#1 STRATEGY to become FLUENT in English [and why you DON'T NEED to 'speak like a native speaker’] — Transcript

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1. 0:00If you're fed up with getting stuck in English, of not being able to fully
2. 0:04express yourself or constantly feeling judged and self-conscious when you speak
3. 0:11English, this video is for you! Becoming fluent is not something that just
4. 0:20happens to you. "Okay, I'll just listen to podcasts and watch movies without
5. 0:24subtitles and read lots of books and speak a little bit at work and then I'll
6. 0:28be fluent!" No, that doesn't happen that way. It's like planning a project at work
7. 0:33or deciding to renovate your house, right? You're not just stumbling upon furniture
8. 0:39or people asking them, "Hey, do you mind breaking this wall in my apartment
9. 0:43because I need to renovate it." And then you break a wall. Then you're like, "Oh no!
10. 0:47That was not a good idea! Maybe I need to put back the wall and then break another
11. 0:51wall." Then you go ahead and break that wall and then you go above your budget
12. 0:56and the house is a mess right and you have no idea what to do. Well it's
13. 1:02sort of the same thing but different. If your goal is to become fluent, you
14. 1:07have to make it a project of yours. You have to plan it. You have to see
15. 1:12what's working for you and what's not working for you. You have to focus your
16. 1:15attention and to do only the things that get you results. You've got to stop
17. 1:21wasting time with the wrong teachers. You got to stop wasting times watching all
18. 1:26these videos without really doing something about it. You have to stop
19. 1:30wasting time doing things that don't advance you, but to do that you have to
20. 1:35know what you need and the only person that can help you with that is you. Today,
21. 1:40I'm gonna teach you the three steps that will help you develop your fluency
22. 1:43strategy to understand what to learn and how to learn it, how to practice
23. 1:49effectively and how to boost your confidence by changing your mindset and
24. 1:53owning that fluent mindset that will help you kick ass when you speak English.
25. 1:58The way I see it, fluency has three pillars. The first pillar is 'knowledge' -
26. 2:03knowledge of words, knowledge of grammar, knowledge of pronunciation,
27. 2:08right? Knowing how to use certain expressions, and what words to use when,
28. 2:13and how to structure the a sentence. So this is knowledge. The second pillar
29. 2:17is 'practice', which is taking all the knowledge that you have and turning it
30. 2:22into spoken English. This is usually the biggest struggle. Most people are having
31. 2:26an easier time reading and writing and listening to English, but when they have
32. 2:30to speak, that's the main challenge. Retrieving the right words, knowing how
33. 2:33to structure it fast and fluently, and of course, being able to pronounce it and to
34. 2:38sound clear when speaking so you actually communicate your message.
35. 2:42The last pillar is 'confidence'. It's great to know all those things you know you
36. 2:47can learn for hours on end and you can practice with your teachers and with
37. 2:51your friends, but if you don't have the confidence to speak up when you're
38. 2:54needed, when you're asked a question, when you have something to say in a
39. 2:58meeting or in front of people or just in the store. If you avoid conversations
40. 3:04like you avoid fire then you need to boost your confidence. Now confidence is
41. 3:09one of the pillars but it's also the result of the first two because when you
42. 3:14learn more and when you practice more, of course, it improves your confidence and
43. 3:18these three elements are essential if you want to become fluent in any
44. 3:23language. Now that we know these three elements we need to understand how to
45. 3:27improve in each and every element here. When it comes to learning English, I feel
46. 3:32very lucky. I think that we all are. We live at a time that there is so much
47. 3:37information out there. There are so many learning resources, high-quality top
48. 3:43resources. They can just reach your hand and grab them for free. The downside of
49. 3:49it is that you don't know what to focus on because if you go and try to learn
50. 3:54everything that is out there because you're passionate and motivated. The
51. 3:58result is that it can be overwhelming, a waste of time, and sometimes redundant.
52. 4:04Let me give you an example. If you still struggle with a past simple tense or
53. 4:08present simple, do not go and learn the perfect tenses. Master the basic and most
54. 4:14used tenses before you move on to more advanced tenses.
