(upbeat music) - Hello, this is Jack
from www.tofluency.com and welcome to this very important lesson. So a lot of the time, I talk
about methods you can use, I talk about vocabulary you need to know in my English lessons, but today, I'm going to
give you a big overview on what I think are the best ways for you to go from the level you have now to the level you want to have in the shortest amount of time possible. So we're going to talk about your goals, your why, training methods, the types of things you need to do. We're going to talk about time and how to fit English into your schedule. So stick around, continue watching if you want to know the most efficient way to improve your English
and stay until the end because I have a question
that I want you to answer and while watching this
video go down to the comments and see what other people are saying too. So before I talk about
the fluency equation, I want to briefly talk about
your goals and your why because having a goal
that you are excited about is going to give you the
motivation to create a plan, but also the motivation
to continue learning. Because think about a
time when you have started to learn something new. In those initial stages,
you have all that energy and motivation and desire
to learn that new skill. So for me, it might be learning the guitar or learning a new sport. And those beginning
stages are very exciting, but those who are going to succeed are those who continue
doing things consistently over the long-term and we'll talk more about consistency later. But you're going to need
to create that strong why. The reason why this is important for you. This then gives you the
desire to do the right things. Now, to help me explain this, meet Pablo and Sarah. Now, Pablo and Sarah are both from Spain and they both want to learn English. Sarah works in the stock market in Spain but she wants to get a job
in New York within 12 months. And something that is holding her back, something that is stopping
her from getting this job, is her level of English. So she needs to learn English
in order to get this job. Now, Pablo lives in Madrid and he's going to start working
for his family business, which is a restaurant
in a big tourist area. And his desire to learn English, is so that he can talk to customers and to be able to take their
orders and do the other things which include interacting
with English speakers. So both of these people
have a strong desire to learn English but for
very different reasons. They both have a strong why. Not only is it important
to think about your why in this sense but also,
we'll talk about this later, it allows you to focus on the
English that you need to know. So the type of English
that Sarah needs to learn is different to the type of English that Pablo needs to learn. So my first question for you is why are you learning English? So for some people it's
an external motivation, which means a job that they need to get or so that he can move to another country, so that they can get into a university in an English-speaking country. But for many it's also
an internal motivation. They want to be able to speak English because it's a challenge,
because they love the language or because they like meeting new people. So take a moment, maybe pause this video and think about your why. In fact get my book "The 5-Step
Plan for English Fluency" as it allows you to really
go deep into the reason why you're learning English and
it also gives you the ability to write this down. So you can get that book by
going to the description. Another important thing here at this stage is setting a goal. Now, your goal could be
to reach a certain level by a specific time. So if you are an intermediate speaker it could be to have a C1 level of English by the end of the year. Or within 12 months. But basically you're setting
a goal with a deadline. Now, having a goal is very important. We all have goals even if
we don't write them down. When you start a new skill your goal is to become better at this skill. So we always have a goal, even if we're not very specific with it. But it's a good idea to think
about what level you want to have and when you
want to have that level. But later when we talk about
creating a learning schedule, creating a daily routine, we
can also talk about goals here. So for example your goal might
be over the next three weeks I'm going to do 10
minutes of the Imitation or the LRRC method. We'll talk about methods later. This is a more specific goal which focuses on deliberate practice, which
focuses on doing something on a daily basis; and this
is more of a process goal instead of an outcome goal. An outcome goal is
where you say a C1 level within 12 months. But also create goals in
terms of daily habits. Let's now talk about the fluency equation because this focuses
on the two main things that actually dictate how long it's going to take you to reach your goal. So let's again just say your
goal is to reach a C1 level where you can speak freely
and you can understand almost anything you hear. You're not quite at that native level but you're very good at English
you feel really confident. So there are two main things
that are going to dictate how long it's going to take
you to reach that goal. The first one is the types of methods that you're going to use;
what you do with your time. And then the second one
is, how much time you spend doing things in English
and learning English. How much time you spend studying. So it's what you do and
how much time you spend doing what you do. Just to give you a very simple example. If you spend 40 hours a
week, which is a lot of time, just studying verb tables, then
you're not going to improve. And on the other hand,
if you spend 10 minutes using the most efficient method possible, then you won't make any progress. So both of these things are important. Now, before we talk about the methods, there are two important things to know. The first one is, you have to
become an independent learner. You have to become an independent learner. Which means that you take
responsibility for your learning. Don't just think that
signing up to the course, or signing up to speak
in lessons is enough. You have to take control of your learning. And that's what this video
