What Really Gives You Fluent English?

again I am Drew Badger the founder of  Englishanyone.com and the English fluency  

guide welcome back to another live video we make  sure chat is working over here and then we'll  

get started yeah I think we're all right yeah this  should be an interesting one all right uh as usual  

we're going to talk about fluency and speaking  confidence but I really wanted to make it clear  

what exactly allows you to speak uh so this should  be a pretty short video but I will take some time  

and answer any questions if people have them looks  like Raul is there nice to see you there hello so  

if you want to let me know where you're from or if  you have any specific questions because this video  

could go in different directions that just means  that maybe we talk about a variety of things since  

a lot of people might have different issues that  prevent them from speaking uh but the core idea  

of this video is that there's really just one one  thing that makes communication possible uh but to  

help you understand that I thought I would share  a quick story uh this happened a few nights ago  

my younger let me see if I can actually prepare  a little visual aid here my uh younger daughter  

so I have two daughters an older daughter and a  younger daughter uh and my younger daughter Noel  

was eating a rice ball she had a little like a  rice ball in a bag so it was kind kind of like  

this just like a like not like a like a plastic  bag but some kind of little plastic wrap so she  

had a rice ball and it kind of looked like this  so a little kind of shape so like the rice was  

in here uh and then it was just kind of wrapped  with uh just a little plastic wrap like that and  

she said oh look that looks like a Ted Ted B which  is a it's a Japanese kind of like a little charm  

or I don't know what what the best thing to call  it would be but uh it's like a little smiley face  

kind of ghost looking thing that people hang up  and use to say you know hopefully we get rid of  

the rain and we can have nice weather so she was  saying oh look at that it looks similar to this  

thing over here yeah you can see I me it kind  of looks like a dumpling as well uh but anyway  

so this was the rice ball she was eating that  and just looking at it and she said oh look at  

that it looks like a t Ted Buu uh which is this  thing over here so usually this is usually it's  

like it could be some kind of cloth or tissue  or something like that usually with a little  

face on it uh but that's the like let's have good  weather kind of thing uh and so this was another  

example although it's not really using kind of  language specifically she's using the language  

to say one thing looks like something else but  the thing that really uh is developing her mind  

yes it it's like a kind of ghost uh but the  thing that's really developing her mind is the  

connection between the two the connection between  the two and if you think about uh it I saw this  

happen so I wasn't I wasn't like at the dinner  table but I just saw it from the kitchen uh and  

I thought oh look at that that's a perfect example  of using your mind and as you're developing more  

connections that's actually what allows you  to communicate so not only the connection  

you make uh between particular things like look  at this thing and how it's similar to this other  

thing over here but also the connections you have  with individual words or grammar points or phrases  

or whatever so the stronger the connections you  have and the more connections you have the more  

easier it becomes to communicate all right uh  I'll just take a quick look at chat but I'll  

give you some more uh examples of this so another  thing looks like okay so chat is working nice  

to see there endon says hey there Drew nice to  see you there on this live you're my hero I don't  

I don't need to be anybody's hero but welcome  welcome to the video um so another example this  

is more one more kind of specifically with  language uh but this was last night I was  

telling my older daughter Arya it was time to  go to sleep so it was I don't know maybe 8:30  

I forget what time it was exactly uh but she was  she was going to sleep she was getting ready and I  

thought she was coming com to bed but she did not  she went back out to the the living room and was  

kind of making something or drawing something and  I said what are you doing and she said I'm making  

something so I didn't she didn't like take time  to explain exactly but she just said I'm making

something I'm making something I'm  making something so very simple I'm  

making something she didn't explain  what exactly it was and I didn't go  

out to look and I said well uh  it's time for bed so you need

to make your way to bed now I often do this with  my children you see I'm making this reference here  

making a connection between two different examples  or two different kind of related uses of the word  

make and helping them understand that without kind  of giving them like a lesson about hey guys today  

we're going to talk about different uses of the  word make or different examples of a word like  

this uh so often my kids will say something and I  will take the language they use and then give them  

another way of thinking about that to help them  build the connection between these different uses  

and also make the word stronger that connection  between the word and themselves you see how this  

works so uh just to make sure this example is  clear she said I'm making something so she was  

physically you know making something like she had  some paper and was cutting something and coloring  

something like that and I said you need to make  your way to bed so to make your way some places  

actually to be moving something something like  that well making out is a different that's a  

different example but yes you could say that as  well uh but for this one like to make your way  

like I'm making my way to a particular place it  just talks about how you're getting there like  

you can think about your walking through a jungle  and you're cutting the leaves out of your way and  

actually making the path as you do it so I said  you need to make your way to bed obviously there  

are no jungle plants or anything in in like the  living room stopping her from walking to bed but  

it's the same idea about like making your way to  doing something all right so I need to make my way  

to uh a particular location or just in this case  I'm making my way to bed all right so if you're in  

a like a mountain like this and there's some water  and the water is rising you need to make your way  

make your way to Higher Ground or you need to make  your way up the mountain so you need to move that  

way you need to find some way to get up the way or  some way to get up the mountain okay so when I'm  

uh teaching my kids it's the same way I'm teaching  you all in these videos but the point is helping  

you make connections by giving you examples of how  these things would be related okay so when people  

are in conversations I often we'll get you know  emails or questions or comments from people they  

will say something like when I'm by myself I feel  pretty confident I can talk to myself but when I'm  

with other people I struggle to to communicate  and there are usually a couple of basic reasons  

why this happens but the most fundamental the most  basic one is usually they're just not really very  

strong connections or those connections are very  weak all right or uh very uh very few I suppose  

that would that would be the better way to say it  so you could have maybe just one connection like  

if you use a translation uh or the connection  itself is just very weak so you don't really  

understand something very well you still have  some kind of doubt that stops you from speaking  

so this is just another example of oh look at  that uh we've got making something and then we  

also have making our way I think a few people  gave some other examples of making Lou is very  

good uh make yourself at home so it's like to make  yourself at home means to just like you get get in  

a position or become a certain way so that's why  we use make yourself at home it's not like kind of  

building yourself but like getting comfortable to  make yourself you're kind of changing something or  

adapting yourself to the situation make yourself  at home so it means to relax make yourself at  

home or make yourself comfortable another way  of saying that all right cam nice to see you  

there hello again from Thailand and people making  out with their friends over there says SAA Kumar  

very good Tony says hi I'm living in Australia  and I can understand what you are so you'd say  

understand what you are saying but sometimes it  is really hard for me to catch the meaning of my  

colleague and uh leaders in the workplace yeah and  that's typically because I'm using a slower easier  

to understand form of English and people in the  real world or people in the wild like I say like  

like regular animals out in the wild so Regular  People speaking English are going to use lots  

of idioms and phrasal verbs and slang and things  that I don't typically use in a lesson unless I'm  

teaching those and that's why in a program like  fluent for life we give you specific steps where  

we want you to start here with understanding the  vocabulary and then see how different people use  

it and see different ways it might be used and  that's how we get you prepared for the people up  

here like the colleagues and the other people in  movies and TV shows things like that okay so it's  

a different kind of English and that's why it's  more difficult to understand it's like if I uh am  

talking with someone in my my family and I know  their voice voice really well I understand how  

they speak and the kinds of Expressions they use  but then even I go to a different place in America  

where people use different vocabulary to describe  things and then I'm maybe not going to understand  

