Day 9: Put it all together

OK, Let's review.

• You need to study every day, even if it's just a little.
• You need to review what you've learned.
• You shouldn't learn vocabulary lists and grammar rules. Instead, you should memorize natural sentences.
• You need a wide variety of sentences, and they need to be natural.
• You can memorize sentences faster by listening to them, having an emotional connection to them, and repeating them piece by piece.
• You should listen carefully to the sounds of English sentences, not just the words.
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If you like these ideas and you want to learn English faster without spending a lot of extra time,

Day 8: How to listen

One of the big challenges when it comes to learning English is listening. Even if you've studied English for many years, you might find it hard to understand real, full-speed English conversation.

How do you get better at understanding natural English speech?

Listen to the sounds, not to the words!

The problem is that you were probably taught to pronounce and understand English words. But when we speak naturally, we don't speak in single words. We speak in sentences.

Words change when they're in sentences in several ways:

• English has stressed and unstressed words. Unstressed words become very quiet. A lot of the vowels change to an "uh" sound.
• Some letters change their sound depending on whether you're pronouncing them normally or carefully. For example, a lot of people say the "t" in "city" as a "d" sound.
• Words blend together. We may start pronouncing the next word before we're completely finished with the one before.

It's all very complicated. You can't keep track of all the rules. But there's a part of your brain that's very good at figuring this stuff out.

When you practice listening to English, don't try to match what you hear with your expectations. Don't let your brain correct the words that you hear. Just listen to the sounds like you're listening to music, or listening to a bird's song. Repeat what you hear, but repeat the sounds, not the words.

When I started to offer audio recordings of my lessons on PhraseMix, I had to make a decision. Should I hire voice actors who would read really slowly and clearly? Or should I have them read at normal speed and with normal, sloppy pronunciation? It really wasn't a hard decision. I chose to make the recordings as natural as possible, so that my students could hear what English really sounds like.

Tomorrow I'll finish up by reviewing the ideas that I've taught you. I'll also share a few more quick suggestions for how to learn more quickly.

Until then,
Aaron Knight
PhraseMix creator

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Day 7: Which sentences should you learn?

Now you know why it's important to learn English sentences, and you know how to study them.

The next question is, which sentences should you study?

If you want to learn English well, you've got to use the real stuff.  

By "real", I mean stuff that English speakers actually say to other English speakers.

Have you taken a look at an English textbook written for people trying to learn English? When I lived in Japan, I used to go to the language section of the bookstore and laugh at the English textbooks. They were mostly written in Japanese, the example sentences were strange and unnatural, and a lot of the advice in them was incorrect. 

Here are some things to think about when you're choosing sentences to learn:

• Mistakes are good. Learning the kinds of mistakes that English speakers make teaches you how we think.
• You need to learn English for a variety of different functions. Just learning sentences from a single source, like a newspaper, isn't enough. You need to learn examples from debates, discussions, negotiations, introductions, meetings, arguments, announcements, etc.
• You need to understand the sentence - not just the meaning of the words, but the intent of the speaker.
• Don't worry about the "level". Practice simple sentences as well as more complicated ones, no matter what your ability level. If a sentence seems too complicated for you, just break it down into short pieces.

These are some of the ideas that I keep in mind when I collect sentences to teach on PhraseMix. I work hard to make sure that I am teaching a variety of different natural sentences. I carry a notebook around with me all the time and write down sentences I hear at work, at parties, on the street, in restaurants. From my list, I pick the most useful sentences and think of a common situation in which you might use each sentence.

OK, tomorrow we'll review what you've learned here and I'll give you a few more tips.

Thanks,
Aaron Knight
The PhraseMix guy

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Our postal address: 118 W. 72nd St., New York, NY 10023

Day 6: 5 tips for remembering sentences

Hi! It's Aaron from PhraseMix again.

Have I convinced you that memorizing example sentences is a great way to learn English?

If so, you probably want to know how you can memorize better. Some sentences are long and complicated. How can you possibly remember them?

Here are some ideas:

1. Listen!
   Have you ever heard a song that was so catchy that you couldn't forget it? Sentences can be like that too. It's a lot easier to remember the sound of a sentence than to remember each individual word in order.
2. Close your eyes and imagine.
   You remember things better when you have feelings about them. Don't think of English sentences as information. Really imagine what you might think and feel as you say the words. 
3. Memorize backwards.
   Instead of reading the sentence through from the beginning, try picking a few words at the end, repeating them, and then adding more words, bit by bit. I describe this technique in detail in this article: http://www.phrasemix.com/blog/a-cool-trick-for-memorizing-sentences
4. Say it out loud.
   Remember, you're not just teaching your brain to speak English. You're teaching your mouth too. When you practice sentences, repeat them out loud. If you're in public and you can't speak out loud, then mouth the words silently.
5. Repeat, many times.
   You can't learn a sentence by repeating it 5 or 6 times. You will probably need to repeat it 20 or more times to get it. You'll also need to review it again in a day or two.

Now you know how to learn sentences. The next question is, which sentences should you learn? Tomorrow, I'll teach you how to pick the best sentences.

Or, if you want to get started now, you can join PhraseMix Premium and learn the English sentences that I've picked for you. I've done the hard work, so you can just sit back and learn!

Until tomorrow,
Aaron

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Our postal address: 118 W. 72nd St., New York, NY 10023