Casual English Conversation Needs

You need casual English. You need the English that native speakers use with each other. You
need to learn the English that Americans use with their friends, their families, and their coworkers.This is the common, everyday English that we constantly use.
And yet, this kind of English cannot be found in English textbooks. Schools don't teach it. Very few
English learners know it. Which is why so many learners come to the United States and can't
understand regular conversations.
In San Francisco, I have met many students with high English test scores, and great grades in
their English classes and yet, when they sit at a bus stop they cannot understand what people
are saying around them. They have absolutely no idea what normal Americans are
saying.They have been trained in formal, academic English with a focus on grammar rules. I think
this is totally backwards. Common, casual conversation should be the first thing you learn. The first
need, after all, is to communicate with other people. You want to chat with people on the bus. You
want to make friends and understand what they are saying. You want to talk to your co-workers.
You want to understand TV shows and movies.
Learn that first then, and only then, focus on academic English.
To help you, we are currently working on a new collection of recorded, real, spontaneous
conversations. These are real conversations with friends, family, and business partners. We aren't
censoring anything. You'll learn the real English that we use everyday with each other including
slang, idioms, swear words, sexual comments & jokes, cultural references, etc.
You'll hear filler words (such as ahh, uhhm, you know, like).You'll hear the natural rhythm of
English the way we go back and forth, the ways we interrupt each other.
We'll have all the conversations transcribed, and then we'll make short notes to explain the slang,
idioms, etc. that you can't find in a dictionary. We're doing this because I have realized that this is a
huge need. In fact, this is probably the biggest need our members have.
We hope to build a big collection of these conversations, with text and explanations, for you. So
when you come to the United States or another English speaking country, you'll understand what
everyone is saying. In the meantime, do yourself a favor- use movies and TV shows to start
learning casual English now.

English Students- Youre (Not) Stupid

Error correction is a controversial topic. A lot of people have strong emotions about it.

Most English teachers believe that error correction is necessary. Infact, they think it's vital. Many
students, who have been trained by their schools and teachers, also believe that they need to
have their speaking errors constantly corrected.
My students, therefore, are a little confused when I tell them, I will never correct your spoken
errors.
Some people get upset when I say this. Other English teachers get upset. They feel I am
committing a sin that I am committing English education heresy!
Some students even get upset. They beg me, AJ, please correct my speaking errors. I always
say no.
Of course, traditional English classes love error correction. When astudent speaks, the teacher will
directly or indirectly focus on their mistakes. For example, a student stands up in class. She says,
Yesterday I had good time. I go to store and go shopping.
At this moment, the student feels nervous because all of the class, and the teacher, are listening to
her. But she also feels happyshe just spoke English. She just communicated information clearly
in English.
But her happiness is soon destroyed by the teacher. If the teacheris nice, he will say,
OK. Yesterday you had A good time. You WENT to THE store and WENT shopping.
If the teacher isn't nice, he will say, No. You need to say A good
time and you didn't use the past tense. You're talking about yesterday. What is the past tense of
go?
Either way, the student now feels foolish and stupid. She now thinks,
English is so difficult, I'll never be good at English. Her motivation is destroyed.
But it's even worse. Because error correction is TOTALLY ineffective. There have been many,
many studies of spoken error correction. For example, they divide students into two groups. Group
1 has their mistakes corrected constantly, for 3 months, or 6months, or 1 year. Group 2 never has
their speaking errors corrected.
At the end of several months or years, they test each group.Surprisingly, there is still absolutely no
difference in their speaking accuracy or errors. Each group still makes the same number and type
of mistakes.
Correcting speaking errors is a waste of time and it hurts the student. Error correction kills
speaking speed and fluency. Everytime a spoken error is corrected, the student stops, thinks, and

analyzes English grammar.

Over time, their speech gets slower and slower. They think slowly and carefully about everything
they say. They are paralyzed by the worry of making mistakes.
If you have a tutor, NEVER ask them to correct your spoken mistakes. Instead, focus on listening
to correct English. The more you listen to correct English from native speakers, the more you
automatically correct your own mistakes.
Your speech becomes more accurate AND faster and it happens effortlessly and automatically.
So forget error correction. Don't focus on the negative. Don't focuson mistakes.
Focus on the positive. Focus on listening to a lot of real English from native speakers.
And when you speak just relax and speak. Focus on communicating ideas, not on perfect
grammar. With time, your grammar will improve automatically .

