  some Spanish but I don't but I don't speak Spanish   who are you going who are going with you do you  have any company yep you would say like who is   going with you or is anyone going with you or are  you going alone are you going by yourself so there   are lots of ways you can do this and as you listen  to more examples of native speakers you will feel   more confident about that so I could say oh you  are going to the beach like the key word could be   like you know if someone says tomorrow I am going  to the beach oh I say you were going to the beach   so in that case they might they might think oh  like I'm already asking the question like who   is going to the beach and I don't mean like are  they going or not I already know that but the   idea is oh like are they going by themselves  or are they not so I could say oh just you   so here I'm adding a word but I'm just  if I want to do that I could just say oh   you're you are going to the beach so the the  emphasis is on you you are going to the beach   but again I'm just using their vocabulary  back to them okay I don't need to prepare   anything in advance I don't need to think  about anything I'm just listening the whole   point is just listening for keywords just  to get that conversation flowing that's it   all right I think we're doing well all right  let's see uh what will bring when you go to   the beach beer yeah so what will you bring or will  you bring anything what will you bring all right   what will you bring all right as I like to learn  from lesson and watching but I have a problem   with writing also with grammar I understand  everything you're saying but at the same time   my brain stopped yeah so we have lots of lessons  that cover like things about even writing like you   should be just actually writing more if you have  trouble writing so find writing that you like and   then copy that like actually write it by hand  but most of the time you can if you look on the   the latest videos we have the latest live videos  specifically on the channel uh where we talk about   fluency pretty much every video is talking about  fluency this one is specifically about responding   in conversations so how to answer people how  to respond to people easily but you will find   things pretty much everybody has the same kinds of  problems and the most basic issue people have with   fluency is they just don't know the language as  well as they think they do so they have usually   a definition or a translation but they haven't  really gotten enough examples of the language and   that's why they don't speak as well as they like  to speak as well as they would like to all right   so I would love to zip a cup of cappuccino I  sip a cup of cappuccino while I'm at the beach   should we prepare food before we go to the beach  yeah so people you can again there are other   things you can add you can ask your own questions  if you're feeling confident but if you are not   don't put pressure on yourself that's the basic  idea here all right let me go back and make sure   before we go on to the second example here uh that  I got everybody Elena says how can I pronounce   the word Beach properly without cursing Elena you  should have Frederick our app if you do not have   that already click on the link in the description  below this video I believe Beach is in there if   it's not I think it's in there but you will  learn other things even they are related uh to   the e a sound and Beach like teach it's the same  sound all right let's see if anybody else here   all right so my favorite animal is the shark ah  okay I gotcha all right uh said uh it's like you   do in your native language when you repeat some  parts of your opponent's speech yes so you can   call them your opponent I suppose or the just the  person you're speaking with tomorrow I'm going   to the circus yeah so it looks like you guys  you guys got it over here and if remember we   get lots of questions and comments so if I don't  get to yours uh repeat that again let's see what   naoko says good morning from Tokyo nice to see you  there from Toronto okay all right we're going back   to the bottom here all right what is the  difference between will be and going to be yes   uh in this video I'm not going to cover specific  grammar points uh but again we've covered lots of   those on the channel already and this is also the  kind of thing we do in fluent for life it's much   better to get many examples of things to learn  nuances like this rather than try to get a quick   explanation because you're just going to forget  it anyway all right so what we do we want to give   you many many examples of things and that's how  you understand them I've watched your video since   many years ago and I've learned a lot thank you  so much your videos are really helpful it's my   pleasure Danielle thank you all right so moving on  to number two all right so this is you can think   about kind of the next step up if you're feeling  a bit more confident and this is to respond   and this could be respond or if you're  starting a conversation uh imperfectly all right so the imperfect is  important here respond imperfectly   remember that when most people are learning a  language they usually get one example or one   definition or one translation of a word and then  they feel that they really need to remember that   specific thing but natives don't learn a language  that way natives learn situations they see what   happens a situation like a parent is yelling at  a child or a person is ordering some food or I'm   talking with my friend and laughing and smiling  and answering questions all of those things begin   with the situation and then the vocabulary we  use is kind of learned from seeing those many   examples okay so here's what I mean by responding  imperfectly or just imperfect communication anyway   so by Perfect communication this might be you  have an exact word that you want to use and you   can use that word perfectly and automatically  you can recall exactly what you want to say at   the right time in conversations this is pretty  rare even for native speakers and so what we do   instead is we usually like a native speaker  will have a few different ways of explaining   something and if they can't remember a specific  word they might get stuck for a moment but usually   they switch to something else and so they will  respond imperfectly native speakers will still   have those same issues that English Learners  have where they're trying to communicate but   they actually it's like right now I don't have a  specific lesson plan or an exact thing I want to   say I'm letting my language just flow naturally so  if I can't think of a specific thing I just switch   to something else I can switch to a different way  because again how I've learned I'm thinking about   situations specific ideas I want to express but  I know there are different ways of doing that so   I could use this phrase or that phrase or that  phrase so this is a story from yesterday I was   going out with my family we were going to this  blueberry picking place it's a little bit early in   the season here in Japan for picking blueberries  but we just went to this restaurant and my older   daughter Arya was saying oh I want to go to that  American Store I want to go to that American Store [Music]   so I want to go to that American Store are you going to yell at me for my writing or did   I do I need to make that clear for  people s-t-o-r-e or is that worse s-t-o-r-8 store and American store okay so I was standing there my wife and I  uh we are talking and Arya says I want to go to   that American Store and at first we didn't know  what she was talking about all right so she was   she was confident like she had a specific image oh  she knows like she's thinking of a specific store   uh space specific store uh so she's thinking  about that I want to go to that American store   but we don't know what you're talking about or  we don't know what she's talking about so we   start asking her some questions what do you mean  American Store what's an American Store and again   we're not we're not being like Oh no like that's  like that's a stupid thing there's no such thing   as American Store what are you talking about we're  not getting angry at her we're just asking oh what   do you mean American store because she has in her  mind a specific thing she wants to say all right   but she just doesn't know the name of the store  all right it's not like the airport or a specific   park or something it's just a place she's been to  before but she calls it or she thinks of it as the   American Store and so we begin talking with her  and we go back and forth what do you mean American   Store uh and she was like you know that the place  where I got that doll and we thought for a minute   and oh okay yes I understand now so that the doll  you got uh that was at the it was a mini Costco Costco so if you don't know what Costco is I think  they're in various countries but definitely in the   United States Costco is a place where you can go  buy a really big uh like bulk bulk bulk bulk items   so a huge container of peanuts or a huge ketchup  or something like that but so she called that the   American Store I thought that was very funny when  I realized what she was talking about so in Japan   we do have Costco as well and it's interesting  uh that so let's say Costco I'll just draw this   imagine this is a map so we have a Costco up here  but we are maybe two or three hours away from   Costco so now recently some some businesses  are opening up where they have they sell   they basically buy stuff from Costco bring it to  another store and then sell it for a slightly high   higher like higher price all right so like there's  these mini things so it's like they I think   this the name of the store is like mini cost or  something like that but it's a miniature a smaller   version of Costco they go buy some popular things  bring them back here and then sell them for a   slightly higher price all right so of course Arya  