THIS EBOOK IS ABSOLUTELY FREE!

5 KEYS TO
BECOMING
FLUENT

THE

IN ENGLISH

ANYONE CAN BECOME FLUENT: THIS

EBOOK WILL SHOW YOU HOW!

BY JACK ASKEW

INTRODUCTION

Thank you for downloading The Five Keys to Becoming Fluent in English.
You should find it very useful in your quest for English fluency.
One of my goals from this book is to convince you that you can achieve an
advanced level/fluency if you do the right things.
I hope that my 5 keys will open your eyes to what is achievable if you make
the sufficient changes.
The first chapter looks at something that most English learners dont spend
too much time on: improving pronunciation.
The second key discusses why input is so important and why you need to
rely on systems to help you with this.
The third key is making sure that what you do is relevant and enjoyable. A lot
of learners feel that they have to do serious things to learn (not true!).
The fourth key is all about overcoming the intermediate barrier and why its
important to change the way you learn.
And finally, you will see that anyone can achieve an advanced level and
learn what you should do if you feel like giving up.
Thanks again for downloading this book. I hope you enjoy it and that it really
helps you in a meaningful way.

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KEY TO FLUENCY #1

USE YOUR MOUTH

Its time to start doing some training!
Exercise your mouth to improve your
pronunciation and your English
fluency.

A big part of speaking English at an advanced or fluent level is making sure

that you can make the correct sounds in English. This is such an important
area that most learners dont concentrate on.
Most of the time, it isn't their fault. The majority of schools and language
institutions pay little attention to pronunciation. I've seen this with many
English learners: they seem to have a high level, but can't speak freely as
they cant produce the English sounds correctly or quickly enough.
So, being able to produce the sounds, and then training your mouth muscles
so that you can produce them quickly and in different combinations, is
something that you should focus your time on.

MUSCLE MEMORY
Think about the muscles in your mouth just like any other muscles in your
body: to be able to use them properly you need to train them.

My basketball coach went through three stages when teaching me how to

correctly shoot a basketball:

1.

He showed me the correct technique.

2.

He then gave me feedback on my technique.

3.

Finally, he told us to practice, practice, practice.

This is what you should be doing with the different English sounds:

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1. Learn how to make the different English sounds and how to put them
together.
2.

Get feedback on your pronunciation.

3.

Practice, practice, practice.

There are some great online resources where you can learn the different
English sounds. The following site is my favourite:
http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/#.
It shows you how to produce the different sounds in English by showing you
what happens inside the mouth.
Also be sure to practice linking your words together and try to take notice of
relaxed pronunciation. For example:
"I want do it" -> "Iwannadoit" (this is how it sounds in everyday English).
Then, when you are practicing your pronunciation, make sure you get good
feedback. If you have a teacher, ask them to evaluate and correct your
pronunciation.
Another way to do this is to listen to a native speaker and record yourself
repeating what you hear. Then, listen back and compare the two. It's
amazing what you notice listening to your recorded voice.
There are many ways to practice: sing, listen and repeat, do drills etc. But,
make it as much fun as possible (this is easy to do with singing).

BOTTOM LINE
Having poor pronunciation stops you from speaking freely. I have seen many
students who can understand everything they read and know what they want
to say, but hesitate and make pronunciation errors when speaking.
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Working on your pronunciation will give you the foundation you need to
speak at an advanced level.

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KEY TO FLUENCY #2

EAT,SLEEP,AND
BREATHEENGLISH
Make English a part of your life and
enjoy it!

"I dont have time."

This is the number one thing I hear English learners say when it comes to
learning English. Work, family, sport, computer games, television, Facebook,
Youtube, reading, university, and other things get in the way of "studying."
But, it doesn't have to be like that.
You see, we do have time to study. Maybe not in a traditional sense
(grammar, exercises, course books), but this type of learning is both
outdated and mostly boring.
Instead, all you have to do is to make one small change.

MAKE ONE CHANGE

The change you need to make is substituting your native language for
English.
You can continue doing what you like doing in your spare time. In fact, when
it comes to making progress over the long-term, I recommend this is what
you do.
Do whatever you do now, but do it in English. There are so many great
programs, websites, videos, computer games, movies, TV shows, articles,
blogs etc. in English. There is a whole world waiting to be explored. A new
culture to dive into. New things to be watched, read, and listened to.
Think about how you spend your time and how easy it will be to do things in
English. Think about how much time you spend reading, watching, and
listening to things in your native language. This is how much time you can
spend getting used to the English language.
Notice how I said, Getting used to. In my opinion, you dont learn a
language. You just become familiar with it.
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SYSTEMS
To ensure that you continue this over the long-term, we need to set up
systems
Just like you set your alarm clock each morning to make sure you wake up, I
recommend that you do certain things to ensure you do everything in
English. Having a system makes doing everything in English effortless. Here
are a few ways to do this:

Subscribe to blogs, Facebook pages, podcasts, and Youtube channels

that you enjoy and are in English. Each morning you will receive emails in
English about new articles etc.

