Full transcript
0:00EnglishLeap Podcast from Speak English
0:03with Class. [music]
0:05Okay, Jake. Today's the day. No excuses.
0:10You will study English. You will focus.
0:13You will become a grammar ninja. Mhm,
0:17okay, grammar ninja. Hi. Whoa, Anna. You
0:20scared me. How long were you standing
0:22there?
0:24Yeah, I was here long enough to hear you
0:26give a full motivational speech to your
0:28desk. But see, I was not talking to my
0:31desk. I was talking to myself in
0:34English. It is practice. True. That is
0:38actually smart. You are like your own
0:40teacher and your own student at the same
0:43time.
0:44Yeah, and it kind of works. When I talk
0:46to myself in English, I feel more awake,
0:49more ready to speak. Mhm, maybe you do
0:52something like this, too. You sit at
0:54your table, you tell yourself, "Yes,
0:56today I will really study English."
0:59Right. And then 10 minutes later, you
1:01were just looking at the wall thinking,
1:04"Okay, but what exactly should I do
1:06now?" Yeah, your heart is serious, but
1:09your plan is soft and messy. See, if
1:12that feels true for you, do not go
1:15anywhere. Yeah, because today we will
1:18talk about how to study English alone
1:21and still improve rapidly. No magic, no
1:24crazy secret, just a simple system that
1:27you can really use in your real life.
1:29Right. And we'll keep it slow and
1:32simple, so you can copy it into your own
1:34routine. So hey, English learners.
1:36Welcome back to the English Leap
1:38Podcast, your cozy place to learn easy
1:41English through real-life conversations.
1:43I'm Anna. And I'm Jake, and we're really
1:46happy you pressed play today. Maybe you
1:48were walking somewhere, sitting on a
1:50bus, cooking, or lying in bed with your
1:53headphones on. Mhm, and this is a B1
1:57level episode. So, if you are around
1:59intermediate level, this is perfect for
2:01you. Yeah, and if you feel more A2, you
2:04can still enjoy it. If some parts feel a
2:06little fast, it's okay. You can listen
2:09again later and your brain will catch
2:11more the second time. Right, and maybe
2:13your mind is saying right now, I really
2:16want to improve my English, but I'm
2:17alone. I have no partner, no class. I
2:21don't know what to do. I feel stuck.
2:23Yeah, or maybe you think, I watch
2:26videos, I read things, but I don't see
2:28big change. Maybe I'm not doing it
2:31right. Maybe I'm just bad at languages.
2:34Mhm, if you have thoughts like that,
2:36please see this clearly. You are not
2:38strange, you are not lazy, you are just
2:41a human who cares, but doesn't have a
2:43clear system yet.
2:45>> [laughter]
2:46>> Yeah, true. That was me for a long time.
2:49My study style was, let us say, random
2:53and dramatic. One day I studied for 2
2:56hours, then 3 days nothing, then one big
2:59guilty night with too much coffee.
3:02>> [laughter]
3:03>> And my style was pretty notebooks and
3:05chaos. I made nice titles, I chose
3:08colors, I watched one video, and then I
3:11thought there like, mhm, okay, what now?
3:15So, see, the problem was not our brain.
3:17The problem was our system, or really
3:20that we didn't have one. True, and I
3:23like to think of English like a little
3:25plant in a cup. If you give it one big
3:28ocean of water, then nothing for weeks,
3:31the plant gets confused. Yeah, your
3:34English plant does not need drama. It
3:36needs a small drink every day. Right,
3:40and that means you do not need a perfect
3:42teacher every day. You need a simple
3:45daily system that you can follow alone,
3:48even when you feel busy or tired. Yeah,
3:51so in this episode, we will give you
3:53that system. Plan, input, output, and
3:57tiny feedback. So you can study alone
4:00and still improve rapidly.