doesn't know the name of that but she's thinking   American Store American Store all right so she's  speaking imperfectly obviously the perfect answer   would be oh can we go to the mini cause and  then uh yes okay we understand exactly what   you're saying okay yeah so there's uh yeah I think  there are Costco's in uh in different countries   all right but the interesting thing here is that  the only difference between Arya and a non-native   speaker is the confidence that's it all right  so Arya is not communicating perfectly because   she's not using the exact word that we might be  expecting but she has the confidence to continue   explaining something all right now what most what  what happens often uh very often in conversations   is a native speaker might be speaking with a  non-native so I'm speaking with a learner and they   say like oh I want to go to that American Store so  an adult learner says the exact same thing I want   to go to that American Store and I say oh what  what do you what is an American Store what what   do you mean and then the person freezes up like  oh no I said the wrong thing ah what happened okay   but Arya didn't do that she just said oh maybe  I should try explaining it in a different way   all right so this is the courage to respond  imperfectly remember that there are many   ways to explain things and sometimes if I can't  remember the exact word it's not important it's   not necessary to do that I just need to explain  something and ah okay now I get it all right so   if you if you try to explain something like if  I'm trying to explain I forget what a word is in   Japanese or whatever I can I can go around that by  trying to explain it in a different way and it's   just the courage you have to continue going on  with the explanation so the other person usually   wants to understand what you're saying that's the  point of a conversation you're trying to connect   with the other person you're saying something  they're saying something you're having a back   and forth you want to understand each other and  so I want to understand my daughter and now I   so she calls that the American Store all right is  this sentence this whole story here does this make   sense so remember that the only difference is that  a non-native speaker might say the same thing but   they would get flustered it's like oh no they're  going to start panicking because the other person   doesn't know what I'm talking about oh no I use  the wrong word oh no all right you don't need to   do that you are creating that by getting in your  own mind when you start doing that so it's okay   to just try to explain something and do the best  you can with the other person and it's really just   your confidence where I'm saying like yeah I know  like what's the name of that thing and I'm working   with the other person can you what's the name  of that do you know that store we went to you   remember I got that doll and Noel got a doll  too and we ah okay now we remember ah you're   talking about the mini costs okay so remember  the confidence is really the thing that that   makes it different native speakers are still  in these same situations so native speakers are   also communicating imperfectly most of the time  they might have a specific thing they want to   say but it could probably be spoken better or they  could use fewer words or something there are lots   of ways that you could make communication more  perfect or more efficient but most people don't   communicate that way okay so don't put pressure on  yourself remember first thing is just responding   to other people by repeating what you have or  what you hear from that person second thing   if you're feeling more confident is just trying  to express something without doing it perfectly   all right it's not about making mistakes it's  just about a different way of getting to the   same conclusion all right so ideally like let's  say you were right here and you want to get to   this point if you can go straight to that with  the perfect language that would be great but it   doesn't matter if you need to go around here  and come back you still get to the same place   and often you have a good connection with the  other person as you try to figure that out but   don't feel bad about that any questions about this  all right let me go back before we go into number   three which is a little bit uh even higher level  for even stronger students but that's really what   you should be doing or this is what you should  be doing what I'll explain in a moment to become   much more fluent and really be talking about  anything you like in these conversations all right   the chat got a little bit quiet over here but  hopefully everyone is still paying attention   is everyone asleep or people there is this  making sense are people feeling a little   bit better about conversations now or am I  wasting my time let me know because these   are the exact same strategies that I use in my  own conversations in Japanese and and the same   things I'm doing teaching my children as well  all right so I encourage them to find different   ways of expressing themselves there isn't just  one way to say things all right hopefully this   makes sense if we got no more questions  let's see all right to go back through   let's see to the Julian the whale beached on  the Cornish Shore due to dehydration oh that's   interesting uh Tristan says you're my savior been  sick to uh stick to your lesson for almost four   years now and I can say I totally communicate like  uh with a native English people glad to hear Bravo   that is good to hear Tristan keep up the good work  Bruno hey Drew what's up glad to be in your lab   lesson glad to hear you uh nice to see you there  Bruno I arrived I like your channel glad to hear   it all right hey we have a hundred people in the  live yeah call your friends they get more people   in here where my Peruvian students also I think  I had some Peruvian students in class uh one time   over there Isaac says pretty easy Japanese I just  got here too uh do you say this video yes I will   save these perhaps yes I got the point what's up  what was that all right moving on so the final   level uh again I don't want to cover everything  you can do and teach you a whole bunch of phrases   these are usually just principles because a lot of  people they they want specific phrases you can use   in a conversation but then they just forget those  okay so in order to actually become a confident   speaker start with these things that will  help you improve in your regular conversations thank you and you will feel much more confident all right so the third and final thing we'll talk  about here this is something uh if you've been   on my channel a while you should be familiar  with this and this is naturally very reviewed okay so naturally varied review what we've talked  about for number one especially and number two uh   is that when you're repeating things you're  listening to other people especially native   speakers in conversations that's the real practice  you're getting with the language so especially if   you talk with 10 people about doing a particular  thing this is getting naturally varied review   where you're hearing one person say something  so let's say I'd speak with one person about I   don't know raising pet rabbits or something or  pet frogs or whatever I'm just I'm I'm talking   with one person so this is one person is maybe  teaching me about something where I'm talking   with them about that thing even if I don't know  much about it then I talk with a second person   who's going to give me more information about that  same thing but they're going to use that in maybe   slightly different ways they may give me some  phrases that are both talking okay you need to   raise a frog from a tadpole so a tadpole like this  is a baby a little that's a bad picture every time   so we got the little head here and a little  little tail like that here's a a tadpole a   tadpole so we have okay we're learning like this  person says tadpole that person says tadpole as   well and that helps me remember the word tadpole  so rather than just trying to repeat it put it on   a flash card and review it again and again I want  to listen to lots of people talking about that   so I get a third person that also is explaining  to me about how to raise frogs or something   okay so notice how like the more overlap  there is the better my fluency becomes   the more overlap there is the better my  fluency becomes about this particular stuff   so if I continue to have more and more  conversations maybe I talk with this person and   this person over here so each of them like there's  some phrases that only this person will use   there are some phrases that only this person will  use but there are some phrases that everybody uses   okay so a tadpole is a is a young frog so  frog we got an egg like this goes into the   tadpole form it grows up into oh man this  is going to be a bad picture of a frog that's a frog all right and then the frog  makes eggs and the cycle goes around like that   okay so as I'm getting naturally varied review  and this is specifically for building vocabulary   all right where I'm listening to different people  it's improving my vocabulary it's developing my   memory it's improving my listening as well which  also improves my pronunciation it's teaching me   grammar all of these things it's doing naturally  without me having to study a bunch of rules it's   by understanding the context of the situation and  it's through this process that I build fluency for   conversations so the first thing here we talked  about mirroring people means I'm just repeating   back what other people are saying I could be  in a conversation in a language I don't even   speak and if I know what the words are you know  if someone could like tell me okay this word   means this like I understand like this is a word  this is a word I could repeat back to that person   and they would it would feel to them like it's a  conversation all right so