Let's talk about phrasal verbs and how to learn them faster.
And I don't mean study a lesson or memorize a list and then forget them.
I mean learn phrasal verbs, remember them, and actually use them in your English conversations.
No more of those awkward moments when you feel blank or lost thinking wait, is it?
Bring up or bring on a new topic, which one's right, if phrasal verbs still feel out of reach, even after all the effort you've put in?
I can tell you this the problem isn't you and it's not your memory.
It's the method you've been taught.
So in today's lesson, i'll show you a better way, and it includes a five minute daily routine that helps phrasal verbs finally stick in your memory, so you can stop second guessing and start using them with confidence.
Now a quick thing before we dive in.
I want to know what is one personal phrasal verb that you always forget or hesitate to use.
Share it with me in the comments.
I'll be reading them all and replying to help you use those phrasal verbs naturally.
Okay, so let's get started right away.
And I want to focus first on getting clear on why phrasal verbs don't stick easily, even after you've learned them.
There are a few specific reasons this happens.
And once you see the challenges, clearly the routine I'm going to share with you won't just make sense.
It's going to feel like a missing piece of the puzzle that you've been looking for.
So let's break it down quickly.
Reason number one is perhaps you're focused on memorizing long lists with no real connection to your life.
It's just a random group of phrasal verbs.
For example, if you've ever studied a list of 20 or 30 phrasal verbs only to realize that the next day none of them are in your memory.
This is why, without real world context or connections to your life in that specific moment, your brain has nothing to hold on to.
It becomes just another word on a list and that makes it easy to forget, even if you understood the phrasal verb at the time that you learned it.
But when you take that phrasal verb and you tie that verb to a real task, a real thing that you need in your life, like the phrasal verb to follow up, you might connect that with something that you need to do with your manager or to bring up a concern in a meeting.
Suddenly your brain says, oh, I need this phrasal verb.
It has connection to my real life.
So we're going to talk more about how to solve that in just a moment, but I want to talk about the second reason.
You're most likely forgetting phrasal verbs even after you've learned them.
Reason number two is you're not revisiting or reusing that phrasal verb right away.
Again, you might understand that phrasal verb during a specific lesson.
You might even write an example or say it once out loud.
But if you don't come back to it, if you don't reuse it in a real sentence, in a real situation, it quickly fades, not because you're lazy or forgetful, but because your brain doesn't see it as important.
Yet without that early repetition and real world use, your brain just doesn't hold on to it.
And then the third reason you may not remember phrasal verbs after learning them is you're not using them in real conversations.
And this is a big one.
You might recognize a phrasal verb in a podcast or an article, but that doesn't mean that it's part of your speaking vocabulary.
Until you actually use it out loud in real conversations, that verb stays passive, which means you understand it when you hear it or read it, but it's not part of what you can say in the moment that you're speaking, at least not yet.
And the truth is, when it comes to fluency, you need these words to become part of your active vocabulary.
In other words automatic, something that you can naturally say without second guessing or doubting yourself.
Now this topic on how to increase your active speaking vocabulary.
This is something I go deeper into in another lesson focused on how to move your vocabulary from passive to active.
I'll share a link to that lesson in the notes below the video if you want to explore that one next, and I recommend that you do.
But for now, let's focus on this lesson.
And if these three challenges that I've just highlighted sound familiar to you, if they've been getting in the way, here's the good news.
You do not need to memorize more.
And you don't need to study harder.
What you do need is a better method, one that actually fits into your daily life, and a method that's going to help these phrasal verbs stick for good.
So let's get right to it.
How can we make these phrasal verbs stick in your memory in only five minutes a day?
I want to walk you through a clear simple, step-by-step process that'll teach you how to choose the right phrasal verbs, how to make them memorable and how to use them in your daily conversations without doubt and worry.
Best of all, this routine takes only five minutes.
It is built to fit into your life, not to add extra things to your already busy schedule.
So, step number one stop memorizing lists of verbs.
We've already talked about how learning or memorizing 20 to 30 phrasal verbs just doesn't work.
