My honest advice to someone who wants to get fluent in English — Transcript

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1. 0:00I remember what it was like to
2. 0:01understand English but still not be able
3. 0:02to speak the way I wanted to feel stuck
4. 0:05to wonder if I was learning the right
5. 0:06way and to stress about how long it was
6. 0:08going to take until I finally became
7. 0:10fluent. So in this video I want to talk
8. 0:12about six super important things that
9. 0:14you don't really hear often in fluency
10. 0:16videos that helped me so much to get
11. 0:18fluent and save me a lot of time and
12. 0:20unnecessary [music] stress. Like if I
13. 0:22could go back and talk to the younger me
14. 0:24who was just starting to learn English
15. 0:26these are the exact things I'd tell him.
16. 0:29Consistency is your best friend. When I
17. 0:31first started learning English I would
18. 0:33watch videos, take notes, and then make
19. 0:35plans for myself on how to practice. And
20. 0:38I'd like lock in and practice for hours
21. 0:40for a couple of weeks, but then I'd
22. 0:42start skipping days and eventually
23. 0:43forget about English for months. Then
24. 0:46I'd get back to it and the same story
25. 0:48would repeat. So it took me twice as
26. 0:51long to make progress because I wasn't
27. 0:53consistent at all. And it was that way
28. 0:55until I tried a different approach. I
29. 0:57stopped focusing on doing a lot. My
30. 1:00daily goal was no longer to practice for
31. 1:02hours, but what I set out to do was a
32. 1:04little bit every day. I think
33. 1:06consistency beats intensity almost every
34. 1:09time. Learning a little bit of English
35. 1:11regularly is so much better than going
36. 1:13all in for a couple of days and then
37. 1:15doing nothing for the next few weeks. So
38. 1:17whether you're busy or just lazy
39. 1:19sometimes, don't think that you have to
40. 1:21do some huge study session to keep
41. 1:23making progress. Set out to do something
42. 1:25small. Listen to something short in
43. 1:27English, film yourself speaking for 10
44. 1:29minutes about your day, or read a few
45. 1:31pages of a book. At first yes, these
46. 1:33things might seem too small to matter,
47. 1:35but they will add up over time. And
48. 1:37that's where you'll find your results.
49. 1:39And also what you're trying to do with
50. 1:40this is just keep English in your life
51. 1:43so you don't forget it. Cuz you'll
52. 1:44constantly learn words, you'll hear it
53. 1:46and speak it, and this is progress. A
54. 1:49great tool I used for English and also
55. 1:51for other habits is a 30-day calendar.
56. 1:53Basically you have this calendar
57. 1:55somewhere you can see it and every day
58. 1:57you do something, even if it's the bare
59. 1:59minimum. You draw an X on that day. It
60. 2:01really helps to see how consistent you
61. 2:03are and makes you a little more
62. 2:04accountable. So, I definitely recommend
63. 2:06trying that.
64. 2:07>> [music]
65. 2:07>> And the way all of this worked for me is
66. 2:09that I no longer had to force myself to
67. 2:11practice because learning and using
68. 2:13English just became a habit, a normal
69. 2:16part of my daily routine.
70. 2:18Stop avoiding speaking. The main reason
71. 2:20why I understood English, but still
72. 2:22couldn't speak it, and it's probably the
73. 2:23same for you,
74. 2:25is that when we're learning a new
75. 2:26language, we usually avoid speaking.
76. 2:29You know, because
77. 2:30uh
78. 2:31we don't want to embarrass ourselves, or
79. 2:33we're scared that people won't
80. 2:34understand what we're saying. So, we
81. 2:36kind of adapt this mindset that I'll
82. 2:38first learn English and then I'll speak.
83. 2:41But, it doesn't really work that way.
84. 2:43So, I want to encourage you to do this.
85. 2:45Whenever you have the chance to speak
86. 2:46English, use that opportunity cuz you're
87. 2:49going to learn so much and be proud of
88. 2:51yourself for putting in this effort and
89. 2:53expressing [music]
90. 2:54a thought, or introducing yourself, or
91. 2:56answering a few questions. I know you
92. 2:58might not have someone to practice
93. 2:59speaking with, so search for people
94. 3:02online. Like, use social media, join
95. 3:05Discord groups, or if you have the
96. 3:06budget, you could even pay for a
97. 3:08language learning platform where you can
98. 3:10talk to native speakers. Like, whatever
99. 3:12works for you, but it is important to
100. 3:14practice your speaking. Yeah, like
101. 3:16talking to yourself, even talking to
102. 3:18ChatGPT works, will definitely help, but
103. 3:21sooner or later you got to make this
104. 3:22effort and find some real people you
105. 3:24could actually communicate with and get
106. 3:26some sort of feedback. I really
107. 3:28understand the hesitation cuz I also was
108. 3:31afraid of speaking, uh many times
109. 3:33embarrassed myself. But, what I noticed
110. 3:35is that as long as people understand
111. 3:37what you mean, what you're saying, even
112. 3:39if you make a bunch of grammar mistakes,
113. 3:42and you have a strong accent, you're
114. 3:44good. Nobody cares as much as you think.
