Hello, my name is Sam. I am a student of English. This is my story.

I want to tell you about my life

in London. I want to tell you about my fantastic teacher. You can read my story. You can learn
English with me.

Lesson 1
I go to London
It is a beautiful summer day. I am travelling on a train. Two women are on the train with me. The women sit
opposite me. The women speak English.
I don’t understand much. I study English but I am a beginner. I don’t know many words. I start to speak to the
women. I say some words in my basic English. The women understand what I want to say. I am happy.
I say that I want to learn English. They women tell me that they are from England. They go home from a
conference.
Our conversation is 10 minutes long. The next station is my station. I say goodbye. The women give me their
address and phone number. They tell me that I can visit them in England. Then we say goodbye.
After this meeting I work on my English every day. I translate texts and I watch films in English. In six months,
my English is much better. It is good but I want to know more. I go to London. I want to study English in London.
When I am in London, I go to a school. My first lesson is on Monday. I meet my teacher and other students in the
class.
My teacher is a young lady. She is very nice. We say our names. We say where we are from. Then the lesson
starts.
Our teacher has a question for us. She wants to know how we study English.
Our teacher says that she can teach us a very effective method to learn English. This method is very simple. Our
teacher tells us that we don’t have to study, we don’t have to read textbooks, but we have to use English a lot.
It is very good for me. I don’t like studying and I don’t like textbooks.
Then we speak about what is important when we learn a new language.
Our teacher tells us, “We need languages for communication. Languages help us say ideas and understand
ideas. So when you learn a new language, the best method is to use the language for communication. And this
is what we will do in our course. We will speak a lot.
Many students try to remember new words. They also study grammar rules. And these students don’t use
English for speaking. They study about the language but they don’t use the language.
Of course, you need to learn new words and new grammar. But you don’t have to study them. In this course, I
want to show you a very simple and effective method how to learn words and grammar.”
I like what our teacher says. Our lesson continues. We speak about our hobbies and what we do in our free time.
We speak in pairs or with our teacher. We speak all the lesson. I like it. I am really happy. This system of
learning is very good for me.
When you want to learn English, use English for communication.

Lesson 2
How to Learn Words

I go to school on Tuesday again. One student asks a question which is very interesting. She asks, “What is the
best method to learn new words?”

Our teacher says, “There are many things which you can do if you want to learn new words. For me, reading is
the best.
If you read, you learn faster than people who don’t read. It is good to read for 30 minutes every day. I want to
show you what you can do if you want to get the maximum from reading.
It is very important that the book or text which you read is interesting for you. The book can be a nice story. The
text can have some interesting information for your job or your hobby. Don’t read a text which isn’t interesting
for you.
It is good to read a text in which you know a lot of words. Of course sometimes you can see words which you
don’t know.
When you see a word which you don’t know, take a dictionary and look at the word in the dictionary. Then
continue reading.
You don’t have to write the word on a piece of paper. You don’t have to try to remember the word. When you
translate the word, continue reading. Concentrate only on understanding the text. It is important. When you see
another new word, translate the word.
The method is very simple. You only read and you translate new words. It is all.
Reading is also good because when you read, you learn how every word is connected to other words in the
sentence. You see how to connect the words correctly.
This method of learning new words is very effective. Try it and you can see how fast you can learn new words.”

Then we continue with the lesson. We speak about the situation in England. We speak about the best jobs for
students. This is good because I want to have a job. I want to do something after my school.
I ask other students if they know where I can find a job. They tell me that I can go to a job centre. The job centre
has a lot of jobs for students. This is good for me. I am happy that I know where I can find a job.
When my day at school is finished, I go to the job centre. I don’t know what jobs I can do. So I ask the lady at
the job centre what the best job for a student is. The lady tells me that they have some good jobs for students.
She tells me that I can be a cleaner or a waiter in a café.
I tell the lady that I have no experience with these jobs. She tells me that my English is good fot work at a café.
The training is not difficult and I can use English when I speak to customers.
The lady tells me that I can start my job on Thursday. It is all good for me. I’m happy that I have a job where I
can use English.

When you want to learn new words effectively, read for 30 minutes every day

Lesson 3
How to Learn Pronunciation

On Wednesday, I go to school again. There is one student in the class who is more quiet than other students. He
is from South Korea.
When our teacher asks if we have any questions for her. This student from Korea says that he has a question.
He says that he has a big problem with pronunciation. He knows that his pronunciation is not very good but he
doesn’t know how to make it better. He doesn’t speak much because he doesn’t like his pronunciation.
He says that he reads and watches films in English a lot. He understands very well but he also wants to speak
well. He asks if there is something what he can do with his pronunciation.
When my teacher hears this, she says, “OK, I can tell you something about pronunciation and how to practise it.
I also want to teach you a technique which can help you with pronunciation.
First, we have to look at why students have problems with pronunciation. When we speak, we have to move our
mouth. We have to use muscles in our mouth. The problem is that when you speak English, sometimes you use
your muscles like in your native language. Then your English pronunciation is like pronunciation in your native
language.
This happens to many students who learn English. Almost every student has a little different pronunciation than
native speakers have. It is not a big problem because usually people understand what you want to say. You are
a student and it is logical that your pronunciation is not perfect when you study English.
But you can work on your pronunciation and make it better. There is a great technique that can help you a lot.
The name of this technique is shadowing. The technique is very simple. When you do shadowing, you simply
copy the sound which you hear. When children learn their first language, they also copy what they hear. They
copy after their parents again and again and after some time their pronunciation is perfect. You can learn
English proununciation the same way.
You can take some video which is not very fast and which you understand very well. You listen and you copy
what you hear when you hear it. It is all.”