that's what we're doing   with mirroring the other person so even if I have  a limited uh conversation so maybe I know a lot   of vocabulary which is the case for many Learners  so they have a limited uh active vocabulary they   have a large passive vocabulary but they don't  really feel confident using the vocabulary they   have so mirroring is great for that and then if  you're feeling a little bit more confident you   can respond imperfectly so you don't have to put  pressure on yourself to say this exact one thing   try to explain things try to communicate in a way  that's understandable even if it's imperfect and   it's your confidence about wanting to explain  something that that will help the other person   relax as well so if you start to panic oh no I  forgot the specific word I need to say for this   it's it's okay you don't need to worry about  that just like a young child like I told with   that story with my daughter you're just expressing  yourself in a different way it's not about being   incorrect you're just expressing yourself in  a different way all right and then naturally   varied review this is where we're getting lots  of different input so all of these are really   about improving through input anyway even in  conversations you were really just improving   your kind of your confidence that you have uh by  feeling more confident about like using specific   words in a conversation but that usually comes  from you actually understanding that vocabulary   really well and you can do that by yourself so you  don't have to be in a conversation to do this just   like right now I'm teaching you things and I'm  reviewing things again and again in different   ways to help you remember them so that when  you are in when you are in a conversation you   will feel more confident about using these things  all right so naturally varied review this is the   highest level and this is really for the for the  long term fluency development it's something you   can begin doing immediately if you're not doing  it already but this is really how we help people   in fluent for life so you begin in the program  and you start going through things again and   again in slightly different ways so you might  hear the same vocabulary from different people   you might hear it in different tenses you might  see it like maybe used by a person like me if   I'm teaching something and then hear it in an  actual conversation so all of these things are   giving you lots and lots of review without you  needing to respond or actually say anything all   right the the actual communication part it's a  very small part of the learning process and just   like me out here even living in Japan I don't  spend most of my day speaking Japanese I spend   a very little amount of time speaking Japanese  I would say maybe all together maybe like it   depends on the day I might have a day if I go out  with a friend or something maybe I would speak to   them for an hour or something in Japanese but  most days I'm not doing that and if I'm getting   any Japanese at all it's like reading something or  watching something or listening to it rather than   me speaking all right so it's because I'm able  to understand I feel very confident because I'm   getting all this naturally varied review all right  let me go back and check questions but that's the   basic lesson look at that 45 minutes very good  all right so mirroring responding imperfectly   and then getting naturally varied revealed these  are all things that you can do without having   to put a lot of pressure on yourself and again  these uh these very simple three simple things   you can do in conversations or even if you're  learning by yourself you will still get lots   of great input and you will still improve your  fluency and all these things can work together   all right uh is it not persons it is people it is  not persons it is people huh I think I don't know   if that's for me or not uh Athena says thank you  teacher it is bedtime getting myself ready for   another work day uh uh it nearly it is nearly 22  hours in Montreal all right uh is the mirror same   thing as shadowing well shadowing is your your  repeating after people like if like you're not   doing anything even in a conversation uh that's  where you're just like you could be listening to   me right now and trying to repeat after what I say  but this is it's less important uh to do that this   is specifically about being in conversations and  this is advice that I would even give to native   English speakers just to have better conversations  with people so just having Rapport feeling uh   confident making the other people the other  people or person feel listened to so if they feel   listened to they will they will enjoy speaking  with me more even if I'm not speaking very much   so a lot of this is just it's just general  advice about communication and conversation   specifically so like you can just by shadowing  someone like repeating back after what they said   um but you can do that by yourself I'm talking  about in conversations when you want to respond   on automatically okay do you have an accent well  I suppose everybody has an accent but I try to   try to communicate very very cleanly uh to make  sure all my words are easy to understand even   though I'm blending my speech like a native  speaker are you American yes I am uh uh okay   got it all right can I you okay thanks Dad  Lewis says I do not have the opportunity to   talk with other persons ah okay maybe that's  what that's about yes talk with other people   yes again you don't need to have other people  in order to improve your fluency this video is   specifically about people who want to communicate  and who are in like who do have that opportunity   but Again Naturally varied review will get you  fluent even if you don't speak with anybody else   because the whole point of fluency is that you  develop an understanding of the language like   a native speaker that's the whole point so when  you understand a language like a native speaker   you can use the language like a native speaker  okay so if you're just learning uh by yourself   you don't have anyone to practice with then  you're just using like translations or trying   to learn the the traditional way by studying  grammar rules you are going to think about   those things when you communicate but if you're  actually learning and trying to understand like   a native English speaker which is what we do with  naturally varied review that's how you can become   a fluent speaker by yourself all right then when  you are in a conversation you will feel much more   confident about speaking and you can follow these  simple things in order to do that all right so   let's say you you're you're getting naturally  varied review like you start doing that and in   the next you know 30 days you're feeling much  more confident about using specific vocabulary   when you get in a conversation you can use that or  if you're still feeling shy you don't want to say   something whatever the reason is you can just  mirror the other person or respond imperfectly   all right yes the psychotic teacher is back what's  up all right Shivan says how to be fluent in a   long conversation yes this is it so remember  a long conversation is a series of shorter   like shorter back and forth things like this  so there there's nothing special about like   being in a longer conversation rather than  a short one but usually the complaint that   Learners will have is that the conversation  uh like becomes boring usually because the   learner doesn't have anything to say so they  think well I'm like a learner says or a native   speaker says yes tomorrow I'm going to the beach  and the the natives and the learner says oh okay   and so that's the end of the conversation so I  mean you got to think about it like like a game   of uh I don't know volleyball or something so you  have one person over here and another person over   here first person hits the ball to the other  side now you can respond excuse me you can   respond by hitting the ball back to the other  person that's what mirroring does or you can   just let the ball fall down over here and then  that's the end of it so I say hey tomorrow I'm   going to the beach so I've hit that over to you  tomorrow I'm going to the beach and you say great that's the end of the conversation  okay or you can respond back the beach   well yes I like going to the beach  I have been going to the beach since   I was a little kid and so you hit that back  maybe I'm feeling a little bit more confident   I want to respond maybe imperfectly  oh what do you like about the beach   okay I'm answering them I'm responding  back again the the length of a conversation   increases by going more usually usually you  go either deeper into something or you're   jumping from one topic to the next that's  how you would have a longer conversation   okay but it's it's still using these basic ideas I  don't need to have like Advanced uh vocabulary in   order to do that I'm really just using their  vocabulary I could I could probably be in a   conversation with people uh and in uh in master  English conversations so these are the specific   conversation videos that we have in fluent for  Life uh when I'm going in those I mean I've spent   a long time just having like basically not really  interviewing people but just getting to know them   and so I let them speak I ask them questions and  I often just repeat back what they said to me   so I have been in the Army for a long time oh  a long time so I'm looking for more specific   information one person says I have been in the  Army for a long time now I could respond back to   different things about that sentence I could say  oh the army so like rather than the Navy or rather   than you know like the Navy SEALS or whatever or  you know something else so I'm talking about you   or I'm talking about the army or I'm talking  about how long they've been doing that thing   so I'm listening to what to what the other person  is saying I