Have you ever been in a conversatıon and your mind went blank, you forgot about the word you needed? Have you?
Well, yes! I have been through such a case. I was talking about the weather with my american teacher. We were talking about the weather and he asked me: ” How was the weather at the weekend?” At the moment, I wanted to say: ” I looked at the sky, it was raining cats and dogs” . I forgot the word sky, so instead I said: ” I looked at the heaven(!) and it was raining cats and dogs” Well, why i said heaven? (If you wonder you gotta go and watch that video 🙈🙈🙈).
So the case I shared in the beginning is a situation we all language learners went through. In other means thats a quite alot normal situation. The problem is if this happens to you constantly, then you need to do some extra work. Here I am to share with you 3 tips to help you along the journey.
Use pictures and Move Your Body If you have a photographic memory thats an advantage to learn faster. Some of us have that visual intelligence more than others and the case is WE ALL HAVE IT! Pictures are always effective to take words into your long-term memory. Lemme tell you a story Back in 5 years ago when I was going to foreign language school in speaking class we played a game. Back then my English was not that good. We were gonna olay “Guess what?” . The game which you describe a picture in the card and at the bottom there are words to not use. So, it was my gün and i was really nervous. I didnt know how To explain. Well, i went to previous day and said:” yesteday, main course class, chapter 7 c section” A friend of mine grab the book immediately and said cowboy. But it was absent , i needed one more word. So i showed them the head and asked “what is it?” They said hat, and then i said “Okey both!” They said cowboy hat finally 😂😂😂 I didnt use any words on the card but used my visual intelligence. I adressed the picture and they got it. As you read, even if your English is half and not good enough to explain things you still can win the game.
Have A Mini Vocabulary Notebook When I start to learn English, I used to want to memorize every word I learned and it was tiresome. So one day , I thought instead of repeting the word until I memorize , let’s have a notebook and take note of each word I learn. I created one. In regular basis or I can say whenever I needed I checked my self-created dictionary. Each time I checked my Vocab notebook whenever I needed it became more easier to take the words into my long term memory. Also, another advantage of having such self-created dictionary is that I involved with the language and my attention limit increased over time.
Practice the words by Speaking Speaking is always the best way of practicing the language. As much as you use the words you learned, it will be easier to settle a place for this word on your head.
” An Accent is a way of pronuncing a language. It is therefore impossible to speak without an accent.”
Says Damir CAVAR.
Well, let’s make something clear first
Are you a fan of British English or American English?
I personally prefer the American accent so consuming American english.
How about you?
You know what actually it really doesnt matter, whether you are a fan of British English or American English
All matter is we all are English learners, we all are language learners.
Lets go ahead and Talk about how To get the Accent you wanna have!
Accent is a dynamic creation. It can shape in any part of your life.
We all have accent, there is no human who is accent-free or there is no language that is accent-free. We all have it. Accent is the blueprint of how we use the language. It is a sort of genetic code with the voice of how we put the emotions or the rhythm into the language.
As a quick note in the case if you are confused what is Accent and what pronounciation;
Accent consist of intonation (the rise and fall of the voice in speaking) and rhythm. While pronunciation is the way we pronounce to make the words understandable to other language users.
As a native Turkish speaker, my Turkish Accent shaped by my family, people around me, my friends and I can say by Pembe ( IF you are Turkish You Already know what I am talking about )😂😂😂.
So now you might wonder how I speak Turkish ( I hope one day I will publicly Share my Turkish)
But really the joke aside speaking Turkish is still a trauma when it comes to speak front of other people that I couldnt Get over and there is a video that you can watch and learn more about it. English is my 2nd chance 🥰🥰..
From that point of view, it is obvious that sometimes pressure can shape the way we use the language or encourage us to not use the language!
Or sometimes when we really enjoy someone elses way of Speaking (Using the language/ their Accent) and use it which I do alot. In every piece of my speech there are tons of people taking apart already. But now let’s go with some experience I have been through and how it affected my English Accent or did it really affect?
Such as, in collage, I had an experience that I always get corrected by one of the professor with a particular word.
“Ability”
Whenever I used that word he used to say ” not like this but like this!”
So, for this reason whenever I used that word in class I always used his way to not get warned (like something requires punishment)/or if I wanna say something I chose not to say anything.
Or sometimes some people lead you to a confusion. We all know those people(they are everywhere) and we all dealed with them anyway. Also, in the case maybe we are in some others life as who leads the confusion!
When you Talk to them, you find them saying:
” Hey, I actually know better teacher!”
But they dont even have the idea who your teacher is (same goes for us, maybe we are filling that space in someoneelse’s life). So, right after that conversation you might have the confusion of
“Really maybe, its not that great!”
You see thats the confusion I am talking about.
Lemme tell you one more time before we dive into how to get the Accent You Want.
– You are an independent learner
-and all heartedly I want you to build your Own story.
-You are brilliant and you are you will decide what path you will go.