Then, our teacher goes to www.youtube.com and she finds a good video where the shadowing technique is well
demonstrated. We watch the video. Then we all try to do shadowing for about three minutes.
Then our teacher tells us, “Shadowing is also good when you are prepareing for a presentation and you want to
have good pronunciation. Before the presentation you can go to some place where you are alone and you can
do shadowing for about 10 minutes. You will see how much it will help you to have better pronunciation during
the presentation.”
This is very interesting for me. I haven’t heard about this technique before.
When the lesson finishes, I go to the school reception. I ask the lady if there are any sport activities at school. I
would like to do some sport in England. The lady at the reception says, “Yes, we have a table tennis team and a
football team. The football team has training today at 5 o’clock.”
I am very happy because sport is very important in my life. I go to the training of the football team. I meet a lot
of players from different countries. The players are from Brazil, Japan, Russia, Spain, Argentina and Italy. I like
the training. I am very happy that my time in England starts well. I have a great teacher. I also have some new
friends from my football team. Also, tomorrow I am starting my job.

When you want to have good pronunciation, repeat after native speakers

Lesson 4
How to Practise Speaking

On Thursday, I go to school again. We have a new student in our class. Her name is Monica and she is from
Italy.
At the beginning of the lesson, my teacher asks Monica some questions. My teacher knows Monica because
Monica visited her class one year ago. It was a class for beginners and it was only for two weeks during summer
holiday.
When Monica speaks, her English is beautiful. Her pronunciation is very good and she is very fluent.
My teacher is very happy and she tells Monica, “Your school in Italy must be very good.”
Monica says, “I don’t go to any school. I learn English at home. I use techniques from you. I do a lot of reading,
shadowing and thinking aloud. I try to think more in English than in Italian.
This is how I work on my English. The two weeks which I spent last summer at your class helped me a lot. You
showed me the way. I know how to work on my English every day. This is why I wanted to go to your class again
because one year ago, I was a beginner and now I can speak English. I want to learn from you again.”
My teacher is very happy when she hears these words. She thanks Monica for her hard work.
It is all very interesting for me. I already know about reading. I also know the shadowing technique. But Monica
also speaks about thinking aloud. I don’t know what it is. So I ask our teacher, “What is ‘thinking aloud’?”
Our teacher says, “It is a very effective technique. You have to have a strong motivation to learn English if you
want to have benefit from this technique.
It is also good to know that for some people this technique is a little crazy. But when you start to think aloud,
your English can be better very fast.”
I say, “I have a strong motivation. I don’t care if the technique is crazy. If it helps, I want to learn it. Can you
teach us this technique?”
“OK, it is actually very simple. You think in your native language all day every day. It is normal. Now, you can
start to think in English. And when you start to think in English, then you can think aloud. You simply say aloud
what you think. It is all.”

I say, “It is very simple. Why is it very effective?”

Our teacher says, “Maybe you can ask Monica. She uses this technique. Maybe she can tell you more about this
technique.”
Then our teacher asks Monica if it is OK for her to speak about her experience with thinking aloud. It is no
problem for Monica.
She says, “When I started with this technique, it wasn’t easy. I started with very simple sentences. For example,
‘I can speak English. It is good that I can speak English. I want to be better. I need to practise every day. I don’t
know many words. But I can use these words well. I can say my ideas with these words. I can do this. This is
great.’
The sentences were really simple. But at the beginning there was one problem. My thinking in Italian was long
and complicated. I wasn’t able to say in English exactly what I was saying in Italian. I needed to find a simpler
form for English. To think in simple English was the hardest part. But after some time it was normal for me to
think in English.
Then something interesting happened. I met a man from Australia. He was on holiday in Italy. I was still a
beginner, but we started to speak English. I could see that I was able to speak with him without big problems.
My sentences were simple and short, but I was able to speak. I didn’t translate in my head from Italian to
English.
After the meeting with the man from Australia, I started to use thinking aloud more. This technique helped me a
lot with my speaking. I still use it every day. It is really a very effective technique.”
Our teacher thanks Monica for her experience with thinking aloud. I want to use this technique because I also
want to be better at speaking.

When you want to speak English fluently, think aloud

Lesson 5
How to Learn Grammar

After school, I go to the café where my job training starts. I don’t know what to expect. I have no experience. I
am not sure if I can do this job.
When I come to the café, I am very surprised. It is a modern café which sells coffee, tea and also chocolate
cakes and sandwiches. And my boss is only 25 years old. She started to work at the café more 2 years ago. She
has a lot of experience and she knows everything perfectly. She shows me how to prepare coffee, how to wash
the dishes and how to deal with customers.
It is all new for me. I remember only about 20 percent of what she tells me. But then she lets me do the work
and she corrects me when I make a mistake. She is very friendly and I learn fast.
After the first day at work, I am very tired. But I am happy that I have a job.
The next day is Friday and I go to school again. One student asks an interesting question, “Sometimes when I
speak I am not sure if I speak correctly. I am not sure if I use correct grammar. Can you help me what to do if I
want to learn grammar?”
Our teacher says, “Thank you for your question. There are two groups of students. Some students study English
because they want to be able to speak. Some students study English because they want to pass an exam. For
each group the situation is different.
First, I will speak about the students who need English for speaking. If this is you, you don’t have to study
grammar a lot. When you learnt your native language, you also learnt it without studying grammar. You can
learn English grammar naturally by using the language. The best way to learn grammar naturally is by reading a
lot. Books are written in good grammar. When you read, you will learn grammar in the context of the whole
sentence. I also recommend shadowing. When you do shadowing, you practise the correct grammar. you do it
naturally. You don’t have to try to remember anything. You only copy sentences with correct grammar.