forget myself I don't worry about   what I'm trying to say I just listen to the  other person and continue trying to hit back   the thing back to the other person just by using  their words so we can have a long I could have   an hour-long conversation with someone just  repeating back what they're saying I usually   would not do that I would like add something or  maybe we talk about something else whatever but   if you're not feeling so confident about that  it's easy just to repeat back what they say   and it's still a great conversation because  really the a great conversation comes from   the other person feeling listened to from them  feeling like they got to talk about something   so most people they will begin a  conversation like hey like what's up because in a conversation we expect  the other person not to care or to   not really be listening or whatever  it's just hey what's up I have nothing so what's up and the other person says nothing okay I guess that's the end of the conversation  then okay and like so I might respond back like   hey what's up nothing oh really nothing so I could  just I could repeat this back to them and I'm   really getting like oh this like really nothing  like there's nothing happening in your life   so the the the the goal here is to to make  that person feel confident that they can speak   okay so they they're looking for permission to to  actually talk about something because most people   don't feel listened to okay so if tomorrow  hey I'm going to the circus wow the circus   I get excited and just repeat back what they said   wow the circus I added the wow part but I even  if I forget the word wildest Circus the circus   it's the same thing all right so hey what's up  so what's happening what's going on oh nothing   nothing now this is this is like speaking to to  teenagers or to like kind of older children where   I say oh what did you do at school today nothing  really nothing you did nothing at school you did   nothing you know what what are we what are we  why are we sending you to school if you don't   learn anything okay so we we have to kind of go  deeper and we encourage the other person to speak   when we do that that's how we get more information  so when kids feel that they are listened to they   will speak more but most times parents are like  be quiet you know we don't want to have you know   don't want to hear you hear you say anything  all right so people are looking for permission   to speak let them speak so a lot of Learners think  it's a bad thing that they feel shy or they're not   feeling confident it's actually a good thing okay  so you can feel wow I don't have to worry about   myself I can be a good listener and still respond  back to the other person to keep the conversation   flowing all right and again we do this we  want to have Rapport and we want to develop   fluency because fluency comes from us paying  attention to what the other people are saying   okay that's how we're building fluency all  right a couple of responses here let's see   all right Julian again I prefer not to practice  English with another learner because I believe   that one bird cannot uh guide another yeah so  if you I also would recommend you you actually   practice with native speakers if you have someone  to speak with if you can your accent is very clear   and not like all Americans I hear on YouTube  what is the secret well I'm speaking clearly I'm   intentionally being clear so people can understand  what I'm saying so what we do in fluent for life   is we take you from understanding my voice to  understanding more difficult native speakers   all right so it's much more difficult to just to  watch me if I'm giving a like a long explanation   or a difficult thing if I'm using idioms slang  faster speech if I'm not communicating accurately   then of course it's going to be more difficult  so a lot of people enjoy watching my videos   because they can understand what I'm saying  it's pretty easy okay but if I want to take   you from this level to understand me I want  to get you out of the the learning English   phase and into the native speaking phase and  so that's where you start understanding more   native speakers and you have to learn a lot of  the vocabulary and things in steps if you try   to jump directly to that it's much more difficult  that's why we do it in steps in fluent for life   all right I think natives speak too fast yes it  just sounds too fast because you're not used to   it yet but when you are used to it it's actually  not very fast at all all right but what if I don't   have a partner to speak with what can I do again  Isaac you don't need a person to speak with this   is for if you do have that situation or that  opportunity great if not you really get fluent   by getting the uh the net the naturally varied  review the comp the comprehensible input so it's   just understandable messages that you get from  native speakers but the point is to focus on that   for a long time so I don't like this example  here I don't watch just one video about how   to do something I watch a whole bunch of videos  about how to do something I listen to many people   speaking about how to do that thing so if you have  not watched it already I have an example about   this specific kind of learning on the channel it's  about how to make espresso so if you've not seen   that video already go to the channel and watch  that because it will show you and make you feel   more confident about making espresso even if you  don't care about making espresso so I don't care   about making espresso but now I understand and  I could have a conversation with someone about   making espresso okay but the point is it's because  I watched a couple of different people doing it   all right It's always important to get lots of  real examples and varied examples that's why   this is called naturally varied review because  we want to hear lots of examples the same way   natives learn if you only listen to me or any  other teacher then you will only really you will   really try to focus on sounding exactly like I do  and your voice is going to be different from mine   maybe you have a higher Voice or a lower Voice  or maybe you don't have the kind of nasally sound   that I have in my voice so my voice sounds a  little bit different and you will feel much   more confident if you listen to a varied group  of people the same way you got fluent in your   native language so the way you speak is actually  a different it's kind of a combination of all the   people especially when you were young so your  mother and father and any friends or teachers   those are the people that really helped you  develop your accent and your pronunciation   but you still have a unique voice so you should be  doing the same thing in English all right hablamos   hablamos Como hablamos thanks coach I agree and  then it says I suggest that you should make a full   video speaking the way you normally do so people  can see the difference so if you go to our Channel   you can find conversation videos of me of me just  speaking I'm like a little bit a little bit uh   I'm not I'm not as fast as I could be because I  really could speak much faster and depending on on   how I'm speaking with people or who I'm speaking  with uh like if it's a bit more of a professional   situation I would speak a little bit more like  this but if I'm just talking casually with my   friends it's not even just the speed it's also  the vocabulary that I'm using so I intentionally   am not putting a lot of phrasal verbs or idioms  or other things like that in my speech I'd really   just want to make it understandable okay so  it's not just the speed of the speech or the   accent the vocabulary is really the most important  part of that or it can be the biggest thing that   stops people from understanding okay so you'll see  that in those conversation videos so rather than   doing it in this kind of thing that will help  you understand yeah uh Nadia says always with   the same response our child in all language uh  nothing I don't know what that means let's see uh uh the more I listen the more I feel confident  in speaking but I'm still very afraid of making   mistakes as Gilson yep that's common again if you  just respond and repeat what the other person says   you can't really fail you're just repeating  what they said so that's the easiest way to   do that just to get confident about repeating  things and then the next level up is trying   to respond imperfectly so you don't have to  put pressure on yourself to communicate just   like a child would where they're trying to say  something and maybe they don't know exactly how   to say that okay so there are many ways to say  something there's not only one correct way to   say something so don't put pressure on yourself  to do that it's typical lessons that tell you   this is how you say something or this is how you  pronounce something so a perfect example is like   if I'm learning uh like Japanese characters  like how to write something so if I'm trying   to teach my teach my daughter the alphabet yeah  and if I'm if I'm being like very precise about   the the language like if I'm teaching or  English like that if I do this if I do this   I say look there's like a certain amount of space  between this part of the A and that part of the a   so you you have to write it perfectly every  time you have to write it like this like there   there's a certain distance between this line  and this line now this is the kind of thing   in Japanese that you will see but often like  in real life there are different fonts so font   like a different way a character might be written  so the letter A might be like this might be a   little bit closer together so I'm I don't put  a lot of pressure on my my girls to teach them   like you have to write it perfectly like this  what I do is try to give them many examples and   say look like these are the kinds of things you  will see okay so like some people will have the   letter A like that some people have the letter