How many words in the english language? Julian Northbrook 2016-05-26 | "How many words in the english language?" Check out my Free Training:http://doeng.co/udvUWritten Version & Notes:doingenglish.com/blog/how-many-words-in-the-english-languageClick here to Subscribe! ★DAILY EMAIL ▶︎ http://doingenglish.com◆ "FORGETTING ENGLISH ISN'T YOUR FIRST LANGUAGE" -- a film for intermediate and advanced English learners.doingenglish.com/feiyfl◆ IN THIS VIDEO:- How many words in the english language?- Why the question "how many words are there in English?” is really, really difficult to answer - What is the number of common words in English?- How many words do native speakers know?◆ TRANSCRITPTHow many words are there in the English language?Good morning, good afternoon, or of course even good evening, depending on where in the world you happen to be right now. I'm Julian, and this is doing English.Yesterday we answered the question "Which language has the most words" and we said it was English, but how many words are in the English language? This, unfortunately, is an incredibly difficult question to answer. It depends on how we count a word. For example, "eat" and "ate". Is it one word or two words? Are they the same; "eat" and "ate"? In one sense, "ate" is simply the past form of "eat," but the word is spelled different. It's pronounced different. It has a different meaning, therefore, surely it should be a different word.How about "eat" and "eats," or "eat" and "eaten," or how about "eating." Are these all the same word, or are they different words? Again, they're similar but they do have different meanings and they are pronounced differently, but at the same time, they have the same root word, "eat." Do we count them as one, in which case it's one word, or do we count them as five, in which case it's five words? Clearly, how we decide to count words like this is going to make a massive difference to the number of words that we count in the English language. For this reason, basically nobody is agreed on this.There's a fantastic discussion on this in the book "Vocabulary in Language Teaching" by Norbert Schmitt. He writes that estimates vary from somewhere between about 400,000 and 2 million, again depending on how you count the words and depending on who is doing the counting; 400,000 to 2 million. That is a massive difference. We generally accept that there's about 250,000 in common use, again depending on how you count them, and again depending on who is doing the counting. The problem again is we don't really know how to count these words, but generally an accepted figure is about 250,000 words in common use, and about 1 million words in the language.I will say, however, that it's also estimated that a native speaker who has graduated university, at about the point of graduating university only actually knows about 10% of the words in common use. If there is about 25,000 words in common use, then the average native speaker at the point of graduating university will know about 25,000 words, a very tiny percentage. To answer the question, probably about 1 million, but about 250,000 in common use, but about 25,000 that people actually know and use, and the words that are actually used on a daily basis is much, much smaller than that as well. About a million is a good estimate, I think.If you like today's video, go ahead, give it a thumbs up. If you didn't like today's video, give it a thumbs down. Do take a second to subscribe to this channel, and I will see you, my friend, in tomorrow's video. Same time as always, 5pm JST which works out at about 8am GMT.doingenglish.com/feiyfl◆ ABOUT DOING ENGLISHDoing English with Julian is a channel for intermediate and advanced English learners who feel stuck with their English. Whether you're an IT professional, an accountant, a doctor or an artist -- speaking English well will bring opportunities to your life. My goal is to help you find that success. ◆ Watch the Doing English FILM: doingenglish.com/feiyfl◆ Thanks for being a supporter!#DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish
What does Barbie have to do with speaking great English? Julian Northbrook 2023-09-01 | Julian Northbrook is on a mission to change the way people learn and speak English for the better. To get Julian's legendary free daily email tips for speaking better English go to: doingenglish.com/emailsGo here to get the free training:doingenglish.com/freetrainingRead the Good Shadowing Guide:doingenglish.com/shadowing
The Power of Going Slow to Learn English Faster Julian Northbrook 2023-08-14 | Julian Northbrook is on a mission to change the way people learn and speak English for the better. To get Julian's legendary free daily email tips for speaking better English go to: doingenglish.com/emailsGo here to get the free training:doingenglish.com/freetrainingRead the Good Shadowing Guide:doingenglish.com/shadowing
Scared for my life, I ran... Julian Northbrook 2022-09-01 | Julian Northbrook is on a mission to change the way people learn and speak English for the better. To get Julian's legendary free daily email tips for speaking better English go to: doingenglish.com/emailsGo here to get the free training:doingenglish.com/freetrainingRead the Good Shadowing Guide:doingenglish.com/shadowing
What if youre sceptical before joining an English course? Julian Northbrook 2021-10-12 | Julian Northbrook is on a mission to change the way people learn and speak English for the better. To get Julian's legendary free daily email tips for speaking better English go to: doingenglish.com/emailsGo here to get the free training:doingenglish.com/freetrainingRead the Good Shadowing Guide:doingenglish.com/shadowing
Can I learn English while sleeping? Julian Northbrook 2021-09-16 | Don’t just rely on your sleep to get fluent in English, instead, learn English the proper way: doingenglish.com/freetrainingThere are a lot of ways to learn English… and one of the methods some people have come across is learning while asleep. It’s something that’s called subliminal learning, and I talk more about whether it’s effective or not in this video. And after watching it go to doingenglish.com/freetraining and study the free training I created so you can start learning English properly (even beyond your dreams). #DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish #englishlearningtips
When and how to use tag questions? Julian Northbrook 2021-09-12 | Don’t just use tag questions in your every sentence, instead, learn English the proper way: doingenglish.com/freetrainingTag questions (i.e., “innit?”, “don’t you think?”, or “isn’t it?”) indicate that we’re looking for some sort of approval from the person that we’re talking to. But native English speakers don’t really use them in every sentence. And I talk more about why (and when you can actually use tag questions) in the video. And after watching it go to doingenglish.com/freetraining and study the free training I created so you can start how to learn English properly.#DoingEnglish JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish #englishlearningtips #tagquestions #britishslang
Im better at English after a drink how can I do that without the drink? Julian Northbrook 2021-09-09 | Don’t just rely on your drink to speak English fluently, instead, learn English the proper way: doingenglish.com/freetrainingUnderstandably, you feel like you’re fluent in English when you’ve had that pint… or two. But if you want to learn how to speak better English without having to depend too much on your drink, you have a couple of things you need to do. And I talk more about what those are in this video.And after watching this video, go to doingenglish.com/freetraining and study the free training I created to get yourself started in your English fluency even when you’re sober.
