Category: Letters

Hi Peter,

today I have a very important topic to talk about – it’s called learning plateau. Have you heard of it? If not, read on. 🙂

When you start learning something new – doesn’t matter if you are acquiring a new language or training a new sport – you can see immediate progress of your improvement and learning.

It is not surprising because when we know nothing about something and then start learning it, every new little information or a skill we learn makes a huge difference and we see immediate results. Our motivation to learn is usually high at this time.

Unfortunately, when you reach a certain point in your learning process, it starts to feel like you are not making any progress. We call this state the learning plateau. It is the time when It seems like you are not improving anymore even you are still putting consistent effort and investing time into learning.

As you probably noticed in the previous sentence I underlined the word seems. Although it may look like that we are not improving during a plateau period, we are actually improving. We just can’t see the results immediately.

That is the reason why learning plateaus are so frustrating. We learn and learn, read, listen, write in English and we don’t see any real improvement. It can hurt our motivation too.

Now, you may ask, ok Ivan, and what can we do about it?

I like AJ Hoge’s suggestion from Power English program:

“You have to trust the plateaus. If you use the correct methods […] subconsciously you will be learning very quickly, you will be understanding more and more, but there will be a gap. There will be a delay between your subconscious learning and your speaking improvement. You must enjoy the process of learning, not just the final goal.”

So, during the plateau period keep up with your learning Peter. Enjoy English even you can’t see immediate results and be patient. The improvement will come soon! 🙂

Have a nice week and I am looking forward to sending you the next tip. 🙂
Ivan

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Hi Peter,

have you heard of quora.com? I will try to explain what is this website for and why do I like it so much when it comes to English learning. 🙂

Sometimes we are in a situation when we don’t know the answer to a specific question that comes to our mind.

quora.com is a website where you can ask questions and get them answered fast by thousands of people around the world.

For example, here’s a question from one English learner:

I am a Hong Kong local. How can I learn to speak English with a stronger British accent? How can I increase my fluency and spontaneity when speaking English? Are there some effective ways? (click the link)

As you can see in the example above, the question of the English learner is answered by many people who have some experience in English learning. All of them are expressing their opinions on how to learn to speak with a stronger British accent. 🙂

So, why do I like quora.com so much when it comes to English learning?

• you can ask people questions and get them answered fast
• you can help others by answering their questions
• you are significantly improving your writing skills while you help others
• and it’s free

Here’s my today’s suggestion:
If you would like to improve your English writing, help other nice people around the world and learn something new, go to quora.com, register, and use this great website! 🙂

By the way, I found the following question very interesting. 🙂
What should every foreigner know about your country? Why? (click the link)

Have a nice week and enjoy English,
Ivan

P.S. In the next email I am going to share with you what can you do if you feel that your English isn’t improving anymore.

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Hey Peter,so as I mentioned before I have many tips to share with you. Here is one of them.

When I started learning English, it was just another school subject I had to pass. The schooling system in my home country taught me English in a very analytical way.

What do I mean by that? Well, we studied English as if it was mathematics. 🙂 Most of the time we studied grammar rules and did boring exercises. As a result, I could explain loads of grammar rules, but I was unable to use them in real life.

Luckily, I liked English so much that when I got home I watched many English videos, read articles, listened to English podcasts and started making friends with foreigners online. I learned English in a practical way.

Soon I realised that my English is improving and I can actually use it without thinking about all the grammar rules.

So here’s the message I would like to share with you today:

When you learn English, it’s useful to understand grammar rules. But, don’t focus on them and don’t overanalyse them. Instead, expose yourself to real English – do whatever you like but do it in English – listen, watch, read and communicate. 🙂

Here are three simple actionable steps you can do right now to start learning English in a practical way online 🙂

1. go to google.com
2. search for videos, articles and blogs that you are interested in (if you like cars, search for cars, if you like cooking – search for cooking, and so on… 🙂 )
3. immerse yourself in the content and don’t worry if you don’t understand everything

Don’t treat English as something you have to study. Instead think about learning English as a natural fun activity. 🙂

I hope you’ve enjoyed this tip. There are definitely more to come. Thanks, and best of luck to you! Cheers!

Ivan from englishthesmartway.com

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