27073679 how to learn english like a native speaker

How To Use This Book To Improve Your English

Read the articles. Use the word list, and a dictionary, for difficultwords.

Read each article many times. Review difficult words in arelaxed way. Don’t try hard to memorize or study.

Listen to the audio while reading. Do this many times for eacharticle.

Listen to each article many times, without reading. Overlearn!Listen until the article feels easy.

Send this book to friends who are learning English. Share theinformation :)

How To Learn EnglishLike A Native Speaker

by A.J. Hoge, MA TESOL

www.effortlessenglish.com

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by A.J. Hoge, Director of The Effortless English Program

Why do some students learn English so easily -- while you try every-thing and learn slowly? What if there was a way you could learn 15%,25% -- even 50% faster, how would your life change?

If you could read just one article or book about how to learn Englishlike a native speaker, this is it. Read all of this E-book and change theway you study English.

"Fantastic, absolutely amazing! A.J., your teaching method isgreat. The results are great ... my test scores improved faster thananyone else in my class."

-- Karin, student in San Francisco, California

If you are learning English to...

*communicate with native speakers

*raise your iBT TOEFL score

*understand English books and articles

*understand English TV and movies

*make new English-speaking friends

... you are about to learn the most important truth about how to makean effective English study plan.

What is the most important method for English learning? If youasked what would give you more English than any other method, Iwould tell you, definitely -- it's the ability to understand nativeEnglish speakers. That's because the most important part of learningEnglish is.... listening.

program: n. system, course,school

article: n. newspaper ormagazine story; universityresearch report.way: n. method, how some-thing is done

method: n. how somethingis done, wayscores: n. results, numbersnative: adj. original, born ina certain place/country

raise: v. increaseiBT: n. Internet-based Test(Test of English as a ForeignLanguage)

English-speaking: adj. ableto speak Englishabout to: adv. soontruth: n. facteffective: adj. successful;works wellmethod: n. way of doingsomethingdefinitely: adv. 100% surely;absolutelynative English speakers: n.people born in an Englishspeaking country

Effortless English“So You Want To Improve Your English"

How To Learn English Like a Native Speaker


Listen closely. You could spend a lot of money on English schools,textbooks, CDs, and websites -- but all that study isn't going to help ifyou can't understand English, because you won't be able to use any-thing you learn.

In the next 5 minutes, I'll show you how to easily learn the skill of lis-tening to increase your English skill 20%, 30%, or even 50%.

Here are a few things you'll learn when you read this E-book:

* Why 99.9% of English schools fail -- how they break rules ofEnglish learning -- and so fail to teach their students successfully.

* Why grammar study does not work -- and why it can kill yourspeaking ability.

* How to increase your vocabulary -- and remember it after you study.

* How to understand more -- and then speak English automatically.

There is a science to learning English. And there are rules about howto best learn the language. When these rules are followed, anyonecan be successful.

This is an incredible opportunity for you to learn a better way -- butonly if you take it. Your first step is to read all of this E-book. Pleaseread carefully -- I don't want you to miss a word-- because when Iexplain English learning for you, you cannot fail. You will improveyour listening, vocabulary, speaking, grammar, and iBT TOEFLscores.

"A.J. is a wonderful teacher. My English ability is much better afterfollowing his course. My vocabulary is growing, I understand more,and I'm actually enjoying English!"

-- Nom, Korean student, San Francisco.

The True Power of Language Learning

Interesting and understandable English is the key to learning English.Real and interesting English gives you power to learn -- and real,understandable English has the power to completely change yourEnglish.

The best English learners are children, of course. Why? Because theydon't study grammar and they don't learn from textbooks. They learn

closely: adv. carefully

skill: n. ability; somethingyou can do well

break rules: v. don’t followrules; don’t obey

does not work: v. is notsuccessful

automatically: adv. withouttrying, without effort

opportunity: n. chance;possibility

explain: v. teach, talk about

iBT: n. internet Based Test

course: n. class; teachingprogram

the key: n. the most impor-tant idea

textbooks: n. school books


first from listening-- then later from listening and reading.

The most powerful English learners are children and the older stu-dents who copy children's methods. They speak like native speakers.They have excellent pronunciation. They learn vocabulary quickly andeasily. They understand grammar automatically.

Why Most Students Fail

You would think that because there are so many books about learningEnglish, most students must have great English skill. This isn't true.

There are many students who know grammar rules, but very few stu-dents can actually use English.

MYTH: The best way to learn English is to study grammar. Wrong!

Just because someone knows grammar, doesn't mean they are goodat English. Here's a surprise: Students who know a lot of grammarare usually worse at English than those who don't study grammar.That's because grammar rules confuse them. Grammar rules preventthem from being fluent. Children don't learn English by studyinggrammar- you shouldn't either.

What most people don't know is that grammar "rules" are not reallyrules. The rules you learn in textbooks are confusing, too difficult, oreven wrong. They confuse you.

Therefore, learning more grammar will not improve your English.Simply studying vocabulary words won't help either.

"Did you know that grammar study can actually kill your Englishability?"