If you need English for speaking but also want to study grammar, you can visit www.grammarinlevels.com. This
website shows what grammar is important for the different levels of English. You can find the most important
grammar rules for speaking there.
The second group of students are those who study English for passing an exam. If you are one of these
students, I recommend studying specifically for this exam. It can take the versions of this exam from the past
years if it is possible and train with them.
Of course, your exam will be a little different, but the structure is usually the same or very similar. From my
point of view, the versions of the exam from the past years are good training materials. Then I recommend
going to the exam only when your results in the training materials are such that you can pass the exam
successfully. Did I answer your question?”
“Yes, thank you,” says the student.
This is good news. I don’t like studying grammar. I learn English because I want to be able to speak. I don’t need
to pass any exam. I am happy that I don’t have to study grammar much. I like reading and I am happy that I can
learn grammar by reading books. After the lesson, I go to the website www.grammarinlevels.com. It is really a
nice website. There are grammar rules with examples for each level. They have three levels. These levels are
1000, 2000 and 3000 words.
In the afternoon, I go to my work. It is my second day and I can already do a lot of things by myself. But my boss
helps me when I need it. I see that my work is not very difficult. Also, I can practise English when I speak to our
customers.

When you want to have good grammar, read a lot.

Lesson 6
How to Test Your English

It is Monday again, and I go to my school. Our teacher asks us what we did at the weekend. I say that I was at
work on Saturday. I say that I can already do my work well. I say that I am happy when I can speak to our
customers.
When I speak, one of the girls in the class asks me, “What happened to your voice? You sound very different
from what we heard last week. Your pronunciation is very good.”
I smile and I say, “Thank you, I used shadowing on Saturday evening after my work and the whole Sunday. I
tried to speak like a native speaker. I know that it is not perfect, but I also see a big change in my
pronunciation.”
Our teacher asks if other students tried to practise shadowing. Three students say yes. One of them is the
student from South Korea. He also likes this technique. One student says that she tried the technique but her
mouth was in pain after 5 minutes of shadowing and she stopped. She also says that she wasn’t always able to
repeat everything because the recording was very fast for her.
Our teacher says, “Thank you for trying out this technique. If you do shadowing for the first time and your
mouth is in pain after 5 minutes, you do it correctly. Your need to train your muscles to this new way of
speaking. It is like going to the gym for the first time. Your muscles can hurt if they are not trained.
If the muscles in our mouth hurt, you can take a break after 5 minutes of shadowing and you can continue a bit
later. With every 5 minutes of practise, your pronunciation is better.
Shadowing has also other advantages. You practice the correct pronunciation in English, and you also practice
other things, for example intonation, rhythm and connecting words in whole sentences.
I know that at the beginning, the recording can sometimes be very fast for you. If this happens, you can repeat
only the first or the last word in the sentence. With practise you will be able to repeat more.”
I say that it is true. On Saturday when I started with shadowing, it was difficult for me. But on Sunday evening, it
was easy to repeat what I heard.

Then I have a question for our teacher. I tell her that I looked at www.grammarinlevels.com. The website is
interesting, but I don’t know what level is for me because I don’t know how many words I know.
Our teacher asks other students if they know how many words they know in English. It is interesting to see that
nobody knows. We know that we are intermediate students but we don’t know how many words we know.
Our teacher says, “There is a website for people who study foreign languages. You can do a test there. You can
know how many words you know. The test has only two steps and it is really simple. The name of the website
is www.testlanguages.com. You can do the test every month and you can see how much you improved during
that month. If you want, you can now take your smart phones and go to that website and do the test.”
I am really interested in knowing how many words I know. I do the test immediately. I find out that I know 2100
words in English. Most of the students know between 2000 and 2200 words. Only Monica and the boy from
South Korea know 2500 words.
Our teacher says, “So, you can see that when you go to www.grammarinlevels.com, you should already know
grammar from Level 2. You can start using grammar from Level 3 because Level 3 is for students who know
between 2000 and 3000 words.”

Test your progress every month.

Lesson 7
How to Handle Mistakes

On Tuesday, I go to school again. One student asks our teacher an interesting question. She says, “I want to
practise speaking with people around me but I don’t want to make mistakes. I don’t want to look stupid. Can
you help me?”
Our teacher says, “Making mistakes is a very interesting topic. There are a lot of opinions on this topic. I want to
show you what I believe is the best to do. I have a lot of experience with this because I also learn new
languages. For example, now I am learn Spanish.
When I speak Spanish, I don’t care if I make mistakes or not. The reason why I don’t care about mistakes is
simple. When I learnt my native language, I didn’t care about making mistakes. Mistakes weren’t important for
me. My main goal when I use any language is to say my ideas. It is all.
I know that when I read a lot, speak and do shadowing, my Spanish will be better and better.
I know that this can look very simple but it is my opinion. This is what I learnt after many years of teaching and
learning languages. It works very well for me and many of my students. When I speak, I only concentrate on
speaking.
At the moment I know 1500 words in Spanish. It is the level of a two-year-old child.
Two-year-old children make a lot of mistakes when they speak, but they don’t care about their mistakes. They
continue using their native language and when they are three years old, they make very few mistakes. And
when they are four years old, they usually speak very well. You can do the same.

Now most of you know about 2000 words. So it is absolutely OK to make mistakes time to time. When you
continue using English, there will be fewer and fewer mistakes in your speaking.
It is not possible to go to a higher level if you don’t make mistakes. When you practise English, it is OK not to be
perfect. Perfection comes with practise. All people who started to learn English, started from the beginning,
from the same level, from level zero.
Learning languages is like learning to play a musical instrument. It needs to be trained. When you start your
training, it is not perfect at the beginning and you make mistakes. It is normal. Take it as a necessary part of
your learning process.
If you don’t go through this period of making mistakes, you can’t get to higher levels. When you continue to use
English, the mistakes can step by step go away. If you want to make fewer and fewer mistakes, do a lot of
reading and shadowing. When you read, you can read aloud. It can also help you make fewer mistakes.
In real conversations, care only about exchanging ideas. Don’t care about making mistakes. When you speak,
you practise changing your ideas to words. You don’t learn grammar or words. You have other activities for it.
Don’t worry. Everybody who learns a foreign language makes mistakes sometimes. Famous people, bosses of
big companies or polititians make mistakes too. When you listen to these people on TV, you see that they don’t
care about mistakes. They care about what is important and it is saying their ideas. You can do the same. Does
it make sense?”
The girl says, “Yes, thank you.”