How can I stop using filler words when I’m speaking English as a second language? Julian Northbrook 2021-09-07 | Avoid using filler words and learn English the proper way: doingenglish.com/freetrainingWhen you’re speaking English and you find yourself saying a lot of “uhh”s and “ahh”s and “kinda”s, it’s just basically your brain’s way of getting a bit more space to process what’s going on. But if you do it TOO much, it might become habitual. I talk more about how to reduce or stop using filler words in English in this video.And after watching, you can go to doingenglish.com/stop if you want to start learning how to speak English like how native speakers do. If you want to read more, go here: doingenglish.com/blog/how-can-you-stop-using-filler-words-when-youre-speaking-english-as-a-second-language#DoingEnglish, #JulianNorthbrook, #learnEnglish, #speakenglishfluently #englishconversationtips
What should an introverted person do to overcome hard social situations (especially in English)? Julian Northbrook 2021-09-05 | Julian Northbrook is on a mission to change the way people learn and speak English for the better. To get Julian's legendary free daily email tips for speaking better English go to: doingenglish.com/emailsGo here to get the free training:doingenglish.com/freetrainingRead the Good Shadowing Guide:doingenglish.com/shadowing#DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish #conversationquestions #englishconversationtips #introverts
How can I overcome the feeling of being rusty in English? Julian Northbrook 2021-08-31 | If you feel like your English is rusty (or want to start learning English in general), brush up and learn English the proper way: doingenglish.com/freetrainingWhen you’re using English as a second language and haven’t had that much time to use English as much… you probably felt like it’s gotten rusty. But, that’s not exactly true. In fact, it has a lot to do with a part of your brain that “activates” your English. I explain more about “activation” in this video and what you should do if you feel like you’re “forgetting” how to use your English.And after watching this video, go to doingenglish.com/freetraining and study the free training I created to get yourself started in your English fluency.#DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish, #learnEnglishspeaking #learnEnglishonline
Is it rude to sigh in a meeting? Julian Northbrook 2021-08-22 | Avoid misinterpreting in English and learn English the proper way: doingenglish.com/freetrainingA lot of things can be considered “rude” or “not rude”. It all depends on context. You won’t truly know if something is rude or not unless you know what the situation is all about, and this is true with English as well. In fact, I talk a lot about this in this video.And after watching it go to doingenglish.com/freetraining and study the free training I created so you can start how to learn English properly.If you want to read more, go here: doingenglish.com/blog/how-can-you-know-if-something-is-rude-or-not-in-english
Why conversation apps might not help you be fluent in English? Julian Northbrook 2021-08-12 | Instead of using conversation apps, learn English the proper way: doingenglish.com/freetrainingIf you’re relying too much on conversation apps to learn English, and finding yourself still not fluent in English… you’re probably doing it the wrong way. You’re only using English in comfortable settings, and that’s not going to help you learn as much. This video will explain why conversation apps aren’t as effective for your English fluency.And after watching this video, go to doingenglish.com/freetraining and study the free training I created to see which English learning method (that doesn’t rely too much on apps) that works best for you.If you want to read more, go here: doingenglish.com/blog/why-conversation-apps-might-not-help-you-be-fluent-in-english#DoingEnglish, #JulianNorthbrook, #learnEnglish, #fluencyinenglish, #englishapp, #conversationapp
Does getting drunk increase English fluency? Julian Northbrook 2021-08-10 | Don’t just get drunk so you can be fluent in English, instead, learn your English the proper way even when you’re sober: doingenglish.com/freetrainingEver wonder why you seem to be more fluent in English when you’re drunk? Well, it’s because getting drunk can increase your English fluency, but only within reason. See, alcohol, in a way, is kind of like an anaesthetic that makes you stop overthinking. And this video explains further why this is so. And after watching the video, go to doingenglish.com/freetrainingand study the free training I created to startwith better methods for improving your English.If you want to read more, go here: doingenglish.com/blog/does-getting-drunk-increase-english-fluency #DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish #fluencyinenglish
How does sleep impact my English learning? Julian Northbrook 2021-08-08 | Get more sleep so you can understand better and learn English the proper way: doingenglish.com/freetrainingSleep is extremely important in all aspects of your life. And this is especially true when you’re learning English as well. You’re just not going to be able to understand well which is an effect of sleep deprivation. Watch this video to learn more about why sleep is important when you’re learning English.And after watching this video, go to doingenglish.com/freetraining and study the free training I created to see which English learning method works best for you.If you want to read more, go here: doingenglish.com/blog/does-sleep-impact-my-english-learning#DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish #englishlearningtips
How can I speak English more efficiently in conferences? Julian Northbrook 2021-08-01 | Speak fluent, better English by learning it the proper way: doingenglish.com/freetrainingConferences in general are complicated… even more so if it’s done in your non-native language. But really, what you’ve got to understand is repetition is the key. This video will explain what I mean by this, and other useful stuff you can do so you can speak more efficiently in conferences in English.And after watching the video, go to doingenglish.com/stop to find out how you can speak like a native English speaker.If you want to read more, go here: doingenglish.com/blog/how-can-i-speak-english-more-efficiently-in-conferences#DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish #Englishmeetings #speakenglishfast
Is there a cultural difference in apologising? Julian Northbrook 2021-07-27 | Julian Northbrook is on a mission to change the way people learn English for the better. To get Julian's legendary free daily email tips for speaking better English go to: doingenglish.com/emails Go here to get the free training: doingenglish.com/freetraining Read “The Good Shadowing Guide”: doingenglish.com/shadowingThere are different ways of apologising, and it depends on what culture you’re from. There are group-centred cultures and some more individualistic. This video discusses this topic further. #DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish #culturaldifferencesForget about English speaking scores and learn in a better way:doingenglish.com/freetrainingLearning and practising English in school may have got you a good English speaking score on tests. But can you really speak English in the real world? The changes are your school English created bad habits that force you to speak in a very slow, conscious, careful processing way where overthink everything. This video discusses this problem and tells you what to do.After watching the video go to doingenglish.com/freetrainingand study the free training I created to start with better methods for improving in English.#DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish #culturaldifference
I got a good English score in school but I can’t speak English well in the real world Julian Northbrook 2021-07-23 | Forget about English speaking scores and learn in a better way:doingenglish.com/freetrainingLearning and practising English in school may have got you a good English speaking score on tests. But can you really speak English in the real world? The changes are your school English created bad habits that force you to speak in a very slow, conscious, careful processing way where overthink everything. This video discusses this problem and tells you what to do.After watching the video go to doingenglish.com/freetraining and study the free training I created to start with better methods for improving in English.If you want to read more, go here: doingenglish.com/blog/why-i-got-a-good-score-in-school-but-i-cant-speak-english-well-in-the-real-world#DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish #EnglishSpeakingScore #englishfluency
Why don’t I improve in English as fast now as I did as a beginner? Julian Northbrook 2021-07-20 | Don’t worry too much about improving your English fast but learn it in a better way: doingenglish.com/freetrainingYour English progress is much faster when you were an English beginner because you started out knowing nothing. You did a lot of things to improve in English, but now you feel like you’re not improving as fast. But that’s just not entirely true. In fact, learning English, as in any other language, is exponential. This video will explain this in detail. After watching the video, go to doingenglish.com/freetrainingand study the free training I created to start with better methods for improving in English.If you want to read more, go here: doingenglish.com/blog/why-dont-i-improve-in-english-as-fast-now-as-i-did-as-a-beginner#DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish #englishtips