Why? Because grammar study slows your brain. It confuses you. Itmakes you think about English, instead of speaking automatically.This is a proven fact. Grammar study and textbooks are noteffective. They cause you to think about English. They make youtranslate English-- what you want to do is use English easily, withoutthinking.

Therefore, to learn English like a native speaker, you need some-thing else.

methods: n. ways; howsomething is donenative: adj. original, from(born in) a country or place

myth: n. lie; a story or beliefthat is not true. surprise: n. something notexpected; something shock-ingconfuse: v. make you feelstupid; make your thoughtsunclearprevent: v. stopfluent: adj. speaking fastand easilyconfusing: adj. causes yourthoughts to be unclear; caus-es you to feel stupidconfuse: v. make you feelstupid; make your thoughtsunclear

proven: adj. 100%; definite;has evidencenot effective: adj. not suc-cessful; doesn’t worktranslate: v. to think in yourlanguage and then change itto English (and vice versa)


Secrets of an English Teacher

My name is A.J Hoge. I started teaching English 10 years ago when Iworked in Korea, teaching children. Over the past 10 years, I'vetaught both children and adults. I've taught at Universities in TheUnited States (Lanier Technical College & IIC-SF), Thailand(Thammasat University), and Japan (Hirodai University). I have aMasters Degree in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of OtherLanguages).

When teaching in Japan, I saw that most students learn slowly. After 5years of English, they could not speak English. They could not com-municate. They could not understand me.

But I also saw a few different students. These few learned quickly.They understood me. They talked to me easily. They enjoyed English.Their grammar was better, their vocabulary was better, their testscores were better.

I asked myself, "Why are these few students so much better? Whatare they doing differently?" I asked all of my students questions too. Iasked them how they studied. I asked them what they studied. Ilearned why some students improved easily and quickly, but mostfailed.

"During the time that he was an instructor in Lanier TechnicalCollege’s Adult ESL program, A.J. proved himself to be most capableand effective. " -- Flo Smith, Director, Lanier Technical College

After Japan, I studied students more carefully. I interviewed hundredsof students. I read research articles. I talked to people who spoke 3,4,-- even 9 languages. I wanted to find the secret to learning English.

At the end of 2006, I knew I had the answer. I finally had enoughknowledge and experience. I knew why a few students succeeded,but most others failed.

In August 2006, I started my own English teaching program. I wantedto teach English successfully. I wanted to help students truly learnEnglish.

"A.J. is an enthusiastic and energetic teacher. I highly recommendA.J. " --Dr. Brenda Murphy

taught: v. teach (past tense)adults: n. people over 18years old

improved: v. got better

an instructor: n. a teacher(usually at a college or uni-versity)ESL: n. English as a SecondLanguagecapable: adj. good, skillful,effective, successfulinterviewed: v. to ask peo-ple a lot of questionsresearch: n.(adj.) scientificstudy

knowledge: n. information

program: n. system, school,course

enthusiastic: adj. excitedand positive

The Birth of Effortless English

I started my English teaching program because most schools fail.There are too many students who do not learn English-- because theyare using bad textbooks and going to bad schools.

I wanted to help the millions of English students who want to learnEnglish faster -- and better.

I used all of my teaching and research experience and made ...

... Effortless English -- a special English teaching class that uses onlyreal English articles, movies, books, and audio (sound).

Effortless English uses English teaching secrets that work.

The First Classes Were Full!

I finally started in August 2006. Only a few students could join, andmy classes were full immediately! In fact, so many students wanted tojoin, I had to say "no" to many.

Here's what I gave:

* The incredible Way to Learn Vocabulary and Grammar Without HardWork-- TPRS. TPRS is "Teaching Proficiency through Reading andStorytelling". It is a simple but amazing technique for teachingEnglish. Story lessons teach grammar and vocabulary quickly andeasily. Research shows that this technique is more effective thannormal textbooks or classes.

* The "Overlearning" method that helps students use English auto-matically. Most schools make the same mistake-- they don't repeatand review enough. Their students never really learn the lesson.

* How to use real English to increase vocabulary, understanding, andgrammar-- without trying to study!

* How to learn English in a relaxing way by enjoying interesting arti-cles about interesting topics. No stress, no worry.

millions: n. 1,000,000s

effortless: adj. (very) easy

work: v. to be successful, tobe effective

join: v. become a member(of a group), work with, signup with

lessons: n. classes

proficiency: n. skill, abilitystorytelling: n. telling stories;)technique: n. way, method;how something is donelessons: n. classesresearch: n. scientific studymore effective than: adj.better than; more successfulthanoverlearning: n. learning“too much”; learning morethan seems necessary

relaxing: adj. no-stress;easy and comfortable


* How my best students learn, how they study -- and how they learnEnglish faster and better than other students.

* How to avoid grammar study and instead learn grammar like chil-dren-- naturally.

* Why you should never study grammar rules -- and how it can hurtyour speaking.

* How to use "Context-switching" to learn vocabulary faster."Context-switching" means learning the same word from more thanone place.

* Why you should never study vocabulary books, or try to memorizelong lists of vocabulary words. True vocabulary learning must be fromreal, interesting stories, conversations, movies, and articles.

* How to use writing to remember vocabulary better-- writing is thefinal step in learning vocabulary.