If you don’t want to make mistakes, do a lot of reading and shadowing.

Lesson 8
How to Remember Words

On Wednesday, I go to school again. At the beginning of the lesson, one student says, “I started to read more. I
feel that it is good for me. I can see how my grammar is better, but I have a problem. When I read and I don’t
know a word, I look at the word in a dictionary. Then I continue reading. Sometimes when I see the same word
again 10 minutes later, I don’t remember the word and I have to look at it again. Can you help me to remember
the words better?”
Our teacher says that it is an interesting question and she gives this explanation, “It is normal that you don’t
remember the new word immediately. Usually, you will have to look at the word 5 times before you remember
it. There will be also words which you will have to see 10 or 15 times. These words are usually verbs.
When we learn a new word, the word goes through phases. Only when you achieve the last phase, you
remember the word very well.
There are five of these phases. We can look at them now.
The first phase is the moment when you see the word for the first time and you don’t know the word. You look
at the word in the dictionary.
The second phase is the moment when you see the word for the second time. You know that you saw this word
before, but you still don’t remember its meaning. You look at the word in the dictionary again.
The third phase is the moment when you see the word again and you feel what it could mean but you are not
sure. For example, you know that the word is some kind of object or some animal or a verb.
The fourth phase is the moment when you already know what the word means when you see it but you are not
able to remember the word when you want to say it. When this phase happens, the word is in your passive
vocabulary.
The fifth phase is the moment when you are able to use the word when you speak. Now you can see there are
five phases all together.

Do you understand now why it is not possible to remember a new word when you see it for the first time? It is
usually not possible to jump across all the phases with the first meeting with the word. You have to see or hear
every word many times and let the word go through all the phases.
You can be happy not only when you learn a new word perfectly but also when you get from one phase to the
other. When it happens, you are closer to the final goal and it is to use the word without problems in everyday
communication.”
It is interesting to me. I didn’t know about these phases, but it is all logical. I also have this experience when I
look at a new word in the dictionary but two minutes later I don’t know what the word means and I have to look
at the word again. I feel stupid when I don’t remember the word.
Now, I know that it is OK not to remember the word forever when I see it for the first time. I need more meetings
with the word before I can use the word well.
After school, I go to my football training. Our coach tells us that there is a match on Saturday. The school team
will play against another school team from Cambridge. Our coach tells me to come and play for the school
team. I am very happy and I am looking forward to the Saturday match.

When you want to remember a new word, you need to see or hear the word about ten times.

Lesson 9
How to Improve Listening

The next day, I go to school again. One of the students has an important question. He wants to know how to
improve his listening skills. He wants to know what the best method is.
Our teacher says, “Thank you for your question. Good listening skills are very important for communication. If
you don’t understand what people are saying, it will be difficult for you to speak with them. There are a lot of
materials on the Internet for students of English. Some students can have a problem to choose the right
listening materials for them. Now I want to tell you what materials you can use for listening.
There are two types of materials which you can use for listening. You can listen to some audio or you can watch
a film. These are two different types of materials.
When you listen to some audio, it is good to know 95% of the words or more. If the audio has a lot of new words,
read the text first if possible and look at all new words in the dictionary.
When you practise listening, you practise getting information from a spoken language. You don’t try to learn
new words. Of course, sometimes you can learn new words, but it is not the main goal. When you listen,
concentrate on getting information from spoken English.
It is important to use materials at your level of English. For example, you can use books in simplified English
which have an audio recording. I really recommend these books to you. They are fantastic because you can
choose a book at your level of English.
When you have such a book, read the book first and then listen to the recording at home or when you travel.
You can read two great books at www.robinsoncrusoeinlevels.com or www.thelittleprinceinlevels.com.
Your can also visit www.newsinlevels.com if you like listening to the news. All these materials are in three levels
of English.

The second type of materials for listening practice are films and videos on www.youtube.com. These are also
very good. You can start to use them when you know 2000 words in English or more.
This is what you should do with a film. Watch it for the first time with subtitles so that you know the story of the
film. Then watch the film without subtitles. If you like the film very much, you can watch it more than once.
When you watch one film many times, with every view, you can understand more.
It is also good to watch videos on the Internet about interesting subjects. For example, if you like nature, you
can watch documentaries about nature. You can also watch reality shows. Reality shows are much easier to
understand than films or documentaries because the structure of the show is usually the same.
It is necessary to have at least 30 minutes of listening every day.When you listen to English materials, always
look at what you already understand. It can be only 10% at the beginning. It is better than 0%. Continue to
listen and soon it can be 20 or 30%. Always look at what you already know. Be happy for every new sentence
which you understand. Does this information help you?”
“Yes,” says the student, “Thank you.”
The listening topic is very interesting for me. Now, I know what to do to when I want to be better at listening.

When you want to be good at listening, listen for 30 minutes every day.

