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“Master English at Home”

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Master English At Home

by Mr. Vig

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What If Everything They Told You About Learning A Foreign Language Was WRONG? Schools… Teachers… The so-called “experts”… They’re all wrong. What if I told you:

• You don’t need a school • You don’t need to study • You don’t need a certificate • You don’t even need a teacher… In fact, the step from intermediate to fluent is much simpler. But it’s also where many students take a wrong turn. Here’s the typical English journey of one of my students. First, they start learning English in school. Next, they go out into the real world and discover they need a higher level of English. So they continue using the same methods they used in school — studying, classrooms, tests. But they never become satisfied with their methods.

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And finally — when they find me — that’s when they are ready to try something different. My guess is that’s where you are now — stuck. So I’m glad you found me. And I’m glad you decided to take responsibility for your success (many students say their bad English is because of bad teachers). And I’m glad you’re trying something new (many students continue with schools and rules for years and years) So here’s what you can expect. Like an athlete who trains his muscles, you will train the four muscles needed for English. Your eyes. Your ears. Your mouth. Your memory. Train these English muscles every day and your English will improve every day. Simple. Let’s begin. -Mr. Vig

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JUST ONE MORE THING… This guide and these methods are for the intermediate and advanced student. If you can understand me so far without a translator or dictionary, you’re probably ok. But if you need help, here are the most frequently used words in English. Learn them first, then come back, and understanding this guide will be much easier.

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CHAPTER ONE Ear Training

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“When I get up in the morning, I turn on the TV, and whatever episode (“Friends”) is there I’ll watch and keep watching. I stop it when I come to the stadium. When I come home from the stadium, I pick up where I left off.””1 -Wilmer Flores baseball player for the New York Mets From: Venezuela "TV shows have also helped me a lot in improving my accent and becoming fluent in speaking English.”2 -Anusha Arshad student, Roosevelt University, Illinois, USA From: Pakistan “I realized if I wanted to make it, English was a priority. So I was speaking English within three or four months of just coming here. And I started reading a lot, watching CNN and MTV, that came out at the time..started singing Michael Jackson songs to help my pronunciation. It was the realization of that to make it in this country, given the fact that every other Latino I knew at the time worked in a factory, and I wanted to do better for myself I learned English quick, very very quick. 3 -Rafael Guzman owner, RM Technologies From: Dominican Republic

“In school we didn’t learn real English. So when i decided to move to the Czech Republic, I started forcing myself to avoid Spanish. So for movies, instead of watching them dubbed, I said I’m going to watch them in the original version. Every morning, I was listening to Bloomberg Radio, Al Jazeera news in English. Maybe two, three, four hours every day. -Enrique Fonseca professional YouTuber “Master English at Home”

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co-founder, VisualPolitik From: Spain

"We had English class in school, but I never paid attention. All my English is from 'Full House' and 'Family Matters.' “4 Reut Nistel From: Israel

“It all started with television. When I was younger, we had cable, but without Spanish subtitles. If you wanted to see television in English, like cartoons, you had to watch time in English without any subtitles. That was very helpful. I was going to class, but that wasn’t enough, just hearing a teacher telling me how to speak English. Putting my brain to practice, trying to understand Superman and Flash Gordon, that was when I really started to understand English.” -Fernando Lebrija director, #REALITYHIGH From: Mexico “I listen to podcasts every time that I do some commuting - to work, from work. Sometimes I listen to podcasts when I cook or do the dishes. I listen to them A LOT.” Pavel Čučka co-founder, Thrill Park Prague From: Czech Republic “You want to get better at another language? Listen.” -Stephen Krashen Professor of Linguistics, University of Southern California author and co-author of 11 books on learning language

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What should you do? Listen. Listen to podcasts. Listen to the radio. Listen to audio books. And when you watch movies and TV, you’re also exercising your ears.

How will listening help your English? Listening improves your vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar, and of course, understanding.

Still don’t believe me that you can sit on the couch, eat potato chips, watch “Friends” and get better English? Here’s an interesting story. In 1959 an anthropologist working at State University of New York, Arthur Sorensen, took a summer research trip to South America. He walked into the jungle and spent several months living with the Vaupes Indians. Why the Vaupes? Because the Vaupes are probably the world’s best language learners. “Master English at Home”

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The average Vaupes Indian speaks four to six languages. And these are not similar languages. These languages are very different from each other, like English is different from Chinese. And guess what? They don’t go to school, they don’t have lessons, and the don’t study rules. Instead, they start by listening. When they learn a new language, they listen to the language for about two years before they try to speak their first words. And it seems to work well for them.