4:03Mhm. We will talk about how to make
4:05small goals, how to build a simple
4:07routine, what to listen to, what to
4:09read, and how to speak even when there's
4:12no partner with you. Right, and you do
4:15not have to copy every single idea. You
4:18can choose what fits your life and your
4:20energy. Take what helps, leave what does
4:22not. Yeah, and while you listen, you
4:25will hear a lot of real-life English. If
4:28some words run away, let them go. Your
4:31brain is clever. It is already building
4:33meaning from the story. True, and near
4:36the end we will slow down and repeat
4:38some strong useful phrases from this
4:41episode, so you can steal them and use
4:43them in your own practice. Mhm. And if
4:46you like learning this way with real
4:48conversations and real feelings, please
4:51subscribe to the English League podcast
4:53and tap like on this episode. It really
4:56helps more learners find us. Yeah, and
4:59after you listen, tell us in the
5:00comments. Do you usually study English
5:02alone or with other people? And share
5:05one tiny detail about how you study.
5:08Something simple like, I talk to my
5:10mirror for 2 minutes, or I read one page
5:13before bed. Just one detail, not a whole
5:15book.
5:16Yeah, [laughter]
5:17true. That was me for a long time. My
5:20study style was, let us say, random and
5:24dramatic. One day I studied for 2 hours,
5:27then 3 days nothing, then one big guilty
5:30night with too much coffee. Because for
5:32you, it is never just five new words.
5:35There's always a story behind them.
5:38Yeah, so on a when you think about your
5:40study time now, are you more routine
5:43person or still chaos and coffee person?
5:47>> [laughter]
5:47>> Um, I'm soft routine now. Not perfect,
5:51but I have a simple system that I follow
5:53most days, and that really changed
5:56everything for me.
5:57And that is what we want for you, too.
6:00Not a perfect Instagram study plan, just
6:03a real system you can actually use
6:06alone. Yeah. All right, let us jump in.
6:09So, before we go deep, let us keep it
6:11simple. We are going to talk about your
6:14English study in three parts. Mm, yes.
6:17Think of it like a little machine. Part
6:20one is your plan, part two is your
6:23input, and part three is your output.
6:26See, your plan is how you decide what to
6:29do. Your input is what goes into your
6:32brain, like listening and reading. Your
6:35output is what comes out of your mouth
6:38or your hand, like speaking and writing.
6:41Yeah. And when these three parts work
6:43together, your English moves forward in
6:45a calm, steady way. When one part is
6:49missing, you feel confused or stuck. Mm.
6:52So, we will go slowly, one part at a
6:55time, with stories and examples. You do
6:57not need to write notes, just listen and
7:00imagine your own day while we talk.
7:02Right. So, let us start with part one,
7:05the plan, because without a plan,
7:07everything else feels heavy and random.
7:10And I know this part sounds boring, but
7:12honestly, this is where many learners
7:15lose or win the game. True. When you sit
7:18down to study and you think, "Okay, what
7:20should I do now?" that heavy feeling
7:23comes from no clear plan. So, our first
7:25idea is this: make your study time more
7:28intentional, not random. And intentional
7:32just means you do it on purpose, with a
7:34clear reason, not by accident. Yeah,
7:36exactly. Not, "Oh, this video just
7:39appeared. I guess I will watch it." More
7:41like, today I will do this one small
7:44thing for my English. And we want that
7:47one small thing to be very clear. So we
7:50use two levels, one weekly goal and one
7:53daily micro goal. Right. For example,
7:56your weekly goal could be by Sunday I
7:59will record a two-minute audio about my
8:02week in English. And then your daily
8:05micro goal supports that. Maybe every
8:07day you speak for one minute about what
8:10happened that day. So at the end of the
8:11week two minutes is not scary. Mhm, it
8:15is like building a Lego house. You do
8:17not put all the pieces in one day. You
8:19add a few blocks each day. And that
8:22little daily goal is enough to get the
8:24ball rolling. And when you get the ball
8:27rolling, you simply start something so
8:29it begins to move. After the first small
8:32action, it is easier to continue. Right.