55. 4:18Phrasal verbs are very important, but if you still don't know when to use 'on', 'in'
56. 4:23and 'at' when you're talking about time and space, do not go and learn all the phrasal verbs out
57. 4:28there in the world. Focus first on the things that get you stuck because you
58. 4:33use them daily, okay? Understand what are your needs and focus
59. 4:39just on that when it comes to pronunciation. Do not go and learn all
60. 4:43the different nuances of the American T and all the extra sounds added when
61. 4:48you're connecting words, if your R's and L's are still getting confused, okay? I'm
62. 4:53not saying it's not important, it's not important right now. You need to focus on
63. 4:58the things that will get you the best results and those things are the most
64. 5:03apparent things, the things that you probably want to deal with the least
65. 5:07because you're so tired of it or and bored with it. But, these are the most
66. 5:12important elements that keep getting you stuck. And when it comes to vocabulary,
67. 5:16don't waste your time learning words that you don't know. Focus on using words
68. 5:22that you know but never use, that you understand when other people speak, that
69. 5:26you use in reading and writing but you never use in speaking. That will get you
70. 5:31results. Learning new words and memorizing them and never using them
71. 5:36along with the other 1,500 words that you already know and never use, will not
72. 5:42get you results. When you're planning your learning road map trying to
73. 5:47understand what are the topics that you need to focus on, you have to laser focus
74. 5:52on the things, the critical pieces, that are missing when you're speaking English.
75. 5:58The critical pieces that still hold you back
76. 6:00when you speak English. Do not go, although it's tempting, do not go and
77. 6:06learn everything that is out there. That's just procrastinating. That's just
78. 6:11not dealing with what's important for you and believe me I know. I know it's
79. 6:18the most boring stuff. It's the stuff that you know but it's just not a part
80. 6:23of you, so you know that you need to do it but it's just, it's not there yet and
81. 6:28then you're like pushing it to the corner.
82. 6:30No. Open that box and drill down and master it and then
83. 6:36you will see how everything is so much, so much easier. When it comes to
84. 6:42practicing English. Remember that it's always quality over quantity. You do not
85. 6:48need to study every day for two hours. You do not need to move to an
86. 6:53English-speaking country in order to immerse yourself and really improve. No,
87. 6:58you can do it from a non-English speaking country also and you can become
88. 7:03fluent and you can master the language and I know it because I've seen it
89. 7:07happen. Swear to God. I've seen my students and my
90. 7:10community members take huge leaps in their English and their ability to
91. 7:15communicate just by practicing effectively. What is to practice
92. 7:20effectively? First of all, to plan it out, to learn only the things that you need
93. 7:25to learn. You need to be aware of what you're doing. Maybe you need to record
94. 7:28yourself. Maybe you need to videotape yourself listening to it giving yourself
95. 7:32feedback, looking in the mirror to make sure that you're opening your mouth or
96. 7:36rounding your lips as you're speaking. All of these things turn your practice
97. 7:40into a conscious active exercise from which you can learn and improve. Remember
98. 7:47that. The small changes make all the difference, and of course speak as much
99. 7:53as possible. Speak to yourself in the car. Speak to a friend. You don't have to have
100. 7:59native speakers around you to be able to speak and to practice. You don't need
101. 8:03that constant feedback. Understand that just speaking, looking for the words
102. 8:07trying to understand how to say it, even if it's when speaking to non-native
103. 8:11speakers, it's a great way to improve. In fact, I find that non-native speakers
104. 8:16have a much easier time to practice with fellow non-native speakers. They feel
105. 8:21less judged. They feel a lot more freedom because they know they're both in the
106. 8:26same boat and this is why I started our online community and if you're not a
107. 8:31member, please click the link below and join us because it's a safe space for
108. 8:36people to discuss meaningful things in English, because you don't have to
109. 8:41constantly practice English to practice English. You just need to
110. 8:46speak. And when you speak about meaningful things and when you really
111. 8:50connect with other people from around the world, it makes everything so much
112. 8:55better, and to be honest, is the most empowering and safest space I've ever
113. 9:00seen online. So click on the link and join us! Lastly, let's talk about
114. 9:05confidence. You know that voice in your head that tells you, 'Oh, you made a
115. 9:10mistake. Oh, you're not gonna be able to say it. Oh, you're not gonna know how to
116. 9:15finish the sentence why even bother starting? You sound funny. They're gonna
117. 9:20think you're stupid!' Do you know that? Do you know that voice? You know these
118. 9:24voices. It's not just in your head. I just want you to know that it's in everyone's
119. 9:29heads and even in my head because, what do you think when I'm speaking to you
120. 9:33right now in front of the camera, there isn't this Vicious Hadar sitting up here
121. 9:38and they're like, 'You didn't sound good here. You made a grammar mistake.
122. 9:42That's the best you can do??' It's here all the time. The question is
123. 9:47how much space I'm willing to give this person sitting right here. Usually I tell
124. 9:53her to take the back seat because I'm right here making videos for you guys
125. 9:58and that's more important than making a pronunciation mistake or grammar mistake.