Why does listening work? Isn’t this how you learned your first language? You didn’t go to class or study rules. Instead, every day you listened. Linguists call this “the silent period.” Unfortunately, there’s very little listening in schools. (There are also very few students who become fluent in school.) So get back on that couch and start watching TV!

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How do you do it? The three most important rules in this guide, which you’ll see again, are: 1. interesting. 2. easy 3. daily Why interesting? Because if it’s not interesting, you’ll get bored and quit. The English in a TV show you love and the English in a TV show you hate are the same. So why not choose the show you love? Why easy? The way we learn while listening is when we understand enough to know the message. Then we can use our brains to understand the words we don’t know. But if too many words are new, it doesn’t work. An extreme example is if you move to a country where you know zero words. For me this would be a country like China and Japan. If I moved there and listened to Chinese TV all day long, after a year it would still be noise to me. Some researchers say you should understand 90 or 95%. I say, if there are a lot of words you don’t understand, but you understand enough to follow the story, and it’s still interesting for you, that’s fine. Because here’s what usually happens. “Master English at Home”

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A student starts a TV show and at first it’s very difficult. But during the second or third season (one season is 8, 10, 20 or more episodes), suddenly they start to understand!

What should you listen to? Podcasts, the news, and audio books are great while you’re driving, walking or doing house work. TV is great in the evening when you want to relax before bed. And TV is better than films. The reason is, once you find a TV show you like, you’ve found hours and hours of English. But a movie is over quickly, then you’ve got to start the search again. Drama is better than comedy. Comedy is the hardest thing to understand in a foreign language. Plus, drama TV shows like Lost and Downton Abbey use a story formula that makes you want to watch more and more. They’re naturally addictive.

Subtitles or no subtitles? Both are fine. If you don’t understand, or want to understand more, use subtitles. But then give yourself a challenge and watch it again without subtitles. Repetition is also very good for your English.

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But… the subtitles MUST be in English. Research shows that if you use subtitles in your own language your speaking ability actually becomes worse.

“The good methods now are based on interesting stories. You fall in love with the story. You get so interested in the story you forget it’s in another language.” -Stephen Krashen Professor of Linguistics, University of Southern California author and co-author of 11 books on learning language

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CHAPTER TWO Eye Training

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“In elementary school I became addicted to a computer game called “Civilization. To understand the rules, and to conquer the world, it was a lot of reading in English. About two to three hours a day. Well, when I grew up and entered the job market, I was already as comfortable in English as I was in Czech.” -Lukas Liebich soft-skills trainer at Merck lukasliebich.com From: Czech Republic

“I realized if I wanted to make it, English was a priority. So I was speaking English within three or four months of just coming here. And I started reading a lot, watching CNN and MTV, that came out at the time..started singing Michael Jackson songs to help my pronunciation. It was the realization of that to make it in this country, given the fact that every other Latino I knew at the time worked in a factory, and I wanted to do better for myself I learned English quick, very very quick. 5 -Rafael Guzman owner, RM Technologies From: Dominican Republic Basically all books (99%) that I read are in English. I have a kindle paperwhite reader, which I read every night in bed before I go to sleep. Sometimes when I feel like it I will read in the morning too. On weekends I read a little bit here and there. Pavel Čučka co-founder, Thrill Park Prague From: Czech Republic “You want to get better at another language? Listen and read, listen and read.” “Master English at Home”

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-Stephen Krashen Professor of Linguistics, University of Southern California author, The Power of Reading “When I came to America I didn’t speak English. So I read romance novels to learn. I wanted to find out how they ended so I always finished them.” -Dr. Ruth Westheimer author of 45 books on sex and sexuality from the documentary “Ask Dr. Ruth”

What should you do? Read. Read books. Read blogs. Read the news. Read comic books. Read magazines.

How will reading help your English? Reading improves vocabulary. It improves vocabulary faster than studying vocabulary. Reading improves grammar. It improves grammar faster than studying grammar.