8:34So instead of thinking, I must become
8:37fluent, you think today my job is just
8:40one clear small thing. That's
8:42intentional. Right. Just one clear small
8:46thing. And now we come to the second
8:48idea in this plan engine. How do you
8:51stay motivated and not give up after one
8:53bad week? Yeah, this part is important
8:56because you will not be perfect. Some
8:58days you will miss your plan. Some days
9:00you will feel tired or sad or busy.
9:03That's normal. Totally normal. The
9:05secret is what you do after that. Do you
9:08destroy the plan or do you tweak it?
9:11Mhm, and tweak is just a fancy way to
9:14say change a small thing to make it
9:16better. Yeah. For example, on Sunday
9:19evening you can look at your week and
9:21ask, where did my plan work? Where did
9:23it feel too heavy? What can I tweak?
9:26Yeah, what can I tweak? Maybe you see
9:29that night study never works for you.
9:31You always feel drained. So next week
9:34you tweak the the and move your English
9:36time to the morning. Right. And on the
9:38other side, you need to ditch some ideas
9:41completely. Yeah, so ditch is like
9:43throwing that idea in the trash. You
9:46decide, nope, I don't need this anymore.
9:48Mhm. For example, you can ditch the idea
9:51that study only counts if it's 1 full
9:53hour. That idea makes you feel guilty
9:56and then you do nothing. True. Five
9:59focused minutes are better than zero
10:01perfect minutes. See, and this brings us
10:03back to something simple. Your English
10:06plan should be intentional, sustainable,
10:08and flexible enough to tweak, not
10:11destroy, when life changes. Wow, Jake,
10:14that makes the plan feel so simple.
10:16Think of it like a small boat, not a big
10:18stone. It can move a little with the
10:20waves, but it still goes forward. Yeah.
10:23And once your plan is like that, we can
10:25move to part two because now you know
10:27what to do with your time. The next
10:30question is, what goes into your brain?
10:33Right. So, part two is all about input.
10:37That means what you listen to and what
10:39you read. Yeah. And here, many learners
10:43feel overwhelmed. There are so many
10:46videos, podcasts, books, channels. It is
10:50easy to feel lost. Mhm. Overwhelmed is
10:54that heavy feeling when there's too much
10:57and your brain does not know where to
11:00start. So, we want to calm that feeling.
11:03We will make your input simple and
11:05gentle. Right. Let us start with a very
11:09small thing. Where is your English stuff
11:12in your house? Yeah, good question. If
11:15your notebook and your favorite text are
11:17in some box under the bed, guess what?
11:21You will not touch them. Mhm. That is
11:24out of sight, out of mind. Right. And
11:27out of sight, out of mind means if your
11:30eyes do not see it, your brain forgets
11:33it very fast. So, one easy change is
11:36this. Bring English closer. Put your
11:40notebook on your desk. Put a short
11:42English book on the table where you
11:44drink tea. Yeah, you can even put a
11:46small paper with three phrases on your
11:48mirror. So, when you brush your teeth,
11:51English is just there. Mhm, when English
11:54is visible, your brain remembers, "Oh,
11:57yeah. We are learning this." Right.
12:00That's the first part of input, gentle
12:03immersion. Not a big dramatic change,
12:06just English being present in small
12:08ways. Yes. Now, let us talk about
12:12listening because for many people this
12:14is the hardest part. Mhm, I remember
12:17when I tried to listen to a fast talk
12:20show in another language. After 2
12:22minutes, my brain just said, "Nope." and
12:25stopped.
12:27Yeah, like your brain just stands up and
12:29walks out of the room. Exactly. It was
12:31like, "You're on your own, Jake. Bye."
12:34And that's when you feel like you're on
12:36a plateau. Yeah, it's like you're
12:38walking and walking, but the ground is
12:40flat. You do not feel like you're going
12:43higher. That flat feeling is a plateau.
12:46And sometimes when the audio is too
12:48hard, your brain doesn't just feel flat,
12:51it starts to drift off. Drift off is
12:55when your mind slowly goes away from the
12:57audio. Maybe even starts to sleep a
12:59little. Mhm, and we don't want that. So,
13:03we choose listening that is a little
13:05below your maximum level. Something you
13:07can follow, but with a few new words.