Change the language of your devices into English.

Change your browser search engine to Google.com and search for

things in English.

Get hooked on (addicted to) English/American/Australian television.

Only watch the English speaking television channels at home.

Get an English speaking boyfriend/girlfriend (optional!).

Having these systems in place means that you are automatically doing
things in English. You dont need to find time to study when you do this.
And, if you do the things you love (but in English), then it wont feel like
studying at all. In fact, youll look forward to doing whatever it is youre doing.

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INPUT
Hours and hours of input is needed to be able to understand and speak well.
Reaching an advanced level means consuming a massive amount of input.
This can only be done if you make English a part of your life.
Moving to an English speaking country makes this easier, but it is not a
deciding factor. Many people become fluent without moving country, and
many people move to England or America without making any real progress
with their English.
It is what you do and how much input you get that determines your ability to
progress and reach an advanced level.
Sometimes the most important things are the most obvious. But, with the
massive changes over the past fifteen years, anyone from anywhere in the
world can access native English materials effortlessly and without having to
spend a lot of money. This is such an incredibly opportunity. You just have to
take advantage of it.

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KEY TO FLUENCY #3

SMILE
Are you having fun? If not, you
should be!

ITS TIME TO SMILE

There are many reasons to smile, especially if you're enjoying your learning
and making progress.
But, I too often see learners who are really dedicated for a month or two: they
get out all the books they have bought, buy some more, and spend 2-3
hours a day doing grammar and exercises. They then read things they think
they should read, watch things they think they have to watch, and listen to
things they think they ought to listen to.*
But, this motivation soon wears out. It takes a lot of energy to keep this
going, and as soon as you miss a day (because of a wedding, working late,
tiredness), it is very difficult to start this routine again.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO HAVE FUN

Everyone loves having fun. Things are much easier to do when they're fun.
We don't use as much energy when we're having fun. And, as my friend
Jason R Levine says,
"You'll learn without looking when you stop feeling stressed; Having fun when
you learn is when you learn the best."
Doing fun things in English will mean that you will continue to do them. It will
mean that you will look forward to getting home and watching the next
episode of of the series you are watching. Or getting excited about the new
podcast about your favourite sport.
Just because you're serious about your goals doesn't mean that you have to
do serious things.
I often hear things like:
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No pain, no gain.

You have to be dedicated.

It's all about how you focus.

I used to believe this, and this may be true in other areas (and might work for
some of you). But, language learning is different. Its something you need to
get used to and something that you need to constantly feed and entertain.
Getting too serious about what you do and feeling that you need to work
hard at it will leave you disappointed and tired, especially once you reach an
intermediate level. Many learners give up once they reach an intermediate
level because they have to move on from the basics and constantly develop
and improve.
Sometimes this can leave you feeling incredibly frustrated as it's much more
difficult to see the progress you're making.
I'm sure that there are some people who can get through this by being
serious about their studies and doing hard work. But, the majority of us can't
sustain this.
So, surround yourself in English and do the things you love. And, when you
study in a traditional sense (working on your pronunciation, for example), ask
yourself, "How can I do this while having fun?"
Even the things that you feel are boring might not seem so if you smile and
make it more exciting.
*Did you notice the three different modal verbs?

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KEY TO FLUENCY #4

BREAKING THE
INTERMEDIATE
BARRIER
Stop doing the things you did at
school. They didnt work and you
didnt enjoy them!

IS THIS YOU?
Another thing that I always hear my students say is:
The English we learned at school was boring and I didnt learn anything.
Depending where you come from, I imagine that you have had a similar
experience. In my opinion, having bad lessons at school can do more harm
than good.
This is because bad habits (especially pronunciation and grammatical
errors) are formed, and learners continue using the same methods when
they leave school.

