5. Road to C1 (Quick Tips)

 

1. From Now to C1

Now is the time to talk about the things that you  can do later on after finishing this challenge.

   After those ten days, and even if you don't do it  in ten days, after like a month, after like two months, to really get better because the goal of  this program is to give you something to actually,   I would say, maybe not start with, because you're already gonna have a nice level,   but something that will actually make studying  fun and clear.

From that point you will be able   to talk to other people, you will start  watching simple videos, and you will learn   how in a very fun and easy way, okay? And now we  will talk about the things that you can do once   you get that level, once you get.

You will need  maybe more vocabulary than those four hundred words,   but you can actually do different techniques here  a little bit longer and with that, as you get like   one thousand words, I would say, it's hard to say, you will  have to actually test that but, eventually,   in the near future you will be able to also  start watching videos on YouTube that are   interesting for you.

Not only the videos for beginners.

And that is what you will be   actually using all the time, with that you  will be going straight to the advanced level.

That is what I did with French actually.

I started, I learned basics the hard way    but I learned them properly.

And then, after like  a month or two, I just started watching videos on   YouTube.

First it was a little bit more difficult,  but later on it became just very, very pleasant, and that is what I did for a long, long  time.

Even when I was in Belgium, and I had nothing   to do, noone was going out, what I would do is  I would just sit in my dorm and just watch videos   in French and look for new vocabulary that way.

That is what I was doing all the time, and I was using   my notebook to write those things down to actually memorize that.

And then, after like three,   four revisions of that, I was able to use that in  a conversation with Belgian people.

And that is how   I realized how effective this method is.

It's very simple but people don't understand that they have   to keep all that vocabulary in a single notebook  and that they really have, that the most important   thing is that they have to do these revisions.

  Because it's very, very simple, and people have   this tendency to write vocabulary on some loose  papers, and then, after like a week or two, they   loose those papers, they don't know where they are.

And then they just, you know, forget those words.

So that's why it's important that you have  that all in one notebook and so that you,   no matter what, do these revisions.

It's just really crucial that you do this revisions, okay?   And you need to store it in one place that  you always have with you.

That is basically   the most important tip I can give you if you  want to get advanced: just learn vocabulary.

Just   learn expressions - you get used to the language  when just watching these videos.

And once you do   these revisions, once you actually create sentence,  once you talk to yourself, do monologues and speak   with other people, that is where you consolidate  that, and that is how you get advanced.

But now I   also want to talk about some important points  on that way, that you should actually focus on to   make it a little bit easier for you and to give  you some interesting ideas.

Before we go for that though, I'll give you a very, very brief summary  of what we have been doing for now, before now.

This is like the summary of the whole program.

  To just sum things up.

So at start we have to   get a grammar book, then we can either learn  pronunciation and write things phonetically,   and in both cases we have to actually learn  articulation, then we just create sentences, we   speak to ourselves, we add new elements of grammar  and new vocabulary, and we revise that vocabulary   in our notebook.

Then we do groups.

I should have actually made a different point here.

But then we   do the "one hundered words rule" to get more nouns and to  get more, I would say, broad vocabulary, then we   might also look for vocabulary in movies and  songs in videos and we can also use one thousand   words list to, actually, supplement a little bit  our vocabulary, I would say.

And after that we stop looking for new words, we just freestyle and only look for the keywords,   that we like to create proper sentences for our monologues.

And during this program you should   adjust the repetition to your needs, okay? Because if you feel like you start forgetting things,   then that means that you should actually do revisions more often, okay? So that is the very basic,   quick summary that I wanted to give you at the very end.

So that it's all clear, so that you see   that it's not that complicated if you actually  think about it from this perspective.

Obviously   I've talked about details but this is not that complicated.

Okay, now let's start   talking about those things that you can  do to make your language journey to the   advanced level a little bit more simple, okay? And what you actually have to do to   get there.

Okay, so the first advice that I  have to give you: you really have to continue.

   Continue studying regularly.

Okay? At start, you're learning a lot of new things at once.

   And yes, you do try to transfer everything to  the long term memory, but it's not going to be   that simple.

Study all the time, almost every day,  it would be the best if you actually studied every   day to keep things going.

If you don't, if you make  yourself like a week or two weeks of break, then   you will just start forgetting everything bit  by bit, and you will not even realize when you   were just forget the language.

