why is it necessary for me to read in English this is a question that my colleagues often ask me they believe that I attend classes complete my homework and watch films in English so why should I bother reading books well let me explain why reading is the most effective way to enhance your English skills first and foremost reading is of utmost importance in the past only one in four individuals pursued higher education but now more people are attending University consequently all professions require a greater emphasis on reading and writing compared to previous years this holds
true for everyone whether you work in an office or as a mechanic secondly reading has a profound impact on improving your speaking writing vocabulary and grammar more so than any other method while it may not directly enhance your listening skills it does expand your vocabulary with a broader English vocabulary you can listen more effortlessly and improve your listening skills in that manner during your school years you likely encountered numerous tedious English textbooks and stories accompanied by exercises however I am not referring to those I am referring to reading for pleasure this entails reading a book
simply because you enjoy it you are not reading because your teacher instructed you to or because you feel obligated to do so you are reading because you genuinely want to in an experiment conducted in American schools boys were given free books such as James Bond novels they were told you can do whatever you want you don't have to read the books however the boys did read the books in fact fact they read a significant number of books some boys even finished a book every 2 days after several years the students were tested the students who
received the books demonstrated Improvement in their reading and writing skills and they also expressed a greater fondness for school on the other hand the students who did not receive the books did not experience any Improvement in their reading and writing abilities in fact some some of them even regressed this phenomenon is not limited to native English speakers a similar experiment was conducted on students learning English in the Fiji islands three teaching methods were tested traditional English instruction with grammar classes and exercises silent reading in class and reading together with the teacher after one year the
two methods involving reading proved to be the most effective they outperformed the students who underwent traditional English classes the experiment was repeated in Singapore and the results were similar the students who engaged in silent reading performed exceptionally well particularly in grammar tests conversely the students who attended grammar classes performed worse in grammar tests in traditional classes we tend to focus on memorizing grammar rules and vocabul however when we read we naturally absorb these elements you may be thinking reading in English is too difficult for me I have to constantly use a dictionary it's boring and
I can't do it I understand your concerns that is precisely why I wrote this book I believe that this book will make reading enjoyable for you because the stories are easy and entertaining the early stories are short and simple while the later stories become longer and more challenging by the time you finish the book you will think to yourself wow I did it I also produce a podcast called Simple spoken English practice nine of the stories in this book were originally written for the podcast one of the stories was specifically written for this book however
when I compiled this book I made him improvements to the stories now you can read the stories at beginner pre-intermediate intermediate or Advanced levels all the stories are fairy tales some are well-known fairy tales While others are lesser known I even wrote one of the stories myself you might be thinking fairy tales are meant for children I need to learn useful vocabulary I need to study business and science sence that can't be fun in reality the vocabulary used in these stories is indeed useful mcquillin conducted an experiment where he analyzed the vocabulary in novels he
found that 8% of the words appeared on academic word lists which are lists of words necessary for University level studies rolls and Rogers also conducted an experiment they investigated whether reading a million words of Science Fiction would help students learn important scientific terms for University studies the answer was a resounding yes therefore fairy tales can be beneficial for you as well however I understand if you still have doubts when I first learned about all of this I found it hard to believe as well but I am always open to trying new things and I have
a passion for learning languages so in 2017 I decided to conduct an experiment I had always wanted to learn Spanish but I didn't make much progress in traditional classes that's when I said to myself I will read a million words in Spanish afterwards I will assess my proficiency level reading a million words is equivalent to reading about 40 novels so it was quite a challenge I started with easy reading material similar to this book then I moved on to reading translations of books that I had already read in English for example I had read Harry
Potter and Game of Thrones in English so I read them in Spanish as well finally I began reading new books in Spanish I explored the works of Latin American Authors such as Isabella alende Jorge Luis bores and Manuel PG I thoroughly enjoyed their books I also listened to podcasts but I always read the transcripts and added new words to my vocabulary after completing my goal of reading a million words I engaged in conversations with Native Spanish speakers I found that I had reached an intermediate level I could understand almost everything I read comprehend clear speech
and hold conversations I had primarily Focus focused on reading rather than speaking in just one year I learned more than most students learn in 2 years I didn't try to memorize grammar rules and vocabulary I learned them naturally you may be thinking I don't believe this or perhaps you're thinking wow I'm going to read for hours every day however I must emphasize something crucial you must read books that are both easy and enjoyable if a book is too difficult or boring put it down and find another one Steven crashion an expert in language teaching advises
only read things in English that are fun and interesting read things that are really easy that you wouldn't read in your native language because they are too easy therefore you can read Comics magazines detective stories romance novels and more don't feel guilty about reading translations when you read very easy books you will understand the meaning of unfamiliar words easily without needing to consult a dictionary now you may be wondering what exactly constitutes easy research suggests that you should understand at least 98% of the words in a text I know 98% seems like a high threshold
however let me provide you with an example consider a text where 50% of the words are nonsensical in this case you would only understand 50% of the words Jerry fled out of bed and opened the curtains he blamed to himself as he made breakfast he made coffee and put butter on his puffer someone called his phone and he picked it up he was very surprised by who was tingling so his Inky fell on the floor is that easy to understand could you read an entire book written in that manner now let's consider the same text
