How I would learn English (if I could start over)

Hello guys and welcome back to my YouTube channel. Today I want to talk about how I would learn English if I could start over. If I was a beginner right now, what would I do? So, this is what this video is going to be about.

The first thing I would do is I would start with more specific vocabulary that is more relevant to my life. I feel like nowadays, because of this traditional education, people usually start with very general vocabulary. For example, you're probably trying to memorize 20 different colors in English, or you're trying to learn different animals in English, for example, 50 different animals in English. But then when you really think about it, when are you going to be using all of this new vocabulary? Your answer is probably, "I don't know, who knows?" And that's why I want you guys to start with more specific vocabulary.

And when I say specific vocabulary, what I mean is it should be extremely relevant to your life. For example, talking about the animals, if you really love animals and you, for example, often read books about different animals, different species, then okay, go for it. You will probably use all of these new words you have just learned. But for example, talking about myself, I know that it's not that important to learn all the different animals in English because it's just not a part of my life.

So, if I was a beginner, this is what I would do. I would try to analyze my life. For example, what do I usually do every day? Who do I usually spend my time with? And I will start creating simple sentences about my life. And this way, you will see all of the vocabulary you might be lacking. For example, right now I have a little fracture in my right foot, and that's why I think it's very important for me to be able to talk about it in English and in Spanish as well, because I, I'm learning Spanish right now. So even though maybe some teachers will say, "Oh my God, this vocabulary is way too advanced for you," there is not such a thing as too advanced or not too advanced because if this is something I need and I need this vocabulary right now, then I should learn it. I should learn how to say "fracture" in English and in Spanish. I should learn how to describe what I'm feeling and how I'm feeling.

And this is very much connected to what I'm about to say next. You should focus on the speaking from the very beginning, from the get-go. Usually, if you are a beginner, you might feel a little bit scared to speak English or Spanish or any other language because you lack vocabulary, essential vocabulary, and also you feel scared, right? It's a completely new language for you, and you don't really know how to structure sentences correctly. However, that's exactly why you should start from the very beginning. Start with simple sentences.

A few weeks ago, I watched this video on YouTube, and a girl gave a very good tip. You should try grabbing your phone and setting a timer for like a minute and start speaking. Just set a timer for a minute and speak for a minute. Guys, I can assure you, at the very beginning, it's going to be very hard for you to speak the language for a minute. And then you can increase the time. You can set a two-minute timer, a three-minute timer, a five-minute timer, etc. And this way, it's like a game. You will always be leveling up. And that's exactly something that I am doing right now to learn Spanish, and I think it is the best thing I'm doing for my Spanish right now.

In the moment, I feel a little bit shy, and I feel like I don't know anything. I feel like I forgot all the words. But that's exactly why you should be doing during this exercise at home by yourself when you feel comfortable. Usually, what I do is I open up my computer, for example, while simultaneously holding my phone, and then I open Google Translate. And then, for example, okay, right now I want to talk about my foot, right? How my right foot is feeling, what happened, how did I break a bone there? So then I'm realizing that I don't know how to say "break a bone" in Spanish. And that's why I go to Google Translate and I translate this phrase so that I could have some bullet points to use later when I am speaking Spanish with my phone.

Once you're past the stage of speaking the language to yourself with your phone, you can try taking classes, online classes with teachers, for example, on italki. That's an extremely famous website, and this is where I'm taking my Spanish classes. Or if you feel like a traditional classroom kind of stylist mode for you, or if you feel like you're not ready to talk to a teacher yet, you can try speaking clubs because speaking clubs are a lot more informal, and their main goal is for you guys to meet new people and become less afraid to speak the language.

And good news, right now you can register for my speaking club. I only open registrations once a month, so right now is the time for you guys to register. If you join my speaking club, you will have eight meetings in one month, so two meetings a week. If you can attend a meeting because of work or family, or maybe you got sick, it's absolutely okay because you will have a recording to watch later. I believe that the best part about my speaking club is definitely the sense of community. We have people from all over the world there, and all the students are extremely motivated to improve their speaking skills. Plus, you also get feedback from me because I'm in the main group chat, I'm always there to help you. So if you want to join my speaking club, all you need to do is click the link in the description. The registrations will be open for just one week, so make sure to do it right now.

Now, let's talk about grammar. And I think a lot of people might hate me for what I'm about to say, but you know, that's life. And that's something that I would do if I was a beginner in English right now. I would not spend a lot of money on grammar books, and I would not even spend that much time at the beginning on grammar. Yes, grammar is important, and grammar is how we create sentences in English, right? Because when you understand grammar, you can create correct sentences in English. And obviously, I hope you guys want to speak correct English. You don't want to be making a lot of grammar mistakes, and I hear you. However, usually at the very beginning, grammar is quite taunting. Grammar is something very difficult, adult, and a very complicated something you even need help with. So that's why, for example, taking a class with a teacher or joining a speaking club might be a good option.

I just remember how at the very beginning of my English learning journey, I was spending so much time on just grammar drills, you know, guys, this traditional grammar book with all the exercises. And again, I'm not hating on grammar books, they are amazing. I just don't like when all the learning happens there. And that's something that I did, and now in hindsight, I know that it wasn't really helping me. What I would do instead is I would only focus on grammar if I needed grammar. For example, let's go back to my foot example, right? My right foot is now broken, so obviously to describe the situation, I will have to talk about the past, right? I will have to talk about how I broke my foot, what happened, and where I was. So as you can see, this is all connected to simple past in English. So that's a great way for you guys to improve your grammar and use it immediately, right? For example, you're like, "Oh, I'm not sure how to use simple past in English." Maybe I should just Google. And fortunately, guys, there are so many websites that explain the grammar rules extremely well. And also on YouTube, you can just go on YouTube and watch an explanation video. And then once you have learned the grammar rule, try to use it.