So especially at start, before being like intermediate, you have   to actually study regularly and really study and continue.

Okay? So that is the first thing that you   have to keep in mind.

That is going to be important.

I know that it might be obvious for people, but   especially after doing this challenge, you should  actually do that because you really have learned a lot   of things at once, and you will start forgetting  it if you don't consolidate that over time.

   The second point: use the JAM technique.

Okay? So that is just a suggestion for you.

I won't actually   explain that.

If you want to know more about that  then just type it on YouTube and a lot of people   actually explain how it works.

"JAM technical languages" - that's all you need to type.

What it   does? It basically helps you get more fluent and  just helps you get more used to speaking, okay?   It's a very good thing to do.

Okay, so if you want  to actually expand your vocabulary, if you want to   be more fluent, if you want to be more at ease when  speaking, then you should try this technique.

Okay ? The next thing that we have here: we have to study grammar.

Okay, so that's another obvious thing.

But   at start you obviously can't learn all the grammar.

  And you know what I've said before, that you should   actually focus on the things that you can use at  start and then add different elements of grammar, different concepts gradually.

You should really  adjust your grammar to the things that you can use.

You should really learn grammar practically.

And later on, once you're intermediate, once you're   getting closer to those advanced levels, it will obviously mean that you will have to practice   grammar, you will have to learn new concepts as well.

Okay? So not only practicing the things   that you have learned, but also reading  about different tenses, about different   moods, about, you know, different express, about  different structures, conditionals.

These kind   of things.

That is obviously something that you have to expand   on if you want to get better in the language.

Just do it in a wise way.

Learn it, learn it or learn   it gradually.

Don't jump from one topic to another, spend some time with those topics, try to revise   those different things like I did for example with  the conjugation in the past tense, make sure   you actually come back to some of these concepts.

And eventually it will just stick to your head.

The next thing that we can do is, we have already  talked about that but it's very very important,   that if you still didn't manage to actually get  yourself a language partner, you have to do that,   okay? That is very, very important.

It doesn't matter; it can be on the internet, it can be in your town,   this can be discord channels, but it  has to be someone that you speak with   It can be also someone that you write with.

  Writing is good.

Don't get me wrong, even   if you want to speak, but especially  someone that you can speak with, okay?   Because speaking is what's really gonna make you practice speaking.

Writing as well.

   When you're writing then for easier for you  to actually analyze the grammar sentences, see   the mistake that you make, and also it helps you  memorize different words and expressions better.

So   writing is also good.

But especially speaking.

Okay? You need to find yourself someone that you will   just talk with.

Without that you really  won't be able to actually speak properly, okay?   I think that is actually one of the problems that I have in Spanish.

I could be speaking way better   than i do right now if I actually spoke more  in Spanish but I don't really talk with people nowadays, and for that my Spanish  is, I would say, like not in its fullest potential.

   Whereas I can watch very, very difficult movies,  understand a very specific language without any   problems, I can understand jokes and so on, but  with speaking, I would say that I am kind of rusty   just because I don't really have language partners for that.

Whereas for example in   French, well I use french at my job, I talk like five hours a day in French and so   obviously I'm exposed to that, and I don't  forget anything, more than that, I actually get better.

With Spanish, sadly, I don't have that  opportunity yet but who knows, maybe I will   change that.

The next thing that we're gonna  talk about is that we should actually talk with   people on a discord channel.

So that is connected  to the thing that we have said before.

Nothing new   here.

I should have actually made that a single point.

But maybe to actually expand on that I  have already talked about that before, but if you  haven't catch that I will repeat that.

It's just   that you should like enter discord channels or any  other channels that work similar to discord,   find yourself a server that will be for people  learning languages, and then just enter like some   crowded rooms and speak with like groups of people.

Okay? That is good if you are advanced, and if you   are talkative.

But even in those situations it's  actually going to be hard to really have time   for speaking, If everyone wants to speak, but only one person can speak at the same time.

And   therefore don't you really speak a lot.

It's way better to actually talk with like two people at   max or maybe just one person.

Remember that because,  you know, just sitting in a room and listening to   ten people speaking about the things you don't  really get is not gonna give you results.

You have   to do that in a smart way.

Okay? The next thing that we have here is: we should use the Netfix   language learning extension, and we should just  watch videos on YouTube.