100% of what they say so I might have to ask  them or can you rephrase something can you say  

something again but this is the basic idea where  you have to make these steps because if you just  

try to jump directly going from language lesson to  a regular Real Environment with people it's just  

going to be too overwhelming for a lot of Learners  so that's why so many people complain about this  

this specific thing about understanding me but not  understanding these other people so it is possible  

to jump directly to that but it's quite difficult  to do if you're not prepared for it there will  

be a lot of slang or fast speech or blurred  speech so you can't hear things very clearly  

right now you can notice I'm speaking a bit more  slowly more clearly and the more important thing  

is I'm not using really tricky vocabulary so it's  easier for people to understand me but if you add  

these additional steps between here and here  it becomes much easier to prepare for Native  

communication all right so that's exactly why we  built the program like this if you only listen  

to teachers and you don't get these other steps  here it's going to be much more difficult for you  

to get used to that kind of speech okay so again  like we want to help you make connections and if  

you're if you're just trying to jump directly  uh from an English lesson to the real world  

it's going to be much more difficult for you  okay because most English lessons are trying  

to be understandable but often in a real world  conversation people are not really understandable  

uh unless you know them well or you're used to  that kind of speech all right let's go back see  

if anybody has any questions and I'll give you  uh another example here uh let's see Bob says  

I've been thinking about what you said about links  and connections for weeks yes so I'm talking about  

that in this video as well uh because I really  want to make sure people get the idea uh and now  

I may realize that's Listen by thinking like  not repeat what I heard but linking uh what I  

could be relating to uh the basic idea is that  if you're having trouble communicating there's  

usually some doubt about vocabulary or grammar  or whatever and that's because the connections  

you have are either very weak or you don't have  them or you don't have enough of them so I often  

give the example uh of a spider web so you can  imagine here here's a little spider web like

this just imagine that's a spider web uh each  one of these points here this is called a no  

I mentioned this I think in the in the last video  a node n o de so these points on the web where  

where two parts or two strings or two threads  of the web connect so if a fly or something or a  

person or whatever like breaks some of this if the  spider loses some of the web the rest of the web  

is still here so this web is what creates a lot  of connections that create something very strong  

and memorable memorable so your memory works  in the same way if you only have one connection  

like you're having one translation where you  remember something then it's probably not going  

to be a very strong connection so you need strong  connections and numerous connections and that's  

really going to prepare you well to speak all  right so uh yes the idea is connections and like  

what I'm giving you in these examples you probably  know the word make already so I'm trying trying to  

give you a slightly more advanced version the same  way I'm teaching that to my daughter but it's not  

really like a lesson it's just hey look there's a  connection here and I want you to notice it so she  

says I'm making something and I said you need  to make your way to bed okay so she could even  

you know I I I can change this sentence around  depending on whatever she's doing uh and parents  

will often do this or you will see this in like TV  TV shows for kids and like young adults so like a  

child will say like well I'm driving right now  and and the parent will say like well you need  

to drive back home right now all right so there  there that in that example we're we're talking  

about drive like using the word Drive in the  same way uh but parents will will use examples  

like that where they're using the same vocabulary  I'm making something I'm doing something well you  

need to come do this thing over here instead and  we help the children uh understand what to do but  

we're also teaching them how the language works by  making more connections okay so it's pretty simple  

but this is the thing that people often struggle  with and when I listen to people speak or they're  

telling me about particular issues they have and  they say well I I can hear teachers but I can't  

hear natives or I can uh speak a little bit with  myself but I have trouble when I'm speaking with  

others it's usually because their connections  are weak they have some kind of doubt that's  

stopping them from speaking and that's what's  causing the issue Nar says hello and then we got  

again uh let's see Hello teacher I have gained  confidence in my English because I've have been  

taking classes continuously and I'm grateful for  that glad to hear it xess again this is the same  

way our brain works using neurons yes so again  we want you to to make really strong connections  

and often what's happening in a regular English  class is you're not you're either not not making  

a connection at all or the connection is very  weak like you're just using a translation rather  

than uh using you know like a like actually  getting a story or something that really makes  

that connection much stronger and more emotionally  interesting for you because that's the thing that  

really gets us excited and helps us remember uh  I'll give you one more example about this uh and  

hopefully that should make it clear but this  was another real life example just something  

that I noticed uh recently I was watching a I  think it was a highlight video from a basketball

game and it was near the the end of the  game I think there were only it was like  

I don't know like five five seconds left  to play in the game and uh so here what  

say like team one over here and there's team two  over here I forget what teams were playing uh  

but team one had let's say uh like 98 points uh  and team two had uh I think like 90 no how much  

did they have it was like 101 something like  that so this team was up by three uh and uh  

like this this team has a chance like they could  get a three-point shot and and tie the game but  

uh Team two had the the ball and the one of the  players a shot a like a three-point shot and then  

the score went up to 104 uh and there was only  5 seconds left in the game so it's basically  

impossible for the other team to for this team  to score so this team is probably going to win  

I won't get into the details about basketball  and what you can do at the end of a game often  

those games are like if it's a close game like  that you try to foul the person and and try to  

try to get some way to score but with 5 seconds  left it's going to be difficult uh to to to for  

team one to beat Team two anyway so that's the  situation I'm just describing the situation first  

so what happens like the announcer is seeing  the score is 98 to 101 uh and they're almost  

you know like around 5 seconds left in the game  and then one player from Team two he shoot shoots  

a three-point shot and then the score becomes uh  we'll just put it up here uh so 104 to 98 and then  

the announcer says I'm before actually before  I write this here if there are any any people  

who watch sports or even if you don't watch  sports what might be a good way to describe  

this this is kind of a conversational expression  and the situation is wow uh that was an amazing  

shot like that shot is is most likely like we  have a pretty good chance uh a high probability  

that that that shot was the one that really won  the game for that team so that's kind of a long  

way to explain it but uh just to make sure we  can keep this this video moving along I'm going  

to put what they said but maybe you can think  of something else uh there uh goes the dagger

so there goes the dagger uh so the dagger  a dagger is if I I'll draw kind of a like  

a large sword over here here's a sword a dagger  is usually a smaller it's kind of like a like a  

small sword like that a dagger a dagger d a g  g e r so the dagger refers to oh look at that  

the shot went in oh like they got a dagger like  that like someone took a dagger in stab them in  

the heart with it just like an actual dagger so  the announcer was using this expression they're  

taking this idea like there goes the dagger like  this shot is the dagger that stabs that team in  

the heart and we're pretty sure that they're going  to win so it's pretty pretty confident that that  

last shot now like the score is much different and  it's going to be almost impossible for the team to  

win so that was the dagger that was is the dagger  now you might also have a dagger in the same way  