A  like that some people have the letter A like that   they're all correct okay so this is why we get  naturally varied review the point is to make you   feel confident that oh yeah look the real world  is varied like this okay so we're not worried   about trying to be perfect like all this and  you see this in in learning Japanese but when   people write normally like their writing looks it  looks horrible okay so somebody else asking about   writing the same thing advice I gave before  is actually write stuff just fine writing and   copy it by hand the same kind of writing you would  like to do so read more and and uh and write more   uh uh let's see okay so if you'd like to like  to hear more me speaking more normally with more   idioms and phrases and things like that uh it's  in the conversations so this is again what we do   in steps in fluent for life uh let's see who John  says I heard someone said don't keep asking kids   what they did at school unless they want to share  um yeah well it's it's more like letting them know   hey like we we are interested in what you're doing  I don't force my kids to speak so if they if if   I say hey what did you do in school today uh and  they say nothing I say really you did nothing and   and again part of my communication with my kids is  so that I'm giving them English input even if they   don't speak they're still learning the language  from me all right so part of that is just me me   giving them input they can listen to me talking  about things and I will say oh really like maybe   you like did you did you go to the park today  did you play with your friends so even if they   don't speak even if they didn't do that thing I'm  giving them examples of how that would sound so   sometimes kids don't speak because they don't feel  confident about language sometimes they're just   lazy or they're they're busy doing something else  so like they're playing with something and I say   hey what what did you do today and they said I'm  busy I'm playing with this thing over here okay   I'm not going to give them like I'm not going to  force them to speak all right but I can especially   if they if they're if they're listening to me  at all I can give them lots of input all right let's see uh next one uh I move in USA four  months ago with intermediate knowledge of   English I participate ESL classes and training  myself but sometimes I think that I with that   progress from that time can you give me advice  yes uh so I I without knowing more about your   situation I'm sorry I don't know your name  I can't read the Cyrillic there but if you   you can live in the United States but still learn  the traditional way so there's nothing magical   about being in the United States except you have  more opportunity to listen to English input but   now you can do that on the internet anywhere so  it doesn't like there's there's no like additional   benefit of being in the United States other than  maybe having some opportunity to to communicate   with people all right but you can still get  fluent anywhere in the world by yourself if you   get naturally varied review so if you're getting  lots of examples from people you're hearing how   natives are communicating and that's what's making  you feel much more confident about the language   so if you're in the United States you should be  doing these things up here if you're in a position   where you can talk with people if you have that  opportunity then you can either repeat after them   or you can respond imperfectly to that person or  after getting naturally varied review and you feel   confident about using something making your own  complete sentences all right so these are are the   things you can do but they're not necessary if  you just want to learn by yourself just getting   more naturally varied review is perfectly fine but  it doesn't matter where you live if you're still   learning like a student you want to be learning  like a native English speaker so that's the most   General basic advice for people for improving  grammar pronunciation listening vocabulary   everything do what native speakers are doing  copy native speakers if you want to sound like   native speakers if you want to speak like native  speakers if you want to speak like a student   then do what students do all right it's really  that simple so how you learn is how you speak   uh let's see I have arrived late well I have  arrived right now it's okay Lewis no worries   you can you can watch that uh everybody loves the  Cha Cha Cha let's see all right Tim that's your   name okay well it really is your name your name is  Tim or if you're not speaking to somebody else or   maybe that's like Timothy or something like that  something longer I'm guessing so little children   love the Cha-Cha okay how many words do we need  to be able to speak fluently in English has anyone   heard my response to that already because I've  given it many times I bet someone else in the chat   can answer that if nobody does everyone should  know the answer to that question but I can answer   that if so if nobody does I want to see if anybody  knows my answer to that how many words do you need   to speak fluently how many words uh solicit trunks  I just finished 50 lessons of uh uh Japanese   teaching Center what do I do next to improve my  Japanese well how is your how is your Japanese   not like can you can you can you understand  everyday conversations so I I think I I think   I remember like Mina no nihongo uh like if that  was a textbook many years ago uh that I looked   at I think I stopped using that uh but you should  be getting more uh input from people from native   Japanese speakers if you're in if you're in Japan  I don't know if you're in Japan or not uh oh it is   Timothy okay um but yeah so if you um yeah if  you even say it so Japanese teaching Center I   don't know if that if you're in Japan doing that  or not but you should be getting more naturally   varied review in Japanese so find things you're  interested in at your level and get lots of that   input so like reading uh Doraemon is something I'm  doing so as an example let's see if I have that so just reading uh reading is an excellent  way to do that in bam look at that   it's a bunch of stories that have a similar  like similar vocabulary level because this is   written for young kids and so like some of the  vocabulary I don't know but most of it I do so   I can learn new things like oh yeah look at  that like I just learned some new vocabulary   so Discovery I talk about that in my recent video  about the four different levels of learning and   Discovery is really the highest level for  being able to when you discover something   yourself like ah like I actually figured that out  for myself so you should be getting at your level   so something you can understand maybe 80 to 90  percent of and that will help you feel much more   confident about that so learn with that whatever  whatever the thing is you're interested in um okay how can we make the letter T sound  like the D like a native speaker you should   get Frederick so we cover that in Frederick  and you listen to the different examples of   that you can compare those but this is listening  to words you learn the individual sounds of words   and then also hear how words blend together so  you should be doing that in Frederick you can   click on the link in the description below to  do that uh did you ever listen to James Taylor   songs I don't know if that's for me or not  but uh probably thank you for feedback says   Timothy my pleasure all right Shibu says that she  being says 2 500 Words 2500 words you just need   the words you have as long as you practice you  can speak should be fluently yes that's correct   uh you speak very clearly I didn't understand  when Canadians spoke because it's so fast could   you please give me advice for understanding  when people speak thank you remember there   are many there are many pieces of this all  right let me answer both of these questions all right so the first question was how many  words do you need to speak fluently uh and the   answer my answer specifically is that there it's  the wrong question to ask the question is how well   do you know the individual vocabulary because  you get fluent word by word as you understand   that vocabulary so if I teach you some words so  if I just give you a translation or a definition   translation or definition translation or a  definition of these but this one wow I'm actually   going into a lot of detail and I cover this word a  lot you will be fluent in this word you will feel   confident using this you will not become fluent in  these you will not feel confident using them all   right so people think that fluency is something  that happens after you learn enough vocabulary   they think that you like okay I learned one word  and I can't speak because I only have one word   now I know two words ten words 20 words I keep  learning more and more but they still can't speak   they think okay maybe if I get oh okay I got 2500  words now like Bing now magically I can speak but   that's never happened to anyone ever okay like  maybe someone could find an example of someone I   would love to meet that person who couldn't speak  and then so they were at word like 24.99 and they   couldn't speak but then they get to word like 2500  and then they could speak as I don't think that's   ever happened ever okay so the goal here is to  become fluent in individual words and phrases you   become fluent in individual words and phrases  as you understand them very well so you feel   confident about using them you erase the doubts in  your mind about is this the right tense am I using   this the right way is the pronunciation correct  all right so if you just get a quick definition   of something like this okay I'm going to try to  learn 10 new words every day I have my flash cards   and that's it you're going to waste your time  trying to learn more and more and more and you   will probably go past 2500 words all right but no  one maybe