Best Methods and Strategies to learn English / Conquer the English language

Hey! I’m Anna and you’re watching the “English fluency journey” channel. In this video,

In this video, I want to talk about strategies and methods to learn a language. So, let’s get to work.

First, we’ll talk about strategy, strategic planning.

This is where we’re going to take a look at a bigger picture.

This is where we have to identify opportunities and minimize fails.

To put it easily and understandably it means figuring out all the things you need do

and steps you need to take to accomplish your goal.

to perform analysis and monitor progress.

Primarily - and this is essential, to have an ultimate goal, to set an ultimate goal for yourself.

Meaning , How do you see yourself in the future? In terms of English language.

We already know that we want to learn English. Foremost - What do you need it for? Why do you want to learn English?

Foremost - What do you need it for? Why do you want to learn English?

Maybe for traveling - so, you want to

travel and communicate freely with people from all around the world.

Maybe for your job. So, either

you want to get a promotion or you see yourself giving

presentations in English or negotiating with other international companies.

Or perhaps, you want to study or work in an English speaking country.

Or you just love this language so much and you want to learn it for yourself. Whatever your goal is – figure it out.

Knowing this, knowing your goal, at least what you are moving towards,

helps you in taking your next steps.

And what is even more important what you need to concentrate on.

If you want to study abroad, then most likely you will need to take TOEFL or IELTS exam.

And it’s clear, that the first thing you need to concentrate on - is on getting ready to take the test.

If you need it for traveling. Then you need to concentrate

on this concrete topic by watching videos

about traveling, following someone on social media

who travels a lot and posts about this in English

learning traveling vocabulary and phrases

and let’s say joining speaking clubs, so that you can actually use something that you’ve learned.

And this point is important. Join a speaking club anyway,

no matter what you need English for.

It’s going to help you in developing communication skills.

If you need for your job. Then focus on business English.

Watch videos and programs about your specific field of work.

Consequently, you’ll see what typical vocabulary and phrases are used in your area of expertise.

And how people communicate in business environment.

When you have this purpose, you’re more engaged in learning.

The second point. Think of your current situation and assess it.

You’re a mom or dad of two, three kids. You have a full time job

and maybe plus home chores and plus kids.

You’re an entrepreneur and you have a pretty much flexible schedule.

Or you’re a student. Or you’re someone who has a lot free time.

Now, think how many hours and when you can spend studying. And add to your schedule.

This is important. Start slowly. But be consistent.

I can’t stress it enough. You have to make it a habit first.

If you really can’t force yourself to study on your own then sigh up for a class.

You’ll kind of obligate yourself to be there and hopefully it’ll become a habit.

Also, here you have to evaluate your financial situation.

If you can hire a teacher or take a good course that’s awesome!

Or maybe you need to be thrifty for some time to safe enough money to take a course.

If you can’t – don’t worry and don’t get frustrated.

That’s life. We are all in different circumstances, but they do not determine our future.

Yes, you’re going to have to work on your own and develop a strong willpower.

And that’s terrific. Being able to self-educate, that’s the greatest gift you can give to yourself.

Now, your circumstances may change, something may come up.

you gotta be flexible. If you didn’t get the chance to study yesterday,

you can go an extra mile tomorrow. And this is always praiseworthy.

Step number 3 is to figure out your weak spots.

What is the hardest for me? Is it grammar? Is it pronunciation?

Am I a very shy person, and that affects my communication skills?

Or maybe it’s listening skills? Or whatever you think your Achilles heel is, so to speak?

Why do we need this? Because we need to prioritize.

Knowing this, you actually will be able to plan your learning process better

because you'll know what you need to concentrate on. And where to even start.

Since, a lot of the times people are confused. Like “What do I even start with?

What do I need to pay more attention to

And at the end their attention is too scattered, like

OMG I need grammar and pronunciation and speaking and reading books…

You have got to start smart, so not to discombobulate yourself.

Then little by little, you can add up everything else to your studying process.

Eventually you’ll see that grammar rules finally started to make sense

and you don’t think of every word you want to use whether it’s relevant or not.

And you’ll be able to read books, for pleasure not looking up every other word

and you'll be able to communicate freely in English without

without any fear: merely enjoying pleasant conversations.

Sounds great right?

There’s just a little process to it.

So, the goal is set. The approximate route to this goal is set.

The circumstances are assessed.

Now, let’s talk about how can we approach our learning process and incorporate with our strategy.

About methods that you can use to learn English. Let’s call them your preferences.

Some people are studious, they like to study - study, like for real.

They like grammar, rules, they like everything to be clear and in order.

To be honest I struggle with this a little bit. Because I’m from that opposite camp.

I like keeping it simpler, relaxed, fun, yet effective. I want it all)

So the first method is systemized method.