So the Netflix language   learning extension, what it does? It just gives us double subtitles.

So we not only have the subtitles   in the language that we are learning but we also  have the subtitles in English.

And well it's just   very convenient because you don't have to look for  the right words, use translators, stop the video.

You   can actually write things down to your notebook  while watching movies without pausing them.

And it works very well because you also have those  words translated in a correct context, okay? So you   don't have to waste time on checking whether  a given word works in a given context.

And you   know that you should also watch videos on YouTube.

That is very important for us to actually do that.

However, I think that there is also a thing that works the same way like in Netflix.

I haven't used   that but I saw that somewhere, that you can do the  same double subtitles on YouTube.

That is gonna be   great for you.

But I actually took a part in a research about that.

It is actually scientifically   proven that subtitles are good at start, okay? So for the A1, A2, B1 level you should use subtitles,   and that is a better way to memorize vocabulary for you.

But once you actually reach the B2 level,   which obviously requires a little time to get  from B2 to C1, there you should actually stop   watching videos with subtitles because from the  scientific point of view it will just be worth   more for you, okay? Before it's just too hard for  you to learn words properly just by listening,   and you need those subtitles to help yourself.

But once you get used to the language, once you know   enough words, once you know how it all works, then  you should stop watching with subtitles, okay? So I  would say that if you are on that week B2, strong  B1 level, that is when you actually start watching   things again without subtitles, and you just focus on sounds.

We obviously do that for a few reasons   but the main one is just to actually get used  to the way the language sounds.

But there are also   different things happening in brain in that situation.

But I am not gonna expand on that.

I'm just telling you that because I know  that it's actually hard to decide whether   you should watch videos with subtitles or not.

As I said, we made the research, we actually tested   it on like bigger group of people.

Some people  watch videos without subtitles, and some people   watch them with subtitles, and I was in the group  with subtitles, I believe, and then both groups   had to write a test and depending on the level  they would actually evaluate that, and it just   turned out that if you are more advanced, then it's  gonna be worth more, then it's gonna be just better   to watch videos without subtitles that you will  eventually memorize more actually.

And again, you   just get used to how the language sounds and so on.

Okay.

So you get the idea.

Let's go to the next star.

So we should get a tutor to fix your mistakes.

I  have also mentioned that before, maybe you don't   really need that at the very beginning but later  on, if you really want to master the language, and   you want to be proficient, if you plan to  get those C1, C2 levels, then you have to get   the tutor, okay? Either you can actually go to a  language school which I don't recommend because   it's just not worth it.

It's way better to actually  pay the same money and have for example like   Meet him like hour a week.

And he will just fix everything that you will  have to get fixed, he will just tell you where   you do mistakes in grammar, in pronunciation, you  have to get that, okay? You have to invest that   money.

Really there is no way around that but  from the other side you can really find people   that are not expensive and that are really good on the Internet.

Or if you want to do it you can   do it in the real life.

Just make sure that you  don't go for native speakers, I would say, because   native speakers they do speak very well and in  terms of articulation they will be just perfect   but you really want to get actually someone  who is not a native speaker and who understands   the language that you're learning because he did  that by himself and he knows how to actually learn   different things, what's important, what's not, and  he knows also how to explain that, okay? Native   speakers won't be able to do that.

So you can also get yourself a native speaker but just to   talk with him.

Whereas when it comes to grammar, when it comes to explaining things, you have to   actually find someone who really understands  languages and native speakers, they won't know   their language to that extent.

Even if they actually study that, only the people   that actually learn those languages from the  scratch are really able to explain grammar and   and so on and so forth.

And yes, I'm generalizing,  there are going to be some exceptions but   I'm just giving you a good advice.

You should get  that future, and if you want to get one, then make   sure that it's not going to be someone who is  just speaking the language and not understanding   the language.

Because you need someone to explain  that to you, okay? And not only just speak with you.

This is good to speak with somebody but you  also need someone to fix your mistakes and   explain grammar and so on, okay? Later on, maybe when  you are B2, then it's gonna be fine.

But before that   don't go for native speakers, okay? Now, the  second thing that I can actually recommend you   is that you should make notebooks after notebooks, okay? So we already know that we use notebooks as,   let's say our main tool, and it's very important.

  It's very, very important that you use them.