someone could prove me wrong that would   be amazing if I met someone like that but I have  never met anyone who could not speak for the first   24 99 words so the first 2499 words but finally  when they learned that next word bam magically   they became able to speak I don't think that's  ever happened to anyone okay what actually does   happen is you get fluent in individual words and  phrases and then because you can use these words   individually you can connect them together to make  longer sentences it's that simple so most people   they don't spend enough time actually getting  like they're going deeper into the language to   really learn more about those specific words and  phrases and that's why they can't speak okay so   it's not how many words you know it's how well you  know the vocabulary all right so these ones again   not all words are created equal in your mind some  of them maybe you've heard them once or twice you   don't really feel very confident about using them  but other words maybe you've heard them many times   lots of people have said that word to you  it's like a young child hears the word stop   or don't do that you know like 20 times a  day at least so of course they know don't   do that you know their parents are like  no don't don't do that don't touch that   kids hear the word don't it's like the first  word they learn don't okay so the point is that   they hear so they are fluent in the word don't but  maybe they are not fluent in the word electricity   all right so if we have like a I don't  know a higher level word uh like status as an exam so my my children maybe they have heard  that word before but I they would not be able to   use that in a sense so they are fluent in the  word don't they are not fluent in the word status   okay all right so Sarah says I know five  thousand words but I can't speak English   fluently yes another perfect example of people  continuing to do this and if you have done this   don't feel bad this is the way everybody  really like almost everybody I don't do   this but this is the way almost everybody  teaches any language the point is to get   more and more vocabulary instead of knowing the  vocabulary you have very well so this is why I   tell students hey I can actually help you become a  more confident speaker without learning more words   it's true people think well that's impossible  you can't help me become more fluent without   learning more vocabulary how can you do that and  the interesting thing is look it's because I can   take the vocabulary you already know and help  you use it better help you know it better help   you understand the pronunciation and the uses of  the things you already know is everybody getting   this does this make sense so when people ask  how many words do you need to speak fluently   one word really either you can use the word  fluently or you cannot all right and then over   time if you have a bunch of words that you can  use fluently you begin to weave them together   into fluent conversations but if you don't first  get the individual words fluent if you don't get   fluent in that vocabulary then of course you can't  have longer conversations and that's why we have   naturally varied review up here as the main driver  the main thing the main Foundation of fluent   communication so if you're in a conversation and  you don't feel confident about anything because   you really don't know anything you're saying  you've studied a whole bunch of words but you   still can't speak just mirror people if you feel  a little bit more confident you can respond and   try to express what you want to say even if it's  imperfect but if you're getting naturally varied   review you will communicate fluently that's all  I'm doing right now all right I did not become   fluent in English because I lived in the United  States I became fluent because of how I learned   so there are I can imagine there are non-native  speakers living in the United States maybe some   people have been living in the United  States for 20 years 30 years 40 years   and they still can't speak think about that  they probably know a lot of words but they   still can't speak all right so notice how these  things are connected together if you want to   become a fluent speaker you have to become  fluent in the individual words and phrases   it's pretty it makes it makes sense doesn't  it okay so either you do this or you do this   and I like to I like to do this up here and  it's more interesting too you get lots of the   whole point of getting naturally varied review  is that it's interesting each time you hear a   different person talking about something or you  hear it in a different tense or in a different   setting like I just showed you the example of uh  Doraemon here for learning Japanese so I might   like read something here and then I hear it in a  different place all right now I want to be clear   so she is saying uh repetition is the key I'm not  saying that straight repetition is the key this   is the like the core difference for what I'm  talking about this is the difference between   naturally varied review and repetition repetition  means I take a flash card and I repeat the exact   same thing over and over and over again where  I only listen to one speaker over and over   and over again what I really want to do is get  lots of different speakers or I want to focus   on different things like even listening to me  in this conversation right now maybe the first   time you watch this video it's just listening okay  how is Drew speaking about this how is he asking   questions what's his intonation like I'm focusing  on a particular thing okay and the next time I   watch the video I focus on something else so it's  not just repeating the same thing it's not like   shadowing the same thing either the point is I'm  getting naturally varied review I don't have to   speak I'm just listening to other people and it's  not even just listening I'm like watching people   or reading something or writing something  or listening to people on the radio or TV   I'm getting lots of different input and the  whole point of that is to get me fluent in   that particular vocabulary because when I  feel confident about that then I can speak   all right it's the doubts you have about  vocabulary or pronunciation or whatever   that stop you from speaking it means you don't  know the vocabulary as well as you think you do   and so you overcome this by getting naturally  varied review reviewing that uh reviewing that   thing again and again all right hopefully that  makes sense uh uh let's see all right so answer   yes I'll go back to answer uh that's our our let  okay I can't see that l or if it's an L or an   I so Arlette is asking how to understand uh like  Canadian speakers or American speakers or whatever so remember that there are different parts  of speech now we can just break this down   very simply so we've got the accent  and again you can you can even maybe   put it into more pieces than this but the  basic idea is the accent and pronunciation so pronunciation we'll just call this the sound  of the language and we've got the speed and then   we've got the vocabulary and vocabulary means the  grammar and the words so we just call this vocab   all right if I put you in a conversation so  imagine like there are two two speakers over here   so these are both native English speakers if  I put you in a conversation with them it would   probably pretty be pretty difficult for many for  many Learners maybe the people watching this video   also might be difficult for them all right and  the reason it's difficult is because we've got   maybe some difficult accents maybe people aren't  communicating clearly they're mumbling their words   it's going to be fast so that's a lot  of information to process at the same   time if you're not familiar with it  and of course they're going to have   slang idioms and other things like  that that make it more difficult   okay so how do we complicate this like or how  do we how do we take this complication simplify   it we want to split these up into different  pieces so you learn each of them individually   all right we want to take the conversation and  break it down into different pieces all right so   we want to help you understand the vocabulary so  here's some of the key vocabulary that you will   hear in the conversation here is the that same  vocabulary at different speeds so you can get used   to hearing it hearing it at different accents so  hearing different speakers again we're trying to   control how we learn that and then we also want  to hear of course like the slang we're trying   to learn uh like maybe some of the grammar and  understand how that works and if you take these   different pieces and you learn them when you get  back to the conversation again it becomes a lot   easier to understand all right this is what we do  in fluent for life so we're taking a conversation   and we're separating it into different pieces so  you can go through these and again the naturally   varied review that comes is by getting all these  in different ways so we're going to read listen   write some of that read listen write some of  that too and each time we go through these we   feel a bit more confident we learn a little bit  more [Music] and that's how we understand that   okay so it's very difficult to start over here and  jump right to the conversation that's what people   are complaining about they're saying I can't  understand Canadians or Americans or whatever   okay so if you go from here to hear it's going to  be frustrating most likely but if you go from here   to here ah okay I understand this and then here  to here okay I understand a little bit more now   here to here I understand more and then finally  you get back to this and now you understand a lot   more and you feel much more confident about that  okay so it's the review and then we this is just   one conversation we go do that with another one  and another one and another one and another one   and over time you get