– You will decide who you will learn from and you are the one who will decide to chance things (your method, your couch, your Accent)
1. Make the commitment
Decide which Accent You wanna have. You know decision making is always the first step (and that decision is gonna be your core Accent. The fundamental that you will build all in.) Sometimes in order to emphasize some colors we use the black in the background. So here, once you build your background. The other colors will be witnessing the dance of colors visually. (My speaking my core Accent is coming from my language father and you already know who i am talking about, so do I listen him all the time? Nopeeee! I am using different colors but projecting them with my core accent. I love some lines from different people/speakers and I use them on my own way , projecting them on my black background. So choose wisely your background. I have a template that you can decide , I mean at least you can take a look at that list and if you want you can choose one of them.
2. Gather Around All materials to Train With Your Ears
This step is all about your ears.
In this step make sure to have enough amount of listening of Your Target Accent (if you choose from the list I gave you, you wont have to worry about that as well ).
As much as you focus on learning how to pronunce the words you will be able to communicate with people clearly even if you use an accent that is obviously shows that you are not native English speaker. Dont worry keep going with same even increasing dedication.
Stick with your target accent until you get the intonation and the rhythm of the language you need or you feel :
“Yes, ı did it!”
And dont forget the main idea of having a clear pronunciation is to
“Communicate to be easily understood”
We forget this many times and i am here to remind you this😊.
Also, once you start to train your ears there will be some problems you will face because of the fast speaking of native english speakers such as you might miss some spellings, some words, conjunctions, prepositions.
Such as instead of saying
How is it going? (You might hear hey, hows it goin?)
So you might confuse and miss some spells.
So this is all about how you used to get familiar with the rythm of the language. Hearing the language clearly. Practice of your brain that you guess the meaning already.
-So if you face with such problem I suggest you to ise songs as well.
– Another option you can use English subtitle to see the words clearly, at least by seeing with your eyes you will be able to seperate the words from each other in the fast speech.
– In quick you can also go and check out that video to know more about how I used TV shows to improve my my listening and train my ears.
3. Remove the Accent Judgers
Being around people who respect what you are doing , and being around people who knows the worth of your effort is priceless.
Once you dive into your Accent training, not for all but again for my case it happened. There were some people around and they were saying my way of speaking is artificial/unnatural. It doesnt sound like me. (Though i was feeling exactly myself).
Guys, there will be a phase that you might sound in the accent of Your native language, you might sound with the intonation of your native language. Yes thats sounds maybe awkward but still fine because you are a learner not an expert.
So if people guves you their opinion with the intention of make you feel bad, dont give a damn. Dont let their nonsense to occupy a place in your brilliant mind. Trust yourself and take your road.
As much a you listen, as much as you imitate, as much as you focus on practicing on your speaking, there is no power to stop you to be an advanced english speaker. To sound like a native.
My tips night sound quite classic but they are includes to have the strongest mind of saving the back of Your dedication and belief on yourself.
I actually had no idea about A1, A2 or C1 , the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages
( which abbreviated as CEFR). I learned about it after all those years later.
If you ask me which level English learner I am ? – I really have no idea!
If you ask me is there any way to jump from A1 to C2? – I am sorry to say this but no, there is no such magical solution for it but there are things need to be said.
In this Episode I have some tips for you to reach your English to an elusive level. But before I wanna introduce you the levels of CEFR, in case if you have any idea what those levels are about.
Lets Talk about them!
– There are 6 English level in Total. A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 and C2 respectively.
In level A
– you can understand the basics
-you can introduce yourself and Talk about basic personel and family informations.
-you mostly have a small vocabulary from different areas such as shopping, geography , science,…
– You can describe solid things
In level B
– Congragulations, thats where you start to speak
– There will be many light bulbs will be over heated due to over connections and might have bomb effect sometimes
– Here in this stage other than just describing things you will also ve able to talk about your experiences, events, your dreams and hopefully your hopes (not just solid things but also the things we cant see)
– This stage is the passageway of your long trip to English fluency
This step where you will have the fastest progress.
In level C
– Welcome to the beginning of everything land.
– You wont spent a lot of effort to speak English
– You wont think before you speak English, you will speak English whenever you want (spontaneously)
– Your speaking, writing and reading will be more controlled and organized.
– You will understand everything you hear and read (at least have the complete idea of the test you read or something you listen even if there is a word you see for the first time).
– Basically you can join the war of ideas, you can argue, defend and even be a motivational speaker .
And lastly this stage will be where you will spent most of your time, even might have depression!(cuz the feeling of no PROGRESS anymore )
Tips to level up your English
There will be times that you will feel you progress really fast and i am so familiar with that achievement feeling. The feeling of that you are good at something and confident about something.
You climb, climb and climb and suddenly you start to think Okey i am on the top whats more.
On top there will be a cloudy view and its your job to make your vision clear to enjoy the view. Blue sky and the green earth.
Here the problem starts ..
Sometimes its hard to see the real reason that lie underneath the problems or is there any real problem as we think ( ? ). İs There something wrong with us, with our understanding?
Why my English progress stopped.
Or am I really gonna reach the Advanced level of English fluency?
When this will happen exactly?
Or you think when i will reach the C2? What it will provide to me?
