Hey everyone, welcome to the English Fluency Journey podcast.
These episodes were created based on our videos on YouTube for those who'd rather listen than watch.
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I'm gonna be talking about the things, habits, if you will, the getting in the way of your studying by interfering with your learning process.
These things slow down for sure, if not kill your progress at all.
The reason I'm making this video is because I always get asked the same questions.
Why don't I see any progress? And why am I progressing so slowly?
And according to some answers that I get when I ask a follow-up question, And to some comments on my videos, I gathered a list of things that Stand out and scream for change.
And also, these are the things that people have pointed out themselves and asked me And you know, I'm not even gonna touch on social media, because I think it's obvious that it's a major distraction nowadays.
And the number one thing on this list will be your attitude.
What is an attitude? It's a particular way of thinking or feeling about something.
But oftentimes people say attitude meaning uncooperative behavior.
And that's what I mean in this context. One of the things that I'm faced with is that I see that some people are very reluctant, reluctant to learn.
They always try to argue and say that they don't think that this is useful or that they didn't like that information was put and that's why they didn't get it.
It's like they search all these things to complain about, all these excuses not to learn.
And I'm not saying this to shame those people, I'm saying this so that you are aware that your attitude, your mood affects your learning completely.
You have to work yourself up to a certain enthusiasm. and tune in with your brain for positivity and readiness to learn. because if you're, let's say, watching a video or come to class with a negative mindset and hostile mood, and the information that you get seems a little hard for you or is not exactly what you expected, you start getting angry.
And instead of trying to learn something or least trying to hear what that person is saying.
All you can think about is expressing your grouchiness and discontent. and you're missing out on all the point and information that you could have gotten.
All the greatest minds on this planet Earth have said and say that nobody knows everything.
The more you learn, the more you realize that there's still so much you don't know. and that there's always something to learn from everyone. from their words, from their actions, from their behavior.
You can learn by their example, what to do or say to achieve certain things. or what not to do so you don't end up in some unpleasant situations.
If this thought frequently pops up in your mind, I'm not gonna need this anyway, so I'm just gonna skip it.
Stop right there and think again. When you're learning a language, Every word adds to your vocabulary and every piece of information is valuable.
I'm talking about something useful. You have to understand one thing that you You are the only person responsible for your own improvement.
Complaining is not going to change anything, but changing your attitude towards readiness to soak up every bit of information you get is going to be a game changer.
Because I've seen this with my own eyes that people that have this good positive mindset They're constantly improving and they can always find something interesting and new for themselves by watching literally any video or by talking to anybody.
And learning is a process that they truly enjoy and benefit from I always find myself learning something new every single day by literally listening to someone speak on their stories on Instagram.
So this is the number one thing to keep in mind.
Every one of us at some point can be not in the mood and I'm not here to tell you how to think.
And I don't want to, you can think anything you want.
However, I'd love to give you an opportunity to look at your thoughts and choose something different if you're not happy with your outcome.
The second thing that messes up our progress is high expectations and not being patient.
This is only natural to have some expectations and when you learn a language, they always say that you have to set a goal for yourself and move towards accomplishing that goal.
And that's what we do. And sometimes in our minds, we expect to see ourselves speaking perfect English after taking a two-month pronunciation course or after living in an English-speaking country for a year.
These examples are just for illustration.
But in reality, there are so many things that affect your learning process and that's why I always say It takes time.
Give yourself time. And this timeframe varies from person to person.
Then, when their expectations aren't being met, they get so frustrated They think, what's the point that they're only wasting their time and that they're never going to get to the level they want. and eventually they end up ditching studying without even realizing how much progress they've already made and how much they've already learned.
Yes, it may not have been as fast as they wanted or as much as they wanted, but they've definitely made some progress.
Then people go back to learning language again, sometimes years later. and they realize that they've lost all this time and they have to go back to square one because if If we don't use something regularly, our brain forgets it and puts it on the shelf somewhere far, far away in our brain.
So be patient, keep your goal in mind, but don't be too strict with yourself.
Celebrate those small wins and accomplishments and stay consistent and enjoy this process. even if you have a timeframe.
If you're, let's say, getting ready to take an exam, Don't overwhelm yourself with those high expectations, but rather enjoy learning. you'll see that your brain's response will be better understanding and remembering.
Attention! Paying attention, being attentive is a huge deal.