Will using hard words in English make me sound smarter? Julian Northbrook 2021-07-18 | Speaking difficult English words won’t really make you sound smarter. Instead, learn English better with my one-hour free training: doingenglish.com/freetrainingUsing hard English words in your English conversations won’t automatically make you sound smarter. Sometimes, it even creates the opposite effect. But it depends on the situation and who exactly you’re talking to. This video explains this topic further.After watching the video and you find yourself wanting to sound like a native English speaker, head on over here doingenglish.com/stop to find out quick and easy steps you can follow.#DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish #englishspeakingtips
Why do I have an irrational fear of making mistakes in English? Julian Northbrook 2021-07-15 | Having an irrational fear of making mistakes in English is completely rational. The good news is, you’re not the only one who has a fear of making mistakes. This video will explain more about why you feel scared to make mistakes in English.Once you’re done watching this video, go to doingenglish.com/freetraining and study the free training I created to start with better methods to speak better English. If you want to read more, go here: doingenglish.com/blog/why-do-i-have-an-irrational-fear-of-making-mistakes-in-english#DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish #englishlearningtips
Will learning more vocabulary make me fluent in English? Julian Northbrook 2021-07-13 | Don’t focus only on learning vocabulary, instead, learn it in a better way: doingenglish.com/freetrainingThe amount of English vocabulary you know doesn’t equate to your English fluency. Memorising words won’t really make you a native English speaker. But, learning more English words is better than learning less. This video will help you understand why.If you want to speak fluent English, go here doingenglish.com/stop to learn quick and easy steps to sound like a native English speaker.If you want to read more, go here: doingenglish.com/blog/will-learning-more-vocabulary-make-me-fluent-in-english#DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish #speakEnglishfluently
Is watching sitcoms good to improve my English? Julian Northbrook 2021-07-11 | Learn and improve your English the better way: doingenglish.com/freetrainingWatching sitcoms alone won’t exactly make you fluent in English. However, watching sitcoms is one way to improve your English if you’re using it as exposure to English. This video will help you understand the proper method of how to learn English and how you can use your favourite sitcoms to help improve your English.But if you’re interested in sound native-like when speaking in English, go here doingenglish.com/stop so you can learn 4 quick and easy steps to sound fluent in English.If you want to read more, go here: doingenglish.com/blog/does-a-sitcom-help-people-learn-english-better#DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish #englishlearningtips
How to define fluency in English? Julian Northbrook 2021-07-08 | Stop overthinking about English fluency and learn your English the better way: doingenglish.com/freetrainingFluency is not the same as proficiency, which a lot of people don’t understand. If you want to speak English effectively, however, you need all five elements to work nicely together. This video will enumerate and explain what those five elements are.After watching the video, go to doingenglish.com/freetraining and study the free training I created to start with better methods for improving in English.If you want to read more, go here: doingenglish.com/blog/how-to-define-fluency-in-english#DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish #Englishfluency #Englishlearning
Can I predict English conversations before they happen? Julian Northbrook 2021-07-06 | There are certain conversations where you can predict what you’re going to talk about. However, not all English conversations are like that. In fact, it’s just easier to think retrodictively rather than predictively. This video explains why that is… and what you can do instead.After watching the video, go doingenglish.com/freetraining and study the free training I created to start with better methods for improving in English so you don’t have to overthink about predicting English conversations anymore.If you want to read more, go here: doingenglish.com/blog/can-i-predict-english-conversations-before-they-happen#DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish #retrodictivelearning
Which is better for improving my English - reading, writing, listening or speaking? Julian Northbrook 2021-07-04 | Julian Northbrook is on a mission to change the way people learn English for the better. To get Julian's legendary free daily email tips for speaking better English go to: doingenglish.com/emailsGo here to get the free training: doingenglish.com/freetrainingRead “The Good Shadowing Guide”: doingenglish.com/shadowingNo matter which one you choose, you can learn English in a better way: doingenglish.com/freetrainingAll these skills are interconnected to each other because they help each other so you can learn more. You need to read, write, listen, and speak English to be able to do English. This video discusses further how it can improve your English more.After watching this video, doingenglish.com/freetrainingand study the free training I created to start with better methods for improving in English.#DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish #improveinEnglish
Is it better to use an English to English dictionary to improve my English? Julian Northbrook 2021-07-01 | Don’t depend too much on dictionaries to improve your English, instead, learn your English the better way: doingenglish.com/freetraining Dictionaries have a way to help you learn English, depending on what kind of dictionary you’re actually using. English-to-English dictionaries do help, only because you remove your native language along the process of learning. This video explains this topic further. And after watching the video, go to doingenglish.com/freetraining and study the free training I created to startwith better methods for improving your English.If you want to read more, go here: doingenglish.com/blog/is-it-better-to-use-an-english-to-english-dictionary-to-improve-my-english #DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish #dictionaryenglish #improvingenglishspeaking
I fell for a telephone scam. Julian Northbrook 2021-06-28 | Julian Northbrook is on a mission to change the way people learn and speak English for the better. To get Julian's legendary free daily email tips for speaking better English go to: doingenglish.com/emailsGo here to get the free training:doingenglish.com/freetrainingRead the Good Shadowin Guide:doingenglish.com/shadowing#DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish
The best way to know if your English is correct without asking Julian Northbrook 2021-06-24 | Julian Northbrook is on a mission to change the way people learn English for the better. To get Julian's legendary free daily email tips for speaking better English go to: doingenglish.com/emailsGo here to get the free training: doingenglish.com/freetrainingRead “The Good Shadowing Guide”: doingenglish.com/shadowingThere are a few ways on how you can check if your English pronunciation is correct (or not) without asking.One of the best ways to know if your pronunciation is correct or not is actually quite easy. If the person you’re talking to looks confused, your pronunciation is probably incorrect. But if the person doesn’t look confused, then you nailed it.And you know, a person’s reaction is still the best feedback you’re going to get. If you want to read more on what the best ways are to check if your English pronunciation is correct, go here: doingenglish.com/blog/the-best-way-to-know-if-your-english-is-correct-without-asking #DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish #Englishtips #Englishpronunciation
What should I do when I teach English but have to teach grammar? Julian Northbrook 2021-06-21 | Julian Northbrook is on a mission to change the way people learn and speak English for the better. To get Julian's legendary free daily email tips for speaking better English go to: doingenglish.com/emailsGo here to get the free training:doingenglish.com/freetrainingRead the Good Shadowin Guide:doingenglish.com/shadowingTranscription:What it then is about is about then using the materials that you have to use, doing what you’ve been told to have to do in class and then basically layering on top of that is as much practical stuff as you can.One of the big differences then between how things are tend to be done in Europe and how things tend to be done in Asia (certainly in Japan and Taiwan, China, and a lot of other Asian countries as well), they don’t even get that level of choice.What’s actually happening is that government says “here are the books that we use” and everybody in the country uses them. Which is why I was able to do my research in that area of very, very high level of accuracy because I just know that everybody in Japan has studied these books. So that kind of gives you an advantage because you can kind of try and pick something which is better anyway. And the Cambridge-Oxford stuff, whilst not amazing (textbooks never are) is certainly better than what people use in Japan.What it then is about is about then using the materials that you have to use, doing what you’ve been told to have to do in class and then basically layering on top of that is as much practical stuff as you can.Now, there are quite a few answers like along these lines already on the website in the self- service coaching on the English teaching, so you can have a look at that as well.Yes, you have to teach grammar because that’s what you are told to do. No, studying grammar is actually not the best thing to do for an absolute beginner. I, to this day, don’t really understand the grammar of Japanese, yet I speak it very well. For example, neither am I studying the grammar of Chinese. And it’s more about pattern recognition, building up fundamental blocks – the chunks of English – and then, you know, what are the things that you’re going to say the most, learning those, and then using them the way that I teach.But if you’ve got to teach grammar, you’ve got to teach grammar. Now, the best thing to do is to then use the tools at your disposal and say “okay, well, I’ve got to teach this grammar point”. One of the most high-frequency things that people actually use based on this grammar point and then you can find those and use those as a base.Also, if you do have to teach grammar, I think it’s also extremely beneficial to make students aware of frequency distribution of things. The other thing that I did when I was a secondary school teacher, and I extensively recommend, is you know, even if you’ve got to teach shitty textbooks and you’ve got to teach grammar, what any teacher can do is make the lessons as relevant and interesting to the students as possible. So that even if they don’t come out of school with these amazing English abilities, what they do come out of it with is the seeds of interest; good memories from the class. So that later they can be like “actually you know what? English? I kind of understand how that could be useful in my life. Maybe now is a good time to do something about it.” And those seeds can easily be planted at school.Also, there are quite a few English teachers in MEFA/EES, so certainly, you know, you guys, you might want to talk between yourselves and exchange ideas for, you know, applying what I teach to what you are doing.#DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish
How can I become more confident when I present ideas in English? Julian Northbrook 2021-06-17 | Julian Northbrook is on a mission to change the way people learn English for the better. To get Julian's legendary free daily email tips for speaking better English go to: doingenglish.com/emailsGo here to get the free training: doingenglish.com/freetrainingRead “The Good Shadowing Guide”: doingenglish.com/shadowingPresenting ideas in English can be intimidating. This is why you feel less confident about presenting your ideas in English in front of people. It happens to the best of us, hell even me. But what you need to do, first and foremost, is to focus on what you do well rather than what you don’t do well. And you know, this is similar to the conversations I’ve had with my coaching clients. They tell me that they feel devastated because they completely messed up their 3-hour presentation in English. And when I ask them “how many things did you mess up within those three hours?” and they reply with: “well, just one”… and of course you’re going to feel like you messed it up if you’re only going to focus on that one mistake! Again, it’s human nature to focus on that tiny percentage that we can’t do. But it’s important to recognise the things that you’re doing well. Because chances are, 98% of what you’re doing is already spectacularly good. It’s just that 2% that’s still not quite as good yet.Read more here: doingenglish.com/blog/how-can-i-become-more-confident-when-i-present-ideas-in-englishGo here to get the free one-hour training: doingenglish.com/freetraining. There, you’ll learn the 5 key changes my best clients make to improve their English as higher-level English learners.#DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish
How can I know if what I say in English is offensive or not? Julian Northbrook 2021-06-14 | Julian Northbrook is on a mission to change the way people learn English for the better. To get Julian's legendary free daily email tips for speaking better English go to: doingenglish.com/emailsGo here to get the free training: doingenglish.com/freetrainingRead “The Good Shadowing Guide”: doingenglish.com/shadowingPotentially, anything can be offensive or rude.At the same time, even the rudest of things that you say can be perfectly acceptable and not rude... if the context is right.A good example of this is a question one of my coaching clients asked recently in a call:"Is it rude to sigh in a meeting?"She said someone sighed at something halfway through, and she thought it was rude and improper. And well, yes, it is rude to sigh in a meeting, but it depends on how it's done. If you sound irritated when you do it because of something someone said... that's rude. But if it's lighthearted (for example you struggled to explain something, now you're done and you're like, "phew!"), then that's not rude.Again, context is everything.And if you’d like to read more about this, go here: doingenglish.com/blog/how-can-i-know-if-what-i-say-is-offensive-or-not #DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish #Englishtips
What is the goal for English teaching in school? Julian Northbrook 2021-06-10 | Julian Northbrook is on a mission to change the way people learn and speak English for the better. To get Julian's legendary free daily email tips for speaking better English go to: doingenglish.com/emailsGo here to get the free training:doingenglish.com/freetrainingRead the Good Shadowin Guide:doingenglish.com/shadowingTranscript:Goals of a school are totally different to the goals of students and what people may believe the goals of those lessons are.Now, Japan is very, very similar from what you’ve just said in terms of Italian, that you know the two main things that they study at their age group (and that’s the age group that I used to teach – junior high school) the two main things they study is English (bizarrely enough when you consider like, you go to Japan and nobody speaks English) and Japanese. And they also do put a lot of time into studying their own language. That’s partly because of the writing system which is, you know, has to be learned and developed for a very, very long period of time. But they do also look at the grammatical structure of their language and things like that.Now one very, very strong idea is kind of an idea but it’s something that’s been argued about in the research literature extensively and I’m inclined to agree with it is that, really, the main goal of English in Japan (and whether this is the same in Italy or not, I don’t know) but it’s been argued that the main goal of English in Japan has actually to do with increasing the Japanese-ness of a person. It creates contrast. By comparing and contrasting the first language, which is also studying the syntax of, with the syntax of another language we wouldn’t develop a sense of, a better sense of our own language.And that was also kind of explained to us on my study of French at school that one of the reasons why we do it is because you learn to understand your own language better (well I didn’t because I didn’t really study). However when I was at school, I don’t know whether it’s changed now or not, they used to teach English grammar and things at school. That stopped at some point. When I was at school, we never got to tell our own grammar which is kind of disappointing now that I think about it. Whether that’s reverted back to how it was or not I don’t know.So, the point there is is that often the goals of what is being done in schools is very, very different to what we would expect the goals to be. Now, again, I can only use Japan as a real example here but, you know, actually, the reality is is if everybody got really, really good at English at school in Japan: one it would be totally useless because there really aren’t that, you know, that many situations where people need a high level of English in Japan; two, is actually not in the best interest of the government because where Japan has big problems right now is not with highly-skilled, highly-intelligent elite people, it’s actually that they need more factory workers, they need more people sweeping the streets, so the education system is naturally going to be (and this is controversial and people don’t like it, but this is the reality of how governments work) the educational system really a set up to funnel the majority into factory workers sweeping the streets, lower-tier industries, and then really just segment out a small percentage who are then, going to be the international elite and ambassadors of the country and all that stuff.Again the point I’m trying to make here is often, the goals of a school are totally different to the goals of students and what people may believe the goals of those lessons are. And what that then means is that you’re always going to be prescribed given a framework and you just have to do the best that you can in that framework.#DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish
Why do I lose confidence the better I get at English? Julian Northbrook 2021-06-08 | Julian Northbrook is on a mission to change the way people learn English for the better. To get Julian's legendary free daily email tips for speaking better English go to: doingenglish.com/emailsGo here to get the free training: doingenglish.com/freetrainingRead “The Good Shadowing Guide”: doingenglish.com/shadowingIf you feel like you're losing confidence the better you get at English, it's actually perfectly normal.It's human nature.We're designed to find the negative in anything and not notice the positive.You may have heard of something called the Dunning-Kruger curve. This is a graph that shows confidence on one axis and knowledge on the other:So what happens is this: when you're learning any kind of skill, you start high in the confidence axis, thinking you know it all. But as you gain more knowledge about that thing, your line at the top suddenly curves down. You start to lose confidence because you start to realise that you actually don't know anything at all.The more you learn, the less you know. It's cliché, but it's true.And if you’d like to learn more about this, go here: doingenglish.com/blog/why-do-i-lose-confidence-the-better-i-get-at-english #DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish #improveinEnglish