If   you don't use notebooks then you're not gonna  learn languages the way I do.

Maybe you will   eventually be advanced if you want  after doing different things, but this is   like the fastest way.

Really.

This is like the  fastest way that I can really imagine,   I don't think that there is going to be anything  better because you just have to learn a lot   of vocabulary, and that is the fastest way to  learn the vocabulary and to learn it actively,   and to transfer it to the long-term memory.

People  talk about query based learning, people talk about   those revisions that are expanded in  time, but what's actually fundamental,   and that is super simple, is that you gather those  words in one place and that you don't lose them,  okay? That is the most important thing.

And I know  how actually stupid it sounds, but you will see   that if you don't store it all in one place you  won't actually go back to these words.

You really   have to keep those words in that one place and you  have to have that notebook always with you, okay? Only then you will really get  motivated to do these revisions.

   Otherwise you will be like: maybe today  I won't do that, I don't know where's that   notebook.

So let's just make a new one, who cares? No, no, no, you have to have one single notebook.

   Buy something is a little bit more expensive, that  is actually more resistant and use that notebook   like if it was your phone.

Take it everywhere  with you and just note the vocabulary that you   want to learn the way we always do.

And make those  notebooks after notebooks.

Once you finish one,   then you create the second one.

And if you go back  to the memory part, you will see how many notebooks   I actually have.

And I have more of them.

I just didn't manage to actually   get them all for that little  photo.

Okay, the next thing.

So this is also connected to notebooks.

You  should rewrite the words which you have not   memorized in the previous notebook to your new  notebook, okay? So once you do these revisions,   once you go over your notebook every day, you  actually, you should actually mark the words that   you don't manage to memorize, okay? Just a little  dot or something like that.

And once you see that   you won't manage to memorize those words after  doing the next revision, the next revision, these   are the words that are just more difficult.

So  once you finish that notebook, you take those words   and you rewrite them to your new notebook.

Don't  let those words go away, okay? You have already   put a lot of time to find them, you have made  some revisions of them already.

It's worth to   keep investing in that, and eventually you will  learn them.

So make those notebooks and rewrite   the vocabulary from one to another.

The vocabulary  that was difficult to learn.

And then you can also   do revisions of previous notebooks, but that is  gonna be more difficult for you to do.

You won't   really have time because you'll be just busy doing the revision of the current   notebook.

So that is why we take the difficult  vocabulary with us to the new notebook, okay? Try to learn at least two words every day.

Try to learn at least two new words every day.

   Even if you have other things on your mind,  okay? This is important.

I know that sometimes   you just feel like you don't want to study,  like you don't have energy, but only two words.

   Only two words every day.

That is going to be  simple.

You learn them both when you actually wake   up, and then you repeat them over the day, okay? That  is all you need.

You make yourself a sandwich for   the breakfast - you actually repeat them for the  first time.

You take a shower - you do it for the   second time.

You, for example, eat the dinner - you try  to create sentences with these words.

And over the   day you try to learn them.

And those words after  a day of actually using them like that, trying to   actually revise them over the day, those words will  be actually very active in your vocabulary.

And   sometimes it's actually better to learn those  two words like this than, for example, 20 words.

   So do that if you really want to have big results.

  Learn those two words every day, and after a year   it will just really improve your vocabulary a lot  with that, okay? Those words will be learned very   actively.

You will really be able to use them when  speaking.

And you will not forget them with time.

   So it's really worth doing that and it's not  gonna require a lot of effort from you, okay? If not two words, at least one.

But two words  are going to be very, very easy to do as well.

So...   Three on the other hand would  be already too much.

I feel like.

   It has to be easy for you to do.

It has to  be convenient for your brain, I would say,   to actually accept the fact that you are going  to learn those two words in that day.

That is   gonna be difficult.

Three words would be already  starting to be a little bit overwhelming, I think.

   Okay, the next thing is that we should actually  read books on kindle using its dictionary, okay? So   people don't really know that.

People tend to read  for example books, like paper books, and I know why they do that.

I know that it's actually, it feels  better when you read paper books, I understand that   perfectly.

But with kindle... it's actually very  good to use kindle for learning languages because   it has a dictionary built in.

All you have to  do to actually look for words that you have in   in the book is you just have to click on them and  you can actually check the definition or it can   take you straight to the google translate, but in  a window, in a very convenient window, that will not   make you actually close the page.

