Subconscious fluency in English (by Learning at Home)

Hello, lovely students, and  welcome back to English with Lucy.

Do you still feel stuck when it comes to speaking  

even though you've been studying  English for years or even decades?

You are not alone. This is a  common issue. Today, I'm going  

to give you seven practical strategies  to help you speak English naturally,  

effortlessly and automatically, all  from the comfort of your own home.

Now, we all know that there is no  magic wand that can guarantee you  

miracle results. Learning a language  requires time, effort and dedication.

And it's true—to speak English effortlessly,  you have to put in the effort first.

But I promise you that by the end of today's  video, you will have some really useful,  

practical strategies that will take you  closer to your goal of fluent English.

To help you even further—I have created a Digital  

Fluency Guide that you can download  for free. It accompanies this lesson.

In this Fluency Guide, you will find all of  the strategies we cover in today's lesson,  

plus lots of extra ideas to help  inspire your home study practice.

To download this awesome PDF Fluency Guide,  packed full of top tips, all you have to do  

is click on the link in the description box or  scan the QR code there, enter your name and your  

email address—you sign up to my mailing list,  the PDF will arrive directly in your inbox.

And after that, you will automatically receive  my free weekly PDFs alongside all of my news,  

course updates and offers. It's a free  service, you can unsubscribe at any time.

Okay, let's start with a personal  favourite of mine—it is shadowing.

If you are not already utilising shadowing,  this is a fantastic opportunity for you.

What does it involve? Well, first—choose a  speaker you like. It could be their accent  

or the vocabulary they use or their  tone of voice that you find appealing.

2—Find a clip of them speaking,  maybe in a series, film or interview.

And 3—play the clip and try to repeat their words  as soon after they've said them, as you can.

Now, this feels a little strange at first and  it is really quite challenging. So, at first,  

you might need to pause and repeat, but you'll  soon build up speed and fluency. I promise.

Not only will you improve your  pronunciation, intonation and rhythm,  

but you'll also unconsciously  build up your grammar knowledge.

I made a video specifically on  this technique with lots of extra  

information and lots of shadowing practice  opportunities, I'll link that down below.

Number 2—find content you enjoy. The more  English you consume, the more you'll learn,  

right? Well, not necessarily. Although I agree  that it's important to read and listen to as  

much English as possible, you need to  think about quality, not just quantity.

Let's face it. If you have to  force yourself to watch Ted talks,  

films or series that bore you to tears, your  brain is going to switch off faster than I can  

say—pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.  And yes, that is a real word!

By engaging with content that you  find entertaining, you're more likely  

to learn vocabulary that is useful and  relevant to you. Stick with it for longer

and connect with other people who share  the same passions and interests as you.

So, take some time, do some research  and find some content you truly enjoy.

My next point is on the magic of +  1 learning. Let's say you've found  

some interesting things to read or watch,  but are they at the right level for you?

You want to challenge yourself, but we  don't want steam coming out of your ears.

If the content is too easy, you won't  learn anything new. But if it's too hard,  

you'll get frustrated and give up.

If it is just a little bit above your  level, that is where the magic happens.

The idea that you learn best when you understand  most of what you read or hear but are also  

exposed to some new words and structures  was developed by linguist Stephen Krashen.

He called the learner's current level  'comprehensible input' and the new  

material '+1'. So, try and consume  content you understand around 80% of,  

and you should be in the perfect learning zone.

If you find it hard to choose written content that  is at your level, you could try Graded Readers.

These are texts that have been modified to a  particular level—beginner, intermediate and so on.

If you don't have access to these materials,  why not ask an AI bot like ChatGPT for help?

Simply copy and paste the authentic text you  want to read and add the prompt—modify this  

text so that it's suitable for  an A2/B1/B2 learner of English.

You can also use ChatGPT to help  scaffold a written or spoken text.

"Scaffold" is basically a fancy word for support.

Usually, a teacher would scaffold an activity for  

you by offering you extra  support when you needed it.

Without a teacher, we can turn to AI for support.

For example, you can ask AI to look at a text,  

a reading or a transcript from a podcast  or YouTube video and select ten words  

or expressions that would probably be new or  challenging for an A2 or B1 learner of English.

The best AI-driven app that  I have found for this so far,  

especially when it comes to YouTube  videos and podcasts, is Langua.

I will mark this as an ad because I've invested  in the company, because I love it so much.

Langua has so many features.

One of the coolest features is my AI clone. Let  me show you, quickly. You won't believe this!

So, I've opened the Langua app, I've chosen  English as my language. I've chosen to chat  

with Lucy who is a UK female: chat about  anything. Let's do—general conversation. 'Hi,  

there. How are you doing today? What would  you like to chat about?' That's me! 'Hello,  

today, I would like to talk about cooking.'

'I'm up for a chat about cooking, what sort of  dishes do you enjoy making at home? I am quite  

partial to a Sunday roast myself, though I can  never get my Yorkshire puddings to rise properly.'

