[Part 1] Moving from intermediate to advanced English

- Hi there and welcome to this special lesson

on how to move from intermediate to advanced English.

Now, before we start, if you wanna activate

the subtitles for this video, go ahead and click

the little CC icon so you can have the subtitles.

And this is the first part of a special mini-course

that we're going to do over the next few days

to help you, you know, get back from summer vacation

and start, let's say, you know,

the back to school period.

But just get back in, you know,

the right way of learning English.

And we're gonna just have a special mini-course

about achieving advanced English through virtual immersion.

And today we're gonna do part one,

which is moving from intermediate to advanced English.

Sometimes this can be really hard if you're,

you know, you're stuck at the intermediate level

and we're gonna do just an entire little series

about how to get to that advanced level.

So, to start off, you know, maybe this is what

your English progress feels like today.

You know, it feels like you've hit a brick wall.

You're maybe at an intermediate level, around B1, B2.

And when you're at this level,

it's actually quite normal to feel stuck.

You know, because when you're at a lower level,

like you're a beginner or an elementary level,

you actually see progress faster

because you're starting with so little.

And so when you're a beginner it can feel great,

you learn two new phrases and you're like, "Wow,

"I can do something new."

But you know, learning is not a straight line.

Like we imagine that we always progress

and we always advance at the same rhythm as we develop.

But in fact there is this thing called

the Law of Diminishing Returns, which means that the more

you advance in a skill, the harder it is

to advance even more.

So you'll make a lot of progress at the start

and then when you hit that intermediate level,

it becomes actually harder to make

the same amount of progress.

And this is also what we call the intermediate plateau.

Maybe you've heard me talk about this before,

it's where you just get like to this point

where you feel like you're stagnating

and you're not really progressing up to that expert level

or just that advanced level that you wanna get to.

Now, the reason for this in English

is that as you move to advanced levels,

the language becomes more abstract and nuanced,

which means you don't use it as much.

So the key is to really focus on the things

that are useful and relevant to you.

That's really gonna help you to learn

these more advanced things.

Because when it's relevant, and when it's useful,

your brain works harder to retain it

because your brain knows that hey, this is important,

I need this, I better remember it.

Oh, and, you know, I haven't introduced myself yet,

so lemme go ahead and just say, you know,

who I am, in case you're new to this channel.

So my name is Christina and I'm the creator

of Speak English with Christina.

I am originally from Mississippi in the USA.

I have a Masters Degree in American Civilization.

I've got a diploma, the Cambridge Diploma

of Teaching English to Adults.

I'm also a certified neurolanguage coach

as of very recently.

And I've been teaching business English since 2004

and I speak a few other languages, C2, fluent in French

and I also speak a good, you know,

elementary level German, let's say.

I make lots of mistakes but that's okay.

As for Speak English with Christina,

I created this is 2015.

Now we've got three online courses,

we've got a special conversation program.

I do coaching and individual programs

and I'm very excited that I actually have the chance

to work with a team of six qualified, expert teachers,

a certified business communication coach

and we're helping over 400,000 subscribers

and more than 800 students to improve their English.

And if you speak French, you may have seen me

in just some places like

(speaking in foreign language)

where, you know, I've been featured there as well.

Now getting back to how to help you

to move to advanced English.

We're gonna look at, you know, how to attack

the problem effectively.

Because sometimes this is one of the challenges

when you're at an intermediate level,

is how to improve effectively and efficiently.

What we need to do is to like attack your English

from all sides, but in a very coordinated, strategic way.

And we're gonna do this through two different types

of learning, we've got natural learning,

so this is like absorbing the language

through exposure, reading, listening, things like that.

And then we've also got deliberate learning,

where this is really you are working on your English.

You're studying to learn and understand new things.

So natural learning, this could be things like

listening to podcasts, just conversations

that you have with friends or colleagues,

or conversation partners.

Could be reading books and magazines and things like that.

Whereas deliberate learning, you know,

this is where you're really making a conscious effort,

maybe you're studying the transcript

from the podcast that you listened to.

Maybe you're doing a structured conversation program,

like my fluency club where you've got specific vocabulary

and a topic to try to practice.

Or maybe you're using an app like Quizlet

where you are learning and memorizing

the vocabulary that you have discovered in your reading.

So there's two different types of learning,

and these are just some examples.

Now, when you combine them,

you know, you've got the natural listening,

the natural conversation practice,

you know, randomly discovering new vocabulary

and new grammar structures and you combine

that with deliberate listening,

like listening specifically to train your ear,

structured conversation practice

with the specific objective.

