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  • What's up guys?

  • Today we're doing something brand new on our channel,

  • learning with books, aw yeah!

  • So this is not just a list of grammar and vocabulary

  • books these are real life books that natives actually read and they can help

  • you in developing practical skills like grit confidence and good habits that

  • will help you with your English but also in being a better human being and

  • achieving anything you want to achieve in life plus if you do read them in

  • English you can develop some advanced vocabulary.

  • Now we're not going to be

  • covering strategies for reading in English in this lesson but if you would

  • like us to make a lesson on this then let us know by giving us a like it down

  • below and if you're new here we are constantly helping you to take your

  • English to the next level like this, so if you want to learn real-life English

  • with TV series movies and even books just hit that subscribe button and the

  • bell down below so you don't miss any of our new lessons now let's jump into this

  • list of 6 incredible books for your English and your life!

  • All right, so the first book that I have for you on this list is The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

  • Now this is definitely one of my top books ever and I really

  • think it should be required in high schools all around the world because if

  • it were we would have a generation that would make such a bigger impact that

  • would get along so much better.

  • Now if you want to be more successful at

  • anything you should really consider reading this book it will help you

  • develop some essential skills that will help you to be more effective as a person.

  • Now what does this mean exactly?

  • This means that you will be able to

  • achieve more in a more productive way.

  • Now it will also help you in building

  • different relationships in business of course but also with your

  • girlfriend, boyfriend, wife or husband and with your children if you have them or

  • anyone else in your family.

  • Now The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey

  • is packed full of advice that will help

  • you a ton in different areas of your life I want to take a look at just a

  • couple of these that will help you a lot with your English but then I really hope

  • that you'll go out and pick up this book.

  • So one of the first habits that Stephen Covey

  • talks about in this book is beginning with the end in mind.

  • Now Covey actually begins a section in the book by asking us to

  • envision our own funeral, he asks us who's there and what did they say about

  • us and ultimately the purpose of this is for us to get a vision of what we want

  • to accomplish in this life, who do we want to make an impact on.

  • Now as an English learner this can be extremely powerful as well as an exercise to think

  • about what exactly will it be like when you're fluent, what are you doing?

  • Who are you speaking to? What are you using the language for?

  • And when you can kind of

  • have this vision in mind it will really help power you through all of those hard

  • nights studying or the courage that you need to go and have a conversation with

  • someone in another language.

  • And really the more clear that you can make this vision

  • the more powerful that it will be.

  • Exactly who are you speaking to?

  • What are you using your English for?

  • Doing this should help you to actually make the

  • right choices today to get there.

  • And really what this habit is about is not

  • just letting life happen to you but actually designing how you want your life to be.

  • All right and then another habit from this book that I think really

  • applies to you as an English learner is to seek to understand before being understood.

  • Now this is really crucial in your own language but if you are

  • learning another language it becomes even more important.

  • Now what this one is about is that normally we don't really listen to people.

  • We're in a conversation

  • with another person they're talking and we're probably thinking in our head how are

  • we going to respond to what they're saying we're not really listening to

  • what they're saying.

  • As human beings we love speaking in fact think about it for

  • English learners almost everyone's goal is to become a great fluent English

  • speaker I very rarely hear any English learners say that they want to be a great English listener.

  • However the listening part is so important because

  • if you don't really understand people and I mean beyond just the words that

  • they're saying, if you don't really empathize with them really put yourself

  • in their shoes then it's unlikely that that relationship is going to go very

  • far and this is even more important when that person is from a different culture

  • from you because it can be so easy to judge someone when you don't really

  • understand where they're coming from.

  • Now I would imagine that your big goal with

  • English is to be able to communicate using the language right?

  • But communication is a two-way street and there's a really great quote that says

  • that you have two ears and one mouth use them proportionally this means that you

  • should listen twice as much as you speak probably really you can think of some of

  • the people that you feel like you connect the most to some of the people

  • that you've met in your life that really you felt like I understood you the best

  • and it probably was because they were really good at really listening to you.

  • So if you only choose one of these books on this list to actually go and read

  • I really hope it's this one, you will be a better english learner for it but more

  • importantly you'll be a better person.

  • All right so the first book that we

  • looked at was The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, now how do you actually

  • even build a good habit or break a bad one?

  • Well journalist Charles Duhigg and

  • got really curious about all these questions and dug into all the science

  • of it bringing us a book that brings us some down to earth stories that help us

  • learn all about how we can replace our bad habits with really good ones.

  • Just to start out with an example one of the stories that I still remember is that he

  • tells us about a man who lost a lot of weight by creating a running habit.

  • What was his secret?

  • He actually ate a piece of chocolate after every run but more on

  • that in just a little bit.

  • So first off if you want to learn anything it's

  • really important that you are able to develop habits that support it because

  • when you do this it becomes effortless.

  • This is why I used to hold all of my

  • students accountable to creating fun everyday habits in English and with the

  • ones that actually succeeded in doing this I noticed huge differences in their

  • comprehension and English fluency.

  • So just to give you a taste of this book

  • let's look at how habits actually work.

  • Now a Duhigg tells us that habits have

  • three parts the first part is the cue now a cue is something that causes

  • another thing to start happening so let's take for example running again if

  • you want to develop a new running habit you might create a cue by leaving your

  • shoes right by your bed so as soon as you wake up in the morning you would see

  • your shoes and you would know it's time to go running.