For example, what I would do is I would talk about my foot, where I broke it, for example, when I was on a trip to Tasco, which is a small town in Mexico. How I broke it, I jumped off a rock and I kicked the rock really hard, and unfortunately, that's how I broke my right foot. I mean, I didn't break the whole foot, just a bone, the fifth in my right foot, which was a pretty painful fracture. However, it's quite common. So that's it. That's basically all I have to learn and know about this whole situation. And as you can see, guys, I have been talking for a minute, wow, describing my food situation. But for example, if you were to take an italki class or you would be talking to students in the speaking club, obviously they would be asking your more questions. So then they probably would be asking you, "Oh, why should you go to Tasco? What did you do there?" So again, more vocabulary for you to learn.

The next thing I would do is I would choose the accent from the very beginning. Basically, what happened to me is I didn't really know that it was important or I didn't know which accent I wanted to learn. So I was just learning everything. And as you guys probably know, the problem with English is that in American English, there are certain words that are complete, completely different in British English, or for example, that people don't even use in British English. So that's why I think for me, again, what I would do is I would focus on the American English from the very beginning, on the pronunciation, on the accent, because it's completely different, and that would save me so much time, and I wouldn't be speaking with this kind of mix of accents.

I think it's especially important for a person who already knows that they kind of maybe want to move to the United States or they want to move to Great Britain. So that's why for them, this type of English is more important. Of course, it's important to understand different accents in English. However, you don't have to master all of them. I can only speak with the American accent, and I'm still improving it day by day. I don't want to be spending my time right now on learning all the rules of the British accent just because I don't need it. I understand British English when people from Great Britain speak to me. I can talk to them, but it doesn't mean that I have to have the same accent.

And something that is very connected to learning the accent of a specific country is the slang of this country. And that's why I want you guys to focus on a specific accent, so then later on focus on the slang of this country. Slang is so important to learn because that's usually how the majority of people in that country speak. For example, when it comes to the United States, so many people use slang and informal expressions all the time. And you might be wondering, "Okay, Veronica, I don't live in the States. How can I learn all of these informal expressions of slang? Like, what should I do?" And the answer is pretty simple. You should just watch YouTubers who live in those countries. And especially if you could find YouTubers who are native speakers, that would be even better. Because usually what happens is you turn on a video, it's even better if it's like a lifestyle video, something that is extremely informal. And guys, believe me, you will hear and you will learn so many slang expressions.

Because the truth is, slang expressions come and go, especially right now because of TikTok and social media. We have so many expressions that are not permanent, right? Maybe people use them right now, but maybe in five years, everyone will forget about these expressions. And it's completely normal. However, there are obviously certain expressions that are informal and the native speakers still use all the time consistently. So basically, YouTube will be your best friend here.

Okay, so now I have my YouTubers and I have my YouTube videos. So what would I do next? I would sometimes practice this technique called shadowing. And I know for some people, it's a little bit overwhelming to shadow everything after the YouTuber, for example, to repeat every single phrase. That's the idea behind shadowing. So that's why I wouldn't really do that. If you feel a little bit shy or kind of weird to be repeating every single sentence, then don't. Just repeat certain words.

To give you guys a more concrete example, I follow this girl on YouTube. Her name is Alicia Marie, and she posts a lot of lifestyle videos, which are perfect for learning informal expressions, for learning slang. So what I'm gonna do right now is I'm going to click on her most recent video and just take a look. Let's do it together. Like, at least that, I don't like my password. I don't look like this. Okay, see, even at the very beginning, we have only watched like the first 14 seconds of it, and she said, "because I don't look like my passport." And it's a great kind of phrase or sentence in English, and it's pretty informal because obviously what she wanted to say was, "I don't look like the picture in my passport." But you don't need to say this whole phrase because you're speaking informally. So all she said was, "because I don't look like my passport, so they wouldn't let me on the plane." Again, when it comes to repeating after the YouTuber, I would definitely save this sentence out loud because it's a pretty useful one. And again, her videos are just so fun, so informal, a lot of slang, and you get to see how Americans speak English in real life.

And of course, I wouldn't be Veronica without talking about books at least a little bit because I absolutely love reading, and of course, I love reading in English too. So I think one thing that I would do if I were to start learning English from the very beginning is I would definitely read out loud a lot more. The reason why I say that is when you read out loud, you actually remember a lot more information, and plus you improve your pronunciation. However, guys, when you are reading, don't try to stop at every single word you don't know, right? Because I don't want you to have like a whole page highlighted like, "Oh my God, there are so many words I don't know." If this is the case, then maybe this book is a little bit hard for you, so you should try picking something else. But when you do pick something that is a little bit easier to understand, still, it has to be enjoyable. So I'll just grab my book and I would just read out loud, pretending that I'm reading to someone else or pretending that I can read beautifully in English. And usually, it works the best when you're by yourself, when you know no one is listening to you, no one is watching you, because then you can be just completely relaxed.

So I think that's going to be pretty much it for this video. These are all the things I would do if today I had to learn English from scratch, from the very beginning. And guys, to be completely honest, these are all the things that I am using right now to learn Spanish because a few months ago, I think around like six months ago, I had to start learning Spanish from scratch because when I was a kid, I never learned Spanish. So only once I moved to Mexico, I was like, "Okay, it's time for me to learn Spanish."

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