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Still don’t believe me that you can sit in the park, read “Harry Potter” and get better English? Research #1 Two groups Group One read. Group Two studied for the TOEFL (Test Of English as a Foreign Language). Both groups took the TOEFL. THE WINNER: Group One scored higher on the TOEFL.6

Research #2 Two groups. Group One read a book. Group Two studied the vocabulary in the book. One month later both groups were tested on the words. THE WINNER: Group One remembered more words. CONCLUSION: Reading is better for your long-term memory 7 “Master English at Home”

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Research #3 Two groups. Group One read books for fun. Group Two went to an English class and studied grammar and vocabulary. After several months, both groups were tested on their grammar and vocabulary. THE WINNER: Group One learned more grammar and vocabulary than the group which had studied grammar and vocabulary!2

Why does it work? As a teacher, I get this question a lot: “What does this word mean?” And sometimes it’s not easy to answer. I usually know the word. But it’s difficult to explain it; I haven’t memorized the definition. That’s normal. Look at some news headlines in your language and see if you can explain the words in the headline. It’s a challenge. “Master English at Home”

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We know a lot of words, but we don’t know their definitions. But schools want you to do the opposite. They say, learn these definitions first. And then try to speak. Well, it simply doesn’t work that way. If you can’t do that in your native language, why should you be able to do it in English?. But when you read, you’re learning words the natural way — in context. You read a sentence like, Getting enough sleep can be beneficial for learning. The word “beneficial” may be knew for you, but you now have a feeling for the word. You know it’s positive. And after you read it a few more times, you’ll remember it and probably be able to use it in a sentence when you speak. And just like a native speakers, you won’t know the definition, but you’ll have a feel for the word. And more importantly, you’ll be able to use it. Of course, this also happens when you listen and have a conversation, but there are two unique aspects of reading which make it the most beneficial thing you can do for your vocabulary and grammar: you control the speed and you can see the word.

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How do you do this? 1. interesting. 2. easy 3. daily Just like listening. Another advantage that reading has over listening is that it’s easier to find easy material. They’re called “children's’ books.” You probably won’t find Winnie the Pooh very exciting, but there are lots of books for teenagers about romance, vampires, wizards and war.

Can you use a dictionary? If you want. But be careful. Once you start using one, it’s easy to want to look up every new word. Then, when you start doing that, the story goes very slowly, it becomes work, you get bored, and you decide cleaning the bathroom would be more fun. And remember, you won’t remember words you find in the dictionary anyway. If a word is important, you’ll see it again and again. And when you see a word used in context over and over again, you eventually start to get a feel for its meaning. And that’s what you want — not the definition.

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“We acquire language in only one way, when we understand what people say and when we understand what people read.”8 -Stephen Krashen Professor of Linguistics, University of Southern California author and co-author of 11 books on learning language

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CHAPTER THREE Mouth Training

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“I went twice every Sunday to the English church, and repeated to myself in a low voice every word of the clergyman’s sermon.”9 -Heinrich Schliemann archaeologist who spoke 14 languages From: Germany “The turning point for me came during university when I joined an international student organization. I was already good at reading and understanding. But that year I was forced to speak with other students from around the world. If I wanted to get things done I had to use my English. After one year, speaking became my bread and butter.”

-Lukas Liebich soft-skills trainer at Merck lukasliebich.com From: Czech Republic “I started learning English in primary school. But it was regular classes. Not so productive. I was forced to do it. And whenever you force people to do something you don’t get any real benefit out of it. The turning point was when I went to the UK for a summer job. Because for me the best way to learn is to learn it in context. Not to study. You learn the language when you put yourself out of your comfort zone and when you speak even if it’s with mistakes.” -Tomasz Palak business manager at UniCredit Bank in Vienna, Austria From: Poland

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What should you do? Talk.

Where do I find someone to talk to? These are amazing times we’re living in. In a few minutes you can be speaking English to an Australian, a Brit or an American. And you don’t even need to leave your couch! It’s great if you have friends who are native speakers, but if you don’t, a teacher may even be better. First, when you schedule lessons, they actually happen. When you make a promise to yourself to “get out more and meet people.” Well, you’re going to be tired some nights and stay home. If you’ve ever hired a personal trainer for the gym or used a workout partner, you already know the advantage of having someone waiting for you. Plus, teachers are patient. They speak slowly and clearly. And they help you when you don’t understand. I remember once, I was visiting a friend in Dublin and we went to a bar. Next to me at the bar there was a Spanish man who was in Dublin studying English at a language school. I was polite, but the

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conversation was so slow, and I was on vacation and not getting paid to teach him. So it was a very short conversation. He needed a teacher.