Well, when there is a hardship it means there is growth
And spesifically I wanna underline , I wanna emphasize here that , GETTING BETTER AT A LANGUAGE IS NOT ABOUT THE FAST PROGRESS. YOU WONT BECOME ADVANCED ENGLISH SPEAKER OVER A NIGHT. LANGUAGE LEARNING IS ALL ABOUT PATIENCE.
Now Let’s go step by step to observe (not really east at the beginning but once you learn you will rock it, you will be unstoppable) where are we at our English journey and how we can go forward from the point we are at the moment.
1. Ask the right question!
Asking the right question will encourage you to give an answer that you need. It will make you closer to the what you exactly wanna do. It will help you to take the next step you need to level up your English.
Everyday you need to ask yourself those freaking damn questions to make clear what you wanna do with your English exactly because when you know what you what, thats where the progress begins.
– Are you comfortable with your current English level?
– Can you start a conversation with no hesitation?
– Can you express yourself with writing?
– Do you trust yourself ?
– How do you feel about that language?
Most importantly What does it mean for you to reach the highest level , Advanced english learner?
What feels rewarding to you? ( Thats the main idea thats the main reason that you will work for your progress no matter what!)
2. NURTUE YOURSELF WITH THE RIGHT FOOD
To create a beautiful garden you need seeds of colorful flowers and trees. Then you need to place those seeds onto the ground , lay of the land. Next step is watering, watering consistently, giving the nutritios rich ingredients when it needs. Vitamins(B,Cand E) and so on .
Well, vocabulary is the seed, listening is the water. Reading is the land where the seeds are going to germinate/bloom. Writing is the vitamin effect that will facilitate the growth variety of way. You will connect your neurons ,… And finally speaking will be the fruit of Your excellent wieved garden.
By asking yourself the right questions in each step of Your English level, you will know about what you need. You need the water maybe everyday which totally depends on the type if seed. You need the vitamins based on the type of seed. You need the right sand for your seed that will provide it what your seed requires to grow.
Once you know what you need and consuning enough nutritios FOOD will let you to grow up.
And thats all you need!
3. Do Your Streches after a good workout!
A good workout requires , a good strecth.
Stretching is a physical exercise we do in order to increase the muscle flexibility and lower the muscle tension.
So how do we strecth when we learn English?
Well, it happens on your brain and the secondary carriers that bring the information to your Alive, fluid surrounded computer.
Let’s go with your ears and how you can do your strecthing.
When you listen something for the first time about a spesific topic, you most probably will give a little stress to your brain. But thats a sort of stress that trying to figure out what exactly am I listening. What sort of input is this?
Well, the hard movements is the unfamiliar words.
Here is your stretch recipie:
When you read something exactly the same topic, you will make your brain to familiar to the concept more and you will be able to ve more relax when you Talk about that particular topic.
Here all the secrets you need to level up your english but the key is patience!
Go and watch the video that you just the read the script ( Good news, this will be your 1st strecthing :). )
While enjoying my time by reading this excellent personal development book I also took some notes that can help you to enhance your vocabulary IF YOU ARE AN ENGLISH LEARNER.
Hope you all are having an amazing week. As alwasy every thursday at 2 pm we have a new video on Amerikanca English Youtube channel.
This week we’re going to talk about a tecnique that helped me to improve my speaking english a lot. This technique is called MINI STORY TECHNIQUE and it is from the Effortless English System ( the system helped me to speak like a native or I would say sound like a native ).
Here is the pdf to show you how this technique also can work with books:
This week I will cover up the questions that hard to answer by many language learners.
How should I start to speak english?
Where to start?
What to talk about?
and many others.
Well, through the years ( almost 5 years has been passed since I start to learn english) I had a chance to practice on my speaking english. I didn’t wait for the chance but created on my own many times.
Well, this week I explained how I practiced on my speaking and also shared 2 tips that can help you if you dont know where to start your speaking english.
I will see you on my youtube channel.
here is the pdf that you can have find the 2 tips in more organized way:
Its me your friend especially if you are a language learner , I am a friend who can understand you what you are going through.
Today, I filmed a video about fear of speaking english, and shared 5 tips that how you can over come and crash that fear by tricking your mind.
Really its all about how we think and how we percieve the life!
Well, it’s in our hands that we can create awesomeness or horrendousness.
You are a Badass
With those 5 tips or I would say tricks ( I explained few of them with my own language learning story so make sure to watch the YouTube video I filmed ) you can create that awesomeness.
I designed a pdf for you guys to have more organized and visual material to use ( in case maybe you will put it on your wall).
In this video I shared the conversation I had with one of my cousin who also learning english as her 2nd language. After that conversation I realized the mistakes many language learners do ( I also did ).
Here we are
This is for you. After downloading the pdf and click somewhere to go to my channel to watch the video in more detail.
Recently , I have been thinking of why language learning so hard for many people and I wanted to go deep down to find the primary reason/s. Well in fundamental I realized that many of us do not consider the nature of languae learning and I created a video about it that I am sharing 6 tips to get familiar with the nature of language learning. Once You adapt those tips to your english learning / language learning logic you will get more motivated and have the resistance to feeling unmotivated when you face with an english failure.
To make the things ( 6 Tips ) more clear I also created a PDF file for you guys.