like I could give you a dagger stare like that d  a g g e r s t a r e to stare at someone like this  

if I'm if I'm like really angry maybe I say some  some joke and people don't like it or something  

like that like the dagger stare like someone  someone's eyes were like daggers in that way  

like they're looking at you like yes to stare at  something like that so a dagger stare it's almost  

like someone they're thinking about killing you or  something like that they're really angry they're  

giving you that like really oh like I'm I'm really  angry at you right now so that's a dagger stare uh  

in the same way that there goes the dagger uh in  this basketball example so when you're learning  

vocabulary you might learn something like okay  this is a dagger and this is a sword that's the  

basic understanding just the basic nouns uh but  actually understanding okay what might you use a  

dagger for so a sword is like is a bigger fighting  weapon maybe two people are having a fight with  

each other with swords but a dagger is usually a  smaller weapon maybe you do something secretly or  

you try to assassinate someone so to assassinate  means to just you're trying to kill that person  

maybe secretly so you have a small dagger and you  stab that person so that's the idea of a dagger  

so we don't talk about like the the team taking  a sword and and cutting the other team like that  

it's more like that is the dagger that's the last  little thing oh like that like the the the team  

was already losing but now we got a dagger in  the heart that really finally killed that other  

team okay so there goes the dagger uh and this  is how we're again just making connections by  

SP spending a little bit more time looking at  vocabulary and how it's used in real life but  

this is an example of if you're watching a game so  I gave that that little staircase example before  

so the bottom level of the staircase over here is  just knowing what a dagger is okay a dagger is a  

maybe it's between a knife and a sword a dagger  all right so you just know what a dagger is but  

you're watching a basketball game or maybe you  just hear that expression there goes the dagger or  

that was the dagger you you probably you're might  be thinking well what is that talking about and  

if you can make the connection between like this  shot over here like getting stabbed in the heart  

with the dagger then you understand what people  are talking about but it's a very common usage  

for that uh and you could have a dagger like that  for any situation where like we know somebody's  

going to win so you could have a dagger in an  argument as well like two lawyers are talking  

in a courtroom and there's a good argument but  then the other team or the other lawyer gives a  

you know a good example about something and that  example was the final one where the jury said  

oh wow okay like now like that that guy won the  case that was the dagger in the argument okay so  

hopefully this makes sense the point is to is to  try making these different connections so so that  

we really feel confident about things we end any  doubt about when we when we might use something or  

what it means and then we can go from this level  up to here where we can understand we can watch  

a sporting event where it's like oh that that  baseball game there was one hit and like we know  

that team wow that they had like the dagger in  that example so they hit a home run or some other  

thing or it maybe it's a like a soccer football  match where you there's a team where they're  

they're almost at the end of the game and then uh  like magically or it was just an amazing thing one  

team scored and now like they're probably going  to win it would be very difficult uh for them for  

them to lose in that situation so that's the idea  uh and taking a little bit of time like this this  

is how you develop that sense for the connections  that help you speak so remember like the way I'm  

speaking right now is I'm able to make these  connections as I speak it's like I'm driving a  

train and I'm able to put the track down in front  of me as I'm driving the train okay so if you want  

to be able to do that spend more time trying to  make these connections and the connections that  

you make the more of them or the stronger they are  that's what's really going to help you communicate  

so if you want to become a more confident speaker  or you notice there are certain problems you have  

like you can understand some basic things but  you have trouble understanding uh regular people  

in everyday life like at your work or you know  just walking around different places or in movies  

things like that then it just means you need  to spend more time making more connections it's  

the connections that help you speak it's not just  like having a bunch of random words that you know  

that's not going to help you if you can't put them  together well so you actually you have to develop  

that sense of seeing how things could fit together  um you could even give me like two different  

random words right now and I could probably think  about a way to weave those into a conversation if  

you want to give that a try put some words in  the chat and I'll see what I can do with that  

but uh that's the it uh that's the end for uh this  quick video I want to take time uh to answer any  

questions people might have so I'll stay around  for that but the idea is actually very simple you  

want to make sure you're making connections with  things because it's the ability ability to connect  

that's what fluency really means you're you're  not just having a bunch of words in your head like  

general knowledge you actually know how to put  them together well and you feel confident about  

the words that you're putting together so there's  the confidence in the vocabulary itself like you  

know what it means and the confidence to con to  connect these things as you're speaking all right  

all right uh so if you have anything if you want  to challenge me with that you want to put some  

words in the uh in the chat just so I can give  you some more examples of this feel free but I'll  

go back check chat very quickly and see if anyone  has any questions all right uh let's see see Kumar  

says this is why children learn fast when it comes  to language and all they need is a bit of exposure  

to the uh apt environment yeah but adults could  do the same thing and people talk about children  

having an advantage in language learning but the  the main advantage that adults have is that they  

can choose what they learn and how they can learn  it so a child if they have a good parent who can  

really make things clear for them and help them  make connections those children will become good  

speakers faster and if you have some kids maybe  their parents don't talk with them very much  

or you know they they might have questions about  things uh but they uh you know their parents are  

able to to I don't know like they they just don't  make it clear clear or that the children aren't  

getting a lot of help making these connections  then then those children there's not really much  

they can do uh so remember as an adult the control  you have is the most important thing that's going  

to get you fluent uh because you can choose  like if a particular way you're learning is  

not actually helping you you can do something else  instead all right Nelson says hello from Colombia  

and tar says good morning sir and Rola says good  evening and Fidel says I'm going to start my  

English classes welcome let's see and cleaning  solutions look at that we got some cleaning  

solutions over here hi Drew I'm living in the  USA I speak with others I can have a conversation  

and understand however I don't let's see I don't  understand weird words accents or people speaking  

what do you recommend the only thing you can do  for that is just to spend more time with those  

kind of people or that kind of vocabulary or  whatever so for me learning Japanese if I don't  

know how to talk about I don't know construction  equipment or raising pet turtles or whatever the  

the particular subject is that's one example  where if I just spend more time with it then  

I will get that exposure that that I need to help  make those connections so remember it's the doubt  

you have when you say well I um I don't understand  what those people are saying say so you have doubt  

about that the doubt is understanding what people  are saying so you need to spend more time with  

them and just like we're looking at this staircase  example here let's say I want to understand some  

more difficult uh I don't know like some  difficult accent or like like me watching  

some Japanese anime so I don't really watch much  anime anyway and the the way characters speak  

in anime is very different from how people just  speak normally um so if I want to understand that  

me going directly from from not really watching  anime to trying to understand anime completely uh  

it would probably help me to read a transcript  first so that would be an example of how I'm  

making the steps easier for me to get to that  point so there no there's no issue with using  

uh you know translations or something it would  be even better if I have somebody who can help  

me explain or help me understand things so not  to just give me definitions or whatever but  

like I'm doing here helping you understand things  and make connections so I'm basically giving you  

lots of fluency triggers and naturally varied  review because these are the things that help  

people understand the language and make those  connections all right so whatever it is you're  

interested in or you'd like to speak better about  or you want to understand better then spend more  

time with that thing uh let's see and Tom nice to  see you there the Mercy bullet yes you could talk  

about that as well uh by the way the conversation  always is different and I can't follow a pattern  

yes this is the number one issue that people have  and that's you can't prepare for conversations the  

same way you can prepare for like playing the  piano or a practicing if I practice a like a  

karate punch you know like something like that or  some kind of movement like a sports movement I'm  

practicing whatever swinging a baseball bat I can  get good at doing something by repeating that over  

and over again but because each conversation is  unique I can't prepare for conversations I can't  

have that like what people call speaking practice  I can't have speaking practice to prepare me for  