How to get started… The website Teacher-Creature.com is absolutely fantastic! (Mostly because it’s my site — ha!) If you live in Prague, you can find a teacher to meet you in-person in your home. If you don’t live in Prague, look for the teachers who offer online lessons, or do a search for “offers online lessons.”

How to practice speaking when there’s no one to speak to You could talk to yourself… But this is like shooting in the dark: how do you know if you hit the target? The method I recommend is similar to how athletes, dancers and musicians practice alone. It’s called “shadowing” and here’s how it works. You listen to English and repeat it.

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For example, let’s say you’re watching a movie. You would play five seconds, pause it, repeat what you heard, then do it again. Or you could do this with an audio book or podcast. This isn’t the same as speaking. Speaking is unpredictable, and much more difficult. But when you don’t have anyone to speak with, this is good practice, like a boxer who trains alone by hitting a bag. It can improve your pronunciation and intonation, which is actually more important than pronunciation. What is intonation? This is where the stress goes. Do native speakers say: IN-teresing or inter-ES-ing? It’s also the rhythm of the sentence. Where do the pauses go? Does the pitch rise or fall? Also, shadowing, can make you comfortable with how words are used and with grammatical structures. When you repeat sentences over and over again, it’s like you burn the memory into your brain. And remember, speaking is physical as well as mental. When you shadow, you’re moving your mouth, your lips, your tongue and hopefully your face and arms. Practice how your favorite actor moves his/her mouth and face and it will be easier when you do it in a real conversation. That’s the basic idea. Here are some extra tips. All very important. 1. Shadow with ENERGY! Repeat the sentences loudly and clearly. It’s like what a coach tells an athlete, how you practice is how you perform. 2. Move “Master English at Home”

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Put the audio on your phone/mp3 player and go for a walk. You’ll breathe more, which means more oxygen will get to your brain, which means you’ll learn faster. Plus, research shows learning is connected to movement. If you can’t go outside, jump up and down or dance for a minute before you shadow and then move your arms and body when you speak.

And remember… 1. interesting. 2. easy 3. daily Interesting… This means, if you get a teacher, you don’t talk about grammar! If you like to garden, you find a teacher who gardens and you talk about gardening. Or hockey. Or politics. Or whatever fascinates you and excites you so much that you’ll look forward to the conversations and forget you’re speaking a foreign language. Whether you’re talking about something boring or interesting, you’re using the same English. So why not pick interesting? And if you don’t like shadowing, then don’t do it. Some people love this exercise, others don’t. It’s optional. But loving everything you do in English is mandatory! Easy…

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For speaking, this means starting with a patient teacher who speaks slowly and clearly. Then when you’re ready, you can go out into the real world of native speakers. For shadowing, this means reading the text while you listen and repeat. Daily… You may not have the money to pay for daily lessons, but do your best. However, if you need English for a better job, and if better English will make you more money, then paying a teacher is not a cost, it’s an investment. You will get the money back. And to learn faster in each lesson and to get the maximum value out of your teacher, I can recommend my guide, English Lessons on Steroids.

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CHAPTER FOUR Memory Training

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“This unremitting study had in the course of a single year strengthened my memory to such a degree, that the study of Dutch, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese appeared very easy, and did not take me more than six weeks to write and speak each of these languages fluently.” -Heinrich Schliemann, founder of Troy who spoke 14 languages, describing in his book Troy and Its Remains how it’s possible to improve your memory as an adult

What do I do? Get a notebook. Then, when you see or hear a word you’d like to remember and use, write it down. Here’s how: 1. on the right side of the page write the new word 2. on the left side of the page write the sentence with the word 3. leave a gap in place of the word So it looks like this:

Sleeping is ______ for learning.

beneficial

Then, you cover the right side of the page and try to remember the word. Do that once every day until it becomes easy. Then once every other day, then once a week.