fluent just like natives  do but it's just a much more systematic approach   than how native speakers learn the language so  it's really even better than learning the same   way a native would oh yeah so that's how you  do it it's really it's really impossible or not   impossible but very difficult to try to go from  uh by yourself to try to understand conversations   it's much easier and you will feel much better  if you do it in Little Steps in the same way you   like try to walk across a room I can try to jump  across the room that's going to be difficult or   I can just take some simple steps and I'll get  across the room quite quickly all right remember   that naturally varied review is what we use to  build the habit of communication we're not trying   to memorize a bunch of vocabulary words and then  forget them in conversations we want the habit of   using these things fluently and automatically all  right do I understand or speak German no I do not   all right so I could stop learning from live  internet face-to-face teaching it cost me a lot   of money actually yes absolutely I don't I don't  learn Japanese from live face-to-face lessons and   again the reason I don't do that is because most  of the time it's going to be more of the same   like it's going to be more of the same lessons  that don't actually help me speak all right even   me I don't recommend you only watch videos of me  like I know I think I'm amazing but I don't want   you to do that if you only watch videos of me  it's not going to get you to the highest level   okay you really need to listen to me and other  speakers or maybe you don't like listening to   me and you listen to somebody else that's fine  whatever you want to do it needs to be a mix   of naturally varied review okay that's the  whole reason we do this the whole point is to   simulate the native environment and so if you're  it doesn't matter if you're in a live class like   sitting in a classroom like I used to teach in  the classroom or you are learning through online   teachers if they're teaching you like a student  then you're going to be stuck at the student level   okay all right Neil says I make a great job glad  to hear it I'm glad to hear I'm being helpful   over here all right so let's go back and answer  some more questions I really want to spend time   on these things so people understand the answers  to them it's also good to have that review so I'm   I'm not trying to repeat I want to give you maybe  different stories each time explain with different   examples and that's going to help you become a  much more confident speaker all right so Mom says   I can understand English but I can't speak yes so  again like we will hear we will still see people   in this video and every other video I do and every  other video that you find about learning English   with people talking about this same problem I  understand but I can't speak I understand but   I can't speak okay and the reason is they don't  know the vocabulary as well as they think they do   having a definition or a translation or a passive  understanding of something is not the same thing   as knowing it and using it fluently all right if  you want to be able to communicate you have to   know it fluently all right really just think more  about fluent understanding of the language rather   than uh like trying to speak so you want to have  fluent understanding all right uh uh let's see all right so there's illnesses when you in Rome  do that the Romans do yes when in Rome do as the   Romans do yeah yeah so learn like a native if you  want to speak like a native those again thanks   teacher for your class I will continue tomorrow  because it is a little late where I live okay   Demi says doesn't that depend on how much words  you know it is important is understanding yes   correct Julian says when it comes to speaking  I believe the key is to focus on the situation   rather than specific words you want to use yes  so this is what I recommend so you you begin   with a situation because that's how natives are  learning the language so a a child in one family   might hear different vocabulary than a child in  another for the same situation so Mom says clean   up your room another mom says clean your room  another mom says tidy up your room another mom   says what are you doing put your toys away you  hear lots of different people explaining things   in different ways so if you dwell too much on the  words themselves you might find yourself mentally   translating them yes however if you concentrate  on the situation uh the appropriate words will   naturally come to your mind yeah so this is what I  teach again this is the same way you get fluent in   your native language that's why I worked all right  uh let's see and if you okay answer that question   but yeah very good you got it so I said uh I know  if I okay answer that one already uh it's about   being a confident a he he Olga says I guess our  fluent depends on the environment we're in for   example our job uh no it's helpful but again you  are watching me right now and you are improving   your fluency just listening to this video or  watching this video uh wherever you are in the   world so you create that environment yourself this  is what we do in fluent for life you don't need   to be in a particular place I can get fluent  in Japanese anywhere and actually I improved   a lot of my Japanese in the United States just  learning by myself and trying to get input from   Japanese people I actually worked at a I worked  at a Japanese restaurant in the United States   and in there most of that was me not speaking  Japanese it was just listening to people speak   all right repetition okay answer that one already  so between pronunciation and fluency which one   should be improved first uh uh it depends on  how bad your pronunciation is most people their   pronunciation is okay uh or at least like you can  you can kind of understand what they are saying it   might not be perfect but like grammar is the most  important thing because that's you know trying to   actually communicate correctly is more important  than than like sounding perfect so if I'm saying   the wrong thing or explaining something  incorrectly then that's going to be worse   so what if native speakers don't get me when I  speak because I have an accent even though it is   not a thick accent yeah then uh I would just  try to ask them like oh if you're if they're   having a problem understanding you it's usually  because they're not prepared for that accent so   you could again get more try to improve your own  accent by listening to different native speakers   and so if you listen to lots of people like what  I'm talking about with naturally varied review or   you could just ask them like how can you like make  a game out of it ask them how to how to pronounce   something a lot of people are actually kind of  happy to help out with that uh if you can if you   can make it make it more of a game so like oh like  can you can you say this word for Me Maybe I have   like two or three different Japanese speakers so  they can do the same thing with English speakers   so you see these videos on YouTube sometimes  it's like an American and an Australian speaking   English or whatever so you can get a couple of  different people to give you live naturally varied   review and just say hey I'd really like to improve  my pronunciation so I'm understood can you help me   do that and you know if it's for work or something  then often people would be willing to do that they   might not be able to teach you the language but  certainly everybody understands pronunciation and   so they can you don't have to have them like  coach you about that but just to hear them   speaking and then watch how they move and you'll  you'll get very good at pronunciation that way   Otto says my click to be confident uh speaking  was taking uh talking to an officer in my first   visit to the U.S he tried to speak Spanish once  I'm from Brazil and I asked him just to speak   uh slower I could understand his words yep you can  just ask people to speak more slowly that's it too   so it's good to sing to practice speaking Yeah  you can you can sing yeah it's another another   way as well Ellen says it finally uh understand  your way of teaching I was at my at a restaurant   the other day and my husband asked the waitress  for a doggy bag and she didn't understand so I   told her it was a to-go box yep boom there you  go and so in even like as a as a non-native   speaker if you ask for something like oh can  I have a like a doggy bag or whatever like not   everybody knows the same vocabulary and that's  why native speakers are prepared for lots of   different people like using the vocabulary that  they know or or learning the different vocabulary   or even just understanding what you mean by  something like oh we need a box to go okay   so I think it's yeah excellent uh very  good that you that you're figuring that   out sometimes you know we need lots of examples  to to really make that point clear but remember   that these are the the same things that  you will experience in your native language   all right let's see I want to read  more yes you can definitely do that uh   uh let's see so my strategy is to listen to anyone  speaking English such as news broadcast from BBC   and Fox as well as different accents yep all right  I speak three languages a day a lot of times my   brain freezes when I talk as a paralegal I don't  feel confident enough pursuing my career what to   do oh my goodness well you'd have to think about  what what the I don't know maybe either either   you're trying to like your your frustration is  about the career itself or just the language use   maybe you can focus on a particular language and  just use that one or get a different career you   know it depends on what what the specific issue  is all right I recorded myself then I listened   to me trying to improve my accent maybe reading a  book yep you can do that but again if you just get   naturally varied