but this time only 2% of the words are nonsensical in this scenario you would understand 98% of the words Jerry jumped out of bed and opened the curtains he sang to himself as he made breakfast he made coffee and put butter on his toast someone called his phone and he picked it up he was very surprised by who was calling so his Inky fell on the floor how was that you may not have understood everything but it was more enjoyable to read compared to the first text this is precisely why reading for pleasure is so
beneficial even if you don't comprehend every single word you understand enough to follow the story without constantly referring to a dictionary therefore if you find find this book too challenging try reading something easier if you find it boring seek out more engaging material I understand that not everyone enjoys my writing style and that's perfectly fine find a book that suits your preferences when we have fun we learn much more effectively since I want this book to be enjoyable it does not contain any exercises I considered including exercise IES after each story but I believe that
your time is better spent reading more read for pleasure once you finish this book you can move on to the next level because you are already familiar with the stories you will know them well making it easier to comprehend and who knows by the time you finish this book you may develop a love for stories I certainly hope so if you do wish to read more you can also listen to my podcast English listening practice I release a new story every week complete with audio and text there are over a 100 episodes for you to
enjoy we can enhance our English skills through captivating stories let's listen to one of these stories it will undoubtedly improve your english- speaking abilities unprecedentedly do you desire to improve your English do you wish to to speak English more fluently you see the English language has transformed my life I was born in Hong Kong so English is not my first language my first language is Cantonese my second language is Mandarin because my mother is from Taiwan and my third language is English when I first immigrated to North America I couldn't speak a word of English
I am aware that some of my fans watch my videos to learn how to speak English I find that quite interesting therefore today I would like to share with you five steps to improve your English fluency these are the steps that I personally followed to learn the English language step number one to improve your English fluency is actually quite simple don't worry about it that's right don't worry about it speak whenever wherever and however you can it doesn't matter if you have an accent I still have an accent and I communicate with tens of millions
of people every month it doesn't matter don't concern yourself with how others will judge you or what they will think of you none of that matters just speak as much as you can if someone doesn't understand you repeat yourself if they still don't understand repeat yourself again just keep speaking step number two is immersion when I was learning English I immersed myself in the language I listened to English music every day and tried to sing along to the songs it was challenging at first I attempted to listen to rap music but it was too difficult
for me however I watched English movies without subtitles and listened attentively initially I didn't understand much maybe only 5% of the dialogue but as my English improved I noticed that I could understand more and more of the movie therefore immerse yourself in English speak in English listen to English music and watch English movies engage in these activities as much as possible naturally you will pick up slang stories and phrases that's how you learn a language step number three is to make it enjoyable learning English doesn't have to be a chore interact and connect with people
who speak English read watch and listen to English content that's how you improve that's how I improved step number four is continued immersion when I was learning English I immersed myself in the language I listened to English music every day and tried to sing along to the songs it was challenging at first I attempted to listen to rap music but it was too difficult for me however I watched English movies without subtitles and listened attentively initially I didn't understand much maybe only 5% of the dialogue but as my English improved I noticed that I could
understand more and more of the movie therefore immerse yourself in English speak in English listen to English music and watch English movies engage in these activities as much as possible naturally you will pick up slang stories and phrases that's how you learn a language step number five is to surround yourself with English speakers I know it may sound obvious but that's how you do it I remember when I was in college I observed that Chinese students only hung out with other Chinese students Korean students with Korean students and Japanese students with Japanese students I did
the opposite I sought out English speakers to spend time with I hung out with Caucasians and individual who grew up speaking English fluently we would engage in conversations and activities together we would go to the library and I would make an effort to speak as much as possible listen attentively and ask questions to become more comfortable another thing I did was date a Korean girlfriend who spoke English so that's another way to immerse yourself in the language I'm not saying it's the only way to learn but if you want to learn a new language spend
time with people who speak that language you'll be amazed at how quickly you can pick it up let me provide you with a bonus tip an additional step if you're interested step number six is to overlearn allow me to explain if you are aiming to learn a language and you are currently at a certain level the fastest way to progress to the next level is to overlearn let's use a fitness analogy if you want to strengthen your bicep let's say you can currently curl a hypothetical weight of 20 L bees if you want to make
that 20 L bees easier to lift what do you do train with 25 L bees or 30 L bees that's over preparation over learning the same principle applies to language learning stay in a state of overlearning for example in my case I not only focused on learning the English language but also on learning how to sell close deals and do marketing I didn't limit myself to day-to-day communication I aimed for something more significant where money was involved that's how I became fluent in English I'm sure you have experienced moments in your language learning Journey where
you felt like you were progressing rapidly everything seemed effortless and you were motivated however at some point you hit a plateau and felt like you would never speak fluently confidently and naturally You are not alone this feeling of being stuck is often referred to as the intermediate plateau and I have experienced it myself it can be a comfortable place to be you can communicate and understand in many situations but for most of us it's not enough we want to enjoy the language as effortlessly as we do our native tongue I have never had the experience