13:10And that's exactly what we try to do in
13:12this podcast. We speak slowly and
13:15clearly with some new words, but not so
13:18many that your brain wants to run away.
13:21>> [laughter]
13:21>> Right. You can relax. Jake does the
13:24talking. I do the slowing down. You
13:26don't have to catch every word. Just
13:29stay with the story, and if you want,
13:31you can always listen again later. And
13:33then we use a simple method. Listen to
13:36one short line, pause, and repeat it out
13:39loud. Mhm, just one line. Pause, say it
13:44with your own voice. You don't need to
13:46be perfect, you just copy the rhythm,
13:48the music of the sentence. And when you
13:51do that, you are not only listening, you
13:53are also training your mouth and your
13:56ear at the same time. It's like a tiny
13:58feedback loop. A feedback loop means you
14:01do something, you hear it, and you learn
14:04from it. Right. 10 minutes of this is
14:07better than 30 minutes of just playing
14:09something in the background and drifting
14:11off. Totally. Now for reading, we keep
14:15the same idea, small and clear, not
14:18heavy. Yeah. Many learners think, if I
14:21want to be serious, I must read a big
14:23classic novel.
14:25>> [laughter]
14:26>> Right. Then they read one page, feel
14:28confused, and never touch the book
14:30again. That is not helpful. For your
14:33reading, start with short texts, maybe a
14:36small story, a short article, or even a
14:39dialogue from a book made for learners.
14:42Yeah, you can use a simple three-step
14:45loop. Step one, read once for meaning,
14:48just to understand what is happening.
14:50Step two, read again and choose maybe
14:53five useful phrases that you like. And
14:56step three, use two of those phrases in
14:59your own sentence, or say them out loud
15:02in a little story about your life. That
15:04way, reading feeds your speaking and
15:06your writing, not just your eyes. And
15:09remember, this is still part two, the
15:12input engine. We're not trying to do
15:14everything at once, we're just making
15:16sure that what goes into your brain is
15:19simple, clear, and helpful. Right. Now
15:23we move to part three, which is my
15:25favorite part because this is when
15:27English comes out. Yeah, part three is
15:31the output engine. This is where you
15:34speak and write even when you are alone.
15:37Mhm. And many learners say, "Jake, I
15:41have no partner, so I cannot speak." But
15:44see, that is not true. There are many
15:46ways to speak alone. Right. The first
15:49and easiest way is self-talk. Talking to
15:52yourself, like you were doing at the
15:54start of this episode. Yeah, so you can
15:57steal my style. For example, while you
15:59make breakfast, you say, "Okay, now I am
16:02making tea. After this, I will go to
16:05work. Today, I want to
16:08It sounds simple, but this is real
16:10practice. Your mouth is moving, your
16:13brain is building sentences. And you can
16:15also choose three small questions every
16:18day. What did I do yesterday? What am I
16:21doing today? What will I do tomorrow?
16:24Yeah, if you answered those three
16:26questions out loud every day, your brain
16:29learns how to tell little stories about
16:31your life. See? And then we add one more
16:34thing that can be a real game-changer
16:36for your confidence, the 60-second
16:39recording. Mhm. One minute, not 10, not
16:43five, just 60 seconds. Right. You press
16:47record on your phone, you talk about
16:50your day or about one topic, then you
16:52stop. Later, you listen one time. Then
16:55when you listen, your job is not to hate
16:58your voice, your job is to choose just
17:00one small thing to tweak. Maybe one word
17:04you always say wrong, or one sentence
17:06you want to make clearer. Mhm. Over
17:09time, that one minute becomes proof. You
17:12hear your progress. The plateau is not
17:15as flat as you think. And you did all of
17:18that alone. No teacher in the room, just
17:20you, your voice, and your small system.
17:23Right. Now, output is not only speaking,
17:26it can also be short writing. For
17:29example, five lines in a journal. And
17:31you can use your new phrases there.