Top 5 Mistakes English Learners Make

What are the most common mistakes that English learners make? Which mistakes do most
English learners need to correct, in order to learn English much faster?
Here are the top 5 English Learning Mistakes:
1. Focusing On Grammar
This is the biggest, most common, and worst mistake. Research shows that grammar study, in
fact, actually hurts English speaking ability. Why? Because English grammar is simply too complex
to memorize and use logically. and real conversation is much too fast. You don't have enough
time to think, remember hundreds or thousands of grammar rules, choose the correct one, then
use it.
Your logical left- brain cannot do it. You must learn grammar intuitively and unconsciously, like a
child. You do this by hearing a lot of correct English grammar and your brain gradually and
automatically learns to use English grammar correctly.
2. Forcing Speech

Both English students and teachers try to force speech before the learner is ready. The result is
that most students speak English very slowly with no confidence and no fluency. Forcing speech
is a huge mistake. Don't force speech. Focus on listening and be patient. Speak only when you are
ready to speak when it happens easily and naturally. Until then, never force it.
3. Learning Only Formal Textbook English
Unfortunately, most English students learn only the formal English found in textbooks and schools.
The problem is native speakers don't use that kind of English in most situations. When speaking
to friends, family, or co-workers, native speakers use casual English that is full of idioms, phrasal
verbs, and slang. To communicate with native speakers, you must not rely only on textbooks.. you
must learn casual English.
4. Trying To Be Perfect
Students and teachers often focus on mistakes. They worry about mistakes. They correct
mistakes. They feel nervous about mistakes. They try to speak perfectly. No one, however, is
perfect. Native speakers make mistakes all the time. You will too. Instead of focusing on the
negative focus on communication. Your goal is not to speak perfectly, your goal is to
communicate ideas, information, and feelings in a clear and understandable way. Focus on
communication, focus on the positive. You will automatically improve your mistakes in time
5. Relying On English Schools
Most English learners rely totally on schools. They think the teacher and the school are
responsible for their success. This is never true. You, the English learner, are always responsible.
A good teacher can help, but ultimately you must be responsible for your own learning. You must
find lessons and material that are effective. You must listen and read every day. You must manage
your emotions and remain motivated and energetic. You must be positive and optimistic. No
teacher can make you learn. Only you can do it!
While these mistakes are very common, the good news is that you can correct them. When you
stop making these mistakes, you change the way you learn English. You learn faster. Your
speaking improves. You enjoy learning English.
Good luck you can do it!

You Need Emotion To Learn English Fast

If there is one secret to success in anything, including learning English, it is emotion! Not
methods. Not teachers. Not books. Emotion.
With powerful positive emotion, you can succeed at anything.
I talk a lot about learning methods here at Effort less English. And I believe we have the best
English learning method in the world. But even the best method is use less without emotion.
Simply put- if you are bored, tired, or sad you will not learn English well. This is how our brains
work. Brains don't learn quickly when your emotions are mostly negative. Even if you use the
very best learning methods and materials- you will get poor results if your emotions are weak or
negative.
Tony Robbins, the famous peak performance coach, states that emotional mastery is the single
biggest key to success, and I agree. My best students the ones who learn the fastest and get the
best results are always energetic, enthusiastic, and positive.
When they are learning English, they are smiling. They are laughing. They are focused and they
have energy.
If you want to improve quickly like them, you should imitate them.
How? Put yourself into a strong positive emotional state everytime before studying English.
First, sit quietly, close your eyes, and remember happy positive memories from your life. Feel the
way you felt at that time. Remember times you succeeded. Remember times you were excited.
Remember times you felt love.
Next, move your body. Stand up. Jump around. Smile. Lift your arms into the air. Get your blood
moving!
Finally, put on some happy, energetic music. Choose a favorite song that makes you feel happy
and alive. Dance and move with the song. Consciously smile a huge smile!
Now you are ready to study English! Always do this before studying, so that you are always in a
happy emotional state when you are learning English.
Do this and you will learn much faster. Your brain will remember much more. You will get much
better results.
Master your emotions to master English!

Learn English Grammar

Learn English grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary, and listening with Listen & Answer Stories
Learn English grammar without studying any grammar rules. How?
Listen & Answer stories are designed to teach you grammar in an intuitive, natural way. You learn
grammar the same way American children learn itby understanding the structure of the language
Most native speakers do not know grammar rules. Ask an American,
what is the past perfect tense and most will not know. But, of course, they use the past perfect
tense correctly every day.
In fact, they use English grammar effortlessly. They don't think about it. Rather, native speakers
have a feeling for correctness. They know what sounds right and they know what sounds
wrong.
Can a non-native English learner develop these same skills? Yes.Definitely.
But you'll never develop the natural ability to use grammar effortlessly if you try to learn by
memorizing and thinking.
Learn English Effortlessly
In many ways, becoming effortless with English grammar is a zen- like experience. You can't do it
directly through studying grammar rules.
Listen & Answer stories, on the other hand, imitate the natural way children learn. Your job as the
student is very easy- simply listen to the story and answer the super-easy questions.
In fact, I make the questions super-easy for a reason. If the questions were difficult, you would
start to THINK. You would probably try to translate. I don't want that. I want you to answer
instantly and automatically without any kind of translation.
Another thing I do in the stories is repeat these easy questions inmany different ways. I do this to
get the grammar structures deep into your brain. You don't realize it, but as you answer all the
seeasy questions, you are actually learning English grammar.
This kind of learning is useful and practical. Over time, you will use grammar correctly as you
speak. You'll use the correct grammar but you won't think about rules at all.
The more you listen to the Listen & Answer Stories, the more deeply you learn the grammar, and
the more automatically you will use it. That's why I tell students to listen to only one Lesson Set

per week. I want you to be a master of English grammar.