is going to help you with. And then also note that there are four main skills to English. Reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Reading, writing, listening, speaking. Two of those are output,
and two are input. So, reading and listening,
those are inputs. And speaking and writing are outputs. With that in mind, let's
talk about the types of techniques and learning strategies that you can implement. And the first one is to get lots of input. Get lots of listening and reading. This is what I call
immersion, where you listen to things in English and
you read things in English. You can also watch things in English, too. So we'll include TV in this. Now, the majority of learning
a language is subconscious. Okay, this is an important
concept to understand. The majority of learning a
language is subconscious. This means that you don't
really study a language. Instead, you immerse yourself in it. So, getting lots of input is
going to help you with this. It's going to allow you
to get used to English, to recognize patterns and
to acquire the language in a very natural way. Now, the downside of this method is that you need a lot of it. So it's not just about getting input, it's about getting a lot of input. The advantage, though,
is that you can do this while doing other things. And I'm sure you're doing
some of this already. Watching this video is input. It's quite easy to do, in a way, because it doesn't require you to really think about the
language you need to use. Instead you're just
acquiring the language. So, listen to things
while doing other things. This is easy to do these days. And I'm sure you can think of
all the times during the day when you can be listening to English while doing the housework,
exercising, et cetera. And due to the digital revolution, where you live isn't as important anymore. Because you have access
to all these materials no matter where you live. If you can watch this
video, then you can watch more or less anything that's
out there in the world. Now, the next technique
is to learn English through sentences because context matters. And learning English through sentences allows you to learn new vocabulary and see how that vocabulary is used, but it also helps you internalize grammar. Because when you learn sentences, you recognize grammar patterns. You don't need to know the
rules to learn grammar. Instead, you can acquire grammar through the repetition of sentences. Now, the input method, again,
lots and lots of input, will help you with this. But you can also focus on learning English through sentences by
using something like ANKI. Now, I made a video on this,
so I won't go into depth here. But know that the repetition of sentences is going to help you acquire grammar, vocabulary, and
also, if you do it with audio, the intonation and stress
and the phonetics involved. So, learn English through sentences. Watch that video on the sentence method. And then also, apply this later when we talk about
mimicking native speakers. The next thing to focus on
is the sounds of English and how to make them. But not just the sounds,
but everything to do with English pronunciation. Now, this is something that
not many people focus on when growing up and learning English. And this is obvious,
or there's a big reason why this happens and it's because usually there's one
teacher and 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, more than 40 students in a class. And it's very difficult for a teacher to give everyone personalized attention and to correct the way
that they say things. But know that this is an
important area of English. And improving the way
you say things in English is going to help your confidence, it's going to help your
clarity, your accuracy, and also your fluency. Because if you can say
things without thinking about how to say them, then your English is just going to flow. Here is how to improve
this area of your English. Firstly, know how to make the sounds. Know what you need to do with your mouth in order to make a sound in English. So inside the To Fluency program
I go through this in depth. Now, I talk about minimal pairs, I talk about consonant
sounds and vowel sounds, the Shwa-sound, just knowing how to make these sounds is the first step. Knowing what to do with your mouth, your lips, your teeth,
your tongue, et cetera, is the first step; the
second step is to practice and to get feedback on these sounds. Okay, this is important. You can do this on your
own by recording the sounds of English and then listening
to how you say them. And then you can make adjustments based on what you think you need to do. So, know how to make the sounds. Say them, get feedback, and
then get longterm repetition. Train your muscles in your mouth to be able to make these sounds without thinking about how to do it. Now, the next technique is what I believe to be the most powerful. And it brings together the four skills and a lot of what we've
already talked about so far. And it's simply to mimic native speakers. To mimic proficient or native speakers by getting audio of sentences,
listening to these sentences, repeating them, recording your version, and then comparing the two. And this is going to allow you to work on all four skills if you do it properly. But it's also going to help you improve your English in general. I think this a most-powerful method. Now, when you're listening
to the phrase and reading, you're getting input, so
you're learning new words and phrases; you're
getting the input you need to acquire grammar. And then you're saying these sentences, so you're getting the output,
the speaking part of this. You're listening to
where you make mistakes or where it doesn't sound
quite like the original. And then you're making changes. And then if you repeat these sentences, over the longterm then you're
going to internalize them. You're going to acquire the English that you learned from that sentence. So there is a lot going on here. And this also helps you improve
the areas of pronunciation that you might not focus
on, things like rhythm and stress, and the music of English. To be able to express different emotions in the way that you speak. And a big part of this
is getting the right type of audio that is specific to you. So going back to our
Sarah and Pablo examples, Sarah wants to learn financial
English for the stock market. So she should find phrases
