Why Some People Speak FLUENT English, But YOU Don't! | Interview with Leo Gomez

What's up boys and girls? So, this has been  one of my favorite interviews so far. Leo is an  

absolutely incredible english teacher! Now, do you  ever feel like you're failing to learn english?  

Well, today he will help you to develop the  mindset of a successful english learner! Leo,  

welcome to the show! - Oh, thanks man. Thanks a lot for the invitation.

So, you will learn seven lessons that if you apply them will help you to master english. But before we get into those  

I wanted to share with you what one RealLifer told  us. So, Mobina said that our lessons have helped  

them to learn english faster. So, why don't you  become a RealLifer too by hitting that subscribe  

button and the bell down below? That way every  week we can help you to understand fast speaking  

natives, to be understood by anyone, and to even connect to the world! All right, have you hit it? Then let's get started!

Of course in the beginning I had to prove myself but to be honest with you, Ethan

and everyone watching this I think the biggest impediment to becoming the kind of  

person that I wanted to become or to reach  higher levels in my professional life, I think  

I think it was within me. I think to a  certain extent, I am my worst critic. And I think  

for a very long period of time I had a really  hard time accepting the fact that I was different.  

But I couldn't see that difference as being a  differential. I couldn't see that as hey, you know, 

what I'm different that's actually better. Because  I'm different I can use that as leverage to get  

to where I want to be. And eventually  once I understood that, that's what I started to  

gain momentum in my career, and gain the respect  of people. There's one thing I wanted to say and  

I think it's related to... I think teachers... I think  it's related to teachers in general, Ethan, is  

that because teaching is almost like a lonely  venture, you are in the classroom by yourself with  

the students, we tend to let the ego get in the way.  And I think it would be a mistake for me to say, 

or it would be an understatement for me to say  that teachers don't have an ego. I think teachers  

have quite the ego. And I think that kinds... I  think to a certain extent the ego gets in the way  

of improving, of getting better as a teacher. And  I think you know this, and everyone watching or  

listening to this will probably know that  there is not a single problem in the world  

that is ever solved by introducing your ego.  It is actually the opposite, because pride  

makes us complacent, pride makes us intolerable,  pride makes us ignorant. Because we are not  

becoming aware of the things that we don't know. We  don't know what we don't know because our ego is  

in a way kind of blinding us, so we cannot learn  the things that we already... The things that we  

think we already know so I think removing the ego  from the equation, or becoming aware of your ego  

would definitely help language education in general.

Are you scared to speak english? Maybe you're just really shy. Really, the only way to overcome fear and shyness is to start speaking! 

Now, I'm sure that you're thinking "I know that Ethan,  but I don't have anyone to speak english with."  

We've heard this problem from countless learners  from around the world. So, we decided to solve the  

problem! That's why we built the RealLife App.  Now, on this app at the touch of a button you can

connect to another learner in a different part of  the world for a fast dynamic english conversation,  

plus you can listen to the full interview with Leo  and so many more with an interactive transcript  

for free! Are you ready for real life fluency? Then,  get started now by searching for RealLife English  

in the Google Play or Apple App Store, or just  click the link up here or in the description below. See you there!

Another interview I had on the  Talk Show here with Anna from English Fluency  

Journey, she's from Ukraine. She's never been to an  english-speaking country, but she's just like so  

passionate about the language that she, you  know, would listen to audios and repeat it over  

and over again. It's just like something that  for most people I think would be just really  

menial work, you know, having to do something so  repetitive, but she really had her heart set  

on that on speaking like an american, which isn't  the best goal for everyone but that was her goal,  

she really had her heart set on that and so she  was willing to put in that really hard work, you  

know, of every day of listening, repeating, listening,  repeating. So, you have to be creative and and very dedicated.

The problem today, Ethan, is it's not  a lack of information but the the lack of... We  

have an abundance of information, but what we're  lacking is the desire to improve, is the desire  

to learn. So, a person says to me "learning a  language is very difficult in 2021." I would  

call you... I would call B.S. on that, I don't think  it is. Mike and I, my business partner at Learn  

Your English, we did a podcast episode where we  talked about the seven seas of learning, and one of  

the seven seas, Ethan and everyone watching and  listening to this, is conception. You need to have  

a very clear conception of what you want. It has to  be a vivid vision, a goal that is clearly imagined.  

And by the sounds of it I think Anna had a very  clear conception of what she wanted to be or  

wanted to sound like. We're constantly creating  this image, this vivid vision of what we're  

going to do in a foreign language, and eventually  we can pull it off but a lot of people  

don't have that. So, if you lack this  conception, everything else is going to be very difficult.

A lot of people you've said they  would say they want to learn english, I think  

a lot of people say that they want to be fluent  in english, so they're not even thinking about  

the path of sitting down and learning english,  they just want to already be there. Like you were  

saying before like they want the six-pack they  don't want to actually have to go to the gym.  