Unique speech what I do have is the ability to  make connections before I have conversations so  

if I know I'm going to be talking about I don't  know like some basketball game or something I can  

probably watch the game or listen to some people  talking about it something like that but that kind  

of preparation is going to be much better for  me than trying to memorize specific words and  

phrases because when I'm in a conversation I can't  prepare even if I remember something people might  

use something different so I can't prepare in the  same way when people talk about like I need more  

speaking practice you actually just need more  exposure to the language to help you you make  

these connections better that's how you actually  uh prepare for conversations because communication  

is a different skill it's a different kind of  skill than just some repetitive thing if I'm  

going to have a piano concert and I'm learning  a piano piece so a new song on the piano that's  

a different kind of practice than the practice I  need for having good communication so I'm actually  

I have a whole section about this uh in my book uh  which I'm working on at the moment out soon uh but  

I I go into this in detail because people spend a  lot of time thinking about this or worrying about  

this or thinking they can't get fluent because  they don't have anyone to speak with when the  

the kind of practice that you do for some skills  is different than the kind of practice you need  

for speaking so it sounds like a weird like it's a  it's a difficult thing to explain because it seems  

obvious uh if I want to get better at the piano  I should play the piano more if I want to become  

good at playing baseball I should play baseball  more like that that's the typical thinking so if  

I want to speak well I should speak more but it  doesn't actually work that way because lots of  

people try to speak and they still can't have good  conversations so what's missing it's the practice  

being different that's the actual key so the the  kind of typical repetitive learning practice works  

well when you know what the output is going  to be so if I'm practicing a piano song for a  

piano concert I know the output of that already  I know exactly what's going to happen it's not  

like I'm playing the piano song and someone will  change the song in the middle of the show I just  

have to practice it to repeat that again and  again and that's what prepares me to play the  

piano song well but in a conversation I don't  know what other people are going to say so how  

can I practice for that how can I memorize some  certain lines and and hope that that that helps  

me it might help me a little bit but if people say  something different where I can't understand their  

speech or whatever there are lots of different  things that you know each conversation is unique  

so I can't prepare for that but what I can do is  spend lots of time actually getting make making  

more connections and giving myself that sense  for how to communicate so like when my daughter  

uh says like oh that that little bag with the rice  and it looks like a Ted Ted boou that's her making  

that connection see she understands some kind of  cultural thing she's looking at this other thing  

here and she makes that connection in her mind  okay so remember when people talk about speaking  

practice it's actually not what you say that  gets you fluent it's what you understand and  

removed out about okay so I it seems let me I'm  going to draw kind of a picture here let me know  

if this makes sense uh cuz it's it it really  is a it's it it is a tricky thing because for  

most skills you just you just do them again and  again and get better at doing them okay even if  

I'm doing I don't know a surgery or something I'm  not a doctor but I can imagine people practicing  

for that like they go home and they get a chicken  and you know maybe cut that something like that  

some kind of simple things uh but you would just  practice it again and again until you do it well

so I don't I don't actually know the the  best name for this I'm usually pretty good  

at thinking about names for stuff but if you  can imagine this like we'll just put a piano  

I can't write and think at the same time p i a  n o okay p o uh or we've got uh and I'm going  

to say this I feel kind of embarrassed to say it  uh like karate I'm going to say the English way  

instead of like karate uh but when  I'm speaking English that's how I  

say it so karate so practicing  like a karate punch uh or uh like

soccer a soccer kick anything that's like  this we call this practice you do more of  

the thing and you get better at doing it okay  that's usually how it works and especially if  

you do it well a problem with this kind of  practice is if I'm learning to punch and I  

practice a punch 100 times but I'm actually  doing it wrong then that's going to hurt me  

because I'm I'm training myself to do  something incorrectly but let's assume  

you're doing it correctly so I know how to play  the piano song or the or the punch or the kick  

or whatever I know how to do those things when  we think about practice that's what that means  

all right but the practice for speaking it's  like an indirect thing because the goal is is

speaking so we'll put the goal so the goal  is speaking up here but we don't go directly  

to it by speaking more what we actually need  to do is go like indirectly to speaking and  

the thing over here that we do indirectly is  making sure that we remove any doubt about a  

conversation or the kinds of things we might  speak about so uh when people think I can't  

I can't be come fluent because I don't spend  a lot of time speaking with other people you  

don't need to speak with other people to become  fluent because fluency really comes as you remove  

doubt if I feel confident that I understand  something I don't need to repeat it again and  

again and again in order to understand something  okay so this is the it's more of an indirect way  

where you you spend time like this like I'm  showing you in this video if you understand  

even just just one new thing from this video  like oh okay so a dagger is between a knife  

and a sword something smaller like that and then  I could use that like oh wow that was the dagger  

in a conversation or the dagger at the end of  the basketball game those are examples of me  

helping you before you speak and this is how you  get fluent then speak okay so you don't need to  

spend your time doing this like trying to go  directly it's not the same kind of skill and  

the reason it's not the same kind of skill is  because what's the difference what's the main  

difference between these two things Okay  so we've got this kind of learning or this  

kind of skill and this kind of skill over here  why is it different I really want to make sure  

people understand this why is it different what  what is the the fundamental difference between  

these two it's really just one thing what's  the difference anybody know what's one word  

just give me one word longtime fans should know  this but if you're just paying attention right  

now you should see the difference what is the  difference between these two I'm going to take  

a drink uh and let you give me some answers  over there diversity that's one way to put it

diversity confidence yeah confidence  is part of that this is a good teacher  

by the way I've learned a lot from him says  Diego well it's my pleasure to help you bound

what do you mean by bounds you you talking  about like limits like that it's a little  

bit different stamina no so when you're  thinking about like any word that might  

fit repeat or continue no that's not what  I'm looking for the thing that's different  

from these things is predictability okay  I talked about this in my previous video

predictability for all of these things right  here you can predict what will happen I can  

learn a piano song and then play the piano song  at a concert I can learn a karate punch and then  

just perform that same one if I'm doing like  what's called kada when when people are just  

doing some forms like that so they can practice  those things over here but in communication it's  

unpredictable I don't know what other people are  going to say so we can't have that same kind of  

practice I can't just spend all my time trying to  memorize certain phrases because people might not  

use those okay so for the things when we when we  when people talk about practice they they really  

need to understand that it's two different  kinds of practice that are required this is  

a more repetitive practice that will train you to  to like be prepared to do something but this one  

we need a different kind of practice that actually  prepares you for unpredictability okay so it's it  

it takes a much different kind of mind than this  one so like the if I'm just practicing the punch  

