In the past 15 years, I have spent over 10,000 hours helping people who wanted to speak better English.
Years of experience have shown that successful English learning is always about the same few steps, carried out regularly and consistently over a long period of time.
I collected these steps and created The 5 Steps to Better English philosophy. I did it for two reasons: to become a more effective teacher myself and to give my clients the chance to make as much progress as possible in the shortest possible time.
WHAT IS BETTER ENGLISH?
Better English is business English that gives you satisfaction and opens the door to further development. You may not speak like a British queen, but you’ll communicate successfully with everyone. You may not write like Hemingway, but you’ll be able to write a professional email in a few minutes. And maybe you will not master all the rules for using each of the tenses perfectly, but you will learn to express exactly what you feel and think.
Just as the laws of physics govern the universe, the following rules apply to Better English:
- communication is more important than perfection,
- vocabulary is more important than grammar,
- reading and listening are necessary to make progress,
- you read to write,
- you listen to speak,
- less is more,
- all that is valuable requires time and energy.
Based on these rules, I developed my own teaching philosophy, which consists of 5 steps leading to Better English.
In the past 15 years, I have spent over 10,000 hours helping people who wanted to speak better English.
Years of experience have shown that successful English learning is always about the same few steps, carried out regularly and consistently over a long period of time.
I collected these steps and created The 5 Steps to Better English philosophy. I did it for two reasons: to become a more effective teacher myself and to give my clients the chance to make as much progress as possible in the shortest possible time.
WHAT IS BETTER ENGLISH?
Better English is business English that gives you satisfaction and opens the door to further development. You may not speak like a British queen, but you’ll communicate successfully with everyone. You may not write like Hemingway, but you’ll be able to write a professional email in a few minutes. And maybe you will not master all the rules for using each of the tenses perfectly, but you will learn to express exactly what you feel and think.
Just as the laws of physics govern the universe, the following rules apply to Better English:
- communication is more important than perfection,
- vocabulary is more important than grammar,
- reading and listening are necessary to make progress,
- you read to write,
- you listen to speak,
- less is more,
- all that is valuable requires time and energy.
Based on these rules, I developed my own teaching philosophy, which consists of 5 steps leading to Better English.
STEP 1
Change Your Mindset
This step is about attitude, beliefs, and emotions. How we deal with problems, failures and challenges depends on the way we think about ourselves and the world around us. I will teach you how to think in the same way that the people who freely use foreign languages think.
The Problem
- You tell yourself that you will never learn to speak English freely.
- You are sure that all the people around you pay attention to your mistakes..
- You are not consistent. You work on your English like crazy for a month or two, and then give it up for months.
The Solution
- You will change your attitude towards learning English.
- You will not feel embarrassed any more and start focusing on the things you can really control.
- You will build new habits which will help you learn regularly.
- You will finally understand that learning English is a process and you will find out what it truly means.
STEP 2
Focus Your Energy
This step is about energy, concentration and planning. Learning a foreign language is a task that takes time and effort. If you want to make progress, you have to choose a specific area and focus mainly on that area for a specific amount of time.
The Problem
- You have hundreds of possibilities to learn English but you don't commit to any of them for 100%.
- You become distracted using too many Youtube channels, podcasts or coursebooks.
- You spend quite a lot of time with English but you still see no significant progress.
- You learn the vocabulary that you will never have a chance to use at work or in everyday life.
The Solution
- I will teach you how to choose what and how you should learn.
- You will spend your time and energy only on practical tasks.
- You will limit the number of materials you use and increase your learning efficiency at the same time.
- You will start practicing the skill of concentration and just after a few months you will see a huge difference.
STEP 3
Love Your Vocabulary
This step deals with the biggest secret of successful language learning: vocabulary is more important than grammar. Instead of continually polishing the form and use of English tenses, you will start to approach words and phrases with curiosity and look at them differently.
The Problem
- When you start speaking English, after just a few moments you get stuck because you can't find the words to express yourself.
- You have no problems speaking English but you use very simple vocabulary. You feel that you are the same level of English for a long time now.
- You are mistaken if you believe that once you learn the grammar you will be able to speak fluently and correctly on every topic.
The Solution
- You will understand that vocabulary is key to learning languages. There are no exceptions to this rule and this one rule will revolutionize your learning.
- You will focus on expanding your vocabulary by learning new words and phrases and making better use of the vocabulary you already know.
- You will develop your ability to memorize vocabulary.
- You will start using more advanced and native-like phrases, which will appear on our lessons.