17:34Instead of only learning words, you use
17:36full sentence shells like "To be honest"
17:39or "The main reason is". Mhm. That way
17:42your vocabulary also becomes more
17:45intentional. You are not collecting
17:47random words, you are collecting tools
17:49that you actually use. And now we come
17:53back to the big picture. All three parts
17:56together. Plan, input, output. Right.
18:00When your plan is intentional and
18:02sustainable, your input is gentle, and
18:05your output is small but regular, you do
18:08not need magic, you just need time. And
18:11this is where I love that old sentence,
18:14"Rome was not built in a day." True.
18:17That idiom is just a reminder that big
18:19things take time. You cannot build a
18:22city or your English in one weekend. But
18:26you can start today. You can get the
18:28ball rolling with one tiny action, and
18:31you can keep going tomorrow. Right. And
18:34if your notebook stays on your desk and
18:36your phrases stay on your mirror,
18:38English will not be out of sight, out of
18:41mind. It stays close to you. Yeah. Even
18:44on busy days, you can squeeze in a few
18:47minutes. Mhm. And if one night you are
18:49so tired that you drift off during
18:52listening, that's okay, too. You can
18:54sleep, then come back again next day.
18:57Right. The important thing is not to be
19:00perfect. The important thing is to come
19:02back again and again. Yeah. Plan, input,
19:07output, tiny feedback. That's your
19:10system. Mhm. And now we will slow down
19:14and look at some of the strong words and
19:15phrases we used today so you can really
19:18keep them in your mind. Right. Let's do
19:20a calm word tour. We will go slowly. You
19:24can just listen first and then repeat if
19:26you want. Let us start with a plan word,
19:30intentional. When something is
19:32intentional, you do it on purpose with a
19:35clear reason. It is not random. For
19:38example, my study time is intentional
19:41now. I choose one small goal before I
19:45start. Or she was very intentional with
19:49her listening. She chose the same
19:51podcast every day for one week. You can
19:54repeat intentional. Now a word about
19:57your routine, sustainable. When a habit
20:01is sustainable, you can continue it for
20:04a long time. It does not kill your
20:06energy. For example, 10 minutes a day is
20:09a sustainable study routine for me. Or 3
20:13hours every night was not sustainable so
20:16he changed his plan. Repeat sustainable.
20:20Next, a feeling in your progress,
20:23plateau. A plateau is like a flat place
20:27on a mountain. You are not going down
20:29but you do not feel you're going up.
20:31Your progress feels flat. For example,
20:35after 1 year she felt her English was on
20:38a plateau. She did not feel better or
20:41worse. Or if you only watch hard videos,
20:45you might feel stuck on a plateau. You
20:47can repeat plateau. Now a small action
20:51word, tweak. When you tweak something,
20:54you change it a little to make it
20:56better. Not a big change, just a small
20:59adjustment. For example, every Sunday I
21:02tweak my study plan. I change one small
21:05thing. Or he tweaked his routine and
21:08moved his English time to the morning.
21:11You can repeat tweak. Next word is a bit
21:14fun, ditch. When you ditch something,
21:18you throw it away from your life. You
21:20decide, I do not need this anymore. For
21:23example, she ditched the idea that study
21:26must be 1 hour to be real. Or, he
21:29ditched his old heavy textbook and
21:31started with short simple stories. You
21:34can repeat ditch. Now, an expression we
21:37love, Rome was not built in a day. This
21:41idiom is a reminder that big things take
21:44time. You cannot build a whole city in 1
21:47day, and you cannot build fluency in 1
21:50week. For example,
21:52when I feel impatient, I tell myself,
21:55Rome was not built in a day. My English
21:58needs time. Or, when his friend felt sad
22:01about slow progress, he said, "Hey, Rome
22:04was not built in a day. Keep going." You
22:07can repeat, Rome was not built in a day.
22:11Next expression, get the ball rolling.
22:15When you get the ball rolling, you start
22:17something so it begins to move. After
22:20that, it is easier to continue. For
22:22example, a 5-minute listening session is
22:25enough to get the ball rolling. Or, he
22:28wrote just one sentence to get the ball
22:31rolling. Then more ideas came. Slowly,
22:34repeat, get the ball rolling. Now,
22:37another expression, out of sight, out of
22:40mind. Out of sight, out of mind means if
22:44you do not see something, you forget it
22:46very fast. For example,
22:49her English notebook was in a drawer.