I'm not thinking about anything I'm just going  to do it again and again and again and after a  

while when people talk about muscle memory or just  developing something to make it automatic in that  

way that's what we're talking about we're talking  about repetitive practice to make sure people can  

understand something and do it automatically but  communication requires you to think because it's  

unpredictable you don't know what the other person  will say so we can't just try to like memorize a  

bunch of things and talk a lot what actually  allows us to speak is feeling confident that  

we will speak correctly and then we speak okay so  we get fluent and then we speak okay so like you  

can get more detailed about this like I'm I'm only  talking about kind of the specific actions where  

I'm the only one doing something okay when  we put another person into that situation it  

adds unpredictability and that's why we would  do something like you know practicing for a  

basketball game or actually having a karate match  against someone else that's that's different than  

just like practicing a punch by yourself okay so  the the point here is understanding for actual  

speaking when people talk about I need speaking  practice I always ask them what do they mean by  

that what do you mean by speaking practice and  they they often like they don't really have a  

like a good way to explain that they just assume  well you know I I play the piano more and that  

gets me better at the piano but if I speak more  a lot of people try to speak and they still don't  

become confident speakers and that was the same  thing for me I tried to speak more and I wasn't  

becoming a more confident speaker I said what  what's wrong with this what's the what's the  

problem here what am I missing and the problem  was I actually wasn't confident about the things  

I was saying before I said them so if I get into  a conversation and I don't feel confident then  

of course I'm not going to speak very well okay  so like people are mentioning the audio volume  

uh if I turn my head maybe it gets a little bit  softer for the moment but I'm trying to speak uh  

directly into the microphone over here all right  so this is the main idea so people thinking oh  

I can't get fluent because I don't have anyone to  practice with you don't practice language the way  

you practice something like this the the like  the core most of the actual learning that you  

do is it's just you getting lots of examples that  help you make connections just like watching this  

video right now so you're not saying anything to  me you could repeat after what I'm saying if you  

want to but my goal is to really uh remove any  doubt you have about things and that's what gives  

you the confidence to speak so you can't have  doubt and confidence at the same time you have  

one or the other and when you remove the doubt  you naturally have confidence it's just like  

it's kind of replacing one with the other so if  I can help you understand things indirectly give  

you that confidence before you speak then you  will speak and there's no need to worry about  

finding people to practice with because you  don't really need people to practice with you  

just speak whenever you meet people so for me  personally learning Japanese here in Japan I  

don't go to lessons or anything I just speak to  people as I'm walking around I just say hello or  

I talk to people at a local coffee shop or in  a convenience store whatever just have little  

conversations with people I'm not looking for a  specific thing like to like a specific practice  

time or something because I spend most of my  time just understanding when when people are  

giving me information so if I can understand the  language better if I can remove any doubt I have  

and I really remember what I learned then I will  just use it automatically when I meet people so  

yes uh there is a little bit like the the the role  of speaking actually when you're in a conversation  

you do get practice from that but it's usually  the practice of understanding new things from  

the other person so if two people are talking if  I'm talking with a native native Japanese speaker  

they are probably going to use things that maybe  I wouldn't normally use or they will give me new  

ways to understand things uh and so I'm still  practicing it's mostly what I'm hearing and  

learning from the other person that's removing  doubt so even in conversations I'm removing  

doubt that way okay so yes there is like a little  bit of repetition that's useful there but most of  

that I don't need to learn a word by repeating it  a 100 times if I have a really strong connection  

with that word if I learned something once and I  think wow I I just really understood that I have  

no doubt about that I don't need to repeat that  word again and again I can learn something else  

all right uh hopefully people are getting this  though let me go back and check con uh check  

comments over here did I skip anybody earlier I  think I did let's see make sure I go back uh let's  

see hiker fan says we say J I don't know I'm not  going to pronounce that probably correctly so in  

Spanish when we assume the game is assured by the  team to be won yeah uh it like it's it's similar  

to uh like maybe that's that's how you might  say that in chess also if that's Checkmate if  

that's similar kind of thing but so Checkmate is  a similar kind of thing we're we're taking an idea  

from chess and applying it in other situations  where we know for sure that we won check me so the  

dagger typically like there could be there there  are times when you know you get stuck with the  

dagger but you still survive anyway uh even in a  game like you think you're losing or you can't win  

but then something happens and you actually win  the game that does happen sometimes in Checkmate  

that's like really the end because Checkmate is  the end of the game you can't do anything else in  

check or in chess so Checkmate but yes uh that's  why you might hear that like Checkmate comes from  

the game of chess but it can be applied in other  situations so as you make those connections you  

think oh that's interesting I can use Checkmate  in a business thing where like a business is doing  

badly or someone is doing something in a sporting  event or something else that's Checkmate so that's  

the end of that thing uh make sure abdos say  uh hello did you s quiet time like the sword if  

if you don't cut it will cut you uh I think well  that might be some saying it's unrelated to what  

I'm talking about but there could be some kind of  connection if you're just thinking about swords uh  

let's see Alex says man I missed you well I was  here like a week ago I I don't know where people  

people like oh my God Drew Where Have You Been  I was here last week maybe people think I look  

different because I had a beard in that video uh  hello from Brazil but I live in Florida says Rose  

hker fan up there let's see and Areno from neone  look at that kich and then yokoo yes welcome Japan  

over there uh all right Tom says totally agree  with you nice one Diego says I was improving my  

English to use my talents in music but now that I  have chronic illness I already quit it and I won't  

need it anymore oh no well you can still continue  to learn maybe you will speak again at some point  

all right make sure I got everybody [Music] here  uh I think all right people talking about the  

volume all right kurish 5 will how can we get to  that confidence uh and to not think negative you  

mean negatively uh the way you do that is just  by getting more connections you can actually feel  

it in your mind when you understand something  without a doubt you actually get a feeling it's  

like something Clicks in your head oh that's what  that means I understand what's something means  

and I I try to give examples of these uh in like  every video but you could go back and watch any  

video anytime you're learning from me something  new and you could be learning it anywhere in the  

real world uh I've given this example like I  I have these moments all the time as I just  

listen to more Japanese or hear more people as  you do this more you start making more of these  

connections automatically so you get fluent faster  it's really the connections because if if you if  

you can imagine like a like like a puzzle when  you're first starting to learn a language you  

just you learn one or two pieces and it's really  hard to make connections with those because you  

you just don't have a mind for that like how does  this thing connect with that one but as you add  

more pieces of the puzzle you can start seeing  the whole picture so I can think like oh like I  

don't know what this piece is but I could guess  it probably means this and maybe you learn oh  

that that does mean uh what I thought and so you  can start making connections and you learn more  

pieces of the puzzle and as you get more pieces  now you see the whole picture whatever that the  

puzzle the puzzle picture is uh and so it becomes  easier to make connections uh I I think I told  

this story recently but so this is a Japanese  example uh usually if you go to a restaurant or  

something they will say like for here or to go  for here or to go and that's like in in English  

as well so for here to go so you could say uh  ten which is like for here or moch which is to  

to take out to take something away but I went  to a cafe and for that situation someone uh  

the staff said like n like are you going  to eat and then go so that was a new way  

for me of expressing that situation so I  got another puzzle piece but I was able  

to understand it in the moment because I had a  lot of context I understood that situation and  

