7 Powerful Tips to Help You Learn English FAST (most learners don't do this)

- Hello this is Jack from ToFluency.com,

and welcome to this video where I am going

to share seven tips to help you learn English fast.

We are going to talk about the different learning strategies

that you can implement so you can make faster progress

with your English.

And we're going to mainly focus on speaking,

because that's what most people want to improve.

So, let's get started.

Actually, before we do, check out the description

because I'm going to leave a summary of these tips,

a link to the article where you can read these tips,

and also a link to all the resources that I mentioned.

So let's get started with tip number one.

Tip one is to set a goal for yourself.

So to be very specific with what you want to achieve

and also importantly, when you want to achieve this goal.

So for example, let's say that you have a B1 level

of English, a pre-intermediate level of English.

And again, we're gonna focus on speaking here.

Now this is a level that a lot of learners have,

and a goal for you, if you have this level,

is to reach a C1 level,

an advanced level of English within nine to 12 months.

So to be very specific with what we want to achieve,

and if you want to learn more about these different levels

then check out the video I made on that.

But again, if you have a pre-intermediate level,

a B1 level of English,

a great goal to set yourself is to reach

that advanced level, the C1 level, within nine to 12 months.

This goal is ambitious, but it's also attainable.

So it's ambitious, but it is realistic.

It's something that you can do if you apply yourself,

if you do the right things.

And having a goal that is ambitious with a deadline

will help you create a strategy in order to reach this goal.

So basically what we're doing here

is we're setting ourself a target to improve

at a faster rate than we are doing now.

And having this deadline will actually make us,

not only come up with a strategy

but also take action on that strategy,

to actually do the things we need to do.

So the first step is to create a goal for yourself.

I've given you an example, but depending on your lifestyle,

your ambition, and also what you want to do,

you might want to be more ambitious or less ambitious.

And know that we can change this goal,

depending on our progress, but it's good to set a goal

and to be very specific with what you want to achieve

and when you want to achieve this.

So write down your goal, and say exactly what level you

want to reach and when you want to reach this goal by,

then move on to tip number two.

Tip number two is to commit to doing something

in English everyday.

Once you have your goal, it's now time

to come up with the strategy.

And I highly recommend committing

to the daily practice of learning English.

Now know that there are two different types of learning

that we can focus on.

Two, generally speaking, things that we can do

in order to improve.

One is more passive.

This is where you're reading something.

You're watching something in English,

or you're listening to something in English.

This is where you surround yourself in English,

and we're gonna talk about that in tip three.

This is easier to implement because you can listen

to something in English while doing other things.

The second type is more deliberate, it's more active.

And this is, for example, working on the sounds of English,

getting speaking practice, doing some writing.

I will talk about that later, but this is something

that you'll have to really dedicate time to doing.

Because while you can listen to things in English

while doing other things, if you're focusing on some type

of language that you need to learn

then you need to actually create that environment

where you can focus on this.

But the key to this tip is the commitment to daily practice.

The commitment to actually doing something daily,

because in order to improve

quickly,

in order to make that fast progress,

you're going to have to do something every day,

and get into the habit of doing something everyday.

Tip number three is to surround yourself in English,

and we've already talked about that in tip two.

But I want to expand on this, and also talk about a mistake

that a lot of learners make when they do this.

Okay, so you've probably heard of the teachers say,

listen to things in English, read things in English,

watch things in English.

You know, change your life

so that it's more surrounded by the English language,

which is great advice because it works,

and it's something that you need to do

in order to improve more quickly.

But choose resources

that are specific to you and your level.

To help me explain this,

a lot of learners get in touch with me.

They send me emails saying "I can understand your videos,

"but I don't understand movies."

So when I watch a movie, I don't know what is happening.

And this isn't a big surprise because, again,

if you have that pre-intermediate level it's going

to be difficult for you to understand things

that aren't written for English learners,

that aren't made for English learners.

So native materials like movies and songs and TV shows,

they're going to be more difficult to understand

than with things that are made for you and your level.

So find resources

that are suitable for your level.

So if you have the B1 level of English again,

find graded readers that are made for you

and get the audio book too.

Find TV shows, podcasts, songs, or books

that you are interested in.

So that you're learning the type of English

that you're going to use, and also ask this question.

Am I going to learn the type of English

that I need to learn by reading this book

or listening to this podcast?

As your level increases, you'll be able to expose yourself

to native materials and to enjoy movies and TV shows

and podcasts that are made for English speakers.

But for now, surround yourself in English

that you are going to enjoy

and the type of English that's suitable for your level,

because if it's too difficult for you,

you're not going to enjoy it, and if you don't enjoy it,

you're not going to continue listening or reading.

Tip number four is all about

using the most effective methods so that you make the most

out of the time you spend studying.

Because so far we have set a goal,

we have talked about daily practice,

we have talked about listening to things

that are suitable to you and your level,

but now we're going to focus on the studying side.

Now I like to talk about deliberate practice

when it comes to this,

and deliberate practice is focusing on the skills you want

to improve and using the best methods

in order to improve those skills.

