#213 How to manage your time to learn English part#3

Speak English Now through mini-stories with teacher Georgiana

Hi, I am Georgiana, your English teacher and founder of SpeakEnglishPodcast.com. My mission is to help you to speak English fluently.

Time flies, and it is vital to know how to manage it. So, today, I will give you three more points to consider regarding the use of time when learning English. I hope you like it.

And with a point of view story, you will learn grammar in context without memorizing any boring rules.

Before we get started, go to my website SpeakEnglishPodcast.com/podcast

to get the transcript for free.

Ok. Let’s start!

1# Look for situations with few distractions.

If there's one thing I'm guilty of, it's spending too much time on the internet. I have the lousy excuse that I do it to get inspired to make new episodes of the podcast. As I say, it’s a lousy excuse :)

Ideally, you want to be in a situation with few distractions, but sometimes, that's difficult because we always carry our cell phones with us.

In my case, I have found a good solution: walking. When you move, it becomes uncomfortable to look at your cell phone. So it's a good option to be able to listen to something without getting distracted. You just let yourself go while listening to your English lessons.

Also, when you move, more blood gets to your brain, and it stays more active.

So, I recommend that you find an activity or situation where the level of distraction is low to spend more time listening. Maybe you can take long walks while listening to your lessons.

#2 Try the 1-minute challenge.

I'll tell you a secret. Often, I don't do things because I think it's going to take me too long. It's something I need to get better at.

For example, lately, I've been reading on and off.

Recently, I was waiting for a friend in a coffee shop. I knew she could arrive at any moment.

Psychologically, I figured, "it's not worth starting to read. She'll be here any minute." So, even though I had my Kindle with me, I didn't read anything and spent my time browsing social media. My friend was about 10 minutes late. If I had started reading, I could have read a few pages.

So, here's what I suggest. Try listening to some English content for just one minute. You only have to listen for 60 seconds. Then you can stop if you want. The best thing is that many times you will continue listening.

#3 Change the mindset from sprint to marathon.

Finally, it is vital to understand that learning English takes time, even with the best techniques and materials. Therefore, we must change from sprint, which suggests a lot of effort and intensity, to something calmer and more sustained: a marathon.

It's about finding the right pace that will allow us to continue for many weeks. It's not about running a lot initially only to be exhausted soon after, but the other way around. Start calmly and find the right rhythm and routines.

The results will come, but your brain needs some time to assimilate what you learn.

Well, I hope I’ve helped you with these reflections, and of course, also with English.

Get the transcript on my website: https://speakenglishpodcast.com/podcast/