of learning English as a second language so I would like to introduce you to an expert who has successfully done so here at real life English you may have already heard me on our podcast however today I would like to share a bit of my story and how I went from knowing zero English to the level of proficiency I have today just like you I am an English learner myself and I had to learn English from scratch in my home country of Brazil I have never lived abroad so I will share with you how I
accomplish this and hopefully provide you with some inspiration and ideas for your own English Journey before we begin make sure to subscribe to our Channel and click the notification Bell because we release videos every every week to help you speak English confidently and naturally now let's get started my English Journey began when I was 15 years old as I mentioned earlier I am from Brazil and at that time I had zero knowledge of the English language I couldn't speak read or write in English however at the age of 15 something magical happened I developed a
strong desire to become bilingual I'm not exactly sure why but the idea of using two languages to communicate and express myself was incredibly appealing to me I also observed that none of my family members friends or Social Circle knew English this realization led me to associate knowing English with having a better life and more opportunities I enrolled in an English course which proved to be very helpful I also had a friend who ATT attended the same course and he kindly lent me his old course books every semester his school would change the books so he
would lend me the ones he no longer needed that's how I began my English journey I studied with those old books and a grammar book that he lent me I studied on my own with those books and I remember being fascinated by the English language it had always intrigued me but now I was actively studying it I read passages from the books copied sentences that I saw and I was already excited because I was using another language to write communicate and express myself however my speaking skills were still very poor I couldn't speak yet even
though I had grown up watching movies and listening to music in English my speaking abilities were not yet developed I remember attempting to read passages out loud from the books I was studying and it was a disaster the words didn't flow and I had no idea how to pronounce certain words for example I struggled with pronouncing loud but I persisted because that's all I did for about 3 years from the ages of 15 to 18 most of my time was spent studying with books and that was my first mistake I'm sharing this with you because
I took far too long to start speaking you don't want to make the same mistake at that time 20 years ago it was much more difficult to find people to practice speaking with so I focused solely on studying with books however nowadays we have access to numerous resources such as language learning apps speaking of apps I can recommend the real life English app with this app you can have conversations with people from all around the world at the touch of a button addition Additionally you can listen to our podcast and access the transcripts it's an
incredible resource if you haven't downloaded the app yet I highly recommend doing so it's one of the resources that I wish I had when I was learning English and trying to improve my speaking skills 20 years ago then something magical happened in my life when I turned 18 I started working I must say that my work experience and the jobs I had played a crucial role in my English development particularly in terms of speaking and listening skills allow me to explain my first job was as a cashier at a drugstore however there was something interesting
about this particular drugstore my colleagues noticed that during lunchtime I would eat and study at the same time as a result I became known as the English guy at the drugstore whenever a foreign customer entered I was the one called upon to assist them I would engage in conversations with these individuals in English and try to help them as best as I could I remember one amusing incident I was at the cash register speaking to an American customer a lady I was attempting to converse with her in English and explained that I had never been
abroad however she interrupted me me and said oh I think you mean abroad I responded oh abroad thank you for the correction I appreciate it this is just one example of how these interactions with customers helped me sometimes I would say something incorrectly and the person would kindly correct me I had many of these small interactions and they were truly valuable here's a tip I can offer you be open to correction if someone corrects your pronunciation or the way you use a word it's actually a good thing I spent 6 hours a day 6 days
a week speaking to Americans on the phone for a year in a way it was my version of living abroad it was my version of participating in an exchange program because I was conversing with native English speakers on a daily basis for a year this experience greatly improved my speaking and listening skills however it's important to note that I only obtained that job because I already had a sufficient level of English all those years I spent studying and working paid off because they allowed me to secure that job which in turn further improved my English
skills therefore my advice to you is is to continue learning developing yourself and actively seek job opportunities that allow you to use English on a daily basis this will undoubtedly enhance your language skills even further during the periods between jobs I took it upon myself to create my own English immersion experience now that I was already using English in my daily work routine I became even more serious about it everything I did revolved around English I watched movies TV series and listened to music in English I particularly enjoy rock and roll so I always listen
to my favorite bands in English with my very first paychecks I would go to Media stores to purchase DVDs and CDs by the way if you're interested in learning about my exact step-by-step process for improving my English through movies and TV series let us know in the comments perhaps I can create another video in the future explaining how I did it lastly there was one peculiar event in my life that significantly propelled my English proficiency to the next level and that was becoming an English teacher I started teaching English at the age of 21 and
it has been about 14 or 15 years since then I must say that teaching English and helping others with their English English was an experience that truly elevated my Mastery of the language when you teach it's as if you are learning all over again when I have to teach a class or assist someone I have to prepare myself I have to study the topic become familiar with it think of different ways to explain Concepts and provide examples this mental process helps me better understand the topic so that I can effectively explain it to my student
students it's a win-win situation when you teach someone you benefit from revisiting and studying the information and the other person benefits from learning new things with you so those are the steps and experiences that helped me improve my English fluency I hope they inspire you and provide you with ideas for your own English Journey remember learning a language is a lifelong process and it's important to enjoy the journey along the way keep practicing immerse yourself in the language and push your boundaries you'll be amazed