BREAKING THE INTERMEDIATE BARRIER

The lessons that you have taken so far have most likely given you a
foundation. You will be able to read this book without too many problems and
you will be able to have simple conversations.
(note: This is assuming that you have an intermediate level like most learners
I meet.)
But, to move towards an advance level and fluency, you cant keep doing the
same things as you did in school.
The following changes need to be made:
You need to internalize grammar instead of trying to remember the rules.
You need to put more focus on real English (and not the English that is
written specifically for English learners).
You need to communicate in English (interacting with native speakers.

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These are three of the main changes you need to make. Continuing with the
same methods of learning that you went through in school will keep you at an
intermediate level.
Lets look at these changes in more detail:

INTERNALIZE GRAMMAR
You will never be able to speak freely (and without translating) if you only
learn grammar rules and do exercises. Instead, you want to get to the stage
where you use the correct grammar because it feels right.
The amazing thing about grammar is that we can internalize it. This means
that we can use it correctly without really learning the rules. By getting the
input that I talked about in Chapter Two, youll soon get used to the different
rules of grammar.
Learning rules can help you in certain circumstances. But, in a lot of cases it
can make you feel frustrated. This is because there are many exceptions to
the rules, and these rules are often flexible in spoken English. Also, there are
many subtle differences that are very difficult to explain.
If you have a grammar book, the best thing you can do is to focus on the
example sentences. However, there is usually no greater context and this
can cause confusion too.
By listening to hours of podcasts, reading many books, watching a lot of TV,
and communicating with native/fluent speakers, you will internalize grammar
so that it just feels right.

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REAL ENGLISH RESOURCES

This is linked to Chapter Two, but I wanted to speak a little more about it.
As an intermediate speaker, you need to reduce the amount of English
course books you buy, and stop learning things out of context. Instead, focus
on natural English.
If you find natural English too difficult, I recommend that you listen to it again
and again (its amazing what you can learn by repetition), and also find
natural English that is easier to understand.
This can include media that is created for children or subjects that you are
familiar with. Keep trying new things and dont avoid repeating things again
and again.
The reason why its important to learn by using native resources is that there
is a rich context provided. You not only learn new words and grammar, but
you also learn in which situations this language is used.
This rich context is what you need to properly learn new words and phrases.

COMMUNICATING IN ENGLISH
Language is a form of communication, and to improve you need to start
using the language in this way.
Have conversations with native/advanced speakers as much as you can. Not
only does this give you practice, but it also gives you more rich input. In fact,
I cant think of a better way of getting input than communicating with others.
Having a teacher that corrects you (in a positive way) is important too. You
will internalize everything whether it is right or wrong. You want to ensure that

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what you internalize is the correct English, otherwise it will be difficult to

overcome these errors in the future.

FINAL THOUGHT
Make the changes needed to break through out of intermediate level and
start your journey to fluency. Enjoy the journey and keep going in the right
direction.

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KEY TO FLUENCY #5

BEING PART OF A
TEAM
Anyone can reach fluency. Find
others who have the same dream as
you.

ANYONE CAN DO IT
Ive seen many of my students reach advanced levels of English. Ive seen
many other learners do this too. It is possible if you do the right things and
have the right mentality.
Always remember: Anyone can reach fluency as long as you use the
right learning methods and keep going.
There are times though when you might feel that things are difficult. When
you feel like this, it is important that you get the right type of support.

GETTING SUPPORT
You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. - Jim
Rohn
Being around the right people makes a big difference to whether you achieve
your goals. If your friends and family constantly discourage you from what you
are doing, then it is very difficult to make the progress you want to make.
On the other hand, if you are surrounded by people who constantly encourage
you and believe what you believe, then you will feel motivated and passionate
about what you want to achieve.
This is much easier now with online groups and communities. You can
constantly be in contact with people who are going to support you.
So, join groups and follow people who inspire you. Talk to others who are
doing the same things as you. Share ideas and things that have worked for
you. Do all of this in English!

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OUR NEW COMMUNITY

I am in the process of creating a community that will provide a space where
you can interact with fellow learners and teachers in a meaningful way. This
will include a way for you to document your journey. Keep an eye on your
email inbox over the coming weeks for more information on this!

CONCLUSION
As I have said many times, anyone can reach an advanced level. But, to
get there you need to make the changes that I have discussed in this book
(and implement other changes too).
Its one thing reading this book and learning about what you have to do,
and another to actually do it.
So, take the time to make those changes and set up the systems so that
you are constantly improving your English.
And, most importantly, enjoy the journey!

Thanks for reading. If you have any questions, then send me an email:
jack@jdaenglish.com
If you would like to share this book, please share the following page:
http://www.jdaenglish.com/5-keys-fluency

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