22:51Out of sight, out of mind. She never
22:54used it. Or, he kept his book on the
22:57table so it was not out of sight, out of
22:59mind anymore. Slowly, you can repeat out
23:03of sight, out of mind.
23:06Next, a phrasal verb, squeeze in. When
23:10you squeeze in something, your day is
23:12full, but you still find a tiny space
23:15for that thing.
23:16For example, she squeezed in 10 minutes
23:19of English while she made breakfast. Or
23:22he squeezed in a short speaking practice
23:24on his walk to the bus.
23:26Slowly, repeat squeeze in.
23:30Our last word in this tour is drift off.
23:34When you drift off, your mind slowly
23:36goes away. You stop listening, or you
23:39slowly start to sleep. For example,
23:43the audio was too hard, so she drifted
23:45off after 2 minutes. Or when he studied
23:48late at night, he often drifted off with
23:51the book in his hand. Slowly, you can
23:54repeat drift off. Mhm, that was our calm
23:58word tour. 10 words and expressions that
24:02can help you talk about your study in a
24:04stronger way. Yeah, you do not need to
24:07remember all of them today. You can
24:09choose two or three that you like and
24:11use them this week in your own
24:12sentences. Right. And now, we will close
24:15this episode with a small reminder and a
24:18simple challenge. Mhm, yes. So, first
24:21the reminder, your English is not a big
24:24mystery. It is a simple system. Yeah.
24:28Plan, input, output, and tiny feedback.
24:32Right. You make your study time
24:34intentional. You choose a sustainable
24:37routine. You listen and read in small,
24:39clear bites. You speak and write a
24:42little, then you tweak. Mhm, and
24:44remember, if you feel like you are on a
24:46plateau, it does not mean you are
24:49broken. It just means it's time to make
24:51a small change, not to quit. You can
24:55tweak your plan, you can ditch one heavy
24:57idea, you can squeeze in five minutes on
25:00a busy day. Yeah, and always keep this
25:03in your pocket. Rome was not built in a
25:06day. Your English will grow bit by bit
25:10as long as you keep coming back. So now
25:13here's our simple challenge for you.
25:15Right. We call it the 7-Day Solo Boost.
25:19Mhm, for 7 days you'll record yourself
25:22for 60 seconds each day, just 1 minute.
25:26Yeah, you can use three small questions
25:29to help you. What did I do yesterday?
25:32What am I doing today? What will I do
25:35tomorrow? You press record, you answer
25:38in simple English, you stop. No pressure
25:41to be perfect, no long speech, just one
25:44real minute. Right, then you listen one
25:47time. You choose one small thing to
25:50improve, maybe one word, maybe one
25:53sentence. That is your tiny feedback.
25:56And on day seven, you listen to day one
25:59again. Just notice, don't judge, just
26:02see how your voice, your flow, your
26:04confidence feel a little different.
26:07Yeah, it might be a small change, but
26:09it's real and you did it alone. You
26:12showed up for yourself. Mhm, if you try
26:15this, tell us in the comments. You can
26:17write, "I finished the 7-Day Solo
26:20Boost." Or tell us one thing you noticed
26:22about your voice. And if this episode
26:24helped you, please like it, subscribe to
26:27the English Leap podcast, and share it
26:30with one friend who is also studying
26:32alone. Mhm, when you put on your
26:34headphones, think of us as your study
26:36friends sitting beside you and cheering
26:39quietly. Yeah, we believe in your small
26:42steps. You do not need to be perfect,
26:44you just need to keep going. Right, this
26:47is Anna. And this is Jake. And you have
26:50been listening to the English Leap
26:52podcast. Bye.
26:57>> [music]
26:58>> Your progress doesn't end here. To
27:00continue advancing your English skills,
27:02click on the next [music] video or
27:03explore the additional videos we've
27:05thoughtfully selected for you.