This is for people who like everything to be in order

or for those people who are craving for this order

When it’s not exactly in their nature

but they know they need this because it’s going to

help them to stay determined and concentrated

Especially if you’re working on your English under your own steam.

Or if you have a busy schedule. It’s very

effective as long as you fallow it. This method

is based on structuring, organizing. And it’s all

about planning. Make your study timetable.

Set a time and a place. And pencil it in in your schedule.

You need to have this quite time and this free from distractions place where you can concentrate.

Get some notebooks and pencils, so you can write things down or other technology.

When you’re reading something or watching something you may want to write down something new, so

not to forget and review it later.

And try to carry around some note book with you. Just in case if you’re listening to a podcast

and you want to write something down. Or use voice memos on your phone

and record something that you want to remember

and also it’ll be a good speaking practice.

Now back to scheduling.

Let’s say you really want to understand tenses in English.

Then this where you start.

We live in the era of information explosion.

You can find all that you need online. Free. You can watch videos on a vast variety of topics.

You can connect to literally anyone in the world from anywhere in the world,

not to mention someone who teaches online if you really need some help.

So before your studying hour, you want to make sure that you have the resources and info that you need.

The same with idioms, vocabulary, working on your pronunciation.

Pencil it in and work on it.

You can mix it up, so not to get bored, and don’t forget to have fun.

Your studying process can be fun yet effective.

Ok, lets say. You have a free hour on Monday’s evening.

A Free hour on Wednesday’s morning. And on Friday you have a two hour break from work,

so you can spend an hour working on your English.

So, Monday can be your accent and pronunciation/vocabulary training.

Because when you work on your pronunciation, you inevitably work on your vocabulary.

Wednesday can be your grammar day.

You can take the present tense and work on it. Or some other

grammar point. A very effective way here

is if you’re working on your own

read the information, then try to explain it, not to read it

but to explain it, like you would explain it to someone else.

But if you had a partner for this thing that would be awesome!

And also you can come up with relating question and give full answers.

This is very effective as well

If you search, you’ll even find websites with

tests to check yourself.

And let's say on Friday, you’ll watch a TV show and analyze it.

You’ll write down new words, expressions and you’ll even do some shadowing.

And on your way to work

or college or kindergarten to pick up your kids, you can listen to podcasts.

Well that’s for kicking off. You can always change something;

you can always add or cut out something. You’re making decisions here.

Ok, we had to get out from the sun

So the second method is a total immersion method.

Immerse yourself in the language as much as it is possible for you.

The point here is too create an environment as close to natural as you can.

This one is awesome and challenging at the same time. This is when you decided,

Ok, I want to learn English and I want to achieve a native speaker level.

And you’ve got to be firm in your decision! because there will be times when you’ll want to quit.

And you’re going to have to fight it.

Because the moment when we want give up is the moment of our breakthrough.

One hack that’ll help you. You have trick your mind. You know

that everything is about mindset.

Imagine as if you were thrust in the situation where you have to live in an English speaking country

And all that you hear, all that you read, all that you watch is in English. And you simply

have no choice.

You want to bland in, you want to make friends, have social life,

you want to have work and be respected.

And now, you have to turn this immersion environment mode on.

There’s not much to explain.

Everything that you do from now on is in English

read, write, speak, listen, watch. Easier said than done. I know.

I know what I’m talking about. It worked for me perfectly, after trying

a lot of things that hadn’t given me the result that I wanted.

I looked at my baby and I realized

that the way that children learn is natural and ideal.

First, all they do they listen. And it’s not like their parents

explain every single thing to them. No, they simply soak up all the information.

Then they begin to talk. Then they start to ask a lot of questions.

Only then read and write and dealing with grammar. Now think a little bit about this.

Every native speaker went through this same process.

By the time you talk to an adult native speaker, they have had years and years of practice and exposure to the language.

There’s nothing supernatural. Nobody is born with perfect speaking and listening skills.

All of that has to develop and it needs time. And you need time

and consistent and continues practice.

I speak with my kid, with husband, talk to myself in English, practice a lot.

Shadowing technique works like a charm.

Even all the things that I’m curious about or I need to find information on are in English.

On the ways to connect with people to practice and communicate or have lessons and ask questions,

I’ve talked a lot. But I’m still going to put all the link in the description to all the websites

that I know, names of apps and groups.

In the begging, of this method of course you spend a lot of time with dictionary.

This is just inevitable part of this process.

And sometimes it'll feel like your brain is melting and leaking out through your ears.

And that’s normal. It means that you’re getting used it

If it’s too much for you, you can start slower. Not right away and not as intensely.

But after some time I switched to the next method. Because that wasn’t enough.

Remember you can chose a method to start with that is suitable for you.