*How to raise your iBT TOEFL score 20%, 30%, --or even 40%

* What research shows is the most effective way to learn English--“Comprehensible Input”. Methods that use "Comprehensible Input",such as Effortless English, are 20-50% more effective than normalprograms.

* Why it is best to learn from real English books, articles, audio, andmovies-- textbooks and English classes do not use real English.

So you see, I used everything I've learned to make the EffortlessEnglish program. Honestly, there isn't another program that canincrease your English faster.


to avoid: v. to stay awayfrom; to not donaturally: adj. effortlessly;following nature

context: n. situationswitching: v. changingplace: n. source; location

memorize: v. remember(exactly)articles: n. stories (in news-papers, magazines, andresearch journals)

step: n. action

raise: v. increase; get big-ger/more

comprehensible: adj.understandable; can beunderstoodinput: n. something thatcomes in (to your brain)methods: ways; techniques

audio: n. sound (recordings)

program: n. system, school,courseprice: n. cost; amount youpay

"A.J., thanks so much. Before taking your course, my English wasterrible. I had no confidence. I didn't think I could learn English, ever.Now I'm learning fast. I feel confident and I love English. Comparedto my classmates at school, I'm learning much faster than them."

-–Atsuko, student in Hiroshima, Japan

Learn English Whenever and Wherever You Want -- and at alower cost!

The internet has made it possible to learn English, anytime and any-where-- without spending a lot of money. You can find conversationpartners, text & audio articles, and English lessons very easily.Obviously, you don’t need expensive schools and textbooks anymoreto learn English. Use the internet!

For example, I've made an Effortless English Internet Club so.....

* members can learn at their speed, whenever they want;

*members can learn anywhere, wherever they want;

* members don't need to spend a lot of money on classes or text-books;

...but members still benefit from my Effortless English program.

Yes, the program on The Effortless English Club site is the same I usein my classes. My classes are expensive, they must be. Students pay$300 a month for my classes here in San Francisco. But learning withthe internet is more convenient and less expensive.

Here's What Members Won't Be Getting

Now that you've seen what membersl get from The Effortless EnglishClub , here's what members won't get:

* You won't learn boring and difficult grammar rules. You won't be con-fused.

* You won't do boring activities. You won't study textbook English.

* You won't listen to fake (not natural) conversations. No one uses theEnglish in textbooks. No one.

course: n. classconfidence: n. strong (pow-erful) feeling; feeling you canbe successfulconfident: adj. feelingstrong and successful

benefit: v. be helped; getgood results

an hour: adv. per hour; each60 minutesMP3s: n. sound files, audiofiles (play with iTunes orMP3 player)


How Much Do You Really Need To Pay?

The truth is, English schools are too expensive. Yes, my students arewilling to pay $300 a month-- $3600 a year, or more, to learn with me.They are happy to pay instead of going to boring schools that don'twork. But its not necessary to pay that much.

"If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it awayfrom him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best inter-est."

-- Benjamin Franklin

You don't have to pay $3,600 for The Effortless English Club or forany other internet program. The Effortless EnglishClub is only $57a year-- for example. This is a special Beta Test price, but the finalprice will still be only $87-117 a year.

But my site isn’t the only one. There are many good English teachingsystems on the internet. For example, The Linguist is an excellentsystem that is very successfu, and they charge only $480 a year. Youcan find language partners on KanTalk.com for free. And there aremore. Investigate them. The internet is the future of English learn-ing.

"I spent years going to English schools. I wasted so much money andtime. I'm so happy I found A.J."

--Tip, student, Bangkok Thailand

Everyone Cannot Join But ...

Right now, Effortless English is in “Beta Test”. We are full and I’m notaccepting more new members.

However, you can still find other good internet programs or you canstill make your own Effortless English study plan. The best Englishlearners follow their own plan and use real English materials-- nottextbooks.

"I'm happy I joined A.J.’s program. Its great to see it growing so quick-ly. I hope more people will learn English the Effortless Way!

--Gabriel, student, Gainesville, Georgia


purse: n. money holder;moneyinvestment: n. money youpay to get more money laterinterest: n. percent increase

your price is only $57: youpay only $57discount: n. special lowerpriceBeta Test: n. a new website-not open to everyone yetdevelop: v. to improve, tomake, to create

investigate: v. learn about;research

waste: v. to spend moneybut get nothing

Beta Test: n. a new websitethat is not open to the publicyet

Effortless: adj. easy; does-n’t require hard work

You Can Expect Immediate Results When You Change Methods

Remember: When you use the Effortless English way, you will imme-diately start learning English like a native speaker.

You’re tired of struggling with English, aren’t you?

Most English students spend years going to school, studying gram-mar, memorizing vocabulary-- but still can't use English. If you arereading this, you want to really learn and use English- like a nativespeaker.

When you decide that you want to change the way you learn, don'twait. Take action. Find an internet program that uses an EffortlessEnglish method. Or make your own Effortless English study plan.

Don't miss this chance.

The important thing is don’t continue to use old study methods.Change the way you learn, and change the results. Learn Englishlike a native speaker.

