9 THINGS EVERY ENGLISH LEARNER MUST STOP SAYING

There are nine things, nine things that you as an English

learner must stop saying now.

These things are going to hinder you from improving your English, stop you

from getting to your goal and inhibit you from achieving each and every

one of your English fluency goals.

Do you want to know what the nine things are?

Well, then I'm teacher Tiffani.

Let's jump right in.

The very first thing that you must stop saying now is I'll never speak English.

Perfectly.

I'll never be able to speak English like a native speaker.

I'll never be able to speak English well.

Stop saying this now, I'm your English teacher and I believe in you, but

this phrase right here is hurting you.

So I need you to stop saying it.

Here is the reason why it's so detrimental.

This mindset sets an unrealistic expectation of perfection and undermines

the progress and efforts of others.

You've made when you say to yourself, I'm never going to be perfect.

Your mind basically goes into this state.

Well, If we're not going to be perfect, why are we trying everything

we've done so far means nothing.

You have to stop saying this, stop focusing on, Oh, I'm not perfect.

You have to remember all that you've done, all that you've

accomplished and how amazing you are.

So instead of saying this, I want you to say this instead.

Every day, I am improving my English speaking skills.

This makes me happy.

Listen, I really focus on helping English learners like you feel confident

and be more confident in themselves.

So when I teach lessons like this, they make me excited.

I get excited because I know how powerful they are and how much

they will change your experience.

So again, instead of saying, I'll never speak English perfectly.

I want you to start saying every day I am improving my English speaking skills.

You, yes.

And that's the truth.

Every day you're improving every day.

You're getting better.

This is what I want you to say.

Moving forward.

Can you do it?

Yes, my friend.

I love it.

All right.

The second thing I need you to stop saying is.

I'm not as good as other learners.

Johnny is really good.

I'm not as good as him, man.

Samantha, her English is awesome, but I'm not as good as her.

Stop saying I'm not as good as other learners.

Why this right here is demotivating.

It takes your motivation away.

It discourages you and it disregards your personal progress and the unique

pace at which individuals learn.

Johnny might learn at this pace.

Samantha might learn at this pace and your pace might be a bit

slower, but you're on the same page.

Journey, and you will achieve your goals.

So don't say I'm not as good as someone else.

I'm not as good as other learners.

Instead, this my friend is what I want you to say.

My journey is unique and I am making progress at my own pace.

Listen, you don't understand all of these movements.

If you're watching the video, these are genuine.

I get excited when I see English learners, again, students that are in

my program, in the speak English with Tiffani Academy, they see me in real time.

Right.

But even for you, I get excited just realizing that you are going to be

more confident after this lesson.

You've got to believe in yourself.

You have to realize for the audio listeners.

Sorry if that clap was loud, but listen, you have to realize you are amazing.

You are awesome.

You're doing something that is challenging, learning another language.

You've got to believe in yourself.

So instead of saying, I'm not as good as other learners starting

right now, I want you to say this.

My journey is unique and I am making progress at my own pace.

Come on and smile with me.

Yes, you got it.

All right, here we go.

The third thing, my friend, that I need you to stop saying

is, I can't remember new words.

I can't do it.

I can't remember new words.

Don't say this ever again.

Listen very closely.

Don't say this ever again.

I can't do it.

I can't remember new words.

Listen, why is this so bad?

This creates a mental block that can prevent effective memory strategies

from being developed or applied.

You can remember you are intelligent enough.

You are smart enough to remember new words.

Your brain just might use different methods or different strategies

to remember things when you think about the way other people learn.

You have to stop saying, I can't remember new words.

Here's what I want you to say instead, man.

I love it.

I am developing new strategies to improve my vocabulary every day.

And I want you to say it with confidence.

I want your shoulders to be back.

I want you to have a look on your face that lets the person know who

you're talking to that, Oh, this is a confident English learner.

Once again, I am developing new strategies to improve my vocabulary.

Every day, you see the difference, you see the difference, right?

It sounds different from, I can't remember new words.

Even if those watching my shoulders dropped, when, when I said I can't

remember new words, the body language even changes, but the moment you

realize, hold up, I can do this and you change the words you use.

I am developing new strategies to improve my vocabulary every day.

Oh yeah, baby.

Here we go.

All right.

Number four, the fourth thing I need you to stop saying now I'm

too old to learn English again, I'm too old to learn English.

I want you to stay till the end because at the end during story time, I'm

going to tell you a story about being old and learning another language.

This is a story that happened to me, something happened to me.

All right.

So, but I'm too old to learn English.

Stop saying that.

Stop saying that in my program, I have individuals who are in their seventies

out here speaking English with confidence.

Why they stopped saying this.

I'm too old to learn English.

Why is this bad?

It perpetuates the false, the untrue belief that language

learning is age dependent.