115. 3:47And that's how you get that experience
116. 3:48you need, right? By screwing up, by
117. 3:49feeling awkward. You think I don't make
118. 3:51mistakes? I've been learning English for
119. 3:54many years now and there are still words
120. 3:56I don't know, mistakes I often make.
121. 3:58Sometimes I even feel like I don't know
122. 4:00any English. So, it'll sound a little
123. 4:02ironic, but in order to learn to speak
124. 4:04English, you have to speak English.
125. 4:07Learning a language doesn't mean only
126. 4:08studying. If you take classes and study,
127. 4:11that is very good.
128. 4:13But, that's not all you should do.
129. 4:14That's not the whole process. I think a
130. 4:17massive part of learning a language is
131. 4:19actually making it a part of your life
132. 4:21and using it often outside those classes
133. 4:24and studying. You know, you'll watch
134. 4:26some movies even if you don't understand
135. 4:27everything. Then you'll speak with
136. 4:29someone. Then you'll read something in
137. 4:31English. And that's how you will
138. 4:32naturally remember a lot of new
139. 4:34information, like words, pronunciation,
140. 4:37grammar. Like only when I surrounded
141. 4:38myself with English in at home in my
142. 4:40room and used it every day, I noticed
143. 4:43that I was making so much more progress
144. 4:46than before when all I did was study.
145. 4:49And I started liking it more. So, for
146. 4:50me, studying was a very small part of my
147. 4:52journey. Of course, I also spent some
148. 4:54time learning grammar, trying to
149. 4:56memorize some words here and there. And
150. 4:58that was like maybe 10%. But, the other
151. 5:0090% that gave me the most progress was
152. 5:03just using this language in my
153. 5:05day-to-day life. I'll tell you this, the
154. 5:07only reason I learned English is cuz I
155. 5:09liked it. I loved the way it sounded, so
156. 5:11I wished I could speak it. And I always
157. 5:14wanted to watch American movies and
158. 5:16British TV shows in the original
159. 5:18version. Like without dubbing or
160. 5:21subtitles. And only setting aside some
161. 5:23time per week to study, you know, take
162. 5:25notes, all that stuff, wasn't going to
163. 5:27do it for me. So, what I did is I used
164. 5:29my interests as teachers. I liked video
165. 5:32games, reading all kinds of books,
166. 5:33watching content, and I started to do
167. 5:35most of these in English. So, this way I
168. 5:37killed two birds with one stone. Great
169. 5:39phrase, by the way. Cuz I had fun and
170. 5:42learned at the same time. You have to
171. 5:43make it fun. You have to make it
172. 5:45interesting. You know, I learned French
173. 5:47in school for a lot of years,
174. 5:49but I didn't really care about it. I was
175. 5:51bored because all we did was study.
176. 5:54That's why I never learned it, and today
177. 5:56I only know a few words and phrases in
178. 5:58French. If you only focus on studying
179. 6:00hard, you kind of take all the fun away,
180. 6:03and it becomes so boring that you lose
181. 6:05interest and then quit. So, I recommend
182. 6:08you take a few things you enjoy doing
183. 6:09like hobbies, other interests, whatever,
184. 6:12and do some part of it in your target
185. 6:14language, English case.
186. 6:15>> [music]
187. 6:16>> And that will keep you at it for the
188. 6:17long run cuz you will start to like the
189. 6:19process. Plus, you could mix all this
190. 6:21with studying if you want. You could
191. 6:23create a simple routine for yourself
192. 6:25like 2 3 days a week you study
193. 6:26something, and then for the rest of the
194. 6:28week you just do something fun in
195. 6:30English like whatever you want. This way
196. 6:32it will not get boring and become a drag
197. 6:34like, "Oh, today again I have to study
198. 6:36this present continuous shit."
199. 6:40You can't become properly fluent fast.
200. 6:43Look, I know you want fast results. We
201. 6:45all want that, but let's be a little
202. 6:46realistic here. If you want to get
203. 6:48really good at something, and I assume
204. 6:50you want to be good at English, it
205. 6:52usually takes a load of time. When
206. 6:54I see these fluent in 3 months, 6 months
207. 6:57courses and videos on YouTube, it pisses
208. 6:59me off. I'm not an expert in language
209. 7:01learning, but I can tell you that
210. 7:03learning a new language from scratch or
211. 7:05even if you are intermediate to getting
212. 7:08properly fluent is not going to happen
213. 7:10that fast for most of you. If you really
214. 7:12want to eventually become a good English
215. 7:13speaker, you have to be ready to
216. 7:16dedicate not 1 or 3 months, but 1 year,
217. 7:192 years, or even more depending on what
218. 7:21level you are now. If you can do it
219. 7:22faster, great, but the focus shouldn't
220. 7:25be on that. Your focus should be, at
221. 7:27least that was the case for me, on what
222. 7:28you can do so all your English skills
223. 7:30like pronunciation, writing, speaking,
224. 7:32all of them get better consistently. I
225. 7:35know this is not exciting or
226. 7:36motivational to hear. Of course, it's
227. 7:38more sexy to hear, "I'll tell you how to
228. 7:40be fluent in 3 months,"
229. 7:41but that is mostly done to just grab
230. 7:43your attention, to get views and
231. 7:45clients. That's my honest opinion about
232. 7:47it. Look, if you're a curious for me, if
233. 7:49I think from the moment I was around B1,
234. 7:51where probably most of you are right
235. 7:52now, to getting properly fluent, like C1
236. 7:55level, it took me about 2 years, I
237. 7:57think.