Energy flows where attention goes. Sometimes you can totally tell that a person didn't pay attention to what you were saying by their questions or the things they say next.
You know what I'm talking about. When in a conversation you can tell that a person didn't listen, when people ask a question, to which you have already given the answer.
We all know the situation when in class our mind just wanders off and when we wake up and Everybody's writing something down or nodding their hat in approval.
And we're like, wait, what just happened?
What did he talk about? By looking at some of the comments and questions that I get, I can totally tell that didn't pay attention while watching my video.
So staying focused and concentrated is a skill that we all need to work on.
When working on your pronunciation and accent, it's super important to pay attention to the way native speakers speak. and in general when you learn a language ideally you need to listen to native speakers a lot and and pay attention to the way they use different expressions, words and context, how they use tenses.
It helps you understand the language and all these things better.
When we're in a conversation with someone not paying attention to what they say, we show our lack of interest in them and consequently we don't don't know what follow-up questions to ask or how to answer their questions and feel lost.
It may cause misunderstandings and even conflicts Not to mention that this skill affects your learning process completely.
So when you're studying or listening to someone, try to stay focused.
If you didn't understand something, go back and read it or watch it again.
There's no harm in doing this. The things that affect concentration are different distractions like your phone, for instance. but also tiredness and your mood.
When you're frustrated, you don't take in information properly.
So keep this in mind. And I'm definitely gonna make a video on concentration because I have some experience in this because working from home with a toddler that yells all the time and interrupts you every five minutes takes a hell of a lot of concentration. using the information you get, or should I say not using the information you get.
If we don't use something, we forget it and that's the main reason why we forget new vocabulary, for instance.
That's how our brain works. And if we forget words, phrases, rules, We're constantly stomping on the same place.
How to use the things we learn and want to remember in a language learner reality.
When you don't have people to speak with and practice your speaking, when you can't take a course, when you don't live in an English-speaking country and when you're learning on your own.
Your go-to things. First, speak out loud to yourself on any topic.
Nobody can hear you. If you don't want to do that, read out loud.
Then read in general a lot. constantly come across new words and words that you've been trying to remember, but somehow they just don't stick.
Look them up always until you know them.
And writing. Use new information. Use new words or phrases.
Come up with random sentences or stories.
One more thing, don't chase after numbers.
Don't try to learn 20 words a day unless you actually can because you'll find yourself in the situation when you're endlessly learning but don't remember almost anything.
You'll feel very frustrated and want to give up.
Learn 10 words in 2-3 days, but let them really stick with you by using them.
And I have a video on the best, in my opinion, and very easy practice routine for people who learn English the things that you can do every single day.
The link will be in the description and it's also clickable on your screen right now.
Not doing research. I'll give you just one little example to give you an idea of what I'm talking about. one little example that I encounter on a regular basis.
I always try to make people do their own research.
Please don't hate me for this, but whenever someone asks me for instance, tell me what this expression means, I always say, well, if you Google it, what do you find?
And I always get the same answer that that first line in the search That first website says this, but it's not what I'm looking for or it's not all.
But what about those other websites? What do they say?
Dig deeper. I know that it's easier to just ask someone and get a direct answer to your specific question and it's not that you can't or shouldn't ask.
Of course you can. Of course you should.
This is how we learn by asking questions.
And of course, I answer the questions that I understand need some deeper explanation, or maybe a person wants someone else's perspective.
And if you're in class, without a doubt, you should ask questions.
But you shouldn't just rely on someone's answer and wait and waste your time.
The problem is that you don't always get the answer.
It's not always possible, especially on the internet and especially especially if this is something that you actually can find.
I don't want to be repetitive, but to learn to self-educate is the greatest gift you can give to yourself.
Doing research, being curious not only provides you with answers, but also gives you so much more valuable information along the way.
And also it creates this beautiful habit of checking up, looking into and sorting out things.
And believe me, you'll remember things a lot better if you make an effort and search for them.
Luckily, all these things, all these habits can be changed.
You just have to make a choice and choose to want to change them.
It takes a little bit of work on yourself a little bit of willpower But the results will not keep you waiting and will not disappoint you All that was said not to criticize anyone's ways or thinking patterns.
It was said to bring awareness and to help you Figure out why it might be difficult for you to reach a certain level and to deal with it.
You absolutely can break through these things and make a huge leap in your progress.
Okay guys, that's it for now. Thank you for choosing our podcast.
Until the next one.