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And finally, switch to covering the left side and remembering the sentence. This will help activate the word, which means you not only know what the word means, but you use it more often when you speak.

Why does this work? One reason is quizzing. When you quiz, or test, yourself your brain is working harder than it is when you’re just looking at a page, which is what people do when they study. In one experiment, students who quizzed themselves learned five times faster and remembered 35% more after one week than students who just studied. 10 Another reason is something called “spaced repetition.” Forgetting is normal. Everyone forgets everything eventually. If you learn ten words today, tomorrow you’ll remember three (maybe), and after a month, one or none. Except, if you do one thing, you can remember nearly 100%. And that’s spaced repetition.11 Basically, it’s quizzing + quizzing for many days + quizzing for many days with longer and longer gaps between quizzes. It’s the opposite of what most of us did in school which is called “cramming.” When we had a test, we studied the night before, then took the test. This is good for your short-term memory, but how much “Master English at Home”

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of your school subjects can you remember now? See? Not so good for the long-term memory. But if you quiz yourself just before you start to forget a word, it makes the memory of the word stronger. Do this several time over a month or more until you feel you have the word locked in.

forgetting is natural and quick

quizzing+time=remembering

A sample review schedule might look like this: fist quiz: after 6 hours second quiz: after 24 hours third quiz: after 2 days fourth quiz: after five days fifth quiz: after one week sixth quiz: after one month

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Some Final Motivation “Now I can speak to anyone - Czech, Italian, Dutch… And when you’re fluent it opens a window to a whole new world. When you speak English, there are job opportunities you didn’t even know existed before.” -Enrique Fonseca professional YouTuber co-founder, VisualPolitik From: Spain “The difference for me between with English and without English was like between night and day. Everything which is nice in my life came because of English. I was in Poland and a regular guy. Then I went abroad. My life opened up. I met my wife speaking English. Basically, everything which is nice and interesting and exciting and enriching me as a person happened through this ability to speak English.” Tomasz Palak business manager at UniCredit Bank in Vienna, Austria From: Poland “When my English was not that good I went to Australia and I was completely afraid of talking to people. I met a few really good-looking Australian girls and I couldn’t even talk to them. I was pretty insecure to speak in English, unless I had a few tequilas in me. Now, I don’t care about my accent. I have completely different confidence. I can go to any meeting in English. I can talk to any girl in English. I can get any movie I want in English. My life changed because my world is international.” -Fernando Lebrija director, #REALITYHIGH From: Mexico “Master English at Home”

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“I must admit that English brought to my life not only more experience in the film industry, but also more friends and increased my income rapidly. Without being able to speak English, I would never have been able to move up in my career so fast.” Monika Soukup executive producer at Milk and Honey Films From: Czech Republic

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About Mr. Vig Awards Won: none New York Times Bestsellers: nope Lives Saved: zero But I have been on TV. Although I was in a crowd and you can’t really tell it’s me. And I do have a blog. And it’s not one of those boring blogs, either. It’s about English. (No, really. I promise. It’s not boring!) Check it out. And when you join I’ll send you some free stuff. Here’s the link: MrVig.com Cheers, -Ryan Viguerie (also known as Mr. Vig) nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn from the home page of MrVig.com

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1

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/18/sports/baseball/friends-tv-show-baseball-spanish.html

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2019-09-09/how-internationalstudents-can-practice-speaking-english 2

3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSV2XmFqPgU&list=PLADF889B843A58DAA&index=37

4

https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/19/health/learn-new-language-telenovela-trick/index.html

5

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSV2XmFqPgU&list=PLADF889B843A58DAA&index=37

Contantino, R., S. Y. Lee, K.S. Cho, and S. Krashen. 1997. Free voluntary reading as a predictor of TOEFL scores. Applied Language Learning 8: 111-118. 6

7

Elley, W., and F. Manubhai. 1983. “The Impact of Reading on Second Language Learning.” Reading Research Quarterly 19:53-67 8

https://www.iwillteachyoualanguage.com/blog/stephen-krashen-language-learning

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Troy and Its Remains, Heinrich Schliemann

“The Power of Testing Memory: Basic Research and Implications for Educational

Practice,”Perspectives on Psychological Science 1, no. 3 (2006): 181-210. 10

11

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaced_repetition

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