Did you finish the card trick video? You now know that the video wasn’t about the cards. Most people are so busy looking at the colors of the cards that they miss the much bigger color changes. The clothes changed, the table color changed and even the whole background color changed. How could you miss such big changes?Well, it’s actually pretty normal. Our attention is very limited. When we focus too much on one thing, it makes us miss other things.Ok, so what does this have to do with learning English? Well, learning English is a lot like that color changing video. There is a lot happening and if you spend too much time looking at the cards, you miss the big picture. The big picture is fluent, confident communication.If you spend too much time translating every word or studying only vocabulary and grammar, you miss your chance to become a better speaker and a better listener.
Now we want to be perfectly clear. There is nothing wrong with studying grammar or vocabulary. These are necessary in the beginning. You’ve probably studied a lot of English grammar and vocabulary. Great! That study helped you and that’s why you can read and understand most of this video.That’s what you needed to do in the beginning, but it’s not what you need now. More grammar, more vocabulary, and more translation are NOT what you need to become a more fluent English speaker.
By fluency, we mean your ability to communicate and understand natural English, Your ability to speak smoothly and understand easily. So what is the best way to improve your English? The answer is really simple. There is only one way to improve your English speaking and listening fluency. Use more English! Not study more, but USE more, listen more, and speak more.
Ok, but how do you do it? Maybe you live in a place where you don’t have a chance to use a lot of English. Maybe you don’t have enough confidence to speak English. So what do you do?
We don’t want to overload you with too much information in one day. We saw in the color video how the mind can’t focus on too much at one time.
For today, just take a few minutes and think about your experience studying English.
How have you studied in the past?
Has it stopped you from seeing the big picture?
How can you set grammar and vocabulary to the side?
How can you start improving your English with more speaking and more listening?