Instead, I want you to choose just three to five phrasal verbs.
I know this might seem too small or too slow, but here's why this is the smartest place to start.
Your brain learns through relevance, not quantity.
When you focus on fewer verbs that actually matter to you, you create deeper connections, and that leads to long term retention.
If you try to learn 20 to 30 new verbs all at once, they compete for your attention.
And in the end, you won't remember any of them.
You'll be lucky to remember one or two.
But with three to five you can start using them, repeating them and anchoring them to real life situations.
And that's how we build up automaticity and fluency with these phrasal verbs.
So, instead of cramming, trying to study a huge list, just choose three to five for this week that are actually relevant to your life right now.
For example, maybe you're preparing for a presentation or giving feedback to your team, maybe you're thinking about cooking with friends or navigating a job interview.
I want you to think about what's happening in your life right now this week and choose phrasal verbs that you would actually use for those situations this week.
Once you've got them, start to create some of your own examples using the names of real people or talking about real tasks.
I want you to think of sentences you would use in your conversations this week.
For example, if you're learning the phrasal verb to follow up, you might use an example sentence such as I need to follow up on the quarterly report with Elena by Friday.
That sentence is tied to a real task in your life, and it is what helps your brain remember it.
When something feels useful, it sticks.
And that brings me to step two.
Connect to pictures and feelings.
This is where we move from logical understanding to deep memory, because here's what we know from learning science.
Your brain doesn't remember definitions.
It remembers pictures and it remembers feelings.
In fact, Lisa Genova, the author of Remember, the Science of Memory and the Art of Forgetting, underscores this by saying we often forget not because it's efficient for our brains to do so, but because we haven't supplied our brains with the kinds of input needed to support memory creation and retrieval.
Then she goes further to say when imagining an image from memory, your brain is Activated as if the image were right in front of you.
In other words, when we try to remember something, a new word, for example, it's the image connected to it that helps us.
So, for each phrasal verb that you're trying to learn, take a moment to build a mental picture and connect it to a real emotion.
Let me give you an example.
Imagine your phrasal verb is to wrap up.
You might picture yourself writing a final sentence in your English lesson today and then closing your laptop and feeling that wave of satisfaction that says I'm done for the day.
Now you've tied that verb to something visual, something emotional and real the completion of a task and the satisfaction that it's done, which is how we use the phrasal verb to wrap up,
So then you might say aloud, I wrapped up my lesson and logged off for the day.
That's no longer just a random phrasal verb on a list.
It's an experience your brain can hold on to.
And now step number three, start using that phrasal verb and then do it again.
Here's where we shift from learning to using.
And this is what builds confidence in using those phrasal verbs.
Once you've chosen your three to five and made them personal, made them memorable, it's time to find natural ways to use them during your week.
I want you to look for real life opportunities, to say them or write them, not in a forced scripted way, but in your actual daily routines.
For example, add them to your meeting notes, use them in your planner, maybe use one in a quick text message that you send to a friend or coworker.
For example, let's say that if you're preparing for a workshop, you might say let's run through the outline one more time before we present.
That's a real moment.
And this is what we call anchoring, connecting a new word to a real life situation.
And that's how your brain moves that phrasal verb from passive knowledge to active use.
Now, if you're not sure how to do that, I want to give you a few more simple ways to make this really easy.
Number one, you could write your phrasal verbs on a sticky note or use a note app on your phone.
I want you to put it where you'll see your list often.
You might even add it to a calendar reminder or a daily checklist so you spend time focused on those phrasal verbs.
Of course, I want you to say them aloud.
So you might say them aloud while you're taking a walk or while you're on your commute to work.
Try even mixing it up, using these phrasal verbs in different contexts.
You might use it in a question and then an email and then a voice note.
The more variety and repetition you give this phrasal verb in a short period of time, the more natural and automatic it becomes.
Now I want to go back for a moment to neuroscientist Lisa Genova, because she shares this about repetition and memory.
You can sustain the same information longer in your working memory by repeating it either aloud or in your head.
