3 Things Successful English Learners Do Differently

How come some English learners engage themselves in conversations rather easily?

They get the job of their dreams in English, they make friends,

and ultimately, they feel very confident and comfortable in English.

While other learners, no matter how much time they spent learning,

they try out the newest strategies, they still feel like they're stuck

in an endless loop of frustration.

What is the difference between learner one and learner two?

The resources are the same, the language is the same.

So how come one person's experience is so significantly different than another's?

In this video, I'm going to talk about what makes a successful learner.

Over the last 15 years, I've worked with thousands and thousands of

students in person and online from all different backgrounds, and I've

noticed three consistent traits that my most successful students have.

Those are not traits that they were born with – they were acquired.

So, if you are interested in creating a much better and more fruitful experience

for yourself learning English, make sure you watch this video until the end.

The first trait is thinking about their future self rather

than their present self.

Let me explain.

You already know that for you to be able to acquire a new skill or learn

something new, you have to spend time learning it and practicing it.

Now, this requires consistency, determination, persistence.

And it's not easy, because we're human beings.

And when we try to do something that doesn't give us immediate reward,

like learning English, I mean, after speaking English for 30 minutes

or speaking with someone else for 30 minutes, you're not gonna feel

immediate difference or improvement.

You will have to do it over time, consistently for you to start feeling

the compound effect of your practice.

So this is why when you try to build that habit, or when you try

to practice daily, what happens is that you start feeling uncomfortable.

And then there are all these feelings and thoughts of, "I don't feel like

it", "I don't wanna do this", "What's the point?", or "Maybe tomorrow".

And that is your present self speaking to you.

Because at this point it just doesn't feel like something you wanna do.

And usually, we listen to these voices.

So we do a little bit, but we're not fully committed.

Or we do it for a little bit and then we stop, because the habit of not doing it

is stronger than the habit of doing it.

However, when you think about your future self, when you imagine yourself

a confident, successful speaker of English, that person feels good

about speaking English, that person practices English or uses English daily.

To be able to get there, you have to start somewhere.

I once saw this quote by Mel Robbins.

Mel Robbins is an author and a speaker, and she wrote, "What can you do today

that your future self will thank you for?"

And I always come back to this quote.

Because it is so true.

Right now I don't feel like doing something.

But I know that if I do that thing that I know I need to do, my future

self will thank me for it because I will turn that in my reality.

Do the things today that your future self does.

If that means speaking English every day, do that.

If that means practicing and learning every day, you start doing it today.

Focus on your future self and not on your present self, and I guarantee

that it will make your English learning experience so much better.

The second trait of highly successful English learners is: not looking

at failure as proof for their incapability of achieving real fluency.

Now, let me explain.

When I talk about failure, I often talk about making mistakes, and getting stuck

often, and not progressing quickly enough.

And a lot of times people use that as evidence, as proof for their worst

thoughts about themselves, right?

So if someone has a thought that their English is not good enough or

that they will never be fluent, every time they get stuck or every time

they make a mistake, they will use that as an opportunity to say, "See?

This is not working, I'm still not there.

This is really hard."

Versus successful learners, that use failure as an

opportunity to grow and learn.

And also they just see it as a natural part of the process.

Because it is!

Learning a second language requires you to make mistakes and get stuck, and sometimes

embarrass yourself, and sometimes say the wrong thing, and sometimes feel

uncomfortable and very vulnerable.

Because you are exposing yourself in a language that you weren't

born into, and that is okay.

But if you use that, that natural element of learning a language, as proof for

your incompetence, then how will you ever feel good about this journey and how

will you ever be able to break through?

My students who were able to transform their English, they never

get hung up on those mistakes.

They never feel like, "This is it.

This is how it's going to be from now until eternity."

No, they understand it's just a stage in their development.

So don't get me wrong, both successful English learners and frustrated English

learners, they both experience failure.

It's just how they go about it that matters.

It's what you make of it.

It's how you interpret it.

That is mindset.

And if you decide to obsess over it and to get frustrated and to beat yourself

up for all the things that don't work, instead of just saying, "Okay, let's try

better next time", then it will completely keep you stuck in the loop of frustration.

So if you want to turn yourself into a successful learner, one of the biggest

things that you need to change is how you perceive mistakes and how you perceive all

the things that you consider as failure.

The third and last trait, and maybe the most unexpected one, is that successful

learners find joy in the process.

So many people believe that learning is hard, that learning is tedious,

that it's not supposed to be fun, that you have to just sit down

and do the work and stick to it.

And as soon as you're done, that's it, you know, you can go, you can feel good now.

But no.

This is something that we have learned maybe in school, maybe from past

traumatic experiences that we've had as kids learning with certain

teachers, getting certain feedback.

But the truth is, that it's not supposed to be hard, that it's not

supposed to be boring, and that it's not supposed to be painful.

Research shows that the brain retains information a lot better when it's

associated with a certain emotion.

And of course, if it's a positive emotion, it's more likely that you're going

to learn something more effectively.

So if your emotion, when you're learning English, is frustration

and impatience, then you're probably not gonna learn effectively.

Your brain is just not gonna remember the things that you're trying to learn.

It will, but probably not in the most optimal way.

So why not change the experience of learning?

Because learning English has to be fun.

It's not something that you have to do, and that you keep pushing it to the end

of the day because you don't wanna do it.

It is something that you want to look forward to.

It is something that is designed to provoke curiosity and joy and development,

personally and professionally.

This is how you learn effectively.

This is how English becomes not something that you have to do, but a

tool to become a better person, really.

Because it opens doors and it offers you a world of knowledge.

And if you look at it that way, and if you deliberately do things that

make you happy, then you are a lot more likely to stay consistent, to

do the work, and to learn better.

In my programs, we put so much emphasis on learning with joy.

We have fun exercises and assignments.

And the way the content is taught is supposed to get people curious and

excited, and not bored and tired and sleepy and disappointed and confused.

Because when you feel all those negative emotions, of course you're

not gonna wanna do it the next day.

So, if right now you feel like your English practice is boring

or painful even, then change it.

Do something different.

Try out different things, explore, challenge yourself,

but do something different.

Because it doesn't need to feel hard, it needs to feel fun and exciting.

Now, don't get me wrong.

Successful English learners still struggle, and they fail.

And they feel frustrated, and sometimes they feel like they're stuck in a plateau.

All of that is relevant for successful English learners.

So it's not that they're more talented or anything like that.

It's just that they have a different mindset that allows them to go through

this journey with success and to thrive.

And if you've been feeling like your English is not enough, like you're

not enjoying the learning process, like you deserve better and more,

then consider changing your mindset, and owning those three traits

yourself, because it is possible.

Now I wanna hear what you think.

What do you think sets successful English learners apart from

frustrated English learners?

What would you add to that list?

Let me know in the comments and let's start a conversation.

Thank you so much for watching this.

Again, if you enjoy this video, consider subscribing and sharing it.

And definitely come check out my website at hadarshemesh.com.

You can also follow me on social media where I share daily lessons and tips.

Thank you so much for being here.

And remember, it's all up to you.

If you want to succeed in English, it's not too late.

You can start today.

Have a beautiful, beautiful rest of the day.

And I'll see you next week in the next video.

Bye.