Lesson 10
What You Need Before You Start

On Friday, we have an interesting conversation in our class. Our teacher has a question for us. She asks, “Do
you remember your first impulse to learn English? Do you remember the moment when you started to learn
English?”
I say that I remember the moment when I started to be interested in English. My teacher says, “Can you tell us
about this moment?”
I say, “Yes. First I have to say that English wasn’t always my favourite subject.
I started to learn English at high school. At the beginning, it was very difficult for me. I didn’t understand the
structure of the language. It was illogical to me. I tried to remember words. I tried to learn grammar but it was
very hard to me.
When I finished high school, I was still only a beginner. I couldn’t speak English and I believed that I couldn’t
learn this language. I believed that English wasn’t for me.
Then something happened. I always liked music and when I was twenty, I started to listen to the Beatles. I
wanted to understand their songs. So I started to translate the texts of their songs. Slowly I understood more
and more.
Then I met two ladies from England on a train. We had a simple conversation but it helped me very much. I
started to believe that I could learn English. From that moment, I was working on my English almost every day
and I was better and better. Then I started to go to this school.”
My teacher thanks me for telling my story. She also tells me, “Here is something very interesting about your
story. First, you didn’t have motivation to learn English. Then you had a motivation. You wanted to understand
songs.
You can see that motivation is very important. When you have it, you can learn English. When you don’t have it,
it is very hard to be successful.”

Then our teacher asks everybody in the class about their motivation to learn English. The stories are very
interesting. One girl’s motivation is to be able to read historical books in original English. One student wants to
be a professional tennis coach in England. He wants to speak perfect English before he starts his career as a
coach. One woman wants to work for a big international company and she needs English for her job.
I can see that everybody has some motivation to use English in real life or to get information from books.
At the end of the lesson our teacher asks us if we like English.
I say, “I didn’t like English at my high school but now I like it a lot. I can see how useful it is to know this
language.”
Our teacher says, “This is another important factor when you learn a new language. It is good when you like
something which is connected to English. It can be people, music, culture, or history. If you like English, it is
easier for you to learn it.
If you want to communicate in English, it is good to know 3000 words or more. If you don’t like English, it is
more difficult to find time to practise. Then it is difficult to get to the level of 3000 words.”
I can agree with my teacher. Now, I like the Beatles, but also my teacher and my boss who is also English. I also
like English humour. Now, it is much easier for me to find time to practise English every day.
On Saturday, I go to play football for my school team. We have some very good players on our team and we win
3-2. We are all very happy. We go to the pub after the match and we celebrate our victory.

When you want to learn English, you need to have motivation to use English every day.

Lesson 11
How to Learn 3000 Words

The next lesson, one of the students asks our teacher this question, “You say that it is good to know 3000
words. Where can I find these 3000 words?”
My teacher says, “You can find a list of 3000 most frequent words in English on the internet. But it is difficult to
learn new words from this list. These words are not connected with any story. You don’t learn what other words
are connected with these words in sentences.
This system works only for some words. These are basic words which describe things and people around us, for
example mother, father, apple, blue, orange, dog, cat, book, car, house, city, boy, girl, water, cinema, or paper.
These are words which represent something which you can imagine easily. For example, when you learn the
word “dog”, you can imagine easily what it is. You have a clear idea in your head what the word means. But
when you want to learn words such as “decide” or “opinion”, this system doesn’t work well.
This is a problem which many students have. They start their studying with lists of words. It works at the
beginning and they believe that they can learn English this way. They don’t know that when they get to the
level of 1000 words, they have to start using a different system. If you want to learn words from a higher level,
you have to learn them from whole sentences. If you understand the meaning of a word in the context of a
sentence, you can learn the word much better.
You can learn words from lists, but there is usually a limit where you can go with this way of learning, and it is
1000 words. Also, this way of learning is very slow. There are much better ways which you already know, for
example reading. For beginners, the best book to read is Robinson Crusoe in simple English. You can find this
book at www.robinsoncrusoeinlevels.com. It is a very good book for learning new words for beginners.

There is also one interesting rule which is good to know. Every word which is important for you will come back
to your life again and again.
This is very similar to the way which we learn your own language. When we are children, we don’t study from
lists of words. We only use the language and important words come into our lives again and again. We learn
new words this way all our lives.
For example, the verb “google” is a new word in many languages. We learnt this word by using the language.
We didn’t learn this word from any list of words. When you heard the word “google” for the first time, you
probably didn’t know what the word meant. Then you heard it again and again because the word was important
for you and after some time you understood the word.
You can forget about lists of words. Learn new words by reading stories and other interesting texts. When you
use English a lot every day, soon you can learn 3000 words. Does it make sense?”
“Yes,” says the student, “Thank you.”
After school I go to my work. I already know my work very well. Things start to be automatic. I am happy that I
understand my customers. It is not very difficult because the conversations are usually very similar. Our
customers want some coffee or sandwiches, so the words are usually the same or very similar. My confidence
goes higher and sometimes I start to have longer conversations with our customers. It is all good but then
something happens. It is a little shocking for me.

When you learn a new word, learn it as part of the whole sentence.

