Hello and welcome to this article 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 with tip number one. Set a goal and a deadline. Make this ambitious but attainable. 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 article 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 Learn English every day. Get into this habit. 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 reading 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 articles, "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 article 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 article.
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 reading this article. If you enjoyed it then please like and share it, and then also go ahead and read another article that I have made on similar topics.