238. 7:59Yeah, you might say that is a lot of
239. 8:01time. Yes, it is. Um maybe it took me
240. 8:04longer than others. I don't know. I
241. 8:06wasn't in a rush. So, give yourself more
242. 8:08time, dude, unless you're 80 years old
243. 8:10and you really need to cross this goal
244. 8:12off your bucket list. Or even better,
245. 8:14don't worry about how much longer it
246. 8:16will take. You don't need any of that
247. 8:18pressure.
248. 8:19You got only one job to do now. Just
249. 8:21work on improving your English
250. 8:23regularly.
251. 8:24Stop looking for a special method. What
252. 8:26I've noticed in these years of learning
253. 8:28English is that the process is often
254. 8:30boring and repetitive.
255. 8:33Like, it really comes down to the basic
256. 8:35things you've heard millions of times
257. 8:37before. You have to listen to English as
258. 8:39much as possible, practice speaking it,
259. 8:41read, learn words. You know the drill.
260. 8:44Like, that's what gives you most of the
261. 8:46progress. It's basically the 80/20 rule.
262. 8:48The 20% of the things you do, this basic
263. 8:51stuff, is going to give you 80% of the
264. 8:53results. But, for some reason, we always
265. 8:55fall into this trap of constantly buying
266. 8:57courses, downloading apps, or browsing
267. 8:59YouTube trying to find some special
268. 9:02method. But, most of the time that
269. 9:04doesn't do anything other than waste our
270. 9:07time. So, yeah, that one special method
271. 9:09you're looking for doesn't exist. I know
272. 9:11cuz I searched for it and couldn't find
273. 9:13it. Of course, there are better and
274. 9:15worse ways to learn, and some methods
275. 9:17are definitely more effective than
276. 9:18others. But, at the end of the day, I
277. 9:20think what works is just taking the
278. 9:23basic things you already know of,
279. 9:26figuring out which ones work best for
280. 9:29you, and just sticking with them.
281. 9:31There's no need to overcomplicate things
282. 9:33with another 50 tips or some
283. 9:35revolutionary study system you found
284. 9:37online.
285. 9:39You don't need more videos about
286. 9:40becoming fluent. This advice is more of
287. 9:42an addition to the previous one, but it
288. 9:45is important to talk about. I know this
289. 9:47is going to be a little ironic because I
290. 9:49make videos about learning English and I
291. 9:50used to watch a lot of videos like this.
292. 9:53And no doubt, they can be really
293. 9:55helpful. You can learn from other
294. 9:57people's experiences and find some
295. 9:59motivation, but many times this turns
296. 10:01into procrastination. Like instead of
297. 10:03actually going and at least trying the
298. 10:05things you learn from my videos, other
299. 10:07people's videos, you still find yourself
300. 10:09clicking on another and then another
301. 10:12that often tell you the same stuff. So,
302. 10:14your problem is not that you don't know
303. 10:15what to do, but that you're not doing
304. 10:17it. It's an interesting thing I noticed
305. 10:20in myself as well that often we replace
306. 10:23action with preparation. We keep
307. 10:25planning and researching like, "I'm
308. 10:27doing something. I'm looking for new
309. 10:29ways to practice my speaking." Okay, but
310. 10:32when are you going to start? So, I'm not
311. 10:33telling you to stop watching these types
312. 10:35of videos cuz you can get something out
313. 10:37of them. And I mean, I want more people
314. 10:39to subscribe to my channel, right? But
315. 10:40at the same time, I think it's a great
316. 10:42idea to consume a little less of this
317. 10:44English content and focus more on doing
318. 10:46stuff, on actually implementing what
319. 10:48you've already learned. That's it. I
320. 10:50hope you got something out of this one.
321. 10:52If that's so, don't forget to leave a
322. 10:53like. Also, you can watch this video
323. 10:56about 30 English words you're most
324. 10:58likely pronouncing wrong. Go check it
325. 11:00out and I'll see you next time.
326. 11:04>> My name is Panteleimon and today we're
327. 11:06going to learn some English. Today we're
328. 11:09going to learn
329. 11:10how to pronounce British words because
330. 11:14my brother cannot pronounce British
331. 11:16words.
332. 11:17You don't say war, say water.
333. 11:20>> [laughter]
334. 11:21>> Comment down below if you want me to do
335. 11:23videos instead of my brother because he
336. 11:25has no idea how videos work.