It's not learning a language is not based on your age, the process, the

method, the strategies are based on your age, but you have the ability

to learn a new language at any age.

It will just look different from someone else.

You are never, you are never too old to learn English.

So instead of this, I want you to say learning knows no age, and I am

fully capable of acquiring new skills.

Come on now.

One more time learning.

Knows no age, and I am fully, not partially, I am fully capable of

learning and acquiring new skills.

Listen, you about to leave this lesson.

Amazing.

Here we go.

All right.

Number five, the fifth thing I want you to stop saying, I have a terrible accent.

One more time.

I have a terrible accent.

Stop saying that.

I'm going to tell you why, but I want to add this to the lesson.

I live in America.

I live in the East coast, not too far from Washington, DC.

On the East coast, we have a certain sound, but when I go to California

or when I go to Louisiana, or when I go to Alabama, or when I go to North

Dakota, everyone sounds different.

We have different accents and I know when you watch television or you

watch the news or you watch movies, there seems to be this common accent,

common American accent, but even in America, there are varying accents.

So I need you to stop saying this.

Stop saying I have a terrible accent.

Why this can lead to unnecessary self consciousness and hinder spoken practice.

Let me break this down.

If you're constantly telling yourself, I have a terrible accent.

You'll be less likely to speak.

Oh, I, Oh, I can't say that.

Why?

Because my accent's not that good and they're not going to understand me.

And all of a sudden this self talk.

Okay.

The words you say to yourself in your mind starts getting louder.

Ooh, don't say anything.

They're not going to understand you.

Your, your accent's not good.

Stop saying that your accent is terrible.

Instead, I want you to say this.

My accent is unique and it will improve with practice.

Again, my accent is unique and it will improve with practice.

It's okay to have a desire to sound like a certain American.

Many students tell me, Tiff, I want to speak like you.

Hey, by all means, come on, mimic me, copy me, start sounding like me.

That's totally okay.

But as you're on the journey to sounding like me.

As you're going through the process, don't discourage yourself.

Don't tell yourself you're terrible, terrible.

Instead say, my accent is unique and it will improve with practice.

I'll start sounding like Tiff eventually.

My accent right now though, is unique.

You gotta remind yourself that you're on a journey and encourage yourself.

Don't put yourself down.

Here we go.

Number six, the sixth thing I need you to stop saying that was like

a tongue twister, sixth thing, TH tongue through your teeth guys.

Here we go.

I'll never understand native speakers.

Stop saying this.

I'll never understand native speakers.

Newsflash, I'm a native speaker and you understand me.

It's funny.

Sometimes in the comment section, and I guess it's a compliment in

the comment section, I'll have some people say, wow, where are you from?

Your English is amazing.

And I always smile.

I'm like, Thanks.

I'm American.

It's cute because sometimes students assume that I'm not American,

that maybe I learned English and I'm just teaching it to you all.

So I appreciate the compliment, but yes, I am actually American.

English is my first language.

I speak Korean, but English is my first language.

So this is the thing I'll never understand.

Native speakers doesn't apply to you.

Why?

I'm a native speaker and you understand me now.

Don't say, ah, Tiff, but it's different.

You speak clearly.

I can understand you.

No, we're trying to help you stop saying these negative things to yourself.

Stop saying I'll never understand native speakers.

Tiffani, I am a native speaker and you understand me.

Here's why this is so detrimental.

It assumes a permanent state of confusion and impedes or inhibits or stops.

Your listening practice.

When you say I'll never understand native speakers, your brain says,

all right, well, we don't have to put any more effort in here.

She's not going to understand them.

So why are we working hard to help them understand?

It's not a permanent state.

Instead, this is what I want you to say.

I will gradually understand more as I continue practicing listening out.

Hey, I'm going to continue to improve right now.

I might only understand 50%, but tomorrow I'll understand 51 and

next week I'll understand 57%.

Again, I will gradually understand more as I continue practicing listening.

You got it?

Yes, my friend.

Let's keep going.

All right, here we go.

Number seven.

The seventh thing I want you to stop saying to yourself, I'm

afraid to speak and make mistakes.

I'm afraid to speak and make mistakes.

Now, listen, if this is your first video, welcome again, I'm teacher Tiffani.

Hey, but if you've been here for a while, you've seen many of my videos

and there are points in videos where I might've said a word and said it too fast.

Just again, earlier I said, Ooh, that was a tongue twister.

The T H sound.

I leave those things in my videos for you.

On purpose.

Why I'm a native English speaker.

I'm an English teacher.

And even being an American, there are moments when a word

might not come out properly.

There are moments when the pronunciation might be a bit tricky.

It happens to everyone, not just Americans, even in your own language.

There are moments when you have to pause, like, wait a minute.

How do I say that again?

Or wait a minute.

That didn't come out right.

We're human beings.