One final benefit of learning in this way its a lot more fun. You'll actually smile and laugh while
you learn English grammar. Does that happen when you study text books?

Learn English Conversation

English conversation is quite different from English reading. Conversation uses a different type of
English, including different vocabulary.
English conversation vocabulary is much more casual. In English, this means we use more words
of Saxon or Old English origin during conversation. We also use more phrasal verbs (two or three
word verbs).
The difference between conversation and more formal English isone reason that even advanced
students have difficulty with everyday conversations.
The problem is that students learn more formal English in school. Formal English tends to use
more words of French & Latin origin. This kind of English is, in fact, much easier for students who
speak Romance languages such as Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, or French. These students often
do quite well when reading English, but have a lot of trouble understanding normal speech.
So, if you want to communicate with native speakers its very important to learn English
conversation not just textbooks and reading.
To learn conversation, you must listen to more casual English and you must learn the different
vocabulary and patterns used in normal speech.
In my lessons, I always focus on real English conversation and I use the vocabulary of common
speech. Another great source of casual English conversation is film. Listen to American and
English movies and read the subtitles. This will also help you.
Finally, Kristin, Joe, Tomoe, and I are working on some very exciting projects. We are recording
real conversations with our friends and family. In fact, Kristin and Joe are already finished
recording over 30 real conversations .
Next, we'll send these recordings to be transcribed so you'll have the text for all of them. Then
we'll make lessons based on the vocabulary in the conversations including idioms and slang. For
example, we'll use the Listen & Answer technique to guarantee you learn the vocabulary and
grammar deeply.

These lessons are scheduled to be released on November 1st. The title of these lessons is simple
and direct. We're calling them Learn Real English .
English MP3
English MP3 lessons are the most convenient and efficient way tolearn English.
Think about the old days when you had to carry CDs or tapes.
Now, you can have a huge library of English lessons on your small iPod. You can easily carry it
with you on the train, while walking around town, on the bus, while exercising.
Mp3 lessons make it very easy to learn with N.E.T. time.
N.E.T. means No Extra Time and it refers to the time you must spend doing other things any
way. For example, if you must wait in line at the bank, why not listen to my mp3 lessons at the
same time. When you must ride a train or bus to work, use that time productively. Turn on your
iPod and learn English! When you go to the gym, or go for a walk or run, you can also
attend the Effortless English Course. In this way, you double your productivity. You get your body
strong and you feed your mind with excellent English input. English MP3 Lessons and NET Time
Try to make NET time a game. Think about your day. What are the time- consuming tasks you
must do? Which of these tasks also allow for mp3 English learning? Washing the dishes?
Doing laundry?
Sitting in traffic?
Many students complain that they have no time for English learning. But that's not true. You do
have time, but you must learn to be creative. Its true that going to a traditional school can be very
time consuming. But now the school can come to you. Get some high quality mp3 English
lessons, put them on your iPod, use your NET time wisely and speak English easily and fast.
Don't make excuses manage your NET time and speak fluent English!

Subconscious vs Conscious Learning

Languages should be learned subconsciously, not consciously. The research shows that
subconscious learning of English is much better than consciously studying the language.
In countless studies, the result is always the same: students who learn English subconsciously
learn faster and better than students who use traditional, conscious, analytical study
methods.So, what exactly are subconscious methods and what are the traditional conscious
methods? Well, you already know the old conscious way of learning English. You use your
conscious brain to analyze English grammar, memorize English vocabulary, and translate English
messages. This is the method you used in school. You consciously studied the mechanics of
English, as if it was a car. You cut up English with your mind and then studied the parts.word by
word,..rule by rule. The result, as you know, is that you know a lot about English grammar rules
and translations but you can't speak well and you can't understand native speakers.
Subconscious methods are more effective. These methods provide understandable English input

to your brain and then your subconscious brain does all of the rest of the work. Consciously, all
you do is enjoy English stories, articles, conversations, movies, and novels. You never think
about grammar rules. You never attempt to memorize words.
Of course, the Effortless English System is a subconscious learning system. You learn grammar
by listening to our crazy Mini-Stories. We carefully repeat grammar patterns during the story but
you don't think about any rules. You just listen and enjoy the story consciously..but
subconsciously, your brain learns English grammar. When you learn in this way, you can actually
use the grammar too! Your spoken and written English grammar will improve tremendously. And
it will be stress free. It will feel automaticyou'll just say things better and write things better and it
will feel effortless. You won't be thinking about rules at all! You must trust yourself. So many
students are afraid to use subconscious methods because they don't trust their own brains. They
are afraid to relax and enjoy English learning. They are afraid to let the learning happen naturally
and effortlessly. Unfortunately, these fearful students almost never learn to speak English well.
Don't be one of those students. Change your way of learning. Learn English subconsciously and
finally speak excellent English!