I wish you success and happiness in your English learning,

A.J. Hoge, MS TESOL

Director, Effortless English

Learn More

The Effortless English Clubhttp://www.effortlessenglish.com

The Linguisthttp://www.thelinguist.com

KanTalkhttp://www.kantalk.com


native speaker: n. someoneborn in a country where thelanguage is spokenstruggling: v. trying veryhard; fightingproof: n. evidence, knownfactisn’t it?: (tag question) youagree?, don’t you agree?memorizing: v. remember-ing (exactly)

chance: n. opportunity, pos-sibility

Effortless EnglishWhy Grammar Is Bad

harmful: something thathurts or damagesability: skillcommunicating: using andunderstanding; giving infor-mationafter years of study: afterstudying for many years;after studying a long time

hesitant: not sure; stopsand starts often; pauses andthinks oftenbroken: incomplete; slowwith many mistakesstressed: worried; feeling alot of stress

useless: not helpfulconfident: strong and sure

convinced that: sure thatthe key to: the solution to;the best way tomemorizing: to study andremember exactlyfail to: do not (do) some-thingfluent: speak without stop-ping a lot; quick and naturalspeechrecommend: give advice;suggestdefinition: meaninginsanity: craziness

Podcast Date: November 16, 2006

All Sound Files Available At:http://www.effortlessenglish.libsyn.com

Grammar study is harmful. Grammar study will hurt your Englishability. Do not study grammar.

If you have problems communicating in English, after years ofstudy, its probably because you study grammar.

If you have problems understanding English, after years of study, itsprobably because you study grammar.

If your English is hesitant, broken, and slow, its probably becauseyou study grammar.

If you are nervous and stressed by English, its probably because youstudy grammar.

If you hate English, English teachers, and English class, its probablybecause you study grammar.

Stop studying grammar. Grammar is not only useless- it is actuallyharmful. Grammar study will cause you to learn more slowly, under-stand less quickly, and feel less confident.

Most students, of course, believe the opposite. They are convincedthat grammar is the key to learning English. They spend yearsmemorizing grammar rules. They spend years listening to teachersexplain grammar. They spend years reading grammar textbooks.

Teachers, textbooks, and schools all tell the student the same thing-you need more grammar; you must study grammar. When their stu-dents fail to improve, fail to communicate, fail to use English, and failto become fluent- the schools recommend more of the same- gram-mar, grammar, and more grammar.

The famous definition of insanity is- "doing the same thing, but


expecting: thinking some-thing will happen (in thefuture)insane: crazyprovides: givesoverwhelms: is too muchfor; does too much; defeatsto analyze: to examine care-fully (consciously)interferes with: prevents;stops; causes problems forillustrate: showharm: hurt; damagestranger: someone youdon’t knowwill do: will be OKto pick: to chooseclassic: perfect; usual; tradi-tionalunconscious: not thinkingabout something directly;indirect thinkingmental: thinking; minddetailed: carefulpicking: choosingout of a group: from agroupconsciously thinking:directly thinking about; think-ing in wordseffortless: without trying instinctive: naturalto explain it: talk about itseparate: remove you fromforces you: makes youinterferes with: stops; pre-vents; causes problems forso much trouble: so muchdifficulty


expecting a different result". By this rule, most English schools andteachers are insane.

But why? Why is grammar study harmful? The answer is that gram-mar study provides too much unnecessary information. It over-whelms your brain's ability to learn the language. Grammar rulesforce you to analyze the language-- and that interferes with yourbrain's natural ability to learn and understand it- without effort.

Malcolm Gladwell, in his book Blink, gave the following example toillustrate the harm caused by too much unnecessary information:

"Let me give you a very simple example of this. Picture, in your mind,the face of the person who sat next to you on the bus today. Anystranger whom you've seen recently will do. Now, if I were to askyou to pick that person out of a line of people, could you do it? I'msure you could. Recognizing someone's face is a classic exampleof unconscious mental ability. We don't have to think about it.

But imagine I were to ask you to take a pen and paper and writedown a detailed description of what that person looks like. Describetheir face. What color was their hair? What were they wearing?Believe it or not, you will now do a lot worse at picking that face outof a group. This is because the act of consciously thinking aboutand describing a face has the effect of hurting your normally effort-less ability to recognize that face. We all have instinctive (natural)memory for faces. But by forcing you to analyze and describe thatmemory-- to explain it-- I separate you from your natural ability."

Grammar study does the same thing that describing a face does-- itforces you to analyze and explain the language-- and therefore hurtsyour natural ability to learn the language effortlessly. The problemwith grammar study is that it interferes with your natural languagelearning ability- an ability that is very powerful- but unconscious. Byforcing you to EXPLAIN English, the teacher actually hurts your abilityto LEARN English.

This is why so many advanced students, after years of study, stillhave so much trouble understanding and using English. Every timethey want to say something, they first think about it consciously. Theymay even think in their native language first, then translate to English,then analyze the sentence for grammar mistakes, and then-- finally--say it. Therefore, their speech is very slow, very hesitant, and veryunnatural.

