How do you learn English very fast?
Every week, my students ask about this topic. Typically, someone asks and wants to know how they can speak fluently in only 2 or 3 months. Usually they are in a hurry because they have a test or an interview coming soon.
Of course, it’s best not to wait until 2 months before your interview to think about this!
But still, it’s an interesting question. Is it possible to learn English very fast? Is it possible to make massive improvements in only 2-3 months?
The answer is yes.
But of course, to make massive improvements requires massive intensity and effort.
So, how can you do it? How can you improve super-fast?
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The first and most important thing you need to achieve this goal is incredible passion. You must have tremendous emotional power to learn super-fast. Why? Because you must study English 8-14 hours a day and every hour you must be alert, interested, and energetic.
To improve that quickly, you must build emotion. You must be obsessed with English. You must be passionate and incredibly enthusiastic. Remember, Emotion is 80% of success, method is only 20%.
To create passion, you need very compelling reasons to learn English. Just doing well on a test is not a strong enough reason. Just getting a new job is not a strong enough reason. You need huge reasons for doing this. Imagine all the incredible benefits you will have as a fluent English speaker. Imagine how your life will change 5 years from now.
If you are motivated by money, imagine how English will make you amazingly rich. Visualize your dream house, your dream car, and your dream life.
If love motivates you, imagine how English will help you meet incredible people from other countries. Imagine dating beautiful/handsome foreigners! Imagine incredible love and passion– possible because you are a fluent English speaker.
You can also over stress the terrible things that will happen if you fail to speak English fluently. Imagine all the jobs you will miss. Imagine all the people you will never meet. Imagine how bad your life will be because you can’t speak English.
Make your reasons bigger! Bigger reasons = Bigger Passion. Bigger Passion = Bigger Success.
Emotions are the key. Make your emotion stronger! Become obsessed with English!
The second key to super-fast learning and incredible intensity is to focus on English INPUT. Do not waste time studying grammar or vocabulary. Don’t waste time trying to speak.
You should spend all of your time either listening or reading. This is the fastest and most efficient method for speaking English fluently.
Carry your iPod everywhere. Always have a book with you.
Specifically, you should listen mostly to the Mini-Story Lessons, the Point of View Lessons, and the Main Audio Articles. These are the most powerful lessons and will help you learn the fastest.
You should read easy English novels– starting with novels for children. Absolutely do not waste time reading textbooks!
To be fluent in only 2-3 months, you must create massive intensity. In other words, you have to listen and read 8-14 hours a day, every day. You must listen constantly to English. You must read constantly.
In fact, we recommend alternating the two activities. Listen for an hour, and then read a novel for an hour. Then listen again for an hour. Then another hour of novel reading.
If you are really focused on speaking well, do more listening. But don’t worry; reading will also help your speaking ability.
So that’s it. That’s my simple method for very fast English fluency.
Of course, most people do not need to improve so quickly. For most people, two hours a day of listening and reading is enough.
But if you need or want to improve very quickly, follow this plan.
That means there is no secret and super-effective way to guarantee fluency very fast.
Yes, there are different methods, and some are more effective than others. For example, a good English course should balance all the areas of language. If any of those elements are missing, then you will have difficulty becoming fluent.
Also, different methods will appeal to different people. Some students can pick up English easily from informal conversations; other students prefer a more organized and structured method.
Still, becoming fluent in English – or any language – is a long-term process.
If anyone says they have “the secret” to instant fluency… don’t believe them!
It’s more important to have frequent contact with English than to have hours and hours of study. Using English for 10 minutes a day, every day, is better than studying for 1 hour only once a week.
Even if you don’t live in an English-speaking country, there are still many ways to do this!
Here are just a few suggestions for making English part of your daily life:
Many students make the error of focusing too much on one or two areas, and they end up being weak in the other areas. One tip is to dedicate one day per week to studying and practicing each area.
If you only watch news programs in English, then you will be able to understand a more “formal” style of English, but not a typical conversation between two native speakers, which is often filled with idioms and slang.
On the other hand, if you only watch movies and listen to songs in English, then you might not be able to understand (or write) a more academic article. And if you only use English for work, then it will be hard to talk about other topics because you won’t have the vocabulary.
So make sure to diversify your English input:
This is one of the biggest keys to English fluency – but how can you learn it?
There’s a step-by-step process you can follow:
This is one of the best ways to practice English, because if you make a “mistake,” nobody knows about it!
Also, you can practice thinking in English anytime, anywhere. No need for a textbook or classroom. The earlier you begin the habit of thinking in English, the easier it will be to speak fast.
Two big obstacles to English fluency are lack of vocabulary and pauses / hesitations. This usually happens because you have an idea, but you can’t express it in English. It can be really frustrating. However, if you don’t know a particular word, try to think of alternative ways to express your idea.
Here’s an example: in a conversation about cooking, my student didn’t know the word “onion,” so instead he said, “the white vegetable that when you cut it you cry” – it was a perfect description, and I understood exactly what he wanted to say!
This is also important for English sentences. Sometimes you want to say something a certain way because you are translating directly from your native language, but you don’t know how to construct the phrase in English.
Of course, learning to think directly in English will help you avoid this problem – but also try to be open-minded and flexible in thinking of different ways to say the same message.
Enjoy!
Mary Jane
Mary Jane Go has been teaching English for over 13 years. She believes that it is very important to learn English and learn it by heart. For her, it's always the right time for a dance party and that hanging out with friends is indispensable.
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