that are specific to her, that are based on financial
and business English. Whereas, Pablo needs to learn the types of phrases he needs to
use in a restaurant. So things like: How is everything going? Are you ready to order yet? Would you like dessert? Et cetera, and then both need to work on general English, things
like small talk; things like phrasal verbs that people
use in everyday English. So, know that no matter which area of English you want to learn, there will be this
everyday English component. But be specific to you
and focus on the areas you need to know. Those are the main things that I think are the most important
techniques or strategies to use, study plans to use so that
you can make fast progress. Now, it's also important
with all of this to have fun. And that doesn't mean just doing things that you always find enjoyable. But it also means to enjoy the
process of learning English. To learn the whole journey
from where you are now to where you need to be. And to take pride in the
way that you learn English. So repeating sentences might sound boring, but you can make it fun,
you can make it enjoyable. And that is a big part to this because consistency is so important. Now, a couple of other things to work on are to get feedback on your speaking, maybe from a teacher, to get
that natural speaking practice so that you can put everything together and enjoy speaking English. And then the other one is to try and make some English-speaking friends
so that you put yourself in a situation where you're using your English more naturally. Now, the second part of the
fluency equation is time. And you can have the best
strategies in the world, but if you don't do them then, you're not going to get anywhere. So this is a really important
part to spend some time on. I actually made a lesson on collocations and phrases with time, if
you want to learn those. But the key here is
just to get in the habit and make English a part
of your daily routine. I recommend implementing these strategies so that you can use them on a daily basis. And I made a video called "The 10+ Method" where you dedicate 10 minutes a day to something you know you should be doing but you're not doing. And then if you do more, great! If you don't, don't worry about it. But the key is just to focus
on 10 minutes every day, and to do this consistently. If you don't do it for one day, for whatever reason, forget about it. And then do it the next day. Try and do it every day if you can. And make this part of your daily routine. That is going to allow you to get used to doing the right things in English, to using these strategies that I think are really going to help you. And then over time it becomes a habit. It just becomes part
of your daily routine. So try "The 10+ Method," I'll leave a link to
that in the description. Now with all that in mind,
I'm going to talk about some general tips to help
you with this journey. And the first one is to learn high-frequency used phrases and words. Because these are the
most important to learn, because they're the ones that you're going to use most of the time. So take some time to look up these high-frequency used words and phrases, and implement that into your
daily learning strategy. And it's not just about knowing something. Because I come across a lot of learners who know how to use Must and Have To, but actually using it
during a conversation is a completely different story. It's not as easy as
just knowing something. And that's why the repetition of sentences and mimicking speakers
is going to allow you just to use it naturally when speaking. So don't fall into that trap of thinking, oh I know that grammar
point, therefore I don't need to implement that into my daily practice. Stay simple, go with the basic phrases, the high-frequency used phrases so that you can speak
freely and naturally. The next tip is to make
it easy to learn English. So, download the apps
that you need to have and have them on your phone. Change the language of
your phone into English. Only have English come up
on your social media feed. So unfollow pages that
you don't need to know. And then also, have
English books by your bed. Don't have books in your
own language by your bed, just have English books by your bed. Make it easy to learn. And then another tip is to do something in English in the morning, first thing. Because by doing this, it makes sure that you've done something
in English for that day, but it also gives you the
motivation to do something later. Because if you've already
done something in the morning, then you get excited about this. You get excited about
maybe doing something else and learning more later. So think about how you can do something in English, first thing in the morning. And in fact, let me know what you're going to do as soon as you wake up, in English. So we have covered a
lot in today's lesson. To get at a quick summary of this, go over to my website,
because I have this post in written form and you'll
be able to just go through this again and read it,
which gives you the input of listening and also of reading. And then from there, take
a look at two things: Firstly my book, "The 5-Step
Plan for English Fluency." A lot of what I've talked about
here is in the book format. And it allows you to go through this in a different type of a way. And then check out the To Fluency program, because it gives you that method
that we talked about before where you listen, repeat, record, compare. And then get longterm repetition. And it also gives you the audio for those high-frequency used phrases and words that you can just go
through in your own time. So let me know if you
have any questions, too, because I might make a
part two of this video. And always just check out the description; there's a lot there for you. Now, the question I have for you is this: What are you going to do
for 10 minutes every day, over the next 30 days? So what method are you going to use for 10 minutes a day for the next 30 days? Leave your comment below. If you have enjoyed this,
then please like and share it. If you are new here,
subscribe to this channel. Again, my name is Jack from www.tofluency.com. And then also, check out another video which will be on your screen now. Okay, thanks for watching. Bye bye. (upbeat music)