STEP 4
Activate Yourself
This step requires you to leave your comfort zone. You will do things that you may not feel like doing at first. Speaking and writing are two productive skills that you need to practice as often as possible to see real progress in your language learning.
The Problem
- You understand quite a lot of English that you read or hear but you are still afraid to speak.
- You are willing to do your homework when you have to read something or do some grammar exercises but you will always find an excuse to avoid writing anything.
- You rarely try memorize short sentences and you never read them out loud.
The Solution
- You need some safe space and a supportive conversation partner.
- You will take part in lessons that are fully in English.
- You will build a habit of using English, which will help you start speaking before you get paralyzed by fear.
- You will receive constructive feedback so that you can see your progress and eliminate the mistakes you continue to make.
STEP 5
Recycle Your Materials
In this step, we use the benefits of the magic of repetition. When we want to master a skill, we have to do the same thing many times before we can say we have learned it. Recycling also helps us control the materials we use and avoid feeling overwhelmed.
The Problem
- Widzisz nowe słówko, tłumaczysz je, zapisujesz i nigdy do niego nie wracasz.
- Widzisz nowe słówko, tłumaczysz je, a następnie, o zgrozo, nigdzie go nie zapisujesz!
- Czytasz ciekawy artykuł, na temat który Cię interesuje, odkładasz go na stos innych kserówek i nigdy nie czytasz go drugi raz.
- Robisz ćwiczenia z gramatyki, np. dotyczące jednego konkretnego czasu, czujesz, że dobrze Ci idzie, a po miesiącu znowu robisz błędy, gdy chcesz go użyć.
The Solution
- No magical method and not even the best teacher will bring the results that one simple action can bring: doing the same thing over and over again.
- Everything is difficult before it becomes easy. And it becomes easy after you have done it many times. This rule applies not only to vocabulary learning, but also speaking, writing, reading, listening and grammar.
- If you want to make significant progress, spend some of your time and energy od re-doing the same materials.
If you believe that The 5 Steps to Better English philosophy is for you, please have a look at the courses I offer: Business English, Job Interview and Business Vantage.
What does a lesson with me look like?
- Lessons and materials are in English.
- We start with a short warm-up, which usually means of the three following activities: small talk about current affairs, checking your homework or revision from the last few lessons.
- Then we move on to the main subject of the lesson. We will use three types of materials: most interesting and relevant units from only the best coursebooks; so-called real-life materials, such as articles or videos; and the materials prepared by me.
- I always try to choose the materials in a way that will help you achieve your professional goals in the shortest possible time. It doesn't mean that sometimes we won't talk about areas not related to your work. I want to teach you to communicate successfully in every situation and I believe that we work to live, not live to work!
- We focus on using English but to be able to speak, you need to have a topic to talk about. That is why during our lesson you will read, listen or watch something as well. Sometimes, we will also do a vocabulary or grammar exercise together.
- We will be using a virtual board and I will be completing your Feedback Card, which is a list with new vocabulary, some pronunciation tips and the mistakes you have made.
- After every lesson you will get a homework task and some additional materials so that you can learn and practice between our lessons.
- It is our mutual task to work in a friendly and supportive atmosphereas it is the only way to learn to speak English in a comfortable and confident way.
- The lessons are based on the learning and teaching philosophy I have developed, namely The 5 Steps to Better English. I will introduce you to its main principles so that you can make real progress in the fastest way possible.
What does a lesson with me look like?
- Lessons and materials are in English.
- We start with a short warm-up, which usually means of the three following activities: small talk about current affairs, checking your homework or revision from the last few lessons.
- Then we move on to the main subject of the lesson. We will use three types of materials: most interesting and relevant units from only the best coursebooks; so-called real-life materials, such as articles or videos; and the materials prepared by me.
- I always try to choose the materials in a way that will help you achieve your professional goals in the shortest possible time. It doesn't mean that sometimes we won't talk about areas not related to your work. I want to teach you to communicate successfully in every situation and I believe that we work to live, not live to work!
- We focus on using English but to be able to speak, you need to have a topic to talk about. That is why during our lesson you will read, listen or watch something as well. Sometimes, we will also do a vocabulary or grammar exercise together.
- We will be using a virtual board and I will be completing your Feedback Card, which is a list with new vocabulary, some pronunciation tips and the mistakes you have made.
- After every lesson you will get a homework task and some additional materials so that you can learn and practice between our lessons.
- It is our mutual task to work in a friendly and supportive atmosphereas it is the only way to learn to speak English in a comfortable and confident way.
- The lessons are based on the learning and teaching philosophy I have developed, namely The 5 Steps to Better English. I will introduce you to its main principles so that you can make real progress in the fastest way possible.