Lesson 12
How to Improve Your Accent

On Tuesday, when I am at my work, something interesting happens. Two customers come to our café. They are
a husband and a wife.
The man starts to speak to me. I know that he speaks English but I don’t understand him. I don’t understand
what he wants. I think that he wants something which we don’t have, so I call my boss. She speaks with the
man and she sells him two coffees and two sandwiches.
I am surprised. When they leave, I go to my boss and I tell her that I am sorry that I didn’t understand the man.
She says that it is OK. She says that this can happen when people speak with an accent which is new to us. She
tells me that the pair was from Scotland.
The next day, I go to school and I tell this story to my teacher. I tell her that I felt really stupid when I didn’t
understand our customer. I wasn’t sure if my English was good for my job. My boss was OK with it but I still
needed some help from my teacher. I wanted to know what I could do in these situations.
My teacher says, “I understand. You understand English which people speak in London, but the Scottish accent
is new for you. Your ears aren’t trained for the Scottish accent. You need to listen more to Scottish English. You
need to train your ears to this accent too.
What happened to you, can happen to everybody. When you already speak English at some level and you go to
a country where people speak with a different accent, it is normal that you don’t understand. It is OK and it
usually takes two weeks before you understand this new accent.
Don’t think that there is something wrong with you when you don’t understand a new accent. With practise, you
can train your ears to this accent.”
Then I ask, “So what can I do to understand the Scottish accent? I don’t live in Scotland.”
Our teacher says, “You can watch films with Scottish English or you can watch situation comedies from Scotland
and soon you can understand.”
I tell her, “Thank you.”
After school, I go to my work again. At about 4 o’clock, two interesting customers come to our café. This time,
they are not from Scotland. They are foreigners.
They want to buy some coffee. They are two ladies and it is clear that their English is very basic. My boss is
serving them. When she hears that they don’t speak English very well, she does something very interesting. She
changes her English. She uses very simple sentences with only three or four words. I can see that the ladies
understand her. They buy two coffees, two sandwiches and two cakes. They are happy and my boss is happy
too.
When the ladies leave, I tell my boss that it was very nice how she changed her English so that the two ladies
understood her. My boss says that sometimes she has to speak in a very simple English. It doesn’t matter if the
customers speak English well or not. They are our customers and we have to do everything possible for them. If
they see that they can speak English here, they can come to our café every day.
I think that our boss is a good businesswoman. She does everything possible to make our customers happy. It is
true that we have a lot of customers. Our café is busy every day.

When you want to understand people with a special accent, listen to audio with their accent for
some time.

Lesson 13
What You Can Do at Your Level

The next day at school, I tell my teacher about my experience with my boss and the two ladies who didn’t speak
English very well.
Our teacher says, “Great, your boss must be a very clever young lady. It is true that you can communicate with
everybody. People who speak English very well can have a conversation with those who are at the beginning of
their journey. Today, we can speak about different levels of English and what you can do at these levels. Let’s
start with the lowest level of 1000 words. At this level, students can speak about some basic things from
everyday life. The speaking is very limited, but it is already possible to communicate slowly for a short time with
people who want to speak with you. Your sentences are short. They have usually 4 words. If the others also
speak in short sentences, you can have a basic conversation.
When students move to a higher level, which is 2000 words, the conversations are easier and the sentences are
longer. This is the level at which you are right now. You can speak about many things from your life. You can
speak about your family, hobbies, job and travelling. Sometimes you can have a problem when you want to go
into a deeper conversation on some topics. But this level is usually good enough for everyday use of English.

If you want to be able to have a deeper conversation on many topics, it is good to know 3000 words. It is a good
goal for students of English. Of course, you can learn more than 3000 words. With more words, it is easier for
you to communicate in English. But 3000 words is the level that is usually enough for communicating in English
about almost everything.
I think that the two ladies at your café knew about 1000 words. Your boss went to their level, and she had a
basic conversation with them.”
After my school, I go to my work. The two ladies come to our café again. They also bring two of their friends. It
is my turn to serve them. I speak to them in simple short sentences. They understand me. This is great.
They tell me that they are tourists from Japan. They tell me that they like our café because people understand
them here.

When you want to be able to communicate in English, learn 3000 words.

Lesson 14
What to Do When You Are Shy

On Thursday, I go to school again. One student has a very interesting question. She says, “I am very shy when I
have to speak English. Can you help me? I don’t want to be so shy.”
Our teacher says, “It is true that when we use foreign languages, it is natural that we are shy. We do something
what we don’t know perfectly. The possibility of making a mistake is very high.
I was also very shy when I learnt foreign languages. I remember well how I was afraid to make a mistake. When
I made a mistake, I felt stupid and sometimes my face was red.
Now, it is different. I use languages for communication. I care only about communication. You know that I am
learning Spanish these days. Sometimes I make a mistake but it can’t stop me from using Spanish. It is true that
sometimes I still feel shy when I have to speak Spanish. Sometimes my face is red but I don’t care much about
it. It is a natural human feeling and it is always a short moment. I continue using Spanish because I know that
only by using it I can be better.
I also try to see things as they are. I am a student and I am on the way to good Spanish. It is not possible to
jump many levels in one day. The beginner can’t be a perfect speaker in one hour.
I also see what I mean to people around me. When I already speak some Spanish, I have a value to people who
speak Spanish. You can see the same. When you already speak some English, you can have a conversation with
other people in English. That’s great. Look at what you already know. You know 2000 words. You have already
gone from 0 to 2000 words. Be happy for it.
Some students have a feeling that to know English means to be able to speak like a native speaker, to have
perfect pronunciation, perfect grammar, and speak perfectly without any mistakes. They think that if they are
not doing that, they don’t know English. They are shy because they are not perfect.
These students are very hard on themselves. And it is not necessary. You are great because you already speak
some English. Continue working on your English and your shyness can step by step go away.”

I like what our teacher tell us. I am also sometimes shy. I know that I have to practise speaking a lot but in some
situations, I don’t want to look stupid and I don’t speak as much as I can. I decide to be more brave in these
situations and use them to practise more.
Then one student says, “Sometimes I want to say something but I don’t know the word which I want to say.
Then I stop and I don’t know what to do. In these situation, I feel very stupid. Then the next time when I can
speak English, I don’t want to speak because I don’t want to be in this stupid situation again. Can you help me
with this?”
Our teacher says, “When you start to speak English, you have to prepare for one thing. It is a situation when you
don’t know a word which you want to say. In such a situation, you have to learn how to describe the word. This
ability is very important when you learn a new language. You need to learn this ability. You need to train how to
express ideas with the vocabulary which you have. For example, you don’t know how to say the word “key”. You
can describe it as a small thing for opening a door.
You also describe words in your native language but usually you don’t know it. If you don’t know the word for
some thing, you simply describe it to the other person so that the other person understands what it is. You can
do the same thing in English, but you really need to train this ability. Thinking aloud is a very good technique to
use when you want to be able to describe well. Use thinking aloud every day and your ability to describe things
can be better.”