I knew like oh look at that I can make that  connection myself and I remember it very easily  

so I have more puzzle pieces and as I make as I  get more puzzle pieces like as I learn more new  

things and get more examples but me collecting  these pieces is usually not from speaking I  

often just watch something or I might get an  example from a you know like another person uh  

in real life but I'm not the one speaking and  all of those things that is me collecting that  

information and destroying any doubt I have so as  I feel confident and I understand something the  

doubt goes away and I feel good about using that  thing in a conversation okay so I don't spend my  

time trying to practice things in a typical way  I really want to make sure I understand what the  

vocabulary is and if I feel confident about  it then I will use it all right uh let's see

all right did I skip did I skip anybody let's see  well how could we get that okay I think I got that  

one uh when it comes to talking to Native everyone  feels kind of stressed and losing confidence yeah  

it's it's because you don't spend enough time  preparing for that like we're doing here so I  

don't I don't talk with natives a lot I mean I  I I I I'll I'll spend maybe five minutes a day  

talking maybe uh and it could be at home or just  out somewhere but most of my time is not talking  

if I am learning some Japanese it's I'm listening  to something or reading something uh or getting  

some other examples but I'm not spending my time  like listening to things and studying flashcards  

and repeating things like that that's not how  I learn so remember I need to prepare for the  

unpredictable so it's much better for me to  to spend time preparing by listening to lots  

of different examples of things and understand  how to connect them uh at speaking you've some  

skills like confidence yes but confidence comes  confidence is a specific thing that comes from a  

lack of doubt it's it's difficult if someone just  told me to start speaking a new language like  

Turkish or I don't know whatever like Swahili or  something and I would say I'm like I can't I don't  

know any vocabulary I don't know anything about  the language and they always say well well do you  

lack confidence and I would say no I just have  doubt I don't know anything about the language  

but if I learned some if I saw some examples and  I would probably be able to speak those at least  

a little bit I would learn you know learn what it  is kind of like how I'm U explaining things now  

uh let's see and suaki says could you explain the  difference between I will and I am going to yeah  

we're not going to cover that in this video  uh but I have covered that in other ones so  

search my Channel all right uh I think people are  getting it though nobody told anything like this  

uh like this it is so enlightening glad to hear  it uh to try to and you don't have to believe  

what I'm saying but just test this for yourself  in your own life uh if you think speaking more  

is going to get you fluent then speak more and  see if that works for you for for most people  

it doesn't but for the people it does work for  it's usually they have enough confidence and  

they can learn things in communication but it's  usually just learning things in communication  

that's improving their skill you don't learn more  by you repeating things because it's not teaching  

you anything new you're just saying things that  you already know so how would you learn anything  

new from that what you learn is when you're  talking with someone or you're watching other  

people speak you're seeing examples of how to  use the language and that's making uh connections  

easier to see and you feel much more confident uh  in that way so you don't need to spend a lot of  

time speaking in order to do that you just need to  get l lot of good examples and those could come in  

conversations but they don't have to uh Amon says  do you believe in learning English while you are  

sleeping by listening to something uh you could  try that I don't know if it helps you understand  

I I I I don't know I I don't I don't do that  but uh I think people people look for things  

like sleep learning because the way they learn is  just boring and it's it's it's difficult for them  

but if you actually enjoy what you're learning you  don't don't want to sleep through it you want to  

enjoy the thing and spend time so I don't know if  anybody watches my videos while they're sleeping  

maybe they do maybe I think maybe my voice might  be maybe boring not maybe maybe not boring but  

it's more of like a relaxing sound sound that  maybe some people like to listen to and they want  

to fall asleep to that I don't know but but for  me if I'm interested in something I'm not going  

to fall asleep I'm enjoying that thing and I'm  learning and making connections that way Tom says  

everyone click the like button and download Fred  right after this class in your app store yes so if  

you'd like to learn more about not only uh getting  to the level where you can make these connections  

it is easy to to learn you can see I I make the  learning very easy the difficult thing is figuring  

out things yourself so if you're trying to learn  by yourself and it's more difficult for you  

because either you don't have time to organize all  the information and and basically teach yourself  

that's like how I got fluent and still get fluent  in Japanese so I don't have a teacher because  

I just kind of look for things I'm interested in  and and just learn more about them and I don't  

have a a really structured way of learning so I  could be getting fluent faster if I had someone  

who could really teach me the way I teach English  but I don't have that so u i more have to create  

that myself so that's what you have to do if  you're trying to get fluent by yourself you need  

to basically figure things out for yourself uh or  I can help you and that's what we do in Frederick  

and fluent for life so you can click on the links  in the description if you'd like to learn more uh  

Richard says perhaps I can enhance my English if I  have a partner who can speak English well my issue  

is that they don't speak English well uh despite  knowing if how can I solve this all right so I I  

just explained you don't need to speak to become  more confident at speaking I know it sounds it  

sounds weird like if I told you you could play a  piano song well by not practicing it people would  

think I'm crazy I say oh like you want me to learn  a piano song and I have a concert in two weeks and  

I have to learn this song but I'm not going to  practice it I'm probably not going to perform  

well at the concert but in the case of speaking  it's a different kind of skill so it requires a  

different kind of practice okay instead of just  repeating things to yourself you spend your time  

learning about things you're interested in or you  know like trying to erase any particular doubts  

you have so if I want to know how to say something  or whatever I can get more examples of that but if  

you erase the doubt then you automatically become  confident because either you you have doubt or you  

or you do not it's not like a middle a middle  kind of way usually you can understand things  

to different degrees but when you have no doubt at  all then you feel confident saying something so uh  

you don't need to find anyone to practice speaking  with because there are lots of examples of English  

all over the place you can watch a TV show or some  YouTube videos or read a blog post or whatever  

there are lots of ways you could learn English so  I don't need to spend time uh speaking Japanese  

with people in order to improve my Japanese all  I need to do is actually uh like just get lots of  

good examples of things I'm interested in and  those examples destroy the doubt to to to put  

this at an even uh or kind of exp explain it in  a different way just to make sure it's clear to  

you think about your native language so you're  speaking your native language and you don't really  

think about improving your native language because  you're already fluent but you are still learning  

new vocabulary all the time from new things that  happen in the world or companies produce new  

products or something like that like think about  the Nintendo switch so people knew the word switch  

or maybe people like the PlayStation or whatever  just like some some examples of uh corporate names  

for product so that's all new information and  you're already fluent but you're integrating  

that new information by learning it and you're  not doing that by speaking you're just hearing  

that information and now you can use it also so  think about it that way it works the same way if  

you're learning English just like you're learning  your native language you hear new information and  

when you understand it you're able to use that  I don't need any kind of practice I don't need  

to I don't need to like when when the Nintendo  switch is released or some other new product even  

if it's like I don't know I'm trying to think of  a completely new name for something like like the  