What should I know before studying English more? Julian Northbrook 2021-06-03 | Julian Northbrook is on a mission to change the way people learn English for the better. To get Julian's legendary free daily email tips for speaking better English go to: doingenglish.com/emailsGo here to get the free training: doingenglish.com/freetrainingRead “The Good Shadowing Guide”: doingenglish.com/shadowingFirst, you have to be clear about what your goal is. Because if you’re not clear about what your goal is, you’re just going to be all over the place and learning in an unstructured, messy kind of way, not really knowing what you’re doing. I know this all too well because I was just as messy and unstructured when I was trying to learn Japanese. I eventually fixed that mess but only because I made my goals clear. So before you start learning English any more, ask yourself these questions: 1. What do I want to do? 2. What countries do I want to go to and what do I want to see there? 3. What experiences do I want to have?To learn more, go here: doingenglish.com/blog/what-should-i-know-before-studying-english-more #DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish
Why is just listening to podcasts ineffective for improving in English? Julian Northbrook 2021-05-31 | Julian Northbrook is on a mission to change the way people learn English for the better. To get Julian's legendary free daily email tips for speaking better English go to: doingenglish.com/emailsGo here to get the free training: doingenglish.com/freetrainingRead “The Good Shadowing Guide”: doingenglish.com/shadowingIf you're trying to improve your level and you’re only listening to podcasts, of course, it’s not going to do much to improve your English at all.And the reason why is because listening to podcasts is just passive exposure. And passive exposure is not going to improve your English much, especially if your English is already at a higher level.What you need to do is:1. Put intensive study into your English every day2. and in addition, use English extensively (i.e. passive exposure). You see, when you study, you’re actually opening the door for passive exposure (i.e., podcasts in this case) to let it do its job. Once you’ve studied something, passive exposure can make it fluent.But ONLY passive exposure will not help you grow your English.So, if you want to learn more, read here: doingenglish.com/blog/why-is-just-listening-to-podcasts-ineffective-for-improving-in-english#DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish #podcast
Why do I lose my words when speaking English in stressful situations? Julian Northbrook 2021-05-26 | Julian Northbrook is on a mission to change the way people learn English for the better. To get Julian's legendary free daily email tips for speaking better English go to: doingenglish.com/emailsGo here to get the free training: doingenglish.com/freetrainingRead “The Good Shadowing Guide”: doingenglish.com/shadowingIn a high-pressure, stressful situation, it will be harder to find your words when speaking in English.In a way, you should think of how you perform in English when speaking in these stressful situations as your base level.What you need to overcome is your fear of actually speaking English. The more you get into high-pressure situations, the more you’re going to learn to deal with them. The less you’re going to get stressed, the less you will panic.Go here to read more: doingenglish.com/blog/why-do-i-lose-my-words-when-speaking-english-in-stressful-situations#DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish
What Is the best way to learn vocabulary? Julian Northbrook 2021-05-24 | Julian Northbrook is on a mission to change the way people learn English for the better. To get Julian's legendary free daily email tips for speaking better English go to: doingenglish.com/emailsGo here to get the free training: doingenglish.com/freetrainingRead The Good Shadowing Guide: doingenglish.com/shadowingIf your goal is to speak well in a conversation in general, you’re better off focusing on larger blocks of English or “chunks”, because these are what will help you sound fluent and natural when you speak.This said, if your goal is to get good at a very specific topic, then yes, you might need to focus on vocabulary.Whether you’re learning chunks for conversation or specific vocabulary, the best way is to learn from context. Find high-quality samples of English (whether good materials that someone has designed for English learners or “real” English) and learn what you see (this is often called “data-driven learning” – i.e. learning from real data and mimicking that, rather than learning from lists and trying to create sentences yourself). Avoid memorising from lists, as this is pretty much useless for actually remembering what you learned.Go here to read more: doingenglish.com/blog/what-is-the-best-way-to-learn-vocabulary#DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish #Vocabularylearning
How can I stop feeling afraid before I have an English meeting? Julian Northbrook 2021-05-20 | Julian Northbrook is on a mission to change the way people learn English for the better. To get Julian's legendary free daily email tips for speaking better English go to: doingenglish.com/emailsGo here to get the free training:doingenglish.com/freetrainingRead the Good Shadowin Guide:doingenglish.com/shadowing#DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish
How do I learn phrasal verbs? Julian Northbrook 2021-05-17 | Julian Northbrook is on a mission to change the way people learn English for the better. To get Julian's legendary free daily email tips for speaking better English go to: doingenglish.com/emailsGo here to get the free training:doingenglish.com/freetrainingRead the Good Shadowin Guide:doingenglish.com/shadowingTranscript:So, okay, well really, I mean it depends on how you look at it. Phrasal verbs are tricky and I think the only reason that phrasal verbs can be a little more tricky than other “different types” of chunk, and that’s all they are. I mean all languages are “chunk” to a certain extent. We have different names, different things, you know, we talk about idioms and applied linguistics at least, and we talk about lexical bundles, which really, are kind of most “chunk-like-chunk”, I guess. You know, we also talk about collocations, we talk about phrasal verbs, and they’re all really just different names for what is essentially the same thing.The thing that can make phrasal verbs tricky is that you do get this thing where really they can be, they can either be stuck together or they can have like other “chunks” like embedded into the middle of them. And, you know, whenever I have to come up with an example of something, my head just goes totally blank.For example, “fall over” can also be “fall right over”, though there are better examples as well. But, really, just my advice is just look at them as just a type of chunk. And try not to worry too much about the distinctions between things because as soon as you start doing that, we really, then, start going back to, really, the old ways of thinking about things and we start to overthink things, and we start to really pay too much attention to it.And, I mean, phrasal verbs, like many things, is one of those things where all the people say “oh my god, they’re so difficult, they’re so hard” but the reality is, is just like the idioms, the vast majority of phrasal verbs actually really aren’t that frequent. You know, we have some, many, which are like ultra-frequent come up, for example, or I believe the most common in British English is “come on”. As long as you learn those, and you also understand that they have multiple meanings, just like many types of chunks, I think really that’s going to give you 80-90 per cent of the benefit without having to worry too much about these really, really rare ones which again, really are: one, not that common; two, they tend to have single meanings anyway; and three, I think it’s just chunks and they’re much easier anyway.A good example would be something like “whip up”, and it doesn’t really make that much sense until you actually think of it as a larger kind of block of English. “Whip up breakfast” meaning to quickly make breakfast. So that’s really just the main advice I’ve got for phrasal verbs, is try not to think of them too much as “phrasal verbs”. Don’t worry about the distinction between things, just really focus on what we talked about in week 4 or week 5. Learning from real data so that you’re always actually learning samples of natural English that people actually use. And then, using the tools like I introduced you to really understand the, what the frequency of how often that they are used because that’s useful information. Also, you know, the deep meaning—how they’re actually used if they’ve got multiple meanings, it’s worth looking at that as well.But really, just don’t worry about them too much is the main advice I’ve got there. Does that help?It’s really the same advice for other things like prepositions as well. If we start to think of prepositions as simply a part of the chunk, suddenly, life becomes much easier. It’s only because we’ve all spent so long looking at prepositions in the dictionary and trying to somehow comprehend these abstract meanings and rules that they have that we struggle with them so much. And as soon as we just let go of that and just think “well they’re just chunks, learn them like that” life is just much easier. Cool. That was a good question Chema, thank you.#DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish
How can a Taiwanese person study English and French together? Julian Northbrook 2021-05-14 | Julian Northbrook is on a mission to change the way people learn English for the better. To get Julian's legendary free daily email tips for speaking better English go to: doingenglish.com/emailsGo here to get the free training:doingenglish.com/freetrainingRead the Good Shadowin Guide:doingenglish.com/shadowing#DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish
Should I learn to speak English in different accents? Julian Northbrook 2021-05-12 | Julian Northbrook is on a mission to change the way people learn English for the better. To get Julian's legendary free daily email tips for speaking better English go to: doingenglish.com/emailsGo here to get the free training:doingenglish.com/freetrainingRead the Good Shadowin Guide:doingenglish.com/shadowingTranscript:So, this is a good question. I just want to talk about it a few times and it will definitely be in the self-service coaching app. This is not just a problem for you. This is a problem for every single person in the entire world, whoever speaks any English anywhere, including myself. You know what, here in New York, I haven’t got a fucking clue what people are talking about half the time. Like, some people, their accent is so strong and they’re just talking at me and I’m just like “Oh my God, what did you just say to me”. And it seems to go two ways because I find myself having to repeat myself because like, people, first of all, they tend to be surprised because I speak with a British accent and you know, if you don’t expect it like it’s like “ooh” and before you know it, you haven’t heard what I’ve said.Second is probably just as tricky sometimes to understand my accent as it is for me to understand their accent. Does this mean I should learn to speak in a New Yorker accent? Hell no. Never. No, thank you. That is not something I would ever want to do. Though it is quite fun to give it a go and that’s a complete definition.However, what is important is to develop the receptive skills, the ability to actually hear and understand that. What this is really all about is understanding the differences between different groups, different cultures, different groups of people, and the way that they speak because it is not just the accent that is different. People will use slightly different ways of speaking as well.The core of the language is the same, in fact, I think I wrote about this in my email this morning. The core of the language is pretty much the same regardless of where you go, it’s the kind of the little, the little bits that give it more life colour, like the slang, the casual stuff, it tends to be a little bit different.What I recommend is when you are watching films, or TV, or YouTube videos, whatever it is that you do in your relaxed usage and exposure time, this is when you maybe want to be watching things in different accents. So, if you’re often working with British people, and then sometimes American people, well you may be wanna watch, you know, like TV shows from both and just kind of try to acquaint yourself of those different kinds of accents.In Extraordinary English Speakers, the way that I’ve tackled this, for now, and it’s something that I plan to do better in the future, is I do regular interviews with people from all around the world and it’s called the Extraordinary English Conversations series.So recently, I interviewed a guy called Michael Tennant who was actually the guy who owns the Airbnb I stayed in, kind of, not the last one, but the previous one. And the reason I interviewed him is because when I talked to him on the phone, he had a very, very strong New Yorker, quite a typical New York accent. So he came on, he just talked about his thing, he’s done some really interesting stuff, traveling, he runs a business. And the point of it for you guys is exposure to different ways of speaking.So, it’s less about the productive skills, practising those, shadowing, or something like that, and really, it’s more about exposing yourself to it and understanding that it’s always gonna be a problem. It’s never something you are not going to struggle with unless you dedicate your entire life to mastering every accent and understanding all the subtle differences and all of that stuff. It’s always gonna be an issue. It’s an issue for native speakers as well, it’s not just you. But that’s where I would stop. If there are people you regularly use English with, focus on that first, find TV shows with those people who speak in that kind of English, and just get your ear used to it over time.Yes, you can go further with it. You can do dictation, multiple accents, you can do shadowing in multiple accents. Is it necessary? I’d argue probably not. My advice is always pick a base. Pick something to really just be your base and then the rest is just kind of exposure and acquainting yourself with it. Does that all make sense?#DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish
Why is it harder to speak English when Im in a bad mood? Julian Northbrook 2021-05-12 | Julian Northbrook is on a mission to change the way people learn English for the better. To get Julian's legendary free daily email tips for speaking better English go to: doingenglish.com/emailsGo here to get the free training:doingenglish.com/freetrainingRead the Good Shadowin Guide:doingenglish.com/shadowing#DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish
Grammar is hard for me because Im Japanese: what should I do? Julian Northbrook 2021-05-11 | Julian Northbrook is on a mission to change the way people learn English for the better. Subscribe to this channel for videos about learning English and the psychology of the "Good Language Learner": doeng.co/SUBSCRIBEGo here to get the free training:doingenglish.com/FREETRAININGSign up for daily email tips:doingenglish.com/EMAILSRead the Good Shadowing Guide:doingenglish.com/SHADOWING#DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish
I want to do public speaking in English but I make mistakes... should I wait until Im perfect? Julian Northbrook 2021-05-10 | Julian Northbrook is on a mission to change the way people learn English for the better. Subscribe to this channel for videos about learning English and the psychology of the "Good Language Learner": doeng.co/SUBSCRIBEGo here to get the free training:doeng.co/FREETRAININGSign up for daily email tips:doeng.co/EMAILSRead the Good Shadowin Guide:doeng.co/SHADOWINGTranscript:I think you're overthinking this far too much. And we had this conversation quite extensively last week. You might want to have a look at the recording from that if you've got time or if it didn't already. I think it was Wendy. Wendy, you're on. Hello Wendy can't see you. Really asked about a mistake that she was making. And she said, oh, I keep getting the tense wrong. And I keep saying the wrong thing, but I'm listening to it and thinking, that's how any native speaker would probably say it. And I think what tends to happen is people tend to overthink and over assume the quantity of mistakes that they make. And really just get into this situation where they believe that they are making all these mistakes. And my speech is full of errors. Nobody's ever going to be able to understand it.Whereas the reality is one-half of the things that they believe to be mistakes, or believe to be errors are actually perfectly normal, even for native speakers. It's just that we don't really speak how the grammar book tells us that we should. That's also part of the problem is that people tend to have spent so much time with grammar dictionaries and formalized versions of the language that they tend to think those how they go to speak. And it's not really true because again, most native speakers simply don't do that. The other thing is... basically nobody apart from perhaps other non-native speakers, if they are also trying to improve their English and also worried about the same problems, basically, nobody is sitting there listening to you and looking for the mistakes that you're making. They're engaged with the content that you're talking about and the vast majority of mistakes, if you do make them, will simply go unnoticed.Now, if you do make mistakes and it's obvious that you've made a mistake, of course you want to learn from that, but it will be obvious from, certainly in terms of public speaking, it'll be obvious from the audience that you've said something in a very strange way and you haven't been understood because people will look confused. So in that sense, that kind of situation is actually the perfect way to stop making those kind of mistakes because you've got instantaneous feedback from people, but I do think you are probably just overthinking it. And I think really, instead of worrying too much about this now, really you should just stop doing it and just aim to make fewer mistakes. If that's really what you believe to be the problem with each and every presentation of public speaking situation that you do. That's it. We are going to talk about this extensively for next week and week nine.It's quite a philosophical session, perhaps not what you expect, but we're really going to start talking about the connection between fault and the things that we're saying and what it actually means to be accurate in English. And I think it's a greatly misunderstood topic. The way English is taught in schools has a lot to answer for, for that again, for all the reasons that I've just talked about, don't overthink it. I think you certainly are fine and the priority should always, anyway be on what is the message that I'm delivering to these people? What is the best way to deliver it? And am I doing it in a concise, clear, easy to understand way. And that's always going to be more important than simply being so-called correct. Anyway, it makes sense.#DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish
I speak English very, very fast, but I make lots of mistakes. How can I improve my English? Julian Northbrook 2021-05-07 | Julian Northbrook is on a mission to change the way people learn English for the better. To get Julian's legendary free daily email tips for speaking better English go to: doingenglish.com/emailsGo here to get the free training: doingenglish.com/freetrainingRead “The Good Shadowing Guide”: doingenglish.com/shadowingWell, the brutally honest and probably not what you want to hear, answer to this is: SLOW THE FUCK DOWN.You see, there’s this myth that native speakers of English speak very, very fast. And because you believe this myth, you imitate what they do, so you speak English like a teenager driving a car down country lanes at a maniac’s speed.But this myth isn’t true at all. Most native speakers don’t actually speak really fast. Sometimes, to non-natives, they only sound like they’re speaking fast. But what they’re actually doing is chunking and articulating their speech well.And, you know, speaking fast doesn’t mean you’re actually fluent at all.There are a couple of reasons why people may speak too fast in English, and I’ve stated them all here: doingenglish.com/blog/how-can-i-improve-my-english-when-i-speak-fast #DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish #Englishtips #Englishfluency
How many words must you know before you feel truly fluent in a language? Julian Northbrook 2021-05-05 | Julian Northbrook is on a mission to change the way people learn English for the better. Subscribe to this channel for videos about learning English and the psychology of the "Good Language Learner": doeng.co/SUBSCRIBEGo here to get the free training:doeng.co/FREETRAININGSign up for daily email tips:doeng.co/EMAILSRead the Good Shadowin Guide:doeng.co/SHADOWINGTranscript:How many words do you need to know to be able to consider yourself fluent in English? Hello, I'm Dr. Julian Northbrook from https:/doingenglish.com and this is a question I've answered before on this channel in different ways and I'm sure it's not the last time I'm going to talk about it. But how many words, do you need to know to be able to consider yourself fluent in English? It is a question without an answer. And when I heard it once again today, it made me think of a quasi experiment that I saw on Japanese TV many, many, many, many years ago. On that show, they sent reporters out onto the street to talk to Japanese people and American people. And to the Japanese people they asked, "Can you speak English?" And to the American people they asked, "Can you speak Japanese?" The Japanese people almost without fail said, "No, I can't speak English," even though they'd all had, on average, around about ten, 11 years of English education at school.The American people, on the other hand, despite having had no Japanese education whatsoever, pretty much without fail said, "Yes, yes, I can speak Japanese. I can say sushi. I can say kimono. I can say Kon'nichiwa. See, I can speak Japanese." And yeah, the whole thing was really more about the sanctions towards what it means to be able to speak a language or not and it's very, very extreme, but the point is if the only thing you need to be able to do in Japan is get some sushi, knowing the word sushi allows for a fairly fluent conversation. Another good example would be that if you're walking down the street and somebody says to you, "Hello," and you say back, "Hello." Well, you've just had a very fluent conversation whilst knowing one single word.Of course, if you are say, for example, a sales rep for an international company, and you have to join meetings to talk about your service, your product, the benefits, and how you can help your potential clients, you're going to need a little bit more vocabulary than just being able to say hello. The point is is how much you need is always, always, always going to depend on you and your life and what you need to do with the language and what words you need as well as how many is also going to be very specific to you.Somebody who is again, say a sales rep, will need very, very different vocabulary to say a neurosurgeon. It's just a totally different thing and it's different language and different words that come with it. So questions like, "How any words do I need to know before I can consider myself fluent?" They just don't make any kind of sense and you'd be far better off just forgetting about that stuff and concentrating on the things that actually matter for increasing your fluency in the language. And what are those things? Ah ha, you knew it was coming. This is where you can and should head over to doingenglish.com/freetraining and sign up for the free one hour training that I put together that's going to teach you the key five things that you need to know about building proficiency in English as a second language, as a higher level learner of the language. Right, this is me, Julian Northbrook, signing out from this video. I've got to be honest, it has been a long day hence the pretty quick and dirty one today. See you tomorrow, guys. Bye Bye.#DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish
What if you dont LOVE English? Julian Northbrook 2021-05-04 | Julian Northbrook is on a mission to change the way people learn English for the better. Subscribe to this channel for videos about learning English and the psychology of the "Good Language Learner": doeng.co/SUBSCRIBEGo here to get the free training:doeng.co/FREETRAININGSign up for daily email tips:doeng.co/EMAILSRead the Good Shadowin Guide:doeng.co/SHADOWINGTranscript:I'm Julian Northbrook. https://doingenglish.com. Let's talk a little bit about motivation, and learning to love the English language. This actually came up in a discussion with one of my accelerator group coaching clients about the importance of just really learning to love the process of using and improving in English. And I was telling him that in the past I have, and likely will again, turned people away from my coaching and from my courses, because essentially, it's just obvious to me that you don't really like using English. You don't really want to learn to improve your English. You just really just hate everything about it. And my honest to god opinion is, and this is a controversial opinion, but fuck it, I don't care, if you hate the process of trying to improve in English. If you hate using the language, if you hate everything about it, you shouldn't do it.Life is too short for pissing around with things that we don't like, that we don't want to do. I mean, you always have a choice. And if English isn't for you, find some other way to excel in your industry, in your area, in whatever it is that you do. Ask yourself, what can I do to make English irrelevant, so that I don't actually have to waste my time doing this thing that I absolutely hate. And I think that is a perfectly good solution to the problem of not being very good at English, if you are that kind of person. For me personally, I only want to work with people in a coaching context who are royally motivated, who love what they do, who love the process of using, and learning, and improving in English and seeing themselves grow as a speaker of the language and overcome the barriers and their problems. And I want to see people getting as excited at that process as I get when I see people growing like that.If you hate it, I'm going to hate working with you. So I don't want to work with you. And I do not think that you should be doing it. I think, and I honestly believe, and a lot of people I know don't like this, and I've made videos about this before, but if you are unmotivated and you don't want to do it, quit.Quitting is part of being an adult. Knowing when to give up is an important skill. Now, I don't necessarily think that you have to be highly motivated all the time. Of course, I mean, motivation is dynamic. It comes and it goes depending on what's going on in our life, and depending on the situation. But if you hate doing it, I think you know that you hate doing it. Sometimes we lose interest and we lose motivation when we're busy with other things and that's fine.But the point is, is we do enjoy the process. We enjoy the feeling of growing. We actually want to use the language and be somebody who is really, really good at speaking in English, not somebody who was always thinking, oh god, I hate speaking in English. I hate learning English. I don't like anything about it. If that's you, quit. Go find something else to do instead. Right, this has turned into a bit of a rant. If you do a love the English language and improving in English, I can help. And a good place to start would be heading over to doingenglish.com/shadowing, and checking out my new and free look good shadowing guide report.I've made a lot of videos about shadowing and I think a lot of people really misunderstand what the exercise is good for, what it's not good for, and actually how to do it effectively. Which is where the idea for the good shadowing guide came from. It's going to tell you exactly when you should use it, when you should not use it, what it's useful for, and how to do it well. doingenglish.com/shadowing. Go check it out. Love doing it. And learn to love your life in English. I think is the message I'm trying to give here. This is me, Julian Northbrook signing out from this video. Bye-bye.#DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish
Why do I still fail to reach fluency in English, despite many years of learning? Julian Northbrook 2021-05-03 | Julian Northbrook is on a mission to change the way people learn English for the better. Subscribe to this channel for videos about learning English and the psychology of the "Good Language Learner": doeng.co/SUBSCRIBEGo here to get the free training:doeng.co/FREETRAININGSign up for daily email tips:doeng.co/EMAILSRead the Good Shadowin Guide:doeng.co/SHADOWINGTranscript:Why do I still fail to reach fluency in English despite many years of learning?All right, let's talk about that. What up? I'm Dr. Julian Northbrook from https://doingenglish.com. Honestly, I've got no idea why I just said what up? I think it's because I've been watching How I Met Your Mother on Netflix and it's rubbed off on me. Whatever.So you've learned English for years and years and years, but you still failed to reach a level of fluency. It's a very common problem and one that is best talked about in terms of an analogy. If you've been following my stuff for a while, you will already know this, but I am an avid runner and I'll tell you what, I can't wait for this pandemic to be over just so I can get bank to marathon running.If you go back a few years now to the time when I was still pounding the pavements of Tokyo, I reached a point with my running where I stopped really seeing any kind of improvement in terms of distance and time. I've been running for several years and steadily getting better and better and better. And then when I reached the point where I was running about 10 kilometers a day, I now really reached that point where I didn't have any more time to run any further. It took me about an hour to run that 10 kilometers, and I thought well, if I just keep on running like this every single day, my time is going to go down and therefore, I'll be able to run further within the hour that I've got.Only my time never really did improve, I just stayed exactly as I was. I ran the same 10 kilometers every day in about the same amount of time, and this went on for probably close to a year until I got frustrated with spinning my wheels and not really improving in any kind of way. So I got some advice from a running coach and far from telling me to keep doing what I had been doing, i.e. running that 10 kilometers every day. He actually told me to stop for a while, or at least to drastically reduce the amount of time I was spending on running, and instead do other things. He told me to lift weights, to build core strength, to cross train, cycle, swim, do other things that would develop other parts of my body, and I did that. And then when I went back to running, lo and behold, my time and distance was better than it had ever been.And the point that I'm trying to make here is that if you're not improving in English, the reason is simple. It's because you're doing the wrong things. And if you keep on doing those same things again and again, and again, and again, you'll just keep on getting the same results again and again and again. But if you want to change the results that you are getting, you need to change the things that you are doing. And until you do that, you're just going to keep on spinning your wheels and not really moving forward at all.So the question is what changes should you make? Well, that's where I can help out. If you head over to doingenglish.com/freetraining, you can and should sign up for the free training that I create. It's going to teach you the five key changes that you need to make to the way that you learn and use English to see better results. Great. Hope that helps. This is me, Dr. Julian Northbrook signing out from another video. I'll speak to you soon, guys. Bye bye.#DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish
How do I buy happiness with the least amount of money? Julian Northbrook 2021-04-26 | Get my free daily emails: doingenglish.com/emailsTranscript:Hello. I'm Dr. Julian Northbrook from https://doingenglish.com. Somebody asked, "How do I buy maximum happiness for the least amount of money?" This is simple.First and foremost, stop thinking that having money will automatically bring you happiness. It won't. Sure, if you don't have money, the opposite is usually true. If you don't have enough money to pay the rent, to pay bills, to feed yourself properly, that is depressing, frustrating as hell, and painful. I know, I've been there. But just having money will not automatically bring you the happiness. Rather, it's how you use that money to invest in things that are going to give you a better, more satisfying life. For example, your own education and the skills that you need to make day-to-day life smoother and easier.Second, massive simplification of everything that you do. This is a huge topic for me, personally. Everything that I own, for example, fits into a single carry-on suitcase. I don't have much stuff and the stuff that I do have brings me happiness. But also in terms of everything else. When I learn, I focus on the things that are going to get me the maximum benefit for the time and effort invested. When I eat, I eat the best, but I eat less. You get the idea. It's all about finding the complicated or the overcomplicated areas in your life that really are not serving you in any kind of way and simplifying so that everything is clearer and smoother and is doing more for less.Finally, and you'll see a theme running through these three points, buy less, but buy the best. Now, it's not about necessarily spending less per item when you buy things. And I'm not just talking about things like clothes or equipment, I'm also talking about food and anything that you spend money on. Don't get into the mindset of cheaper is always better because it saves you money because often that costs more in the long run. Buy the best but buy fewer things.For example, as I just mentioned, everything I own fits in a single carry-on suitcase. I don't buy many clothes, but when I do, I'm happy to spend. The last time I bought a jacket, I spent over a thousand euros on that jacket, but it's a small price to pay for something that I absolutely love and wear pretty much on a daily basis. When I buy T-shirts, like the one I'm wearing now, I'm happy to spend over a hundred euros if I have to. This one didn't cost a hundred euros, but I have spent that amount on T-shirts. Anything I buy, I buy the best. I buy for comfort. I buy for style. I buy what I want rather than looking for cheaper alternatives. And it's the same with food. I buy organic, I buy high-quality, so that the things that I eat brings me the maximum enjoyment. That was a weird word I just said. That bring me the maximum enjoyment, but also the maximum health benefits and all of that good stuff.So, again, it's not about spending less per se. It's about not buying so many things or not spending on so many things. It's about thinking on in terms of return on investment so that you are getting maximum return for the money that you do spend.All right, quick pitch. I help people using English as a second language who have already reached the intermediate-to-advanced level to speak better in their day-to-day lives and enjoy their life better as a result. The best place to go to get started with what I do is doingenglish.com/emails and you can sign up for my free daily email tips. All right. This is me, Julian Northbrook, signing out from this video. See you soon, guys. Bye-bye.#DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish
Why arent people impressed when you speak English? Julian Northbrook 2021-04-23 | Julian Northbrook is on a mission to change the way people learn English for the better. Subscribe to this channel for videos about learning English and the psychology of the "Good Language Learner": doeng.co/SUBSCRIBEGo here to get the free training:doeng.co/FREETRAININGSign up for daily email tips:doeng.co/EMAILSRead the Good Shadowin Guide:doeng.co/SHADOWINGTranscript:"Why aren't people impressed when I speak English?" someone cries. Hello, I'm Dr. Julian Northbrook from https://doingenglish.com. And this is another question which came up on Quora recently, "Why aren't people impressed when I speak English?" the asker asked.The reason why English speakers, and I'm talking about native speakers here, but also people from countries where English is just widely spoken, for example, Denmark, or the Netherlands, or Sweden, or somewhere like that. The reason English speakers aren't particularly impressed when you speak English is exactly the same as the reason why they're not particularly impressed when you manage to get dressed in the morning, or tie your own shoelaces. We just don't think of speaking English as an impressive thing. It's just something that people do. And that's because, in the native English-speaking cultures, especially language learning, is just not something which we do. We just don't have that as a part of our culture. We are not a language learning species as native English speakers.And again, even in other countries where English is very widely spoken, it's generally accepted that you speak English, and that's that. It's not considered a particularly impressive thing. Because of this, when you speak to an English speaker, they're not looking at you and thinking, "Wow, this person speaks English as a second language. This person's achieved something incredible. They've learned English." No, they're just looking at you and thinking, "I'm going to talk to this person."Again, speaking English is just the dumb thing. And you can be critical of this and think what you want, but it's neither negative nor positive. That's just how our culture is. And it's only really people from countries, and to be fair, this is part of the majority of countries, where people do have to put in the time and effort to learn English or another second language and struggle with it and get good at it, that people tend to see proficiency in English with a sense of, "Oh, wow, this person has really achieved something."But again, that's because that is a part of your culture, but it's not a part of our culture, necessarily. This, of course, is not to in any way diminish your achievement, because it is an incredible achievement, and you should be proud of it, just don't be surprised or upset if native English speakers don't really think of it in that way. It's just, once again, not something we think about. It's not on our radar.Of course, if you've done fairly well in English so far, but you're not quite there yet, I can help. The first protocol is doingenglish.com/freetraining. Sign up for the free one hour training, and I will teach you the five key changes that you need to make to see the fastest possible improvement as a higher-level speaker of English, who is okay, but wants to be awesome when they speak.This is me, Dr. Julian Northbrook, once again, signing out from another video. I'll see you soon, guys. Bye-bye.#DoingEnglish #JulianNorthbrook #learnEnglish