So I purposely leave those moments in first to show you I'm a human being and

I enjoy what I do, and I'm just in the moment, enjoying teaching you English.

Right?

I want you to enjoy the lesson as well, but also to remind

you, it's okay to make mistakes.

So here's the reason when you say I'm afraid to speak and make mistakes, it

prevents the valuable learning experience that comes from making mistakes.

Listen, mistakes will help you.

They're not gonna hurt you.

They show you what you need to work on.

So instead of saying, I'm afraid to speak and make mistakes, this is what I

want you to say, here's the alternative.

Speaking and making mistakes is a crucial or important part of my learning process.

Fact once again, speaking and making mistakes is a crucial

part of my learning process.

The end start saying this and realizing mistakes are a part of the process.

Number eight, the eighth thing I need you to stop saying.

I can't pronounce words correctly.

I can't pronounce words correctly.

Stop saying this.

I can't pronounce words correctly.

Listen, when you say I can't pronounce words correctly, it may cause avoidance.

It may cause avoidance in speaking out the fear and making errors.

It may cause avoidance and speaking out of fear of errors.

You'll avoid speaking because you don't want to make any errors.

Instead of saying this, this is what I want you to say with practice.

My pronunciation will get better again with practice.

My pronunciation will get better.

Here's the fact you are going to improve each and every day.

So don't stop.

Number.

Nine, I can't express myself the way I want to in English.

I can't express myself the way I want to in English.

Stop saying this.

Why?

Here's the reason when you do this, when you say this over and over, it may

discourage you from practicing speaking and expressing yourself in different ways.

I, I can't express myself the way I want to saying that over and

over again will stop you from even expressing yourself in general.

So instead I want you to say this, you know, I'm learning new ways to

express myself in English every day.

Once again, you know, I'm learning new ways to express myself in English.

Every day, focus on saying this, instead of saying that you can't express

yourself the way you want to in English.

Make sense.

You got it.

Listen, I want you to speak English fluently.

I hope this lesson helped you and I can't wait to talk to you in the next one.

Talk to you then.

You still there, you know, what time it is.

It's story time.

Hey, I said, it's story time.

All right.

Now, earlier in the lesson, I told you that I was going to tell you a story.

I said, I was going to tell you a story about my experience.

And the phrase that was said was I'm too old to learn English.

And I said, don't say that.

And I said, I had an experience.

Where I was the old one.

So when I was in Korea, again, when I went to Korea, I didn't speak Korean.

I spoke English very well, but I wanted to learn how to speak Korean.

And I went to Korea in my mid twenties, mid to late twenties, and I started

studying it Full time while working full time when I was about 27.

Now, now that I'm in my forties, 27 seems extremely young, right?

But when I was 27, I felt, you know, Hey, listen, I'm, you know, I got some

age, right, I got some years on me.

Right.

So I started studying full time at a university, not too far from the

Institute where I taught English.

I taught in the evenings and I studied in the morning.

Now, this program was a language program where we were taught how to speak Korean.

I was 27, 90 percent of my classmates were 18 and 19 year olds.

Now, when you're 27,

19, even though it's only an eight year difference, it's a huge difference.

Teenager, late twenties.

That's a big difference.

As you get older, the age gaps really don't make, make the difference, right?

That doesn't mean anything.

So I remember being in class and remember I said, as you get older, you learn.

Using different strategies, different methods, right?

You learn faster when you're younger.

Right.

But as you get older, you might learn at a slower pace, but

you're still able to learn.

But I remember being in classes.

I mean, taking tons of notes, right.

Writing profusely.

And then looking at my counterparts, the 18 and 19 year olds, they were taking

notes, but it was like cliff notes, right?

Just short little jotting little notes.

And they were able to speak better than me and they learn things faster.

And I was like, man.

These young bucks are learning pretty quickly.

Oh, young buck.

Um, so the term we use to speak to somebody younger, right?

Young buck it's slang.

And I said, wow, they're learning fast.

Now they were learning faster than I was, but that didn't mean I was going to stop.

That didn't mean that, Oh, I'm too old to learn again.

I know 27 is not that old, but again, at that time, in comparison to the 19

year olds, I felt a lot older than them.

Right.

Okay.

I kept going, I understood that my path was the same path.

My pace was different and my strategies for learning were different, but

we were still on the same journey.

So I wanted to tell you that to encourage you, right?

Because now in my program, there are people in their

sixties and their seventies.

And when they first came to the program, they were like, Tiff, I'm kind of old.

I'm like, don't say you're old.

You're never too old to learn anything.

And I want to encourage you, maybe you are above 60 and you feel like

you've been studying English and you just can't speak it fluently yet.

And you feel like you're too old.

Or maybe you just started your English journey and you're in your

sixties or seventies or eighties.

Listen to me very closely.

You are not too old.

You are never too old to learn something new.

And I believe in you.

I'll talk to you next time.