review it will improve you a lot  more than taking time to record yourself you can   do that but uh if you the more review you get from  other people that's going to get you flowing much   faster because the goal is not not only to just  hear your own voice which is often like kind of   weird for people they're like oh I don't like the  sound of my voice you know uh but if you get lots   of input from other people that would make you  feel much more confident so it's about reducing   the doubt that you have in your mind uh let's  see 100 gratitude says Omar it's my pleasure   all right uh and shipment how to get rid of the  Native accent influence you get naturally varied   review so you listen to lots of different people  talking about something so you listen to the same   song sung by different people or you listen to  like the same speech or even just just hearing   a different different group of people speak and  you will hear them say the same words in different   ways and so that will help you improve your own  accent as well because you don't want to try to   have one one I mean you could have one person  maybe you want to sound like a particular actor   or something but your voice will always sound  a little bit different even if you're even if   you can mimic them perfectly if you can copy them  perfectly so just find a kind of range of people   and then listen to them and then you can find  a good a good spot for your voice in there I've   been pushing myself to read says Otto some English  books through Kindle it is a great tool to learn   in some vocabulary but I have to practice right  away at my job to fix it in my mind yeah so again   using uh the vocabulary is is one way to to make  it more memorable like if you can kind of stress   yourself out a little bit uh it might not be the  best way to learn but you can learn that way so if   I'm if I really need to know some vocabulary for a  particular speaking session or whatever uh then I   can I can do that and I can have I might remember  the vocabulary but it's much easier if I just hear   that same vocabulary from a bunch of different  people or review it in different ways so if I   see it in a movie or hear it on the radio or TV  read it in a book or whatever that will actually   help me remember the vocabulary and feel much  more confident about that way all right Amanda   says dang it means my English is so bad I don't  even have those mix of environments yeah again   you don't need to be in a different environment  you can do that right on YouTube it's pretty easy   so right now you can bring the English speaking  world to you so when you're out on the bus or the   train or at work or whatever you can get that  information uh anywhere okay so that you don't   need to go anywhere or do anything it's all right  here if you're watching this video right now this   is one example of this is is a person speaking  pretty clear English and helping you get some   some tips about learning the language obviously  you can learn how I'm communicating and if you   focus on like how is Drew saying this and how is  he moving from one thing to the next if you really   pay attention you will learn a lot about that  without even me giving you a lesson about it this   is how kids are learning they're paying attention  to what their kids are doing or what their parents   are doing or even what other kids are doing and so  if you're listening to people you don't need to go   anywhere you can just get that information right  here like I do in that espresso video again this   is what we do in fluent for life so we've got all  these conversations all of the learning thousands   of vocabulary words grammar pronunciation all  that taught just step by step in the program   it's already ready and waiting for people so  you don't have to go anywhere or do anything   all right let's see here all right food chain  says so the point is speaking how do I improve   my writing I'm stuck uh try typing sometimes even  though going to help uh uh Google help to write   your word ah so again if you're if you're if you  mean like how to write better again looking at   more examples of how people do it the same way  you would learn to speak is really the same way   you would learn to write so you're getting lots  of examples of how other people do it is accent   different than dialogue well dialogue means like  you're having some kind of communication between   uh two people an accent is just the the sound of  your voice like the if you have a particular egg   I can tell you're from a particular place by how  you sound the difference is in your in your voice   uh how can I improve my listening skills same  thing listen to lots of different people naturally   varied review naturally varied review solves  all look at that it's amazing remember how do   you improve your listening in your native language  same answer all right uh so I should focus on the   situation and not the words yes so mcales is uh  focus on the situation again if you you begin with   a situation like a focus of some kind so you want  to learn a particular word or you want to learn   how to talk about something just like I do in that  espresso video so in that video the situation is   how to make an espresso and so I watch a couple  of different people do that and I hear how some of   them use the same vocabulary maybe some people use  different vocabulary but I become more confident   as I get these different examples all right  so remember like the the way to learn it as a   student is you begin with a word in your native  language and then try to translate that so it   really stops you from having a much wider use of  the language because either you know that one word   or you forget it in conversations but a native  speaker doesn't learn the vocabulary that way they   learn it by beginning with the situation so they  see what do native speakers say in this situation   so what do I say when I'm teaching what do  I say when I'm uh I don't know ordering some   food on the phone hello yes I'd like to  place an order for something now I might   say it that way but someone else might  say it differently and that's why we get   naturally varied review the point is not to  have a single point of failure all right so   you don't want to have like one one point of  failure like a spider web example I often give so if you've ever touched a spider web before you  know it's a little bit a little bit sticky and   you can rip a hole in a spider web but it's it's  it's quite difficult to rip the whole thing down   I mean you could I guess if you took a big  stick or something and just that's the end   of it but in general the spider web is really is  really strong and it's strong because all of the   different connections there and so that's how  native speakers are learning the language and   so if they forget a word that's what we're talking  about about responding imperfectly in this video   if they forget one word it doesn't matter because  they just switch to another one so it's the same   situation but maybe they express it in a different  way so different vocabulary or maybe they I don't   know they think about something completely  different like completely different topic or go   on to something else I've given the example many  times of native speakers and again this is native   English speakers not knowing how to spell a word  so they might be writing something like writing it   by hand it's easy if you have a computer because  the computer will spell check you but if you're   writing something by hand they might think how  do I spell that word I don't know how to spell   restaurant or whatever so they can't remember how  to spell it so they switch to a different word   okay and so they write that one because they  can spell it same idea so you begin okay I can't   remember that word let me switch to something else  that's because we're learning from situations not   trying to have that there isn't there is no  one single point of failure in this all right all right let's see how much time we have left  oh my goodness we gotta shut this down we're at   100 minutes you guys keeping me keeping me way  too long over here all right uh I think part   of being fluent is also going to pause and when  talking don't you think so yes so obviously there   will be some some pausing in conversations all  right contest is Hooper important we need real   situations yes sis how can I learn phrasal verbs  uh we have that in fluent for life so the visual   guide to phrasal verbs is in there you should be  learning them visually just like native speakers   do and then understanding the more figurative  uses of those as well all right uh and let's   last questions here from Trin how can I learn  the intonation and accent again you want to   hear a lot of different people and that will  that will help you understand the accent the   intonation and this is what we do in Frederick  as well so you're listening to my voice but   you're hearing it kind of in different ways you're  learning the vocabulary hearing it in sentences as   well but then you should also hear it from many  different people so all these things whether it's   pronunciation accent vocabulary grammar all those  things this is everything we cover in fluent for   life which you can learn more about by clicking  on the link in the description below this video   all right Neil says good night and thanks a lot  so you would say either thanks Lots or thanks a   lot both of those are fine but that's a good note  to end on 101 minutes oh my goodness I need to   rest my voice but if again if you'd like to learn  more about how we get you fluent automatically by   following these same principles you can click on  the links in the description below this video get   Frederick get fluent for life and get fluent have  a fantastic day and I'll see you next time bye-bye

Channel: EnglishAnyone

Views: 84,129

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Id: 2V0AWRkgD1o

Length: 101min 30sec (6090 seconds)

Published: Thu May 04 2023