Its even worse with listening. When listening, there is no time forconscious thinking and analyzing. You must be able to understand

INSTANTLY. If you must think about the language; if you must ana-lyze the grammar; if you must translate-- you will soon be lost. Yourgrammar study makes it impossible for your unconscious mind to dowhat it is supposed to do-- understand instantly and naturally.

So what can you do? If you have spent years learning grammar, butstill have trouble with real spoken English, is it possible to improve?Is it possible to communicate naturally? Is it possible to free yourunconscious brain and learn to understand, and speak, effortlessly?

The answer is yes.

But it will take time. The first step is to stop studying grammar- imme-diately. No more textbooks. No more grammar classes.

The next step is to follow a method of massive authentic input."Authentic" means real, and by input I mean listening and reading. Inother words, you must listen to and read as much real, interestingEnglish as possible. By real English I mean real articles, books,movies, essays, podcasts and conversations. Authentic English isnot made for English students- its designed for fluent English speak-ers.

If you want to understand and speak real English with real Englishspeakers-- you must get real English input-- not textbook English, notteacher English. Its OK to use dictionaries and learning guides tounderstand the material-- as long as its real material. Ideally, youshould spend at least one hour every day listening to and reading realEnglish material. You should choose material that is interesting toyou. You should enjoy it-- and feel relaxed while you listen and read.

After many months of authentic input, you can add the final step:communicate with interesting, real people. When you communicate,you should focus on expressing ideas, opinions, and feelings-- noton following "rules". Your speech and understanding will naturallyimprove over time. Just focus on communicating.

In fact, if you follow the Effortless Way, your grammar will alsoimprove- naturally. But you must not study grammar and you mustnot think about it.

Do not overload your brain with too much unnecessary information.Follow an effortless approach, and let your brain do what it does best-- learn naturally.

If you have been studying grammar a long time, it may take sometime for you to improve. But you will improve.

instantly: immediately; veryquickly; without taking timebe lost: be confused

supposed to do: should do

effortlessly: without tryinghard; easily; in a relaxed way

method: way of doing some-thingmassive: a lot; a hugeamount ofauthentic: real; natural

designed for: created for;made for

learning guides: studyguide; study materialmaterial: books, movies,etc.Ideally: In a perfect situa-tion; the best thing to do

step: actionexpressing: saying, commu-nicatingfocus on: concentrate on;think about

Way: method; how to dosomething

overload your brain: giveyour brain too much informa-tion


eventually: sometime; atsome time in the future

And, if you continue with an effortless learning method, you will even-tually learn to communicate easily and naturally in English.

You will also have a lot more fun.

Learn More:

Automatic Language Growthhttp://www.algworld.com

Blink, by Malcolm Gladwellhttp://www.amazon.com/Blink-Power-Thinking-Without/dp/0316010669/sr=8-2/qid=1163716068/ref=pd_bbs_2/102-0413950-9037745?ie=UTF8&s=books

Second Language Acquisition, by Dr. Stephen Krashenhttp://www.sdkrashen.com/SL_Acquisition_and_Learning/index.html

The Focal Skills Language Learning Approachhttp://www.su.edu/icfs/essenfeat/feature.2.htm


frustrate: anger (caused byfailure)communicate: speak andunderstandwell: goodknew: know (past tense)industry: business; fieldhuge: very very biginternational: for manycountries; crossing manycountriespublishing: book making;printingchain: a company with manystores independent: separate; onlyone; not owned by othersabroad: in another countrynecessary: very important;must be donesystem: way of doing some-thingguarantee: promise (100%)hope: wishes; good expecta-tionsnative: someone born in acountryabroad: in another countryVenezuelan: a person fromVenezuela (in SouthAmerica)intensive: powerful; concen-trated; a lot in a short timeintensive English school:school that teaches English20+ hours a weekway: method; how to dosomethingblames: accuses; sayssomeone is wrong

Publish Date: December 31, 2006

More Sound (Audio) Archives Available At:http://www.effortlessenglish.libsyn.com

Does it frustrate you that you still can’t communicate with Englishwell? Does it make you angry that you could be learning muchfaster-- if you knew how?

The English industry is a huge international business. It includespublishing companies, big chain schools, independent schools,study abroad programs, high schools, and universities. English is bigbusiness.

Its also a business that grows from failure. In America, in Japan, inTaiwan, in all the world-- most English schools fail their students.Students spend hundreds and thousands of dollars on books andclasses. They are told the cost is necessary. They are told that theclass has a “special” system that will guarantee success.

All over the world, good students spend huge amounts of money-hoping the English industry is right.

They start class full of hope. They want to learn English. They hopeto speak to native speakers someday. They may hope to studyabroad. They may hope to get a better job. They may hope to makenew friends. They may hope to live in America or Canada and makea new life.

But what usually happens?

A Venezuelan student told me that English schools are “killers ofhope”. He studied at an intensive English school for one year. Atthe end of the year he still “couldn’t understand or use any English”.Luckily, he found a better way. But many students never do.

The English industry never blames itself. Schools never say theirteaching methods are failures. They blame you, the student; andmaybe you blame yourself. Schools say you didn’t work hard

The Failure of the English Industry


Effortless English

enough. They say you need to continue with classes. Eventually, youmight think “English is impossible”.