So using kindle  is a very good way to actually practice when   reading.

Instead of reading just paper books using  kindle it's gonna save you time.

And also it will   just be a great access to foreign language books.

Okay? It's not like you can find them everywhere   in a library.

Yeah, it depends on the language,  but with kindle you will have a lot of books to   choose.

And sometimes you will have to pay, I know,  but it's worth that because you have   that dictionary building.

Especially if you learn languages that are more popular.

   Okay, and the last thing.

This is gonna be  a cliche, I know, but I had to put that here.

   Don't give up on your dream, okay? It's gonna be  hard.

Sometimes you will want to give up.

Sometimes you will just feel like you're not getting any  results.

Learning languages is one of those few   things in life that require a lot of patience, okay? You don't have many other things that require so   much patience like languages.

But once you spend  that time, go against the lack of motivation and   just study no matter what without asking questions, then eventually you will learn the language.

And   yes, it takes a lot of time, but it gives a lot of  joy and a lot of satisfaction.

That is why you need   to be patient.

The most amazing things in life  they require patience, okay? Patience is the key.

Okay, and there is one more thing here.

I actually  decided to leave this quote here for you.

I'm not gonna translate that though, but make sure  that you have fun, okay? I know that it may   sound quite contradictory after all those things  that I have said before about levels, about   really putting effort, about studying hard,  about not giving up and so on, and this is true.

   The same way it's hard to learn to play  the piano or the guitar.

The same way it's   gonna be hard to learn languages.

And it's  gonna require a similar amount of time.

  So for those amazing things, for those amazing  perks in life you really have to put time.

  But it's actually easy to  learn languages in a fun way.

   Do things that you like, talk  with people that you like,   watch videos that are interesting for you, read  books that you love, listen to music that you like.

Okay? One of the reasons why I actually chose  languages as something to do in life was that I   realized that learning languages is just fun.

  Because what I can do is I can wake up, I can   just start watching movies on Netflix and  in any other situation in life that would   be called procrastination.

But in this case no.

I'm  actually investing in myself.

I'm actually learning   languages.

So I can actually procrastinate and be  ambitious, hard-working, creative at the same time.

  Languages are, maybe not the only  thing, but one of the very few things   that actually give you that.

It's not  something that you have to have a mindset of:   I will get a lot of money if I do that, I will  have a good job.

With languages you do it for fun.

And it's also easier to get a job obviously.

Learn something that is useful, that is fun, that  you can actually use to impress other people.

It   just feels great, okay? And it's not about being  narcissistic.

It's about just growing as a person.

   And I can tell you that because four years ago  I was only speaking English and now being able   to speak those three languages I just feel so much  more rich as a person.

I just feel so much better.

   I would never go back in time.

That was the best decision   in my life to actually start learning languages.

  So that is all that I wanted to talk about here.

   Now we are going to talk about some quick tips  that you can also apply if you want in the   next lecture, and then we're gonna talk about  different languages and different formulas.

   We're gonna do some interviews.

Okay? So thank  you for listening and see you in the next part!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Tips

Okay, and now I'm going to give you some quick tips.

Again these are gonna be   quick.

I won't go into like long monologues  here.

At least I will try.

I will   maybe give one minute each, okay? This is mostly to actually give you some inspiration.

  So the first thing: learn the vocabulary  when doing repetitive things, okay?   And here I don't refer to, for example, running and speaking, okay? That is gonna be also great, but here   I mean, for example, cooking, okay? You're cooking and you use recipes in your native language.

   Instead of that, go for the recipe in the language that you're learning, okay? And once you do that   dish, every time you will revise that vocabulary  from the recipe, and it's just gonna make that   vocabulary revise itself automatically, okay? If you go shopping once a week, if you are a girl   or a guy, doesn't matter, but if you actually  go shopping often, then you can also, for   example, learn the vocabulary that is connected  to that and then revise the vocabulary this way.

   And that's gonna actually help you to learn  those difficult words, those maybe very rarely used nouns even, all those things that  you can imagine that you just don't know how   to actually call them, all those things  that you are just less likely to use when speaking.

So these are actually the ways  that you can practice that vocabulary, and it's   gonna help you with that.

It will be more fun  for you, it will give you the context, and it's   gonna be just an interesting thing to apply.

