6 Habits Destroying Your English (Fix These NOW)

0:00If you want to become fluent in English,

0:01listen carefully because in today's

0:03video, I'm going to talk about six bad

0:06habits that are stopping you from

0:08becoming fluent. My name is Michael

0:10Anton. I'm the founder of English at the

0:12ready and normally on this channel, I

0:14talk about things you should do if you

0:17want to improve your English. But in

0:18today's video, we're going to talk about

0:20things you should not do. All right,

0:23let's get into the video and talk about

0:25the first bad habit. Subtitles. Before

0:28you come after me, I don't actually have

0:30with subtitles. There's nothing wrong

0:32with watching a movie in English with

0:34subtitles. However, you should avoid

0:37watching a movie in English with

0:40subtitles translated into your language.

0:43So if you are going to use subtitles,

0:45make sure you use English subtitles. Of

0:47course, it's better if you're able to

0:49watch a movie without subtitles, but if

0:52you have to use subtitles, if you don't

0:53understand everything, turn on the

0:55English subtitles, not the subtitles in

0:58your native language and certainly not

1:01dubbed audio. That's the worst. Of

1:03course, audio that has been translated

1:05into English, that's not going to help

1:07you improve your English. So watch

1:09without subtitles, but if you need

1:11subtitles, turn them on, but make sure

1:13they're English subtitles. All right,

1:15the next bad habit on our list is

1:17translating in your head. If you get

1:20into a conversation with somebody in

1:22English and every time you want to say

1:24something, you gather your thoughts in

1:25your native language and then you

1:27translate that vocabulary and grammar

1:30into English, stop. Or at least do

1:32everything you can to stop. I know this

1:34is a hard habit to break, but it's very

1:38important that you think directly in

1:40English because if you translate from

1:43your language in your head into English,

1:46you're creating an unnecessary step.

1:49There's an extra layer of complexity

1:51that is not helping you and it's going

1:53to prevent you from thinking directly in

1:57English because if you're fluent in a

1:59language, that means you think directly

2:02in that language. I talk a lot about

2:04this concept on my channel. So, if

2:05you're new here, make sure to subscribe.

2:07Another big problem that is preventing

2:09you from becoming fluent in English

2:12is being scared to make mistakes. Look,

2:16I get it. I'm a perfectionist, too. I

2:18want everything I say to be perfect, but

2:21that's just not how the world works.

2:23That doesn't reflect reality. You need

2:25to accept the fact that when you speak,

2:27you will make mistakes. Native speakers

2:30make mistakes as well. And the moment

2:31you accept this is the moment you set

2:34yourself free because now you've

2:36overcome the fear of speaking and the

2:38fear of being perfect, so you'll feel

2:40more confident to start conversations

2:42with people. Obviously, the more you

2:44speak, the better your English will get.

2:47Improving your English starts with

2:48speaking. And the only way to speak more

2:51is to overcome the fear of being

2:54perfect. Nobody is perfect. Mistakes

2:57happen. Mistakes are part of the

2:59process. Now, the fourth bad habit we're

3:02going to talk about today is focusing

3:04too much on grammar. Yes, grammar is

3:07important. It's important to speak

3:10correctly and properly, but that being

3:12said, an obsession with perfect grammar

3:15is holding you back. If you're spending

3:18hours studying rules,

3:21conditionals, tenses, all that stuff,

3:24but you're not actually speaking and

3:26you're not putting yourself out there,

3:28you're wasting your time. Grammar is

3:30only useful if you can use it in

3:33conversation. I always like to rank

3:35speaking as the number one priority when

3:39learning a language. Next up or on the

3:41same level comes listening and then

3:44grammar. Yes, grammar is important, but

3:47communication and speaking should be

3:49your number one priority. So, don't

3:51neglect that. On a similar note, the

3:54other bad habit that a lot of students

3:56fall into

3:58is not speaking regularly. Passive

4:01learning, which includes movies,

4:04listening to podcast, or watching videos

4:06on YouTube, is not enough. If you want

4:09to become fluent in a language, you need

4:10a combination of active and passive

4:13learning. You should strive to speak

4:15English as much as possible. I know it

4:18can be difficult if you don't have

4:19anybody to speak with, but you can also

4:22speak to yourself. Over the last 3

4:24years, I've helped thousands of students

4:26improve their English, and one of the

4:27things I always recommend is to

4:29verbalize your actions. If you're going

4:32about your day, if you're cleaning the

4:33house, if you're making dinner, say what

4:37you're doing out loud in English.

4:40Because that way, you train your brain

4:43to connect the vocabulary you already

4:45know with correct pronunciation, with

4:48action, and with speaking. If you do

4:50want to practice speaking English with

4:51me and my team of experienced English

4:54teachers from the US and UK, you can

4:56click the link in the description below

4:58to apply for our online programs. Now, I

5:01want to talk about the sixth habit that

5:03a lot of students fall into, especially

5:06if they're in an English-speaking

5:08country. Just because you live in an

5:09English-speaking country doesn't mean

5:11you're going to become fluent in

5:13English. In Canada, in the US, in the

5:15UK, there are lots of communities of

5:18people who have moved and im- -migrated

5:20here. And if you find yourself in one of

5:23these communities, that's great. But if

5:25your goal is to improve your English,

5:27you have to resist the temptation to

5:30speak your native language all the time.

5:32A lot of our students have lived in

5:33Canada, in the US, for 15, 20 years, but

5:37they're still not fluent because the

5:40only people they associate with are

5:42people who speak their language. It

5:44doesn't matter where you are, whether

5:46you're in an English speaking country or

5:48not,

5:49if you're not speaking English, you're

5:51not improving your English. Keep that in

5:53mind. Speaking is the single most

5:56important thing you can do

5:58to improve your skills in any language.

6:01All right, let me know in the comments,

6:02are you guilty of any of these bad

6:04habits? If you want to improve your

6:06English with me, make sure to subscribe

6:08to English at the ready here on YouTube,

6:11and if you want to study with us more

6:13directly, you can click the link in the

6:15description below to apply for our

6:17online programs.

6:19Thanks for watching, and I'll see you in

6:21the next video.