Hey, everyone. I'm Alex from EngVid. And if you are someone who is trying to improve their
English, but you feel stuck and you feel frustrated, I want you to know that you're
not alone. And today, I want to give you six suggestions to help you get back on the path
so that you can start feeling good about your language learning again. Now, before I start, I
want to let you know, this is a very common thing that happens to anyone who is trying to master
a new skill. Whether you are a musician, or a writer, a painter, or an English language learner,
or a learner of any language, really, it's normal to reach a point, which is called a plateau.
And to feel like, "where do I go from here"? I'm not improving. What do I do next?
So why don't we start with six practical suggestions. So the first thing I want to
tell you guys to do is to ask yourself, what have I already learned? This is a very useful question,
because you have learned a lot already. Ask yourself, has my speaking improved? Has my
listening improved? Has my reading improved? Has my writing improved? Since I have started studying
English? The answer is probably yes, yes, it has. So just acknowledging that you have already
made progress is one thing you can do to kind of make you feel better, and to encourage yourself
that, hey, you know what, I have gotten to this point already. Okay, I can keep going.
I'm going to keep learning because I know this is a process. I know, this is a journey.
And I know, I have already learned things in the past. So let's continue moving forward.
The second thing that I want to tell you guys to do is to get an assessment. Now, you could get
an IELTS, a TOEFL, or like a Cambridge exam. But those are not really good at telling you what you
specifically need to improve with your English, they will just kind of let you know that, "oh,
my speaking needs to be better". Whatever that means. When I say get an assessment, I mean, find
a language school in your area, or inexperienced teacher or evaluator who can test your grammar,
test your speaking, and tell you some specific things that you need to work on in order to,
you know, get to the next level, it's much more useful to have someone who can tell you,
"you need to work on present simple questions", or "you need to work on how to use much and many", or
"you need to work on speaking more fluently when you're having a conversation" than it is to have
someone tell you, you just need to improve your speaking or you need to improve your reading. So
find someone who can assess your level accurately and tell you what you have to do next.
Number three, find level appropriate materials to help you take the next step. Now, this means
that you know you are not using things that are too easy, you are not using materials that are too
hard. Our brains grow. And our brains learn best when we experience some tension, okay, so they
need to be challenged. Because if you are just going back and reading beginner level materials,
and you are an intermediate student, this is not going to help you grow. It's okay to make you feel
comfortable. It's okay to make you feel confident that you know how to order from a restaurant for
example, but it's not going to help you to get to that next level you want to get to. So if you are
a beginner, of course, you should use beginner materials English as a second language learning
materials, resources like EngVid, for example. And if you are an advanced student, you know, you
should be reading the BBC websites or CBC or NBC or using novels, for example, to take that next
step. Again, our brains grow when they experience tension. So maybe try to have like 30% to 40% new
material and 60% to 70% that you're comfortable with, so that you are taking the next step without
the road feeling too weird or too alien, because you're still comfortable enough to understand
what's going on in the materials you're using. So the fourth thing I want to tell you to do
is to be honest with yourself. Now what I mean by this is really how much effort are you putting
into your studies? This is a tough question to ask. This is a tough question I ask myself
when I'm learning French, I can be frustrated. And I can say, I'm not learning. I want to be fluent.
But then I asked myself, How much have you studied this week? How much have you actually tried to
improve your French this week? And if the answer is, well, I did 10 minutes of homework yesterday,
or yeah, I looked at an article for five minutes today, that's not good enough. So be honest with
yourself. The other thing about being honest with yourself is maybe you are being too hyper-critical
of yourself, maybe you are being too hard on yourself, by expecting things that are not
realistic. So you need to be realistic, be honest with how much effort you're actually putting in.
And that's, that's what I can say about that. Number five, take a break. It's totally normal
to feel frustrated, it's totally normal to feel tired and to throw your books, you know,
on the couch, because you don't want to study today. And that's fine. As long as you, you know,
step away from your studies, re-energize yourself, recharge your batteries. And when you're ready to
come back, you come back with a healthy mind, and renewed energy. And finally, remember that it is
a process, you're not going to learn English in 30 days, you're not going to learn all the
tenses in 60 minutes. So if you see promotional material on the internet promising a quick fix,
promising that you will learn English in a month, or learn all the tenses in 60 minutes.
No. It's something that takes a long, a long, a long, a long time. It's a lifelong journey.
Like I'm... you know, English is my first language. But I'm still learning new words.
I can still open a novel and not know what something means. So it is a lifelong journey.
And you need to remember that it does take time, and that it is a process. And you need to commit
to the process and just make sure that you keeps taking things one step at a time.
So those are my six suggestions to help you take the next step in your English learning
journey. And if you like this video, make sure to give me a thumbs up, subscribe to the channel,
turn on notifications, and leave a comment below. Tell me what do you do when you feel frustrated
during your learning journey? And have you already used some of the steps that
I've indicated in this video? Until next time, thanks for watching guys. Thanks for clicking,
and I wish you nothing but success and all of your studies. Take care.