Furby do you remember this the Furby I saw this  actually this was on a Japanese TV show talking  

about old like now I feel old it's like about  old products or whatever but it was a a kind of I  

don't even I'm not going to draw it very well you  know I'm not the greatest drawer but uh it it kind  

of looked like this it was like a it was a little  doll I think but it it could move I think it kind  

of looked like that do you remember this thing is  called a Furby so this is a a completely new word  

now not Kirby a Furby F Ur b y Furby so Kirby  uh Kirby is that's like the like the Nintendo  

little little guy that can suck things up like you  know and he turns into stuff so this is a Furby uh  

and it I think it it kind of It kind of looked  like this something like that you just Google it  

and you'll you'll see what it is but this is an  example of me learning a new word I learn a new  

like I see a product and this was a very popular  thing for uh you know it was a toy many years ago  

during Christmas it was very popular and people  couldn't find it at stores they didn't make enough  

of them uh but it's an example of a completely new  word I had not word like heard of this before uh  

so that you don't need to remember this word like  people don't talk about Furbies anymore but it's  

just an example of a new word that I learned not  by me practicing it but I understood it I said  

oh like so Furby that's the name of this little  creature and you learn a little bit about it I  

guess it talks and does things I never had a Furby  but but anyway uh so I just saw this on Japanese  

TV and they were asking it was a quiz about what's  the name of this thing and I told the and my I was  

just sitting with my family watching uh this  Japanese TV show and they were talking about  

that and I said oh look it's a Furby and then  of course like the Japanese like Katakana comes  

it's like fabh for the Japanese anyway uh this  example just shows I'm learning something and I'm  

not spending an hour saying the word Furby in the  mirror I'm not talking to myself in the car saying  

Furby Furby Furby Furby trying to repeat this word  again and again I hear the word I understand it I  

have no doubt about it yeah it's like Fabby like  so that was that was on the uh did you may I don't  

know if you watched that show let [Laughter] me so  was like like f fa something like that so this is  

a like Japanese I go draw my cut kind of badly uh  but anyway so like the the Japanese I I guess it  

was in Japan too because they're asking Japanese  people about it so maybe this was also popular  

for sometime in Japan but Google it or just look  at a picture of when it kind of looks like this  

but the point is the same I'm an English speaker  I learn a new word in English and I just integrate  

that into my vocabulary oh I know what a Furby  is now if I'm in a ation and some other people  

are talking about hey a Furby I say what is a  Furby and then they have to explain to me what  

that is or they show me a picture of it and then I  understand okay it's the exact same thing but I'm  

not taking this and just repeating the word Furby  Furby Furby like I'm practicing a piano song I'm  

just I'm understanding the thing and then I'm  able to integrate it and use it when I want to  

because I have no doubt about the vocabulary okay  so the goal is is not to take vocabulary like if I  

could spend an hour maybe I could try to repeat a  word a hundred times or I could get fluent meaning  

I'm I'm erasing doubt about you know a bunch of  different words just like in this video so how  

long is this video going about an hour so far  so we've already covered quite a few different  

things some different expressions and that's a  much better use of your time because I'm erasing  

doubt you have about the language rather than you  just trying to take something and memorize it and  

repeat it again and again when it's two different  skills so it's you you really have to spend more  

time preparing for a wider range of things because  you can't prepare for the unexpected the same way  

all right so these are expected things we know  what's going to happen we don't have another  

person that's going to change anything but in real  communication it's a different kind of skill okay  

so we need to practice and prepare for it in a  different way way all right yes some repetition  

is useful for developing mouth movements and all  that but it's a much smaller part than most people  

think all right and most of this can be done by  yourself as long as you get examples from other  

people all right so now you all uh know the word  Furby hopefully you you enjoy your day uh because  

of that but yes you don't need a practice partner  you don't need to wait for anybody you just need  

to get lots of good examples that erase the  doubt you have about speaking all right what  

is clear for me now besides the language uh  we must focus on the psychology side yeah I  

mean so when I talk about the psychology side of  language learning it's more if if you don't feel  

confident before a conversation you probably will  not want to speak you will avoid speaking some  

people just we call it powering through this is a  phrasal verb make sure this fits up here to power

to power through something so let's say I'm  walking through some mud and it's really thick  

and I the only thing I can do is just push  forward and try to uh like walk as like is I  

could just power try to power through that thing  so I'm going to use all my strength and try to  

do it if I'm getting into a conversation I want  someone starts speaking to me in Russian I'm just  

going to pretend and try to speak some Russian  to them and I'm not actually saying anything  

but I could power through that I could kind of  pretend I I actually don't know any actually  

I know I I know like manabu Drew or whatever I  think if that's even correct if any any Russian  

speakers are watching uh but the point is if you  don't have confidence before the conversation you  

probably won't want to speak so uh practicing  by repeating words is not going to help you as  

much because it's not really helping you build  strong connections you're just repeating things  

things like you're practicing the piano so  I could practice the piano and then when I  

get into a conversation about uh I don't know  playing a different piano song I would probably  

struggle so if some other people came and said  hey we're making some new music uh can you try  

playing like can you play with us I would  say I'm sorry I can't I I don't know how to  

do that I only know how to play this one song  because that's what I practiced but I don't  

know have I don't have the ability to create  new music yet it's just it's it's a different  

it's a different kind of skill okay so don't  worry about not having anybody practice with  

that's not the point you just need to spend more  time getting examples just like you're getting

now uh let's

see I'm glad well I'm glad to hear it all right  uh Toms again is a very different way of learning  

yes well it's I mean it's actually the way  you normally learn your native language I'm  

just trying to help you learn English the same way  all right practicing doesn't mean only repeating  

blindly practice the correct way as you say says  Drew is to do learn and improve yes I'm talking  

about removing doubt which you do in different  ways so you might have to say something again  

like that mouth movement part where I hear some  word and I don't if I'm saying it correctly it's  

probably better to hear it really clearly first  and then I can try to repeat after that repetition  

is something you do after you understand but  repetition is not really very useful for helping  

you understand things because if someone says  a word to me like I hear an announcement on  

a radio but I don't hear it very clearly I could  hear that same announcement 100 times and I'm not  

going to get better at hearing it because it's the  same announcement but if someone else just tells  

it to me clearly then magically I can hear the  announcement very clearly okay so it's not it's  

not just repeating something often you have to get  different angles that help you understand things  

and that's what prepares you uh to speak because  you erase the doubt and become much better at  

making connections about things uh Aman says what  is unconventional mean uh it just means different  

than usual like the opposite of conventional  like a conven lesson might just give you a  

list of vocabulary to learn but I have a more  unconventional way of teaching which is helping  

you learn things by making connections and erased  out uh okay let's see so everyone everyone's  

excited about Furby all right can you share with  us the cons of using translation what if I can  

do it fast all right uh this is the last point  I'll make here this is in my book uh also as well  

cish says any tips for better accent get Frederick  just download uh Frederick uh from the link in the  

description below this video I'll mention one more  Point uh because that's a good question uh to end  

on and nice to see you there ilar what's going on  Drew it's going right now let's see uh so can you  

share with us the cons of using translation what  if I can do it fast all right so last question

