How To Improve Your English ALONE

When you have the dream of speaking  English, there will be people saying,  

and you might even ask yourself “Why are you doing this?” 

“You’ll never get fluent.” “Stop wasting your time.”

So so many of my students  have struggled with this. 

When I was still in middle school, or in High School, it was really hard for me

because I was trying to learn English, I was  like constantly doing something and a lot of  

my classmates didn't really understand me.  They were like, "Why you're studying? Like,  

you should go party and not study." And I just  really liked it. They didn't understand me,  

and at first it really hurt me, because  I was a teenager, I was like, "Oh my God,  

I don't have any friends. No one understands  me." But then when I moved to Moscow,  

I realized that like, happiness is in my hands,  right? I should do something about it. I shouldn't  

wait for other people to bring me  joy or happiness or understand me.

it's a scary decision to fight those voices,

but Veronika Mark did, and today  she’s going to tell us how. 

Veronika, welcome to the show!

Yeah, thank you!

So Veronika, from English with Veronika Mark, is a language learner from Russia.

n this video, we'll look at what makes a perfect, successful learner and the steps she took

o achieve native-like English fluency. 

I'm so happy to have Veronika  on the show because here

at RealLife English we want you to achieve confident, fluent English! That’s why

every week we create lessons so you can understand fast spoken English, be understood

by anyone and connect to the world. So make 

sure to subscribe so you  don't miss any new lessons,

like Kawya who says that our lessons are helping them to get clear, confident English!

Speaking English is... extremely important for me,  

somewhat important for me,  not very important for me.  

If you are here, I bet learning this language is something you've always

wanted or needed. You may even have been 

studying it for a long time.  And when people ask if you

speak English, you answer:  "Yeah, just a little." or 

"I can understand, but I  don't speak very well." Maybe

you even apologize before you start speaking, “Sorry for my bad English!”. You may be failing to

do the number 1 step of starting something 

new. Take a look at what  Veronika and I discussed here:

If you're learning English you should understand why you  want to learn English, because I feel like a lot  

of students are really too hard on themselves  because... Are being too hard on themselves,  

because they feel like they need, they have to  be advanced, if they're not advanced, they're  

like failures, you know, they're losers. And  I don't think it's true, because for example  

a lot of us don't really need English for work  or for studying at a university, right? So,  

it's okay if you're not advanced, right? If you  only learn English to watch your favorite TV Show,  

then you don't really need to be advanced for  that, right? But if your goal is to actually work  

in an English-speaking country, then obviously you  have to really learn English, you have to dedicate  

a lot of time to the language. So, my TED Talk would be something like about like, know your goal.  

And then like pick a path that is right for you,  don't look at other people, because you don't need  

to be advanced to watch like a video in English  or to read a book in English, if this is what  

you want to do, if this is your goal, right? - I couldn't agree more. I think everyone has to have a really  

strong burning desire for why they want to learn  the language. And that can really reflect, I mean,  

when you're very clear on what do you need the  language for? That's also really good, because  

it's like, "Okay, I need my English for work."  But maybe you work as a doctor, so it's like,  

okay, you have to learn like a lot of medical  English. You don't need to learn English about  

the environment, for example. So, it can kind of  help you to choose like, "I need to focus on this,  

and I can at least right now ignore this" - Maybe, maybe only like, the same was like goals, because  

it just helps me. Maybe like one of the people is also like me, and they feel like they need a goal.  

They need to understand why they're learning the   language. And then it's going to be easier for  

them to learn English for example, because if for  example, you're watching this video, you feel like  

you don't really need to learn English to a very  high level and you feel a lot of peer pressure  

because other people want to become advanced,  right? It's like this goal that a lot of people  

have, "I want to be advanced" but if you don't  need to become advanced it's totally fine, right?  

Just be yourself, understand what you need. - It's almost in that sense enjoying the journey as well. 

Because if you're not so focused on "I have  to speak English perfectly" or "I have to be  

like these other people that I see who are  are speaking perfect English" in some sense,  

then you're free to enjoy the journey, right?  -Yeah, exactly you can really enjoy the journey.  

So, even if you know the reason why you are learning English and you are really focused on that, you may

feel stuck sometimes. It seems like you reach a point in which you are not learning anything new.

There's another important component that you should apply to take your English to the next

level. It's what linguist Stephen Krashen calls comprehensible input. I asked Veronika about

this and she illustrates Krashen's theory really well here.

I feel like I read a lot.

And I also watch a lot of different TV Shows. And I was ... I obviously watch a lot of like YouTube videos.  

But recently I realized that I feel  comfortable right now, like, with what I read  

and what I watch, I feel really comfortable. I  feel like I understand like a 100% 

of everything I'm consuming. And it's actually  a bad thing, because to improve you need to like  

still have room of not understanding  all of the information you're consuming.  

And recently, I realized that I need to maybe watch  something harder like maybe TED Talks, because  

they're usually a lot harder than just regular  YouTube videos like about my everyday life.

And as for books the same, because recently  I've tried reading the book called East Of Eden.  