So, the problem when you do that too is that  when you say "I want to be fluent" most people  

don't actually know what that means, and so they're  not able to visualize, or they're not taking the  

time to really visualize "What does that mean for  me?" If i'm fluent how is my life different? How will  

I be using the language? Will I have a new job? Will  I be living in a different country? Who will I be  

using it with? Who will I be speaking with?" So, it's  I think until you've really gotten crystal clear  

which is kind of going back to Ana she had that  really crystal clear like, you know, "I want to  

have this american accent and I'm willing to put  in the hard work to get that." But so many people  

will say that and they can't really visualize  like what's that going to bring for them, what's  

that life that they'll be living through that,  so, I think if you are really able to make that  

that purpose furthering the language crystal clear  from the outset, or if you're already learning it  

you can do that now there's no problemM  but it's going to push you through that hard work  

through those really boring moments of it and  help you to actually be successful in that goal. 

There is a very symbolic symbiotic relationship  between learning and lifestyle. And I think you  

are a very good example of this, I am a very  good example of this because we were able to  

combine our learning with our lifestyle, and this  is the point in learner autonomy, the learner is  

the expert not the teacher. And I think there  is a paradigm shift right here because the  

learner becomes the experts of their own language  learning journey. People who take the initiative  

in learning they learn much more and they  learn much better than those who don't.  

So, self-directed learning or learning autonomy,  Ethan and everyone watching and listening to this,  

is very much in tune, is very much aligned with our  natural psychological development as learners and  

again, it takes maturity, it takes a  little bit of a maturation process I should  

say in the development of the ability to take  more responsibility over our lives. So, I think  

beyond the acquisition and application of  knowledge students need to become more mature.  

We need to teach them to take more responsibility  to be more accountable. It's not my job as you said  

I cannot learn english for you, you have to  do the work. You need to develop the maturity to  

to take those responsibilities, to be accountable  for those things, and more importantly, to become  

more aware of what you are doing when you  learn and when you use the target language.  

Michael Lewis, actually back in I would say  1992/93 if i'm not mistaken, he wrote a book  

called "The lexical approach", but he basically said,  (and a lot of people say that they said that but  

it was Michael Lewis who said this) he said that  "Languages are not taught, languages are learned."

That was michael lewis in 1993. And it's true  and I think learner autonomy is basically that  

you don't go to the classroom to teach a language,  you go to the classroom to learn how to learn the language.

Boring is part of the learning  process, Ethan. I think a person who says to me "Oh,  

I want to learn something, or I want to learn how  to do something." You're going to go through those  

moments of boredom, you're going to go through  those moments where things are not going to be  

as fun. People are visualizing the fluency  they're not visualizing the process, So, the focus  

is always on the outcome, the focus is on "I want  to be fluent. I want to have a six-pack." But nobody  

is thinking about "Okay, what is it going to take  for me to get to that level?" So, if you are able  

to understand or again, going back to the seven seas, I think you need to have that stubborn consistency  

right in pursuing that vision, because if you  are consistent you do the one percent every day  

you will get there. But again it also requires  philosophy, because philosophy helps you develop  

a character, and when you develop a character that character will guide you, that character will  

will keep you on the proper course of action.  And finally going back to what you said and I  

think you said that very nicely "enjoying  the process." Developing the, again another sea,  

the capacity to enjoy the process along the way,  because if you don't enjoy the process (like a  

craftsman, a craftsman enjoys the process) so,  if you don't enjoy that you're not going to  

enjoy learning. Learning is forever, you have to enjoy that you have to embrace that every day. I have to do the same thing until it clicks.  

I've always had this fascination for a foreign language  

and i think english was the first language that I  came across back in the day, and I remember  

listening to the radio (I was able to listen to  BBC even though it was very staticky at the time)  

and I remember falling in love with the way  people use the language. I was fascinated  

by... I've always been fascinated by people's  choices of words when they are communicating, 

when they're getting their message across and  that's when it started and eventually it  

grew with me. I don't believe in love at first  sight, Ethan, but I automatically saw myself  

doing that for the rest of my life. I said "You know  what? I really like teaching, I'm fascinated by the  

way people acquire certain things, by how people  master things." So, I said "You know what? I'm gonna do this.

Anyone who decides to teach a language has to  go through the process of learning a language. And  

I mean, you've learned Catalan, I've learned english,  I've learned spanish, I've tried to learn other  

languages but I just didn't have the time and the  motivation to really pursue them any further,  

but I find that when you have gone  through the pains of learning a foreign language  

it becomes much easier for you to otherize, for  you to empathize, for you to look at your student  

and understand exactly where they're coming from,  because if you've never learned a language and  

your first language is english and that's the only  language you speak, I think you were lacking that  

sense of otherizing, like how can I  relate to someone if I've never done that? It's  

like me talking to you about parenting  if you don't have kids, so I find that  

this experience of going through the pains of  learning a foreign language, going through the  

pains of immigrating to a foreign country, and trying to settle into a new culture, and  

understanding, again we know the iceberg of culture.  We know that culture is not just customs, habits,  

and food. We know there's much more underneath  that iceberg. I find that experience really  

was the tipping point for me to kind of  become the kind of educator that I am today.

I learned so much from this interview with  Leo! Today's lesson has just been a taste of  

it! So, do not miss out on the whole thing. You  can listen to it wherever you enjoy podcasts,  

but I would recommend that you download the ReaLife App. That way you can effortlessly understand  

the whole interview with the transcript,  and learn the most essential vocabulary. 

And now, it's time to go beyond the  classroom and live your english. Aww yeah!