The MOST IMPORTANT skill for learning English (don’t skip this!)

this video is brought to you by Squarespace  when people talk about learning language you  

always hear the same advice work on your reading  skills practice speaking every day and build your  

vocabulary and yes those things are important but  here's the truth they're not the only skills that  

are going to take you to this advanced level  there are other often overlooked skills that  

can make all the difference between plateauing  at an intermediate stage and becoming really  

Advanced so today I'm going to share five powerful  skills that most Learners don't even think about  

but if you pay attention to them you'll notice  a huge shift in your progress okay so first  

let's talk about pattern recognition and I  honestly think that that is probably one of  

the biggest things that influenced my language  learning because the thing is when people start  

learning a foreign language they often focus on  individual words I have to learn this word this  

word and that word and then I have to learn  how to combine all of these words to create a  

sentence but my Approach was always a little bit  different I wanted to focus on patterns because  

every single time I opened a language textbook  I could see those patterns because languages are  

full of them just think about it how many times  have you seen phrases like I don't think so or  

it's up to you instead of trying to translate all  of these phrases through your native language or  

explain to yourself why they're structured this  way I think for me personally it's just easier  

to memorize them like that's the way it is in  English that's the way this pattern Works people  

say I don't think so so instead of saying I think  not if I turn on my Russian brain honestly the  

phrase I don't think so doesn't make any sense if  I translate word by word but I need to turn on my  

English brain I need to start recognizing English  related patterns instead of trying to look at the  

language from the Russian point of view from all  of the Russian patterns because my native language  

is Russian you know you don't have to understand  every single words separately in fact I think that  

it can actually slow down your progress instead  recognizing patterns is a very useful skill when  

it comes to language learning and it will help you  so much predict what's coming next you're going  

to start building a mountain where with every  new Step it's going to be easier and easier for  

you to memorize new words because you're already  familiar with all of these patterns and building  

new patterns is going to become much much easier  the next skill is honestly very similar to pattern  

recognition but still it's a little bit different  it's called chunking so again chunking is all  

about focusing on phrases instead of individual  words I think people use chunking more when it  

comes to memorizing vocabulary whereas pattern  recognition is just like a separate thing like  

it's nice to learn how to recognize patterns in  a new language because this way it will help you  

with everything it will help you with vocabulary  it will help you with Grammar with every single  

aspect of language learning the theory is if you  focus on single words you're going to be stuck  

trying to piece together a sentence especially if  you're a beginner it's really really hard creating  

a sentence with just a few words that you know but  if you learn full chunks for example can you give  

me a hand or I don't know if I can make it you  will definitely sound more fluent one trick that I  

personally use is to try to memorize useful chunks  that can be recycled in many many conversations  

especially when it's something that's connected  to me to my personal vocabulary I'm sure you  

guys remember that in my older videos I talked  a lot about building your own personalized vocab  

because if you're a lawyer you have to know  a lot of those Law related phrases in English  

even if you're a beginner because you have to be  able to talk about your job whereas me my job has  

nothing to do with law so I can wait a little  bit you know when I'm a beginner I don't really  

need to memorize all of this new vocabulary right  now one example of chunking I can give you that  

is connected to my life right now is all about  yoga because I've been doing yoga for many many  

years but right now I'm really trying to become  more advanced and so the sentence I have here  

the big chunk I have here is I love flow style  yoga because it challenges me physically yes I  

know that a lot of people know the words flow and  style but can those people create this expression  

flow style yoga this is a great example of  chunking instead of memorizing everything  

separately I'm memorizing a sentence that is  related to my life to my hobbies to something  

that I'm doing on a daily basis and speaking of  building resilience whether you're learning a new  

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your dream project now let's move on to emotional  management because let's be real learning language  

can be so freaking frustrating and so this is  where emotional management comes in yes I feel  

like language Learners really need a manager to  manage their emotions obviously I'm kidding here  

you will have to become your own manager your  own teacher you know learning a language is  

a roller coaster of emotions here's a story for  you guys you all know that I'm learning Spanish  

right now and so I am still constantly well almost  constantly okay mixing up verb tenses and I try so  

hard not to quit learning Spanish when I keep  on making mistakes so I completely understand  

you're here I mean I've been in the same place  with English as well and how I personally manage  

emotions in those situations is I constantly  remind myself that Veronica it's okay to make  

mistakes you're still progressing you're still  doing something you're making mistakes and that's  

okay it doesn't make you stupid it doesn't mean  that you know you're not smart enough to learn  

a language just keep on going because the truth  is every polyg glob will tell you the exact same  

thing those frustrating moments are a part of  the process and unfortunately you can't really  

get rid of them the trick is to see frustration  not as failure but as a sign that you're learning  

something new if you feel stuck take a break  switch to a fun activity and then come back with  

fresh energy I know progress isn't always obvious  but it is happening I promise you it is happening  

if you're learning the language consistently  it is definitely happening so please accept the  

fact that you will have to be okay with partial  comprehension for some time that's just the way  

it works now let's talk about learning to learn  because have you ever thought about how you learn  

best and this is called metacognition the ability  to understand your own learning process because  

this is another secret of language Learners  we are honestly not that good at studying you  

know we're not perfect when it comes to studying  the language we just know what works best for us  

what works best for me might not work best for you  and that's the reality for example I have a friend  

who's learning I don't know three four languages  right now and every time he tries to crb new  

vocabulary through flash cards it doesn't work it  doesn't stick and then he realized that he learns  

a lot better through conversations and stories  and I'm honestly a completely different person  

yes I'm sure I'm going to learn a few phrases and  words when I talk to a native speaker or when I  

have my Spanish class but you know I'm not going  to really like memorize them I really need to use  

flash cards to make sure I remember all of these  words long term but he is completely different he  

hates flashcards so instead of forcing flash cards  he started reading books and talking to native  

speakers and the words stayed with him because  they were tied to meaningful experiences he  

discovered what worked best for him and he doubled  down on that and so learning to learn is all about  

experimenting ING with different methods if one  approach doesn't work for you try another the key  

is to be curious about your own process and keep  on adjusting until you find what clicks and that  

is exactly what I teach in my course language  Mastery Program all about language learning all  

about tailoring your language learning to you so  if you want to check out this course my language  

Mastery Program you can do so by clicking the link  in the description and finally let's talk about  

silence and why in fact it's not scary at all I  think becoming comfortable with pauses and com  

ation to find the right words is going to help  you a lot because a lot of people feel embarrassed  

and shy when they have to take a moment to think  but allowing yourself to think through a sentence  

instead of rushing to speak is I think so much  better A lot of language Learners think that it's  

so awkward to pause to think of the right word and  honestly in that moment your brain just freezes  

it often feels like forever but the reality is  silence is not scary in fact native speakers pause  

all the time literally all the time just think  about it how often do you hear people say um let  

me think about it or what was I saying literally  all the time native speakers use these Expressions  

all the time because they want to make sure they  think through their sentences and So eventually  

instead of putting all of this pressure on myself  I learned that it's okay to pause it's okay to be  

silent instead of rushing to speak perfectly  and then beating yourself up because you you  

can't speak perfectly because Perfection doesn't  exist how about you just take a second to think  

or even use filler words like let me see or give  me a moment so I think it's going to be it for  

today's video if you liked it make sure to give it  a thumbs up and subscribe to my YouTube channel if  

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using my link in the description if you want  to create your own monthly language learning  

plan I highly recommend watching this video right  here just click right here and keep on watching