And it also includes getting feedback on your output,

so that you can make changes,

and so that you can improve your English.

So this is more active.

Tip three surrounding yourself in English is very passive.

You're listening, you're reading,

but what we're talking about here

is being more active with what you do,

and this is where you need more concentration.

You need to focus on what you're doing

in order to get the most

out of the different things that you do.

Now here are some examples of deliberate practice,

and these are the types of things that I recommend you do.

The first one is writing.

And I made a whole video

on how to improve your writing skills,

but writing is such a great way for you to improve.

Because it gives you the time

to think about what you want to say,

and how you want to say it.

When you're speaking, it's difficult

to use the correct pronunciation and to use the right words,

and you're constantly interacting with someone.

It's a difficult skill to do,

but with writing you can take your time and ensure

that you are using the right words in the right way.

Another example is taking lessons with a teacher.

So this is where you can practice your speaking

and get feedback on your speaking.

Another one is to use the To Fluency Method,

which we are going to talk about next.

Tip five is to use the To Fluency Method,

also known as the LRRC method, and this is how to use it.

First you listen to a sentence in English,

then you repeat the sentence and record yourself saying it.

You then listen to your version and the original,

and then you make changes to the way

that you say the sentence and you get longterm repetition.

Again, focus on the type of English that you want to learn.

So get sentences that are specific to you and your level.

Then, either use your phone or your computer

to record yourself saying these sentences,

and then compare them.

So listen to the original and then listen to your version,

and then notice what you need to do

to sound more like the original version.

So think about what you need to do

with the sounds of English, notice what you have to do

when it comes to linking words,

or the way you stress different parts of the sentence.

And keep doing this until your version

is as close as possible to the original.

And then once you have done this,

use an app like Anki to get longterm repetition,

so that you internalize these phrases,

and that's a big part of this method.

Internalize in the vocabulary and the grammar,

so that you can produce it

without really thinking about the rules,

so that you produce this automatically and naturally.

And if you do this with lots of sentences,

then you'll be able to be very flexible

with the way you speak, and you'll be able to do this

without thinking about grammar rules,

or sentence structure or anything like that,

and without translating.

To learn more about this method,

again, check the description there will be a link there,

and I'll also include one of the cards here on YouTube,

so you can watch that video.

Tip number six is to get more speaking practice.

Now what we have talked about so far

with deliberate practice is kind of like football training.

So where you work on your heading,

you practice dribbling and passing.

But then speaking practice and having conversations

is like playing the game, and you need both

in order to make fast progress.

And there are three main ways

that you can get speaking practice.

The first way is to get a teacher.

Now hiring a teacher is great if you can afford it,

because a teacher will give you feedback on your mistakes

and help you when it comes to deliberate practice.

The second way is to join a language exchange,

and a language exchange is where you meet with somebody

who knows the language you want to learn,

so an English speaker.

And they also want to learn the language that you know.

So if you are from Russia,

find an English-speaker who wants to learn Russian,

and then you spend half the time speaking in English

and half the time speaking in Russian.

I'll leave a link in the description

to my favorite language exchange app.

And then finally, make friends and join clubs.

This is a longterm plan because if you just send a message

to somebody on Facebook, saying hey do you want to chat

with me in English, then 99% of the time they'll say,

who are you, I don't know you, no.

So take your time to make friends

in the city where you live, online,

or anywhere else that you go and join clubs too.

So if you're in an English speaking country,

join clubs that you meet people,

and you can easily make friends.

Tip number seven is all about the Pareto Principle,

the 18, 20 rule.

And I think this is such an important thing to think about

when it comes to learning English,

and it's actually gonna help you with all the tips

that we've talked about before.

And here is a little stats

from the BBC which I'm gonna share with you,

and they said, "If you learn only 800

"of the most frequently used lemmas in English."

A lemma is like a word family.

"You'll be able to understand 75% of the language

"as it is spoken in normal life."

So this is saying that it's important

to learn the most commonly used words and phrases.

And this makes sense right,

because if you learn the most commonly used words

and phrases then you'll be able to have better conversations

because those are the words and phrases

that people use more often.

But also take this a step further

by focusing on the language that you specifically

are going to need.

So for example, let's say that part of your job

is to describe charts in English

and different graphs and data,

then you need to learn the words

and phrases related to this.

Also if you're taking the IELTS exam

then focus on what you need to know for the IELTS exam.

So be smart with this, don't waste your time learning things

that you won't need to know, especially when it comes

to the To Fluency Method that I introduced before.

Where you are taking sentences,

and you are internalizing them

through the repetition and the speaking.

So use sentences that you're going to need to know.

So with all of that in mind,

let me know in the comments section

which tip is the most powerful,

which tip you're going to start implementing today,

and then share your tips.

What tips do you have that will help English learners

improve at a faster rate?

Thank you so much for watching this video.

If you enjoyed it then please like and share it,

and then also go ahead and watch another video

that I have made on similar topics.

They'll be on your screen now.

Okay, buh-bye for now.

(upbeat music)