You, however, are not the problem. The school is the problem. The textbooks are the problem. Most schools say they teach “naturalEnglish”, but actually they do not. Most schools use a grammar-analysis way of teaching. They teach students to memorize compli-cated grammar rules. They teach students to memorize long lists oftranslated vocabulary. They use unnatural conversations and boringactivities. They use tests.

Research shows that these ways of teaching are failures. They donot work. They are not successful for most students. It is not thestudent that is failing, it is the school and the textbook.

The good news is that you CAN learn English like a native speaker.You can succeed. You can learn to understand native speakers. Youcan learn to talk with them. You can get a high TOEFL or TOEICscore. You can really learn English.

You can succeed- you only need to change the way you learn.Change your study method to change your results.

What way should you use? What does research say is best? What isactually successful?

The research says an input method is best. This means you shouldlisten to and read real English. It means you should focus on input,reading and listening, that you understand.

You should listen one hour, or more, to English everyday. You shouldalso read every day, but not textbooks. You should read fun andinteresting things. You should read real English-- children’s books,adolescent novels, comic books, articles, magazines, and novels.You should get things that seem just a little bit easy.

If you do this every day, in a relaxed way, you will succeed. If youfocus on real English input, not fake textbook English, you will suc-ceed. You will improve faster. You will enjoy English more. You willincrease your test scores.

And you will do this without spending a lot of money.

Learn More:

Language Learning Researchhttp://sdkrashen.com

grammar-analysis: carefulstudy of separate grammarrules; focus on memorizinggrammar rulesmemorize: to remember(exactly)complicated: not simple;very difficult and complextranslated: changed fromone language to another lan-guageunnatural: not natural; notsimpleresearch: careful study; aca-demic study; experimentswork: are successful; func-tionmethod: way of doing some-thingresults: effects; outcome;what happeninput: something that comesin (ex. listening and reading)input method: way of learn-ing that uses mostly listeningand reading

adolescent: 12-14 year oldchildrencomic books: books withpictures and wordsarticles: short informationstoriesnovels: story books (usuallylong)relaxed: no stressfocus on: concentrate on;think aboutfake: not realimprove: get betterincrease: become more; gethigher


Listening is the most important part of learning a new language.Listening is how babies first learn their native language. Listening iswhere speaking ability comes from. Listening is (mostly) how youlearn the new language.

Yes, we all want to speak. But speaking will improve from input--reading and listening.

Therefore, I always tell my students to LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN alot. I tell them to download podcasts, audio articles, and audiobooks. I tell them to buy the DVD of a TV show and watch it againand again and again.

When I say "listening" I mean repetitive listening. You need to listento the same thing many times. The first time you listen to something,you may not understand much. But if you read the same thing andfind the meaning of unknown words... then listen to it many timeseveryday- you will rapidly begin to understand it.

Then something else magical happens. A few of the phrases stick inyour brain... with no effort.

Steve Kaufman, who speaks 9 languages, says this about listening:

"All kinds of listening will help you improve your listening ability.However, it is best to listen to the same thing many times. This waythe new words and phrases will become a part of you. If you are alsostudying new words and phrases, you will notice them while listening.Soon you will be able to use them. They will become a part of you.

If you do a little bit at a time, you will be surprised how quickly it addsup to an hour. Remember that the time listening replaces time in aclassroom. You have more freedom if you take your listening with you.This is more useful than a lot of classroom study. Listen often tothings that you basically understand. Read the texts from time totime. Also make sure that you review the words and phrases that youhave saved. Then listen again."

native: first; where you werebornability: skill

improve: get betterinput: what comes in (to thebrain)

download: get from theinternetpodcasts: sound (MP3)shows; internet radio shows;internet radio articles; inter-net sound lessonsaudio articles: sound sto-riesaudio: soundrepetitive: repeatedunknown words: words youdon’t understandrapidly: quickly; fastmagical: amazing; incredi-ble; wonderfulphrases: groups of words;more than one wordstick: stay; don’t leaveeffort: trying; hard worknotice: hear or see; beaware of; recognizeadds up to: makes; is a totalofreplaces: is instead of; inplace oftexts: written wordsreview: look at again, readagain, study again


Effortless EnglishListening & Pronunciation

Just how can you improve English without difficult study? How canyou improve vocabulary, listening, grammar, and speaking withoutusing textbooks or expensive schools?

I hear these questions from many people. Of course, the basic ques-tion is, “How does The Effortless Way work?”

The Effortless English system comes from a lot of research. Theidea is-- language is learned from comprehensible input.Comprehensible means understandable- can be understood. Input, inthis case, means listening and reading. So, we learn a language byunderstanding phrases in that language. Its simple, right?

This happens to all babies. Our mom says, “mama, mama, mama”while smiling and holding us. Every day she says, “mama, mama,mama”. One day, when we accidently say something like “mama”,our mom laughs, cheers, and smiles. She is very happy. Eventuallywe understand that “mama” is the sound for our mother.

We quickly go from these simple messages to understanding sen-tences. For example, when mom says, “come to mama”-- if we movetowards mom, everybody laughs, cheers, and smiles. Now we under-stand that this sentence means “move towards mom”.