Maybe you’re ready to start with the hardest one right away

And the hardest is “combined method”

it’s when we combine two of those previously mentioned methods.

In addition to all that immersion and developing a natural comprehension

you’ll need a quality practice time as well. Like to work on pronunciation or dealing with grammar

So, basically English is all around you all the time and plus you add those scheduled lessons,

that systemized method.

And not only you can work by yourself, but also you can hire a teacher

or use different websites to learn from native speakers

and you can sign up for pronunciation or accent reduction course. There are a lot of options.

Keep in mind these are extremes. This is when you have perfect circumstances.

You can scale the degree of intensity. Play with those methods.

This is your life and you have to make it work for you.

You can change or add whatever you want and to add whatever you want or think would be better for you.

The fourth method is Passive learning method.

This one is the easiest and of course not that effective, but not useless!

If you don’t have the goal to get to the core of the English language

and you're learn English for yourself, for fun, for travelling,

but you don’t mind the additional bonus of better perception and grasp of English, then it’s for you.

The point here is to emancipate yourself from all of the schedules, special preparations

and deliberate practice. The one thing that you will have to do, is to always have

some videos turned on in the background.

Some educational videos, even on grammar or TV shows,

favorite programs whatever. And I assure you that your brain will catch on something.

And, if you suddenly get curious about something and you want to pause a video

and listen to that piece again and look up some words

don’t overthink it, by all means - go for it.

So, the first method keeps your brain calm,

it basically prevents you from burning out and quitting,

because it is methodical and efficient.

The second and third make your brain go crazy.

In the beginning. They require strength of character, but they are very rewarding.

If you have some other methods that work perfectly for you this awesome

This is not math, these are not rules, you can apply whatever you want.

Some of the things that are applicable to any method.

Note this.

Always search a way to apply your knowledge.

If you’re learning English for studying abroad, for work or traveling

that shouldn’t be a problem. But if you’re learning it for yourself and just in case you’ll need it

then conversation partners, speaking clubs, there are a lot of Facebook groups where people

learn English including posting on your social media in English. Everything count.

Review and repeat. This is profound.

Always review new information and repletion, repletion, repletion!!!

Record yourself speaking on any topic and analyze your grammar and pronunciation mistakes.

You may not notice then while you're speaking, because your brain is busy with other things.

But then when you listen to yourself you can catch them and correct them.

One super important thing is to be focused on the present moment. On

the thing that you’re doing right now. You’re working on your pronunciation

give it your full attention and be conscious about it.

And enjoy your path,

concentrate on your path, not on your ultimate goal.

You have already figured it out and that’s great, and now let it go.

You know this, you have your strategy, you have many different methods.

Don’t think about that future thing every single day!

Like, “Ok, today I’ve done this, but I don’t feel that I’ve gotten any closer to my goal.

Or It’s been a month and I still don’t know a lot things.

Or yesterday I had this conversation and I just kept forgetting words.”

Focusing on this and telling yourself these stories, you’ll end up demotivating yourself.

And the next thing you know you’ll find yourself thinking “ I was supposed to study today, but what’s the point”

And that’s going to throw you back to the beginning again.

Focus on the present. Tell yourself

“Today I’ve done a great job and tomorrow I’ll do even better”

or “Ok, today I didn’t get the chance to study, but that’s ok. I have a plan.

I’ll do a little more tomorrow”.

Give yourself time, keep yourself motivated, because only you are the one who can do that.

And give yourself a permission to make mistakes. It’s inevitable. Just deal with that.

You’ve made a mistake. Correct yourself. And move on.

That all being said I have to tell you. I’ve talked to some people who’ve told me

“Ok, All of your advice is good. But no matter what I do, nothing seems to work.”

And, then when I ask them “But what do actually do?

Do read in English at least a couple of times a week? The answer is not exactly.

Do you watch movies, TV shows, videos in English. It’s too hard, but I listen to the music in English all the time.”

Have you tried to find someone to talk to in English, have you tried to join a speaking club. Have you tried to hire a teacher,

have you tried to take a course? And all I hear is that “I can’t afford this, I don’t have time,

I don’t really like speaking clubs. I don’t like this web site.

No, I don’t record myself because it feels uncomfortable and stupid.

And then, they ask me “But can you tell me what do I do?”

They have thousands and thousands of reasons why they can’t do this.

And I have only one answer to this

I wish I could wake up tomorrow morning and know English perfectly

and Spanish and French. But I don’t have any magic powers. I can’t do the work instead of you!”

One piece of advice - don’t focus on something that you can’t do

let’s not search for problems, but rather focus on their solutions.

Well thank you guys watching. If you aren’t subscribed yet and you like our channel, consider subscribing.

Don’t forget to click the notifications bell to be the first one to know when we upload new videos. And thumbs up! Bye