Learning that new vocabulary and revising it

and those grammar structures,

when you combine these forces,

this is what is going to help you

to really master spoken English

and get up to that advanced level.

Now, one of the big things that I hear from students

all the time is this, you know, kind of excuse,

I think, is when they say, "Yes but okay,

"that's very good, but, I know, I just really have to go

"to the country and immerse myself.

"I mean, that's the only way I can do it."

Now, you know, that is, that's great

but they, I say it's an excuse

because there's a lot of difficulties

of doing that.

You have to take off time from work,

you've gotta manage your family,

there's the budget, the cost, the logistics.

And it can be quite challenging.

So an alternative to that,

which is much easier to put into place,

which you can do it, it's a virtual immersion.

Now what is virtual immersion?

It's basically creating an environment

where you're surrounded by English, like an immersion.

You're blending that focused, deliberate learning,

with the natural incidental learning,

just like you would in an immersion program

where maybe you would have lessons in the morning

and then the afternoon you're out exploring,

you know, New York City or London, or wherever.

So you're combining the two.

And you're carefully choosing the resources

that are relevant and useful for your life

so that it's efficient, it's helpful,

it's practical and you remember it better.

Now, why does this work?

Because, like we saw earlier, you're really attacking

the problem from all sides,

but in a very strategic, useful way.

That means also that you're able to identify

the places where you've hit a brick wall.

The places where you're really struggling

and you just can't, you know,

get to that next advanced point and yeah,

you can feel it almost.

But then we're gonna help you to break through it.

Because with the virtual immersion program,

you know, maybe you're also working

with a teacher or a mentor,

who can tell you exactly what resources are the best

to help you to destroy that brick wall,

start breaking it down and getting over

to that other side, to that more advanced level of English.

So, it's also super effective

because you're focusing on the right things

at the right moment.

You're not just randomly learning, you know, lessons in

a grammar book that you don't really need right now,

you're learning the things that you need right now,

so that you can use them so you can learn them

and consolidate them.

Because when you're interested

in the things that you're learning,

you know, it's more emotional, you're more engaged with it,

which means that it sticks better in your brain

and that's what learning is.

And when you do all of this, it's really going

to accelerate your progress, you know,

if you're stuck at that intermediate plateau,

this is going to help you to accelerate

up to that advanced level.

So, what I'm gonna do today, that's just

a little introduction and the next lesson we're gonna go

into more, you know, practical ways

of actually implementing this kind of program.

But I wanna give you one very small,

very easy take action tip that you can do after this lesson

to start, let's say, gently building the habit,

starting on your journey to a virtual immersion.

Is I want you to install the app Evernote

on your phone, or you can use

any other note taking app on your phone.

And then, when you're reading something in English

or you're watching a series or a movie

or anything like that, whenever you discover

an interesting, useful expression,

just take a minute and note that in your app,

in Evernote or Notepad or whatever

and try to get five interesting expressions

that are relevant and useful for you.

For the next week, I want you to review your expressions

at least three times per day.

So one of the key practices in a virtual immersion program

is consistency and regularity.

And you know, each time you review them,

imagine a conversation in your head

with these expressions.

So you're going to actually you know, visualize yourself

in a situation where you're using these expressions.

So something from your real life, something very concrete.

And in the next lesson, you know,

we're gonna look at why you're struggling

to get to this advanced level,

and how to solve that problem.

We're gonna look at the top performer mindset

and the habits that you need to advance.

So we talked about that just a little bit earlier,

being regular and being consistent.

And we're also gonna look at five instant changes

that you can make to level up your English now,

and you know, we're gonna start progressively on your path

to building your virtual immersion.

Now, in the comments below this video,

I want you to share with me, you know,

what resources and activities

are you already using to learn English.

I'm sure that you've got some favorite resources

or apps or other things that you're already using

and tell us how are they helping you?

How are you using this tool to help you move

to a more advance level in English?

And if you wanna be sure to get the next lessons

in this mini-course, go ahead and sign up

and christinarebuffet.com,

so that I can send you the lesson directly.

And also I can send you my American accent survival kit,

which is going to help start training your ear

to understand those messy sounds

that you hear when, like, Americans speak fast

or speak at normal speed for an American.

All right, so that it for today

and I will see you next time for part two

where we're gonna look at what it takes

to reach an advanced level in English.

All right, good luck with your take action tip.

I'm looking forward to seeing what you're doing

in the comments.

And I will see you next time, bye.