Welcome to the

How to (finally) learn English newsletter

Every Thursday you will receive:

• Tips to improve your English
• English language content to keep you in touch with the language
• A weekly challenge to keep you progressing
• A quote to inspire your learning

Celebrating the small wins, especially when learning a language, has a profound effect on motivation. Motivation is necessary for momentum, and when we combine motivation with momentum, we get progress.

Progress is the accumulation of 1% gains: A marathon is run one step at a time, literally; a film is the compilation of numerous takes; and a language is acquired word by word, structure by structure.

In none of these examples is it possible to go from 0-100. You can't skip km 20-30 of a marathon, you can't cut out making the middle of a film, similarly you can't go from being a beginner to a native speaker.

The habit of language learning (or any new habit) must be first established before it can be improved. Start small. Improve. Celebrate. Repeat. Because if progress is the accumulation of 1% gains, then reaching excellence is not about radical change; it's about layering continuous 1% gains on top of each other.

Nevertheless, that doesn't mean we should only celebrate when we reach the end or excellence, whatever that may be.

Here's how you can walk the path of excellence, and create small wins to celebrate on the way...

TIPS

1. Buy a calendar and mark off the days you practise English. Behavioural psychologists say that people who track their habits are more likely to be motivated to continue. It also reminds you to act, and it gives you satisfaction when you see how long you have been doing something for.
2. Do something every day to advance your language learning, even if it is just for five minutes. You could: choose a subject to speak about for 60 seconds; read a short article; listen to a song; watch a short video; listen to part of a podcast. The choices are endless. Whatever you do, remember to mark it off on your calendar...
3. You could learn a word a day. Write out the definition and 3 examples to help ingrain it. I guarantee that after 30 days of learning 30 words, you won't want to break the streak! (What do ingrain and streak mean? Can you guess their meanings from the context?).

CONTENT

1. A couple of articles on marginal gains: Sir Dave Brailsford transformed British Cycling with his version of 1% wins- marginal gains. These articles talk about how he and his team implemented small improvements to achieve big results: Article 1 is from the Harvard Business Review; Article 2 is from the BBC.
2. Short stories: because they are short they are psychologically less scary to start. Lee Child, the author of the bestselling series Jack Reacher (and a personal favourite) has two excellent collections of short stories: Safe Enough and No Middle Name. Try to read one story per week (they are about 15 pages in length).
3. ​B.J Fogg is a behaviour scientist at Stanford University. His work on 'tiny habits' is fascinating for anyone trying to understand human behaviour and habits.

A CHALLENGE

Remember: A habit must be established before it can be improved and reaching excellence is not about radical change; it's about layering continuous 1% gains on top of each other. So start small. Do one activity a day: Learn a word; listen to a song; read a page of a short story. Whatever you do, mark it off on your calendar (get one if you need to or use your phone).

You just need to start...

(A great place to start is the 5-5-5 Progress Plan).

PS: Celebrate how you wish!

AN INSPIRING QUOTE

“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” Confucius, The Analects

If you really want to learn English, read the How to (finally) learn English book:

​https://htfle.com/book/​

Out now on Amazon!

Find out more at htfle.com​

Until next week,

Ben

PS: Keep learning!