In other words, if you want these phrasal verbs to stick in your memory, use them and then use them again.
Now that you know the three core steps, let's bring them all together into a simple, five-minute daily habit, one that's easy to stick to and actually fits in your life.
We're going to imagine this as a seven-day process.
So on day number one, you're going to start with your prep or preparation.
And this step just takes a few minutes.
All you need to do here is choose the three to five phrasal verbs that you want to focus on this week.
Write them down in a notebook or on a piece of paper or an app.
Think about where you might use them, when they'll come up in natural conversations and who you might say them to.
Then write them down somewhere that you'll see them often.
Maybe a sticky note on your desk, a list in a notebook, or a reminder on your phone.
And then that's it, that's day number one, done.
Then for days two through seven, these are your practice days.
And I want you to spend three to five minutes each day with this list of verbs.
And here's how you can do that.
In the morning, for example, while you're making coffee or walking the dog.
I want you to say these phrasal verbs aloud and make a sentence that connects to something in your life that day.
Picture yourself using it in real conversations.
And then, as your day continues, look for natural opportunities to say that phrasal verb in a conversation or write it.
Don't force it.
You don't need to make it happen.
I just want you to stay open to the opportunity.
For example, while you're reviewing your schedule for the day, you could also quickly review your list of phrasal verbs to refresh your memory.
And then ask yourself are there any opportunities to use one of the phrasal verbs I have this week for planning out my day?
If not, again, don't force it.
We're focused here on just being observant, looking for those opportunities.
You might, for example, have an opportunity to write one of those phrasal verbs in your calendar.
You might want to block out time to tighten up the final draft of a project.
By allowing yourself to go with the flow of the day, you're creating natural context anchors and prioritizing real world application.
Then in the evening, I want you to take a moment to reflect.
Ask yourself, did I use any of these phrasal verbs today?
Did I miss an opportunity?
If so, what could I have said?
You might also ask yourself which phrasal verbs have been easy for you to use and which ones still feel a bit awkward or difficult.
This whole part of the process isn't about judgment or determining that you've done something correctly or incorrectly.
It's just an awareness of the learning process.
And that's it.
That's the daily loop.
A small, simple routine that creates consistent repetition and builds up that confidence.
One conversation, one phrasal verb at a time.
Now with this, I have a quick pro tip for you, and it's the key to this five-step routine.
Once you've learned a new phrasal verb that you want to remember, make sure that you use it within the first 24 hours.
As quickly as you can, you want to go from learning to using.
This again can be a quick message to a friend, a voice note, a casual email to your team.
But the key is the faster that you use it after learning, the stronger the memory is.
As you go through this process, I want you to keep track of what's working.
You might, for example, use a vocabulary notebook or some kind of progress tracker where you can put a checkmark next to any phrasal verbs that you're now using.
Naturally,
You could also circle or highlight phrasal verbs that still feel awkward and keep those phrasal verbs on your list as you start to see more of those check marks add up.
I want you to celebrate your wins, even the small ones.
Recognizing your progress is part of building up your confidence, so i want you to take those wins.
If you follow this routine that i've shared with you today, even for one week, you're going to notice a shift.
You won't be stuck second guessing or doubting yourself every time you want to use a phrasal verb.
Instead, you'll begin to remember them and use them with confidence in your conversations.
Now, if you want a great place to start, I want you to watch a previous lesson of mine on English phrasal verbs that are used for giving project updates.
It's full of useful phrasal verbs you can use in this routine right away.
I'll share a link to that lesson in the notes below this video as well.
Now, one last thing.
If you're looking for a place to not just learn phrasal verbs and use this routine, but to have real life English conversations with support from me, my team and with women around the world, I would love for you to come join me inside the Confident Women community.
This is where it's a safe place to practice English conversation, share your progress and get coaching along the way.
You'll find the link to learn more in the notes below.
And with that, thank you so much for joining me today.
If you found this lesson helpful to you, I would love to know.
And you can tell me in a very simple way.
Give this lesson a thumbs up here on YouTube.
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Thanks again, and I look forward to seeing you next time.