  Second thing: name the things that you see   along the way when you are going somewhere.

  It's about giving ourselves some context, right?   And let's say, for example, that you're working at  school, and you have to go over the same way   over and over again.

Let's say it's like five  minutes by foot.

So once you do that, going   all the time the same path, you should  actually focus on the things that you can see.

   And then every time you will go to your job or  some other places, you will be able to revise the   vocabulary.

You will be able to quiz yourself: how was I actually calling that? How to call that? How   do you say "fans" in German? How do you say "house" in Spanish? These are actually the things, that you do,   and it just helps you, again, because it gives  you the context, it gives you the clear image   of that thing, and it also gives you that  possibility to actually revise that, okay?   The next thing.

Really listen to podcasts after some time.

Re-watch videos.

We should actually   go back to those podcasts and videos that  we have listened, that we have watched before,   after some time.

Why? Well, it's just gonna help  you memorize things better.

It's gonna be a very   good revision.

That is actually gonna be from a  different side of our brain, because using notebook,   it's a different type of revision, watching those  videos after some time, it's going to be a little   bit different.

It will just stimulate your brain  from a different perspective, okay? So really listen   to the things that you have watched, okay? Don't forget them and leave them alone for the eternity.

Okay, advice number four: do subject months, okay? This is especially for those people that   are gonna be on that higher level.

Instead of just looking for random words from different subjects,   you can maybe focus on given subjects.

So let's say, you are interested in architecture   in the language that you're learning.

so what  you do is: for the entire month you focus   only on the vocabulary connected to that.

Only read text about the architecture and so on and so forth.

And after that month you will be an expert in that vocabulary, okay? And it's a good thing because it   helps you memorize those words faster since they  are all in this one category, okay? Since they share   the topic, I would say.

It's a little bit like  with "one hundred words rule", okay? Next thing: write essays, okay? This is also important.

We have also mentioned that before, but write essays write stories, use   the vocabulary that you're learning  practically, okay? Not only when speaking   but also in writing.

Writing will help you memorize  vocabulary faster.

It will also make you practice   grammar.

It will make you practice expressions.

  It will make you practice different things.

   And just write, please, believe me.

Even if you  just want to speak, writing is also gonna help   you improve your speaking.

So, obviously, if you  only care about speaking, then you should mostly   focus on speaking, but at least 20%, I  think, you should actually dedicate, at least 20   to writing, okay? Don't forget about writing.

  Those 20% are gonna be worth a lot.

Next thing: do fun revisions, okay? So what I mean  by fun revisions? Obviously you should do revisions   every time you can; when you're on the bus, when you're taking a train, all those kind of things,   moments that we would usually do nothing in.

  We maybe play games.

Okay, so this is when we   do revisions, but you also should actually do them in a fun way.

So what I do is I would, for example.

   go to a park and spend whole day on doing  revisions and having fun actually being in   nature, drinking coffee.

And once you do that, you  realize that revisions don't always have to be   unpleasant, okay? They can be very nice.

But  you just have to have a proper setting.

   Do revisions before going to sleep, okay? I think I have already mentioned that a little bit   somewhere, but here I'm actually underlying that.

It's important that you revise especially   difficult vocabulary before going to sleep because when you're sleeping your brain somehow   makes you memorize the vocabulary.

I don't really know why, but it is scientifically proven, okay? So   I know that maybe your mom is telling you that  you shouldn't study at night, but you should   actually.

For languages it's good to actually study  before going to sleep.

Maybe not learning grammar   because it's gonna be difficult for us to grasp  different concepts, later on, during the day, but   learning vocabulary, revise the vocabulary -   perfectly fine.

Perfectly fine.

That's the   best thing that you can do for your memory,  actually, to learn before going to sleep.

   Next thing that we can do is we do Cicero Mod whenever you can.

So that is what we   also have mentioned already a little bit, but  I think that we didn't shed enough light on   that.

We should do Cicero Mod whenever we can.

When we are running, when we are taking a walk, when you are waiting in a queue, whenever you can, and speak out loud, speak out loud, it's important.

Okay? If you care about people watching you, being  afraid of you, just wear some headphones like if   you were speaking on a phone with somebody and  just speak to yourself, this is remote all the time.

   Look for the words that you like in the google  translate, you don't have to do it when you're   at home, you can do it whenever you want.