Once we learn a lot of this simple language, we are ready for moredifficult ideas. We begin to read- and that’s when our vocabulary andgrammar grow very quickly. We learn thousands of words every year.We don’t “study” most of these words. We never try to memorizethem. We learn them by reading. We understand their meaning fromcontext-- from the situation in the story. We understand them fromrepetition. By listening and reading to things we mostly understand,we can learn the parts we don’t know.

We learn most of our language this way.

This is how you will learn at Effortless English. My system has botheasy and fairly difficult articles, but I use several methods to makethem understandable.

difficult: hard

phrases: more than oneword; a group of wordssimple: easy; not hard; notcomplicated

accidently: by chance; with-out tryingcheers: yells (to celebrate);encourage

messages: communications

context: situationrepetition: doing the samething many times; again andagain

system: way of doing some-thingfairly: somewhat; a littlemethods: way of doingsomething; system; way


Effortless EnglishThe Effortless Way

First, I give the text for an article. By reading first, you can go slowlyand learn new words gradually. I have a word list with the text-which gives simple English meanings for the most difficult words andphrases. By reading the article many times and using the word list,you learn most of the new vocabulary without stress.

Next, you listen and read at the same time. This teaches you the cor-rect pronunciation of all words. It also starts to improve you listeningskill in a low-stress way.

The next step is an audio vocabulary discussion. I explain some ofthe difficult words and phrases. You listen to these lessons manytimes- which helps you learn the new vocabulary more deeply. Ialways encourage students to relax, listen, and enjoy.

Next are the mini-stories. The mini-story is, perhaps, the mostimportant lesson. This lesson helps you get a strong understanding ofthe vocabulary, and how to use it. For the mini-story, I choose 8 to10 words from the article. I then make a little story using these words.I tell the story three times. When I re-tell the story, I ask a lot of ques-tions. I ask you to repeat the story after me, using the new vocabu-lary. I ask you to listen to the mini-story many times.

The final step is for you to listen to the original article many times.Now you can understand a lot of it. You put it on you iPod and listento it during the day. You listen to it many times and learn vocabularyand grammar naturally.

Each step in the system is important. By following all the steps, youlearn English in a relaxed way. You improve your vocabulary, yourlistening, your grammar, and your speaking. You improve faster thanstudents who use textbooks and normal schools.

To really learn English like a native speaker, you need to use an inputsystem. You need to use a system like the Effortless Way. You don’tneed to join Effortless English, but you do need to read and listen toreal English. You need to do this a lot.

Throw away your textbooks. Save your money. Relax, use an effort-less method, and improve faster.

text: written wordsgradually: step by step; littleby little; not suddenly

stress: worry

audio: sounddiscussion: conversationexplain: teachlessons: teachings; classesdeeply: thoroughly; com-pletely; totally

mini: small; short; littleperhaps: maybechoose: pickre-tell: tell again; say again

original: first

relaxed: enjoyable; nostress; no worryimprove: get better

input: what comes in (listen-ing and reading)system: way of doing some-thing


Its 7 A.M. in the morning on Monday. You don’t feel like studyinganother English textbook or going to another English class; so youturn on your computer. While you sip coffee, you login to EffortlessEnglish and listen to a vocabulary discussion. You play it two times.

It’s now 7:30, and you’re feeling great because you understand a lot ofthe vocabulary. You have energy. You are ready for more.

Next, you leave home-- going to work. You have your iPod, and areyou are listening to the mini-story lesson now. It’s easy and fun. Youare really understanding the new vocabulary. You are understandingwithout trying. The story is funny and the lesson is easy to do. Yourepeat it quietly-- you are surprised that you remember so much. Yousmile. On the way to work, you repeat the lesson three times.

You get to work and do your job-- but during lunch you read the arti-cle. You already know some of the new words. You are relaxed asyou read and review the word list. The article is interesting, and yourealize you are actually enjoying English.

On the way home, you listen to the article on your iPod. Sometimesyou read and listen at the same time, sometimes you only listen. Thearticle is short, so you listen to it 5 or 6 times.

You understand more each time. You think, “If I do this everyday,English will become easy and automatic. I’ll be fluent.” You feelconfident. You know you are learning English like a native speaker.

Could this really happen to you?

Don’t be surprised when it does.

Effortless English


textbook: n. school book

sip coffee: drink coffeeslowlylogin: v. to enter a website;to type your user name andpassword

iPod: n. MP3 player (madeby Apple)lesson: class

article: n. story in a maga-zine, newspaper, or researchjournalreview: v. to study again; tolook at (or listen to) againrealize: v. to know, to under-stand

automatic: adj. happenswithout trying; effortlessfluent: adj. easy and fast(speaking)confident: adj. strong andsuccessful feeling

A Normal Day

Effortless English

are killing me: hurting a lotmarathon: 26 miles [42km]training: practicing (for asport or activity)cut back: reduce; do lessgradually: little by little; stepby step; slowlybreathing hard: breathingfast and with difficultyto push myself: to makemyself work hardYikes!: something we saywhen we are surprisedsprint: a short fast (running)racebreathing heavily: breathingfast and with difficultyeffortlessly: without tryinghard; without effortbuild up: increasetake my advice: follow mysuggestiongain: improvement; benefit;increasephilosophy: a strong groupof ideas, belief, and/or val-uesforced to quit: made to quit;had to quit (had no choice)steady: gradual, step bystepinjuries: hurts (to body)whatsoever: at allarduous: very difficult andnot fun; tough and not pleas-ant

No Pain No GainPublish Date: December 27, 2006

All Sound (Audio) Archives Available At:http://www.effortlessenglish.libsyn.com

"My knees are killing me. I'm only running 9 miles [15km], I don'tthink I'll be able to ever do a marathon. What should I do?", Mikeasked.