You can learn English only when you use English. It is OK to be shy but it can’t stop you from using
English.

Lesson 15
Who Is Talented

The next day is Friday and I go to school again. I am happy that I go to this class not only because we have a
great teacher. I like this class because there are students from many different countries in our class. Some
students are from Europe. Some students are from South America. There is also one student from Japan and one
from South Korea in my class. This is good for me because the students don’t speak my native language. When I
speak to them, I have to use only English. It is very good for my practice.
Today, we have another new student in our class. Her name is Sofia. She is from Argentina. At the beginning of
the lesson, Sofia says that she thinks that she doesn’t have a talent for studying languages, but she wants to
work hard to be better.
My teacher asks her, “Why do you think that you don’t have a talent?” She answers, “I think that I don’t have a
talent because my sister learns English very fast but for me it is difficult.”
Then our teacher asks everybody in the class, “Do you think that you have a talent for learning languages?
Please put your hand up if you believe that you have a talent.
I look around the class and nobody puts their hands up.
My teacher smiles, then she says, “Now, I want to tell you something. Many people think that you need to have
a talent if you really want to learn a new language. I agree. Yes, you need to have a talent if you want to learn a
new language, but I also believe that you already have a talent for leaning languages.
Why do you have a talent? You have a talent because you already learnt one language, which is your native
language. You were successful at learning your native language and you speak that language fluently. All
people who can learn their native language have a talent for learning languages.
Why do many students believe that they are not talented? The reason is this. There are people who are super-
talented. Yes, it is true. These super-talented people remember new words very fast and for a longer time.
Maybe you know these people. Maybe it is somebody at your work or in your family. There are not many of
these people but they exist. I believe that this can be Sofia’s sister as well. Learning a new language is fun for
these people and they can do it easily.”

Sofia says that it is true, that her sister is really better than everybody else.
Our teacher continues, “It is true that these super-talented people exist. It is a fact and we can’t do anything
about it. And it is not a problem. The problem is that we compare ourselves to these people and if we don’t
learn as fast as they do, we think that we are not talented. I want to ask you for one thing. Please do not
compare yourself to these super-talented people. Yes, they are lucky and they have an advantage, but you can
be lucky too and you are super-talented to do other things. Maybe you are more talented than others when you
learn to sing, swim, play tennis, count numbers, cook, or repair cars. People are not all the same. It is a beauty
of this world.
Now, you can believe that you are also talented, maybe not super-talented, but talented. When you believe that
you are talented, learning English will be easier for you.”
These words from our teacher are very helpful for us. I know that I am talented at playing football and tennis.
Now I know that I am also talented at learning English. It is great.
And what is also great is that there is a school party in the evening. I really look forward to this party. I know
that some girls from our class are going there. I hope that our new student Sofia is also going to the party. I
know Sofia for only one day, but I like her very much.

If you can speak your native language, then you have a talent for learning English.

Lesson 16
How to Speak Fluently

On Monday, I go to school again. Our teacher asks us about Friday’s school party. One student says that the
party was great. We had a lot of drinks and a lot of fun. The girls from our class liked the party as well.
I liked the party a lot too because Sofia was there. I could talk to her and we danced together. It was all very
nice.
There were also two boys from my football team at the party. These boys are from Brazil. Their English was
basic. They could speak only in short sentences, but they were very funny at the party. They made a lot of jokes
about life in England, about other players from our team and about girls from their class. Their sentences were
very short with only three or four words, but they were able to speak fluently.
When we speak about the party, I tell my teacher, “It was really interesting to see that somebody who doesn’t
know many words can already speak fluently. I know some students who are at a much higher level and they
can’t speak fluently.”
My teacher says, “The two boys from your football team showed you the right way. The boys used what they
knew. They cared only about what was really important. It was communication.”
Then one girl asks, “So, what can we do if we want to speak English fluently? To go to parties and make jokes?”

My teacher says, “First, let me explain what fluent speaking is. Many students think that fluent speaking is fast
speaking with a lot of words and perfect grammar. But there is a better, more correct definition of fluent
speaking. Fluent speaking is speaking without long pauses.
Some people can do it at 1000 words, some people can do it at 2000 words. But there are also people who know
3000 words and aren’t able to speak fluently.
If you want to speak fluently, you have to practise speaking. There is no other way to improve your fluency.
Speaking is a physical activity. It is like playing a musical instrument. If you want to play a violin, you need to
train the connection between your brain and the muscles on your fingers. When you want to speak well, you
need to train the connection between your brain and the muscles in your mouth.
Some students have one interesting experience. Maybe you have this experience too. You meet a foreigner who
wants to speak with you in English. You want to say ideas that are in your head, but you aren’t able to do it. You
can’t find the right words. Then, when you end the conversation and play it back in your head, you can see that
you actually know the right words. But the conversation is already finished.
Why do you have this experience? Because you have little training. Your speaking isn’t automatic. And it is not
automatic because you don’t practice it often enough.
When you want to speak fluently, I recommend speaking for at least 30 minutes a day. You can speak to a real
person. If you don’t have a real person for a conversation, you can do thinking aloud.
It it is necessary to really think aloud and not only think in your head. You need to practise the connection
between your brain and your muscles. You can do this by thinking aloud. Does it make sense?”
“Yes,” says the girl.

If you want to speak fluently, speak for 30 minutes every day.