126. 10:02When you're communicating with other people, you give others the opportunity
127. 10:06to get to know you, to learn from you, to understand something about themselves or
128. 10:12about you or about the world, even if it's simple things. When you're holding
129. 10:16yourself back because of mean voices, you are denying yourself the opportunity to
130. 10:23be you, even if it's in the second language. You have to remember that and
131. 10:28there are a few things that you need to keep reminding yourself that will
132. 10:32completely change your mindset and those things are: being perfect is overrated.
133. 10:37I hate nothing more than hearing the term 'speak like a native speaker'
134. 10:42because when you set the bar so high, the gap is so wide that you'll feel that
135. 10:50you'll never be able to reach there. If this is your goal then this becomes
136. 10:55impossible. You don't need to sound like a native speaker, sound like
137. 11:02yourself, but your most fluent, expressive and confident self. That's your goal.
138. 11:10Don't try to achieve something that will hold you back, try to achieve something
139. 11:15that will empower you. Really trust me on that. I know. I know that it's hard to
140. 11:21change that mindset because you've been told for years that the only way to
141. 11:24become fluent is to sound like a native speaker, but understand that being a
142. 11:28native speaker is something that happens if you're born into the language
143. 11:34and if you're not born into the language, you can become very fluent in the
144. 11:38language and you can master it and you can master the accent. I know that and
145. 11:43again I've done it myself but I know the the journey is long and it takes a lot
146. 11:50of hard work and sometimes the goals should be expressing yourself, being
147. 11:56fluent, finding the words, sounding clear even if it's not like a native speaker,
148. 12:02even if people still ask you where you're from, okay? The thing is that you
149. 12:09need to be okay with that. You need to understand that what you bring to the
150. 12:12table as a non-native speaker is your gift, is your advantage, okay? Don't try to
151. 12:19hide it. Don't try to wash out your identity.
152. 12:22Become clear, have a powerful voice, say what you have to say. Doesn't matter if
153. 12:30it's with an accent and it doesn't matter if it's with mistakes. Which leads
154. 12:35me to the second thing and that is - mistakes are okay. Mistakes are the only
155. 12:40way to learn. Don't beat yourself up every time you make a mistake. Don't be
156. 12:44afraid of making mistakes because that will only result in not speaking. Don't
157. 12:48wait till it's perfect to speak - your pronunciation, your knowledge of English,
158. 12:54your thought, okay? Don't wait for you to know exactly what you need to say before
159. 13:00you speak. Start speaking, get stuck, make a mistake, ask for help, but speak. Once
160. 13:08you're okay with making mistakes, and again I'm telling you this because I
161. 13:12have come terms with my mistakes, with my grammar
162. 13:15mistakes, with my pronunciation mistakes, with my stupid typos in my videos that I
163. 13:20don't see because I've been writing words phonetically for years now that
164. 13:24I've forgotten how to spell correctly, okay, but I have to become okay with it
165. 13:29to be able to make those videos for you. And if you feel that you're benefiting
166. 13:35from my videos, then I know that I've done my work. Then I know that I did my
167. 13:40job in this world because at the end of the day it's not about being perfect but
168. 13:45it's about communicating with the world and expressing yourself, and it doesn't
169. 13:49matter in what language you do that. The most important thing is that you show up.
170. 13:54Now you know that in order for you to make things happen you have to take
171. 13:58action and this is why I want you to take a few minutes right now and share
172. 14:02with us in the comments below two things. One - where do you struggle the most? Is it
173. 14:07with knowing what to learn and how to pursue your knowledge? Is it sitting down
174. 14:13and actually doing the work practicing, or is it confidence? What are the voices
175. 14:18that you hear in your head? And then the second thing I want you to do is to
176. 14:22write down your game plan. What are you planning to focus on? What are the things
177. 14:26that you are going to learn in order to improve? Be as specific as possible.
178. 14:31Really, the most specific you could be and then I want you to let us know how
179. 14:36much time out of your day you're willing to invest practicing effectively in
180. 14:41order to become the most fluent you've ever been and if you haven't yet I
181. 14:46highly encourage you to join our amazing online community. So I'll post a link to
182. 14:50it right here below. I know I'm not objective but I'm not the only one
183. 14:54saying it it's really the most safest, most empowering place where you
184. 14:59can share and learn from and create activities. So really, I'm
185. 15:06telling you don't waste your time. Click that link and get your butt in there.
186. 15:10Thank you for letting me share this with you and I truly believe that if you put
187. 15:14your mind into it and you do the work, English will come to you. Thank you so
188. 15:20much for watching and I'll see you next time. Bye.