Effortless English: Learn To Speak English Like a native

 
TOO EASY? TOO DIFFICULT? OR JUST RIGHT?
How should you decide what to listen to or read? Often, my students worry that
they’ll pick something too easy. My recommendation: it’s best to pick something
you can understand without too much difficulty, but that stretches you a little.
Linguists call this “comprehensible input plus one” which they describe as
material that is just one level above where you are currently. They believe students
learn a second language best when they are in a low stress situation and are
interested in the topic being discussed.
An easy test of difficulty is whether or not you need a dictionary. You should be
able to read and listen quickly, with only a few unknown words per page. Because
you understand most of the material, you can guess the meaning of those unknown
words without interrupting yourself. Just keep going, because you will eventually
encounter those same new words again. When you do, you’ll make another, even
better guess about the meaning. Eventually, you’ll learn this new vocabulary
simply by enjoying real English without using a dictionary.
When you listen to real English materials, you get the real English that is actually
used by Americans, Canadians, Australians, the British, etc. That’s how we really
speak. By replacing textbooks with these materials, you will be prepared for real
world communication. When someone greets you on the street, you’ll understand
them. When someone uses a common idiom, you’ll understand them. Eventually,
you’ll completely understand TV shows and movies too.
Rule Six is the key: learn real English.
 
LEARNING CASUAL CONVERSATION
In San Francisco where I used to live, I met many students with high English test scores, and great grades in

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their English classes. Yet, when they sat in a café, they couldn’t understand what people were saying around
them. They had absolutely no idea what normal Americans were saying.
They had been trained in formal, academic English – with a focus on grammar rules. I think this is totally
backwards.
Common, casual conversation should be the first thing you learn. The first need, after all, is to communicate
with other people. You want to chat with people in a café. You want to make friends and understand what they are
saying. You want to talk to your co-workers. You want to understand TV shows and movies.
Common English should be what you learn first… then, and only if you need it, focus on academic English.
To help you, we have a new collection of recorded, real, spontaneous conversations. These are real
conversations with friends, family, and business partners. We aren’t reading scripts. We aren’t actors. You’ll learn
the real English that we use every day with each other – including slang, idioms, swear words, jokes, cultural
references, etc.
You’ll hear filler words, too (such as “ah,” “um,” “you know,” “like”), which are a common element of
English that is missing from textbooks. You’ll hear the natural rhythm of English – the way we go back and forth,
the way we use phrases, the ways we interrupt each other.
We have all the conversations transcribed, and include short notes to explain the slang, idioms, etc. that you
can’t find in a dictionary. We did this because there’s a huge need. In fact, it’s probably the biggest need our
members have.
My friends and I created a course from these conversations, with text and explanations. You can find them at
www.learnrealenglish.com

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CHAPTER 15