My Language Learning Secrets!!

This week on the show, I answered a question from Twitter user @akalious:

I’m so curious how you learned English to IELTS 9* even before you went to UK... Could you talk abt that a little bit in future episodes?

In this episode you'll learn:

• How Many Formal Study Hours Of English I Took in the first 8 years of studying English...and why that only half matters
• What I Did Differently To Give Me Native-Like Fluency in English
• How having No Native Speaker Contact actually helped me grow in English
• The one way that polyglots can damage your language learning 😲
• Why my dream job of "grumpy record store owner in London" helped me imagine my success even when I was 13
• Why you must never doubt yourself and it's better to believe than compare

8 Language Mindset Tips You Can Start Using Today

1. OBSESS
2. CONTINUE
3. LISTEN
4. Be confident from day 1. Know that you can do this. Do not doubt yourself.
5. Drill grammar, read books, use what you have.
6. Think long term - I never wondered when I’d be fluent. Why? I had no one to talk to anyway.
7. Sleep with a dictionary by your bed.
8. Don’t overthink it. I didn’t worry about how I was learning or whether my vocab study method was the MOST effective. I just did what I did.

If there is an actual secret, it is this: Yes, you can simply decide that you're going to be awesome - you don't have to tell anyone or proclaim your amazingness online or with friends. But you can know it on the inside and carry the confidence into everything you do in language.

Oh, and grammar drills are effective. 😅

Thanks to Ashley Williams (husband of co-host Lindsay for this week's podcast intro.

• IELTS 9 means roughly a C2 level, on the "International English Language Testing System" endorsed by most British universities and the British Council. You take this test for immigration or for going to university.