Using the Google Translate on the smartphone you can check   the things that you like.

You can check if you are  correct, you can do everything, okay? We have so much   tools, we have so many tools nowadays.

And we don't even realize that yet, but people will realize that   eventually, okay? Because really learning languages  has never been so fast.

Look at the Google   Translate, it works amazing, okay? It works amazing.

  It does some mistakes from time to time, but it's   actually working really, really good.

You can check a lot of things there.

If not, if you don't trust   Google Translate, you can use Context Reverso, but  Google Translate is gonna be enough.

Especially   before getting advanced.

And that is what I use.

I just speak to myself, and I check the things I need   in the Google Translate.

That is all I need.

  And if I don't know how to pronounce something,   well, I have the pronunciation there.

I can just click on the speaker and someone is telling me how   to pronounce words.

People didn't have that back in  the days, it's just an amazing tool, just an amazing   tool.

And it's actually starting to be very correct nowadays.

It doesn't make many mistakes anymore.

Okay? The next thing: especially before  being intermediate, before being B2, I  would say, you shouldn't watch longer movies  because you won't know enough vocabulary,   and it's just gonna be pointless.

You want to watch those shorter movies and actually revise them,   be able to finish them, eventually, like after  an hour, because if you actually don't know   about the vocabulary, you will have to pause a lot.

Sometimes you will just not get what their speaker   is saying, you will have to find what he means.

And so a five minute video might take you like   it would take you to watch an entire movie.

So   we don't want that.

We want short movies.

It's gonna be easier for us to revise the vocabulary this way.

   It's gonna be easier for us to really listen to  those movies, watch short movies at start, okay? Like fan facts, fun history facts, five minutes  history, five minutes philosophy.

These kind of   things, okay? I'm not gonna give you  exact examples, but you get the idea.

   Watch things that are not too long.

Ten  minutes, fifteen, is gonna be okay.

But more   it's too long.

Especially before being B2.

Later on, once you're B2, you can watch whatever you want.

   The next thing that we can do is we can  actually translate a vista.

So what it is?   Well, it's basically if you are a native language  speaker, then you get yourself a text in English,   and then you actually read it, but in the language  that you're learning, okay? So you write different   annotations, you actually underline the words  that you don't understand, you look for them.

   You may write them on the side, obviously later  on also in your notebook, and then you do these   a vista translations for like few times.

You do them over and over again, and I will just say that it's   one of those another perspectives that you  can actually stimulate your brain from.

I feel   like when I do this, I give something new to my  brain.

I give something fresh and it's something   that works very well for my memory, okay? The next thing is that we should actually write   words on sticky notes, okay? So use sticky notes,  write the words that you learn on them and then   put them in your room, stick them to a wall.

  Whatever you choose just make sure that you   don't destroy the wall, but it's very good  if you actually are exposed to them like this.

   You know, you will just see them like that from  time to time and then eventually they will   trigger.

Obviously you can do something that is a  little bit more modern as well.

You can add that.

   You can change the nickname of your friend on  Facebook, and then whatever you actually write   together you will see that word all the time.

  It will be reappearing, and eventually you will   be able to learn that just by speaking with him, okay? Without no effort whatsoever, okay?   Next tip: avoid apps like Duolingo, okay? I know that it's harsh.

I know that some of you might   not like that, but that is the truth, okay? If you want to have results, don't use Duolingo.

Don't use   Bubble, don't use apps like that.

They just don't  work, okay? To learn languages, to have real results   you have to put real effort, okay? I know that these  apps they seem appealing because you can lay in   your bed, and you just click on different things.

  Don't do that.

Don't do that.

And I know what I'm   talking about here.

I know somebody who actually  did those Duolingo things for like two years,   and his level was way worse than mine in  German after those ten days.

It's like if you   just studied for a day.

Do yourself a favor and  don't use them.

However, what you can use is you   can use the memory palace to learn exceptions.

  So we've already talked about that a little   bit, we didn't go into details here.

I don't  really feel like explaining the memory palace   from the scratch because there are just better  videos on the Internet that can do that for you.

   I'm just gonna tell you: that it's very good  to use the memory palace to learn exceptions.

   So if you have a test or, for example,  when you want to learn subjunctive,   and you know you need to memorize whether you  have to use subjunctive or indicative, that is   where memory palace will come in handy, okay?  Because it will just make you memorize that after "Je crois que" you use indicative in French.