But for me it was just so hard, and I was like,  "Oh my god, like, there are so many words I don't  

understand" and I don't know I just kind of  felt demotivated, because for me that book was  

definitely a little bit too hard. [Right] So, maybe  like something in the middle, because right now  

I'm reading a book it is good, I like it. But I feel  like it's just way too easy for me. So maybe next  

time I'm gonna pick something a little bit more  difficult. - Yeah, East Of Eden, that's a classic, I  

believe. So, like those ones, even for me, sometimes  sometimes there's like certain things that can be

a challenge, you know? Even for natives. - Yeah, yeah, they are a challenge, yeah. - But that's really  

great so you're always looking for things that they're kind of like on that edge of what you're  

comfortable with, right? To make sure that you're continuing to grow.

So did you have something besides just reading these graded readers? Did you have something that helped you to

start acquiring the vocabulary that you needed  to get up to say native-level literature?  

Yeah, I had like a bullet journal when I was in High School, and I would put down all  

the new words that I didn't know. For me, like back  then it was good. Like it wasn't the best  

option, but I memorized a lot of words this way.  But I also feel like what really helped me is not  

really putting down all of those words and kind  of like memorizing them, but just being really  

consistent and learning English every single day.  Because every day, I would just come across this  

word again and again and again. And then I would  just remember it this way I guess. -Yeah, consistency  is definitely key.

You'll only learn English if you study every day. That's right! That's crazy!

Now, this is a tricky question because there's no right or wrong answer. People's learning routines

can be dramatically different. For example, you may have to study English in the morning because you

work all day long. Another person may only have a few minutes in the evening because that's when

their kids are sleeping. Or you may be someone who studies while commuting back and forth from school.

But, you can see how Veronika is living proof that being consistent makes the whole difference. You

won't see the results immediately but in the  long term you'll see how worthwhile it was to  

show up every day. This quote summarizes it best.

Luck is basically showing up everyday,

in some sense that luck happens when you're showing up. And then it's kind of like, you have a coincidence or something.

Now podcasts are a great and convenient way to create an English

listening habit. Veronika mentioned that she does this every morning on her way to classes.

For me for example like, every morning when I go  to classes I try to listen to a podcast in English.  

So, my morning starts with English. Like, during  the day, obviously, I didn't really have that much  

time and opportunity, because I have  classes and all of them are in Russian.  

But when I come back home I'm like on a train,  I try to again listen to something in English,  

or read a book again in English. So this is for me, like what I call a language environment.

You can listen to the full interview with Veronika and tons of other English teachers and

experts for free anywhere you enjoy listening to podcasts. However, I would recommend that

you listen on the RealLife English App. Why? Because it is the only place where you can get

a transcript for the full episode and learn all of the important vocabulary, and more!

Plus, many learners like you tell me that they are frustrated that they don’t have anyone to

practice what they are learning with. Well, on the RealLife App you can have conversations

in English with people from all around the world at the touch of a button, and discover new cultures!

So if you are ready to step outside of the classroom and live your English, then download the app

now by searching for RealLife English in the Apple App or Google play store. Or simply click

the link up here or down in the description below.

You don't need to obsess over grammar  

but it can be your friend on this journey. - I used to do grammar a lot, because there was just  

a lot of grammar rules that I didn't know, I didn't  understand. And I know that a lot of people don't  

really like doing grammar exercises, but for me  was really helpful. For me was something that  

helped me improve because I'm like, really  tactical person. I like knowing why a sentence  

is built a certain way. So for me, it was only  rational to do grammar exercises. And I like them.  

I really like doing them. So, I spent a lot of  time doing grammar because for me, it was really,  

really important. - And what do you think,  like, having that foundation of grammar,  

what benefits did that have to you later in your English learning? - I think for me, it really  

helped me understand the structure of the language. Because when I was looking at a sentence, I wasn't  

thinking like, "Why are people using Was here or like, Am or Have." I already knew, I knew that this is 

like Present Simple or Present Continuous, like I  understood all of those patterns already, yeah, and  

then I built upon that, and I was like, "Okay, now I need  more vocabulary. I need to learn way more words."  

Because this is something that's, that was really  important to me. - Yeah, I suppose like the  

one of the points I would kind of like highlight  there is that there's not necessarily any  

right way to learn, right? Because some people  are really big proponents of the not learning  

grammar at all. I feel like in general, I found  that more useful for me, for example because I'm...

For me it's hard to do what you did, like  going through the books and everything, and  

I've done it and everything. But I find that  more useful later, when I'm in a point where  

I'm already listening to the language and speaking  it a lot. And I understand it quite well, to explain  

what I'm already encountering, like so I know like  for my brain that works that, tends to work better,  

but for other people like you, it's kind of like  you enjoyed the process and everything, right? Of  

learning the grammar. So it's like really getting  to know yourself, right? And knowing what you enjoy,  

so that you can find what's going to work best for you.

Has Veronika inspired your English

learning journey? then share it with a friend so more people can be inspired as well. Maybe you can

help convince them not to give up! Now, I highly recommend that you start following these steps

right away. To help you even more with that, check out this video packed with precious tips on how to

become a confident English speaker. Let’s watch a clip of that!

I need to practice my speaking.

i'm going to try to find a speaking  partner on the RealLife English App.

- Hi, I'm Andrea, where are you speaking from?

I come from uh...

Well, it's friday night and I have no plans,

you know what? I'm gonna find  someone to have a nice chat with.  

- Hey, what's up? I'm Ethan from  Barcelona, where are you speaking from?

- Oh, what a small world, I'm Andrea and I'm also  in Barcelona. - Oh awesome! Yeah, so I want to know  

what do you usually do on friday night? - Um I really like hanging out with my friends...