Top 6 Tips to Improve Your English – Transcript

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Introduction

Hello there! My name is Michael and welcome to Episode number two of The English Corner.

For those of your who are new, I have created this series to help intermediate level English learners improve their English by talking about a wide range of interesting topics.

Language Learning Plateau

In today’s episode, we are going to talk about how to improve your English, especially when you have hit the language learning plateau.

The learning plateau is a common topic in educational psychology. It is the time when a learner doesn’t seem to make any progress no matter how much effort they put in.

Learning a language is no different.

However, to better understand the language learning plateau, we need to first understand The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment abbreviated as CEFR.

This guideline breaks down language learning achievements into 3 main levels and 6 total subcategories to better understand your ability in a language.

The categories are:

A Basic user

B Independent user

And C Proficient user

These can be further broken down into

A1 Breakthrough or beginner

A2 Waystage or elementary

B1 Threshold or intermediate

B2 Vantage or upper intermediate

C1 Effective operational proficiency or advanced

C2 Mastery or proficiency

To give you a better understanding, you would need at least a B2 level in English in order to go to an American University.

When you first start learning English, you can quickly feel like you are making progress. However, eventually, very often somewhere between the B1 and B2 levels, the new things that you are learning become much more complex and thus take much more time to improve.[1]Pipplet – The Plateau Effect in Foreign Languages: Why B2 is a Good Professional Level

This doesn’t mean that you should worry as you can still improve!

I have helped many students get past the language learning plateau. Today, I would like to give you my tips to help you make progress in English.

Just remember. Learning a language is not a sprint. It is a marathon. While you might not appear that you are progressing today, when you look back in a few months’ time, you will see major improvements.

Speak

I have to admit that I have also experienced the language learning plateau with French. Therefore, I personally know that if you really want to pass it, you need to move to the country where they speak that language! For example, I moved to France.

Just kidding! While this will definitely help. I know that this might not be possible for everyone and really isn’t a requirement to get good at English.

In fact, I know plenty of people who have great levels in English and have never been to an English speaking country before.

Rather, the most important thing you need to do in order to improve your English is speak.

As such, I recommend that you go ahead and find a language exchange partner. If you don’t have anyone close to you, don’t worry! With the magic of the internet, it is very easy to find language exchange partners from all over the world.

I am not sponsored by any of these, but some popular ones include

Better yet, find a English teacher online! 

I am also not sponsored by any of these, but some popular ones include:

  • Italki

and

  • Lingoda

Also, shameless plug, but if you would like, my website englishacademy101.com also provides one-on-one lessons with a teacher. You can check the link in the description below!

Listen and Read at the Same Time

Another great way to improve your English is by listening to the audio while reading at the same time.

When you speak in your native language, you don’t spend time thinking about the correct grammar. You just speak! This is because your brain is putting together sentences and phrases that you have already heard hundreds and thousands of times before. In other words, your whole life is one massive source of language input that helps you develop a natural language intuition.

In fact, in Brainscape, Andrew Cohen proposes that when learning a foreign language it is best to start by reading. The process of seeing words helps reinforce our ability to remember and use it. He further states that reading at the same time as listening to the audiobook is even better![3]Transcription – Reading vs. Listening – Which is More Effective for Learning and Remembering

Over time, your brain starts to recognize patterns and vocabulary that it can put together to make complete thoughts and phrases.[4]PAKO’s English Page – The importance of reading and listening

In other words, you will start to “feel” what sounds are good and what sounds are “ugly”. Just like a native speaker!

In fact, according to Daniel Willingham, a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia and author of Raising Kids Who Read, humans have shared information orally for tens of thousands of years. On the other hand, the written word is a relatively recent invention.  As such, “When we’re reading, we’re using parts of the brain that evolved for other purposes, and we’re MacGyvering them so they can be applied to the cognitive task of reading,” Additionally, we can get much more information from listening that is very often lost in the written word, namely the intonation and emotions behind the words. For example, when listening to Shakespeare out loud, listeners tend to understand much better.[5]Time – Are Audiobooks As Good For You As Reading? Here’s What Experts Say

Let’s give it a try. Read this famous passage from Shakespeare’s play Hamlet

"To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them. To die: to sleep...”
-Hamlet, Act III, Scene I

Now, read along but listen to the speaker’s voice.

You can clearly hear the speakers questioning emotions as he reflects upon this existential problem. This can be easily missed if you are just reading.

Additionally, reading and listening at the same time helps you better concentrate. This is great for people who are easily distracted. It forces you to go at the speed of a native speaker.[6]Digitial Book – Read and Listen at the Same Time to Improve English

Lastly, according to a study conducted by Billy Woodall from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez, when comparing the English fluency rates of two groups reading E.B. White’s novel Charlotte’s Web the listening-while-reading group outscored the reading-only group every single time over an eight week study.[7]Simultaneous Listening and Reading in ESL: Helping Second Language Learners Read (and Enjoy Reading) More Efficiently

Again, this is not sponsored, but I have personally done this learning French by using LingQ. This platform provides thousands of hours of “real world” audio and written content from things such as podcasts, books, magazines, etc..

What’s great about LingQ is that it provides material in all levels from A1 to C2. So you can start where you feel most comfortable and progress from there!