"How long have you been training?", I asked

"One month"

"Only one month? And you're trying to run 9 miles already! Youshould cut back. Only increase your mileage by 1 mile per week.Build up gradually." I said. "What about your speed, how do you feelwhen you run... are you breathing hard?", I asked.

"Yeah. I try to push myself and go as fast as possible" Mike said.

"Yikes! Don't do that. You're training for a marathon, not a sprint.You should run slowly most of the time. You shouldn't be breathingheavily when you run. In fact, you should be able to chat whileyou're running. My advice is to run slower and run shorter- you willthen automatically and effortlessly build up to running a marathon.",I said.

Unfortunately, Mike didn't take my advice. He believed in a "no pain,no gain" philosophy. Running slowly and easily didn't feel like workto him- so he thought it couldn't help. Instead, he kept trying to runfarther and faster as soon as possible. His knee problems becameworse. Finally, he was forced to quit. He never did run a marathon.

I, on the other hand, used my slow, steady, easy approach to com-plete 2 marathons. I never had knee problems, or foot problems, orany injuries whatsoever. I never felt the training was painful orarduous. I enjoyed my training runs. Most of them felt easy andeffortless.


Invariably: (almost) always;without exceptionto question: do not believe;ask questions about; doubtbelief: strong ideastrive: try very hardsuffer: feel paincomprehensible: under-standable; able to be under-stoodapproach: way; methodfrustrated: anger caused byfailure to do what you wantto dounfair: not fair, not goodrewarded: got/receivedsomething good becauseyou did something goodresent: to feel anger aboutsomething that happened inthe pastineffective: not effective;does not workget it: understandswitch: change (to anotherchoice)bitter: negative feeling(strong negative feeling)-usually about a failureto train: to practice for process: action; how some-thing is donesystem: organized way ofdoing somethingguarantee: to promiseinsist: strongly want to do;feel/say something must bedonetraditional methods: normalways of doing; usual way

I often think of Mike when I talk to my English students. Invariablythere are students who question my effortless approach. They toohave a "no pain, no gain" belief. They think they cannot learn Englishunless they strive and suffer. So they spend long hours memorizinggrammar textbooks. They spend long hours doing TOEFL practicetests and textbook exercises.

I tell them to relax. I tell them to stop these activities and focus oninteresting, comprehensible listening and reading. But many don'tlisten. They continue with the painful approach. They becomeincreasingly frustrated. Some even become angry-- especially whenthey see the "effortless approach" students improving much faster.They feel its unfair that their pain is not rewarded. They resent thattheir painful efforts are so slow and ineffective.

Some eventually do get it, and switch to an effortless approach. Butsome never do. They just keep doing the same thing. They growmore bitter and frustrated-- just like Mike when he tried to train for amarathon. Many finally quit.

Don't be like Mike. "No pain, no gain" is a lie. If you enjoy theprocess of learning English you will, in fact, gain more and gainfaster. If you use an effortless approach, your grammar, listening,speaking, reading, and writing will all improve faster than if you use apainful textbook approach.

Put away the grammar books. Put away all textbooks. Find interest-ing and understandable English material. Listen, listen, listen to itevery day. Read, read, read for fun every day. Join an effortless sys-tem, such as Effortless English or The Linguist.

If you do, I guarantee you will enjoy English more-- and you will learnfaster and more easily than those who insist on following the tradi-tional methods.

No pain-- big gains!

Learn More:

Jeff Galloway’s Marathon Traininghttp://www.jeffgalloway.com/training/marathon.html/

Automatic Language Growthhttp://www.algworld.com

Dr. StephenKrashen’s Language Research Sitehttp://sdkrashen.com


About The AuthorA.J. Hoge has a Masters degree in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) andhas over 10 years of teaching experience. He is the creator of Effortless English (www.effortlesseng-lish.com) and also publishes a teaching website called Effortless Language Acquisition. He currentlylives and teaches in San Francisco, California.

You can email A.J. at [email protected]

Please Share This E-bookIf you like this book, please share it with other English learners. You may send, copy, or forwardit. You may also print it and use it for any purpose, but please do not change it.

Recommended Web Sites

Effortless Englishhttp://www.effortlessenglish.com

The Linguisthttp://www.thelinguist.com

Dr. Stephen Krashenhttp://sdkrashen.com

Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytellinghttp://www.blaineraytprs.com/explanationpage.htm

Automatic Language Growthhttp://www.algworld.com/

Kantalkhttp://www.kantalk.com


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