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Hey everyone and welcome back to
the Understandable English 

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Podcast. 
I'm Oliver and today we are 

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going to be talking about five 
ways to help improve learning 

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English, or simply five ways 
that I think are great for 

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learning English. 
Before we get started, of 

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course, I want to say that there
are many ways to learn a foreign

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language, and for each person 
their case or their best ways 

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will be different. 
Not everyone learns the same 

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way. 
For example, some people prefer 

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to practice whereas others 
prefer to learn. 

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A lot of theory with textbooks 
and courses, and there is no 

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right way. 
What works for some people 

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doesn't work for others, and 
that is perfectly OK. 

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But today I am going to suggest 
some things that work very well 

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for me when I study foreign 
languages, and I have seen it 

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work in the past when I was 
teaching English to students. 

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These are simple ways, and that 
is the key to use different ways

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to learn a language, different 
simple and easy ways that you 

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can make into a routine. 
So let's start with the first 

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point, and that is to make 
friends with English media. 

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And what do I mean by that? 
I mean to start using English 

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media. 
So often we just use materials 

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that are designed for language 
learning. 

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So for example, a course, a 
textbook, maybe specific English

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videos that are designed for 
learning English. 

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And these are all great and they
will help you to learn English, 

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But when it comes to the real 
thing, so foreigners and native 

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English speakers speaking 
English the way they usually do 

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it might not fully help you. 
And that's why you need to start

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utilizing sort of start watching
or listening or reading to real 

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English media. 
So, native English media, It 

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isn't designed for learners. 
It's for everyone. 

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I've talked about this before, 
but this can be movies, TV 

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shows, music, all of those 
natural sources of language. 

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And don't worry at first, you 
definitely don't need to 

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understand everything, and you 
might even not understand most 

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of what you listen to. 
And that is fine, but do start 

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to listen to some English. 
This podcast is a great start 

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but there are other great ways 
such as listening to YouTube 

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videos or like even movies 
designed for teenagers or 

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children's shows. 
For example if your English 

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level is lower. 
When I was learning Russian, 

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particularly at the beginner 
levels, I started to watch 

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children's shows in Russian and 
although it sounds a bit stupid,

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the language level was suitable 
for me at that time and I would 

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understand most of what was 
going on, which was great. 

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And using natural native English
media helps you to get used to 

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different accents. 
So to understand different 

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accents, different native 
expressions, we call these 

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colloquial expressions and even 
just the structure and rhythm of

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natural language. 
It's also great because you can 

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choose what you enjoy. 
You don't have to follow a 

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specific course or series, you 
can watch and listen to what you

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want. 
So I think this is a great first

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point. 
The 2nd way is one that I have 

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talked about entirely in a 
separate episode of the podcast,

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and if you haven't listened you 
should check it out. 

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And that is read, read, read. 
So reading, I think reading is 

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really underrated. 
Everyone focuses on grammar or 

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speaking and listening as a way 
of developing language skills. 

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But to me, reading has always 
been a successful way of 

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improving your vocabulary, so 
gaining new words. 

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Because you read those words and
understand them from context. 

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So from the sentences you can 
see how those words are used and

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it just makes more sense than 
learning a list of words or flip

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cards without context. 
And of course there are so many 

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ways that you can read. 
From books to blogs or even news

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articles. 
There's a lot of ways to 

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practice your reading. 
Even from social media. 

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You can read English comments or
posts and get practice that way.

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So point Free is another one 
that I have talked about quite a

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bit and that is a language 
exchange partnership or simply 

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speaking with native speakers. 
This is a crucial so an 

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important next step. 
It is great to practice 

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speaking, even if it is with 
non-native speakers, But 

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eventually you of course want to
practice with native English 

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speakers, whether that's a 
friend, a teacher, or even just 

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visiting native English speaking
countries. 

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It is fantastic for developing 
not only your accent and 

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pronunciation, but just learning
and copying to speak more 

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naturally like a native. 
And the perfect opportunity is 

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if you can find a native English
speaker that is learning your 

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language too and then you can 
help each other. 

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You can practice conversation 
skills, give each other feedback

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and corrections and also learn 
about each other's cultures. 

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It's a great win win scenario. 
So another point, so .4 is to 

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use apps and games that are 
available. 

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So today we have our phones with
us everywhere, whether we are 

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travelling to work or going on 
holiday. 

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We usually have our phone with 
us even when we go to the 

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bathroom. 
So that's why I think it is 

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important to use apps, Useful 
apps. 

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And I'm not talking about 
specifically Duolingo for 

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example, or an app like that, 
but even a simple flip card app 

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for practicing the vocabulary 
that you have learnt from 

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reading for example. 
And the great thing about having

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these apps is when you have a 
moment, you're a little bit 

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bored and you might open 
Instagram or something else. 

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Use a language learning app 
instead. 

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Try to replace some of those 
moments. 

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And you can also of course use 
your phone to listen to podcasts

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like this podcast or watch a 
YouTube video and those are 

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great ways to practice. 
OK so .5 and honestly one of the

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most important points and that 
is to set realistic goals and 

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also recognize so understand 
your progress. 

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The biggest thing with language 
learning is motivation. 

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You need to have clear reasons 
for learning a language and stay

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motivated to continue to learn. 
But the reality is motivation 

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comes and goes, and that's why 
realistic habits and goals are 

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more important than motivation. 
I want to make a separate 

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episode on this at some stage 
about how to stay motivated with

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a language learning. 
But in short, to summarize, I 

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think that motivation will come 
and go, and that's why while 

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you're learning now it it's 
important to build healthy 

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language learning habits that 
are going to help you to 

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continue to improve day by day 
with your English journey. 

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So there you have it. 
That is five easy ways or five 

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of the best ways in my opinion, 
to learn English. 

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But always remember that when 
learning English, it isn't a 

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race. 
Consistency is key. 

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So continuing to learn each and 
every day and every little bit 

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of practice really helps. 
I know that you will do great. 

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Keep on listening and keep on 
learning. 

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I will see you in the next 
episode of the podcast. 

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Have a lovely day. 
Goodbye.