Don't just have to chat with Lucy, she can  provide you feedback. She can correct you.  

It's really amazing! You can explore it for free.

The free plan is limited to  how much you can chat per day

or you can sign up for one of that PRO  plans and use the code LUCY20 for 20% off.

I've left a link in the description box and a QR  

code here. Create an account  first then download the app.

Students who have tried it out so far have  

said that it has revolutionised  the way they learn English now.

If AI is not really your thing, I have some  other ways you can scaffold challenging texts.

I'll give you a few now and I've left lots more  

in the Fluency Guide. The link  for that is in the description.

Number 1—slow down the playback speed  and read the tapescript at the same time.

2—Use nonverbal clues as much as  possible. Focus on body language,  

facial expressions or any other visual  clues, such as photographs or images.

3—Activate your background knowledge  of the subject. Let's say you're  

about to listen to a podcast about the  importance of sleep. Before you listen,  

jot down what you already know about the topic.

So, we found content we enjoy  at around the right level.

We're beginning to understand a lot more  vocabulary and grammatical structures,  

but the next challenge is to take that passive  knowledge and turn it into active skills.

Even in our native language, we  understand many more words and  

phrases than we actually use. But  here are some ideas that can help  

you get those words out of your head  and onto a page or into your mouth.

You could make a note of new  vocabulary you hear and read.

Don't just translate a word  or memorise a definition.

Write your own example and make it  personal. Many studies have shown  

that making vocabulary personal means  you're much more likely to remember it.

Also, try and become an active listener.

Don't just sit back and relax. Pause  the podcast. Rephrase what the speaker  

said. Ask them a question. Tell them you disagree.

You can practise similar  techniques when reading too.

You could also do what I did a lot when I was  learning Spanish. Speak to yourself in the  

language you're learning—English for you—as often  as you can throughout the day. It doesn't have to  

be out loud, but from making breakfast to washing  your hair, try explaining what you're doing.

It is best to speak out loud  and train your English muscles,  

but sometimes it's not appropriate.

Number 5—immerse yourself in English.

Have you ever heard someone say something  like this? 'To learn a language really well,  

you have to live in a country  where the language is spoken.'

I don't think this is true!

It certainly helps. Being completely  immersed in a language is going to  

give you much more exposure to  it and that can't be a bad thing.

But you can make small changes to try  and recreate this immersive experience,  

even if you don't live in  an English speaking country.

Here are my top tips: 1—Change your digital  world to English. Your phone, your computer,  

your laptop—switch it all! Seeing and using  English every day will make a big difference.

2—Imagine you live in an English  speaking country. When you go shopping,  

write your shopping list in English.

If you're cooking your dinner, present an English  cookery show. I used to do that all the time.

3—Take all your boring everyday tasks and  play out what you would say in English.

Let's say you need to call your internet provider.  

Predict the questions you would be  asked. How would you answer them?

I remember when I moved to Spain  there were certain words I just  

couldn't get my tongue around and  I avoided saying them out loud

because I was nervous they  might not come out clearly.

To fix this, I sat down with an online  dictionary and repeated the tricky words dozens,  

if not hundreds of times, until  it flowed out effortlessly. And  

this also works really well for complete  phrases or what we sometimes call chunks.

So, for example, instead  of learning the dictionary  

phrase 'put your finger on something' or

'(not) put your finger on something'.  Say the phrase how you'd actually use  

it in real life. For example—'I  can't quite put my finger on it.'

If you need help with slang,  

my AI clone on Langua has a slang mode  as well, which is really quite funny.

Make sure you check it out.

If you repeat a word, phrase or  situation over and over again,  

you will eventually reach a point at which  you do it without having to think about it.

Okay, it's time for my final strategy. If you want  

to see real improvements in your  English fluency, you need to get  

organised and you need to be committed and  consistent—these 3 things are not easy.

Perhaps the first one is the easiest:  planning how and when you'll study.

Staying consistent is hard, but it's through  consistency that you're going to see real results.

If you struggle to stay committed, here  are some tips: 1—Make yourself accountable.

Try to form a group with fellow  language learners and tell each  

other what you're going to  study each week or month.

You might be motivated to stick to your schedule  if you have to admit to peers when you don't!

2—Be realistic when setting your goals.

If listening to 30 minutes of a podcast every  day does not fit into your busy schedule,  

you are setting yourself up for failure

before you've even started!

Start off small, get into the flow,  and watch your motivation grow.

Being an independent learner is  hard and it is not for everybody!

Okay, I have a challenge for you:  

I want you to choose one idea from  today's video that you are going to try.

What are you going to do and how  long are you going to commit for?

Let me know in the comments. Let me know if  you try out my AI clone on Langua as well.

I think she's really going to surprise you!

There's a link in the description box and  I've also got the link for the Fluency  

Guide. You can download that by clicking in  the description box or on that QR code there.

I hope you've enjoyed today's lesson. I hope it's  motivated you. I will see you in the next one!  

Muah!