Lesson 17
What Is the Best School

The next lesson, one of the students asks an interesting question. She says, “Next week, I am going home. I
would like to continue studying in my country. I don’t know how to choose a good school there. Could you help
me? How do I know if the school is good or not?
My teacher says, “This is a very good question. I believe that when you read, listen and speak a lot, you don’t
have to go to a school. You will learn English naturally by using it. But if you want to pay for your education, a
good teacher can help you learn faster.
If you want to know if your school is good, before the first lesson of the course go to www.testlanguages.com.
There you can find how many words you know. After 5 lessons at the new school, do the test again and you can
see how many new words you know.
If you are happy with your progress, you can continue paying for your lessons.

It is also important that you enjoy every lesson and you look forward to the next one. It is important to enjoy
every activity which you do with English.
I also give private lessons via Skype. If you are interested, I can teach you via Skype. If you don’t find a good
school in your town, you can contact me and I can help you.”
“This is great,” says the student. “I want to have private lessons with you via Skype.”
This is great news for me. I didn’t know that it was possible to have a private lesson with my teacher. Soon, I am
also going back to my country and I want to have private lessons with my teacher.
When you go to school, you have to see your progress and enjoy every lesson.

Lesson 18
What to Do When You Need Help

It is Wednesday and I go to school again. At the beginning of the next lesson, Monica has a question for my
teacher. She asks her, “How do you know all this? Where did you learn information about studying languages?”
Our teacher says, “There are many ways how I get information about learning languages. The first way is
through experience. I started to teach 7 years ago. I have many years of experience. When I teach you, I
observe what works and what doesn’t work and then I use only things which help.
I also study materials about learning languages on the Internet. When I find something interesting, I test it in
one of my classes. If it works, I use it in all other classes.
I have a good friend. She is also a teacher and we often speak about the best way to learn languages.
Sometimes she gives me good tips for my classes.
There is also another way how I get information. It is usually during moments when I have a question but I can’t
find an answer to this question. During these moments I go and visit my magic park and I get the answer there.”
Monica tells my teacher, “This is interesting. How do you get the answers in the magic park. Where is the magic
park? Can we go there too?”

My teacher says, “What I want to tell you now is not real to everybody. If it sounds crazy, I am sorry. But you
asked for it, so I am giving you the answer.
I believe that if you have a question and you ask the universe for an answer, the answer comes. When I have a
question, I go to the magic park.
I sit on a bench. I relax my body. I breathe slowly and I try to stop my thinking. Then I ask the question. This is
all.
Sometimes the answer comes as a new idea in my head. Sometimes somebody who I meet later tells me
something which helps me get the answer. Sometimes I watch an interesting video on the Internet and I find the
answer there. Sometimes the answers comes the next day in the morning when I wake up.
What is interesting is the fact that the answers usually come. I am very happy when they come. As I said, you
don’t have to believe what I am telling you, but this is what I do and how it works for me.
The park is not very far from here. It is a ten minute walk. A lot of people go to the park to relax. It is beautiful.
It has a very nice atmosphere. I call it a magic park because it is magical for me.”
My teacher’s words are very interesting for me. I didn’t know that people can ask the universe for answers.
Maybe in the future, when I have some interesting question, I can go to the park and also ask for an answer.

When you have a problem with something, ask for help.

Lesson 19
Summary

The next day, one girl asks our teacher an interesting question. She says, “Thank you for the information which
you give us on how to learn English. Can you give us a summary? Can you give us some rules about what we
can do every day to learn English well?”
Our teacher says, “OK, I can give you a simple summary.
If you want to speak English well, you need to do 3 things. You have to read, listen and speak. You already have
this infomation.
What is important is that you do all these 3 activities the same amount of time. If you don’t do one thing, your
progress isn’t usually very good.
From my experience, I can say that it is important to use English every day for 90 minutes. You don’t have to
study, but it is good to use English actively.
Now, I will explain every activity in more detail. Let’s start with reading. It is good to read for 30 minutes every
day. It is the minimum. Don’t read to study English. Read to get some new information. Read to enjoy an
interesting story. I know that I repeat this information again and again but it is really important.
Then, it is good listen to English for 30 minutes every day.
It is good to start to listen to simple audio books or news first. Then you can go to a higher and higher level of
books and news. When you know 2000 words, you can start watching films and videos on the Internet.
Then, there is speaking. You already know how important it is to speak when you study English. It is important
to speak for 30 minutes every day. Of course, the best is to speak to real people. It can be your teacher, your
colleagues or friends. Try to find somebody who is at your level of English or a little better and speak with this
person. But if you have nobody to speak to, with shadowing and thinking aloud, you can also get a lot of
speaking practise every day. I use these techniques very often when I learn Spanish. I don’t have any native
Spanish speakers in my life. I use these two techniques to improve my Spanish.
as you can see, studying English is simple. All you have to do is read, listen and speak. This is all. Now, you
know how to do it.”
“Thank you”, says the girl. “This is great information. You are the best.”

I am also very happy that the girl asked this question. It is my last day at school and I needed some summary
about what I can do. During the four weeks which I spent with my teacher, I learnt a lot. I also improved my
English very much.
My teacher knows that this is my last day at school. She asks me if I want to say something to the other
students in the class.
I say that I was very happy to study in this class. I met a lot of nice people. I give everybody my email address
and I tell them that they can contact me if they want to. Then I say goodbye to everybody. I am a little sad but I
know that I have to continue with my life.
Now, it is one year after my last day at school. I used English every day. I used the techniques from my teacher.
Now, I know 4000 words in English. It is great.
I also have a new job. I start to teach English. I teach beginners. They know only 500 words. It is good for me
because I know that I need a lot of practise as a teacher before I can teach at higher levels.
I have one great advantage in my new job. I had a great teacher in London. I learnt a lot from her. Now, I am
trying to give all what I learnt from my teacher to my students. I want them to be successful too.

When you want to learn English, read, listen and speak. Do each activity for 30 minutes every day.