Grammar is Important

You probably didn’t want to hear this, but if you really want to improve your English, grammar is important.

Just like building a house, you first need to build a strong foundation. Otherwise, you will always find yourself making the same mistakes over and over again and unable to get past the language learning plateau.

However, don’t worry! When I say learning grammar is important, I don’t mean just repeating grammar drills like in school. Or learning grammar but not being able to put it into practical use.

Rather, you should learn the relevant grammar material for the material that you are learning at the moment.

For example, say that I want to talk about what I did yesterday. This is a great time to brush up on the past simple tense.

In other words, you should learn grammar bit-by-bit and only  when you need it.

This will make grammar much more enjoyable and useful for you.

If you would like some help with your English grammar, you can check out our English Grammar playlist or our website englishacademy101.com where we go into more detail with examples and exercises.

Slowly Tip the Scales in Favor of Native Sources

The next tip that I have for you to help improve your English and pass that language learning plateau is to slowly move from English as a second or foreign language (ESL) material to those made for native speakers.

This is because most language learning programs teach you a formal version of the English language. While this is good, as it helps build a strong foundation in the language, it is not exactly the same as that used every day by native speakers.

This is the reason why you often hear people saying that they have been studying English for years; however, when they watch a movie or listen to native speakers talk, they can’t understand anything!

When you first start learning a language, you probably shouldn’t start right away with native level sources as it will be too hard to understand. However, slowly, as you progress in your English, you should start to incorporate more native level sources into your learning.[8]Smart Language Learner – Are You Stuck in a Language-Learning Plateau – and Not Sure What to Do?

One way that I often recommend to my students is by using subtitles when they watch something in English. However, rather than just watching one time, depending on your level and the difficulty of the material, I recommend that you watch the English material up to three times.

The first time, the audio should be in English, but the subtitles are in your native language.

This is great because it allows you to hear the English audio, but focus on comprehension.

The second time, the audio should be in English, but the subtitles are in English.

The second time you listen, as you already know the story, you can focus more on the English that is being spoken and use the English subtitles to help you in the parts you still don’t understand.

The third time, the audio should be in English, but you don’t have any subtitles.

The third time, is when you can solely focus on the English being spoken. You already know the story well and can focus on overall comprehension.

When using this three step method, I recommend that you wait a little bit between each viewing. For example, you can wait one week.

Additionally, if you find the thing that you are watching a bit easier, you can also skip step one and only focus on the next two steps.

As a personal note, this is actually the method that I use when improving my French. Personally, I am very interested in travel, food, and Asian cultures. As such, I have found many French Youtubers that combine these interests. These channels are not made for French learners. Rather, they are made for native French speakers. However, since I am already interested in the subject, it doesn’t feel like I am studying when watching. As such, this helps me get a lot of input in the language in a very enjoyable way.

Transcripts with Anki Cards

Building on the previous method, a great way to get past that language learning plateau is through vocabulary study through a spaced repetition system such as Anki.

However, rather than just studying random lists of vocabulary that are not connected to anything you might already talk about in daily life, get the transcripts of the videos that you were watching and actively search for the definitions of vocabulary that you don’t understand.

This will allow you to better understand the vocabulary words in context as well as in a subject that interests you.

If you don’t know how to find the transcript in a Youtube video, don’t worry! It is very easy!

Under the video, at the bottom right hand corner, you will see the three little dots. Click it and you will see Open Transcript. Click that.

The transcript is going to appear on the right hand side of the video. It includes timestamps so that you can easily find where you are in the video.

Make it a part of your Daily Life

Lastly, you need to make English a part of your daily habits. As we stated earlier, only through massive input and living in the language, will you truly be able to improve and pass that language learning plateau.

There are several ways that you can do this including:

Scheduling a part of your day to focus on studying English. For example, set aside 30 minutes to work on English. This can include anything from studying some grammar to watching a video in English.

Another great way to incorporate English into your daily life is by switching your devices to English. For example, you can switch your phone’s setting to show everything in English.

Finally, make use of your dead time to work on your English. But what is dead time?

Simply put, it is the time when you are inactive or unable to act productively.

For example, dead time can include when you are washing the dishes, driving to work, or waiting for your appointment at the doctor’s office.

These are great times to put in a bit of English practice.

Personally, when I take my dog on a walk, I like to listen to French podcasts to help work on my French listening skills.

Dead time can really add up quickly. For example, in the USA the average person takes 26 minutes to travel to their job one way[9]convene – How Long Is Too Long to Commute?.

In other words, they spend 52 minutes per day on the road. Saying that they work 5 days per week. That is 260 minutes or 4 hours and 20 minutes per week. The average American also works 48 weeks per year.[10]How I Go The Job – How Many Workweeks in a Year This means that over the period of one year, they spend 12,480 minutes or 208 hours or 8 days and 16 hours driving per year. Needless to say, that is a lot of time to practice your language!

How to Improve Your English – Conclusion

Learning English or any foreign language is difficult. I understand, I am learning French and still have a lot of difficulties.

However, it doesn’t have to be impossible.

Following these simple tips, over time, you can easily improve your English.

That’s it for now! Don’t forget to subscribe and like. We hope that you found this subject interesting. If there are any subjects that you would like me to talk about, please feel free to write a question in the comments below. See you later!

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