I'll try to use a simple diagram here uh but  the basic idea uh let's just say we have two  

learning methods we just have learning method  one and learning method number two now uh at the  

beginning of this like let's say I give you you  have to learn uh 10 words so the the goal is to  

learn 10 words and you have two different learning  methods of doing that the first one let's just say  

it's translation because that's the uh that's the  example here so if I translate something maybe I  

can learn those uh five words or 10 words in 10  minutes so I spend uh 10 minutes uh trying to  

learn these words through translation or even  less than that let's say it takes me only like  

three minutes to do that so I look in a uh like a  dictionary here 10 words in English and 10 words  

in my native language and I'm going to do that  uh and I can do that in three minutes let's say  

I'm really quick uh and then this other way over  here uh like let's say it's going to take longer  

than that it takes 10 minutes for me to tell you  maybe a quick story or to explain something uh  

but like you can understand it better and you  feel more confident because you don't have any  

doubt about the vocabulary so it takes longer  but uh you actually remember it now here's the  

important thing that a lot of people miss or they  forget or they ignore you have to think about the  

whole process not just learning something very  quickly at the beginning so the whole process  

is can I learn something can I remember it and  can I also feel confident about using that in  

a conversation so can I learn something can I  remember it and can I also feel confident about  

using it in a conversation now what happens is  if you start right it's going to take a little  

bit longer up front so you spend a little bit more  time not 3 minutes you spend 10 minutes trying to  

learn something and understand it without a doubt  so you feel confident using it so the remembering  

part over here look at that like maybe I do  a little bit of review this could be some  

repetition or I just hear some different examples  some naturally varied review uh that takes an  

extra like two minutes and then from there on  like I'm just able to use that thing fluently  

very easily but for this one over here uh I took  some translations but I I forgot the vocabulary  

afterwards the next day uh like so this is day  one oh look at that it took me three minutes  

to learn 10 words but the next day I forgot the  vocabulary so I have to spend time going back and  

trying to repeat that vocabulary again and again  because that's what a translation is it's a very  

weak connection I don't really understand the  vocabulary well I have to go back and review it  

again so I got to spend another and now okay that  didn't work so maybe I have to spend 10 minutes  

just on the learning part over here and I'm still  not really remembering it very well all right and  

uh I continue like to do that and I'm really just  wasting my time at that point because I just don't  

understand the vocabulary very well so looking  at the total picture here what usually happens  

is like Learners who do this they they they go  up quick and then they Plateau but Learners who  

follow this way like it looks like it takes a  little bit longer but their fluency accelerates  

because they're able to get fluent much faster  and understand things much more easily okay so  

you have to look at the whole picture it's not  just looking at how quickly can I remember some  

things or learn some translations or whatever  that's only looking at this this front uh very  

small part about the learning okay but if you  look at the whole picture this way is going to  

get you fluent much faster because you don't  have to go back and review stuff and forget  

things again and hit this Plateau where you keep  learning more you keep learning more translations  

but then you forget the old ones so you learn  something new but you forget what you learned

yesterday all right so this is why like when  people ask me like hey it seems like this is  

a uh this is a faster way translations are faster  it's like well yes right here it seems faster but  

are you going to remember the vocabulary do you  feel fluent and confident in that vocabulary most  

people do not that's why they go up quick at the  beginning and then they hit that Plateau all right  

but these people over here it seems like they're  taking a bit more time but then look look at that  

it goes up really quick because you're actually  understanding and remembering and you feel  

confident so of course you're going to speak more  confidently you're going to speak better uh and  

enjoy some fluent communication so uh I wouldn't I  wouldn't spend much time like trying to translate  

stuff I don't like using translations myself I  don't recommend them uh sometimes uh you don't  

really have a choice but in general if you can get  good examples of things uh that help you eliminate  

any doubt before you speak then you will feel much  more confident canero says hi Drew is it true that  

there are no course no curses or obscene language  in Japanese the power of emotions is expressed by  

the volume and intonation of what is said what  no I'm not yeah like so like that that's example  

right there of like [ __ ] or [ __ ] or whatever  you know like of course Japanese is not it's not  

like everyone's like a like a a Buddhist monk or  something like that like people still Express you  

know emotions and yell at each other and and  get angry and stuff like that you know my wife  

will get angry at me you know she'll be like  so so G you know just she like moaka you she  

just like call me stupid if I you know whatever  but no so like it's it's not true certainly not  

in my experience uh but maybe you can find some  some examples of I don't know I'm sure there are  

some people who don't curse or whatever but uh  I wouldn't I wouldn't I haven't found anything  

about Japanese specifically that's not really in  English I I'm not a linguist I can't really speak  

about studying a wide range of languages and how  they're all similar or unique but uh generally  

from from my many years of experience out here  I would say it's it's pretty similar to English  

and like it's you know like I meet Japanese people  some of them are shy some of them are loud some of  

them are whatever you know obviously there there  are General differences but but I haven't found  

anything like that about the language specifically  yes Tom says click that like button uh Tom the  

like button manager over there thank you very  much Marcela hello from Brazil and niol any girl  

free any girl free over here oh looking for dates  over here oh my goodness I don't know I need to  

become like a Matchmaker or something like that  all right little tree says thank you for your  

suggestions and a nice LOL from Tom to end the  video all right so we've got the uh the end of  

the chat over here it's been a pleasure hopefully  you all get this idea try to look at the whole  

picture in you're learning if you learn things  and then forget them and then have to go back  

and learn them again that's a huge waste of time  it's going to demoralize and frustrate you okay so  

spend more time actually understanding things  really well and I promise you will really see  

a spike in your fluence you will go up like that  wow you will actually be able to communicate you  

will learn more things you will learn new things  you will discover many more pieces of the puzzle  

much faster without having to hit this Plateau  that a lot of people are stuck on all right I see  

people on this for years years okay don't be that  person actually take a little bit of time it's fun  

it's enjoyable you will actually learn things and  you will feel confident that you did so give it a  

try all right so test these things you don't have  to believe what I'm saying but if what is uh like  

whatever you've been doing up until this point  if you've not been following my channel if you  

are new to the channel uh give it a try all right  go back and watch some of the videos and see if  

I'm telling the truth or not experience it for  yourself but I think you will probably discover  

when you have no doubt you can a automatically  really become a confidence speaker all right uh  

I will leave it here uh if you'd like to learn  more about how I can help you do this instead  

of you trying to do it all by yourself which does  take a lot more time the learning itself is easy  

the only thing is having to actually find the  materials and organize them and make sure you  

understand the lessons that's the tricky part all  right so that's the the hard work that I do it's  

already done for you and if you'd like to learn  more click on the links in the description for  

fluent for life and for Fred have a fantastic  day and I'll see you in the next video bye-bye