Whereas, for example,  "Il faut que" requires you to use subjunctive.

And you can  memorize, for example, those expressions.

Those   expressions that trigger subjective and indicative,  put that into that memory palace and then it will   just stay in your brain, in your memory.

You'll know that better, okay? So memory palace for   exceptions, for difficult things to memorize,  for rules, for grammatical rules basically.

   Next thing: write your own songs, okay? So this is gonna be simple.

It's very good to sing along when   you're listening to something, but it's even  better if you actually create your own songs.

   That is going to be very creative.

It will help you memorize vocabulary.

It's going to be fun.

  And you can really learn a lot by writing  your own songs because you will look for   different words.

Sometimes you will be just, again, very creative in that.

You will maybe look for some   fancy things.

It's going to give you a lot of joy.

And again, you don't have to sing like Ed Sheeran, okay? Just to practice.

The language is gonna give you a lot of joy.

And simple   as it sounds, that joy is what makes you memorize  the vocabulary way, way, way more faster, okay? So   don't underestimate that, okay? Don't underestimate this advice.

The more joy you have doing something,   the more you memorize.

Remember that.

Next thing: focus on what you can understand, okay? So obviously listening to a foreign language  sometimes you won't understand what somebody's   saying.

It's important that in that moment  you don't actually enter this vicious circle   of thinking that you don't understand what  he's saying, and that you don't just start   panicking in your brain because that is where  you will just stop listening at all.

Instead,   in those situations, just try to actually focus  on the words that you understand and then try   to add things together.

Maybe you will be able  to understand what that somebody is saying from   context, okay? It's important that you actually  don't start thinking that you don't understand.

   Once you actually put that thought in your head,  you will understand even less, okay? Because you   just won't be focused and that is where you will  understand less, okay? Your language skills won't   be working in your favor here if you are not  relaxed.

It's important to be relaxed as well.

I remember when I started my new job.

I joined  this new team and everyone was speaking French   there.

Some people were really, really good and I was just stressed the first day, because obviously,   I wanted to make a good impression, but I knew at  the same time that they will actually judge me.

   They didn't, but that's what I thought.

And so  you know, I just got very stressed, and I actually   couldn't understand what they were saying from time to time.

It was just because I was stressed.

   Okay? It's not like I couldn't understand the  language, I started to think that I am stressed,   I started to analyze the situation, I started to  think that they will actually find out that I don't understand what they're saying.

And it was all the downward spiral.

I just wasn't focused and   it was all mess, okay? The next thing: learn the  vocabulary in proper places.

So this is gonna be   quick one.

It's amazing to learn vocabulary  when doing repetitive things, it's amazing when   you actually can learn different words going to  your job, but also, for example, if you want to learn   vocabulary connected to shopping then you can  go to a mall and learn what's there, okay? So give   yourself some context.

Make it fun.

It's worth time.

It's worth doing that this way.

Next thing: don't   believe in miracles.

So this is also gonna be quick.

  Don't trust people that will tell you that you can   actually learn languages when you are asleep.

  Don't trust people that will tell you that you   can get fluent in a week.

Don't trust people  that will tell you that you can actually learn   languages just by passively watching videos, okay? These are just miracles.

That won't happen.

   I've tried that.

The only way to really  learn languages is to study properly, okay?   The next thing is actually connected to studying properly, okay? You can immerse yourself in the   language that is actually very good.

So let's say you want to learn Italian, okay? So what you do is   you change your Facebook to Italian, you change  your Windows to Italian, you change your computer   to Italian.

You start watching everything in  Italian, you start reading news in Italian,   and you do everything in Italian, okay?  You also think in Italian and with that   it's gonna be very good for your language.

You will have very good results  if you actually immerse yourself in the language.

And that's why people say that going abroad is so   good for them in terms of learning languages.

It's because that is just letting them immerse in the   language.

When they go shopping they have to use  the language, and they actually meet with friends,   they have to use the language, and so and so.

  They have to use it no matter what time of day   or night it is.

They are exposed to that and you  can actually try to make something like that in   a superficial way.

It will not be maybe that good,  but it's gonna be good as well, okay? So immerse   yourself in the language.

That is actually important.

Do that.

That is my last tip here.