  • Now for your English you

  • might want to try something like pairing your studying with your morning coffee

  • so I have my coffee in the morning and automatically I know

  • it's time to study English.

  • All right so the next part of the habit is the

  • routine this is really the bulk of the habit so for running it would probably

  • be doing the warm-up exercises the actual run and then the stretching

  • afterwards and for your English maybe it's actually studying some grammar

  • recording yourself and listening to it or doing some writing exercises.

  • Now the last part of the habit is the reward and remember I told you about that man at

  • the beginning who use chocolate to motivate himself to run?

  • Well that was his reward but eventually you didn't need the chocolate, he just felt so good

  • after running, getting a runner's high, that that was a reward in itself.

  • In most of time when we think about habits we only think about the behavior, right?

  • We think about like eating the donut or going for an exercise and going

  • for a run right but this cue and this reward are kind of the keys to unlocking

  • habits and to shaping them and remaking them and so if you know this as an

  • individual it's enormously powerful.

  • Now for your English you could totally do

  • the same thing you could have a treat after you've done some really hard

  • studying or taking really good notes watching this video but you could also

  • use for example watching an episode of Friends or a funny Ellen video or

  • writing a friend on Whatsapp and in English for a few minutes to reward

  • yourself for having done something more difficult in the language.

  • So The Power of Habit is a really great read if you want to upgrade your learnings from any of

  • these other books because you'll just make them a habit.

  • So the next book I have for you is called A Mind for Numbers, now don't be deceived by the

  • title of this book it's another really great fundamental read which will help

  • you with so many other things.

  • Now while it actually takes the point of view of

  • learning math and science which for the author Barbara Oakley was a really huge

  • struggle even though she eventually got her PhD in Engineering it actually

  • teaches us the skills that we need to be able to learn anything more effectively.

  • Now for me one of the most impactful things that I learned with this book is

  • that we usually think of learning just as studying that time when we really

  • have our head down in the book and we're trying to memorize really difficult

  • concepts and in English for sure this for you would be when you have to

  • memorize grammar rules or vocabulary now while this is

  • important for part of the brain what is called the focused brain to actually be

  • spending that time really memorizing which Oakley actually shows us how to do

  • better this is just half of the equation, so the other half of the learning

  • process is the diffuse brain and this is actually how our brain makes the

  • connections when we're not studying and we can actually use the diffuse brain

  • in an effective way to make information stick.

  • So the best thing to do when

  • you're really stuck and frustrated on a problem is not to keep focusing on it

  • you actually need to get in a very different mode of thinking and that's

  • what is represented here and so what this means practically

  • for you is you're sitting there you're working, hey get out go for a run go down

  • and have a...go take a shower if you need to or do something that really gets your

  • mind totally off it because when you're in this mode as long as your attention

  • is focused on that problem you're still in this mode you can't get to this way

  • of solving things.

  • So while it is important to actually have that time

  • where we're really studying hard if we can then activate the diffuse brain

  • doing something like taking a nap or playing sports it is going to stay with

  • us much longer this is why if you study at night sometimes it can be good then

  • when you sleep you'll wake up with the information much more locked down in your brain.

  • Now Oakley gives us a really great example of this with Thomas Edison

  • who is famous for inventing the light bulb.

  • What he would do is he would be in

  • a session where he was thinking really hard trying to discover something and

  • what he would do is he would sit down in his chair with something in his hand and

  • take a nap now right as Edison was falling asleep what he had in his

  • hand would drop in the floor and it would suddenly wake him up and what he

  • found often is that suddenly he would have a discovery that he wasn't

  • realizing before so he would kind of use this to activate the diffuse brain.

  • Now this concept is really just the tip of the iceberg so if you read A Mind for Numbers

  • this is definitely going to help you a lot with learning English and also

  • for learning any else you want.

  • Hey so I highly recommend

  • you go and follow us over on Instagram because every week we are doing fun

  • reading exercises with some incredible books like Harry Potter, The Hunger Games

  • The Hobbit and so much more.

  • So for some more fun reading with your

  • favorite books go and check us out over on Instagram.

  • So the next one is called

  • Grit by Angela Duckworth.

  • Now this one made a really huge impact on me when I read it.

  • in fact it should be a required reading for any parent out there as

  • grit is the number one characteristic that you can cultivate in your children

  • but even if you're not a child you can cultivate grit.

  • Now what is grit?

  • I'm saying this word a lot, right?

  • Now Duckworth uncovered that grit is the

  • number one characteristic shared by successful people whether they are

  • soldiers, musicians, athletes or students.

  • Now grit is a combination of passion and perseverance.

  • Now passion is the deep desire to master

  • whatever skill it is that you're learning and it's not really the

  • fireworks it's not that excitement that you get about something new, its enduring.

  • Maybe you already know what perseverance is perseverance is not giving up when

  • things get difficult.

  • Now a really great place to start is with the fantastic TED

  • talk that Angela Duckworth gave on grit and then you can grow your grit by

  • reading the whole book.

  • Grit is living life like it's a marathon, not a sprint

  • Now if you can learn to be gritty with your English learning you are guaranteed

  • to reach your goals.

  • All right so the next one is Daring Greatly by Brené Brown

  • and this one is a bit different than any of the other

  • ones that we've seen so far.

  • Now shame is a normal emotion, we all feel it, shame is

  • the fear that we won't be able to connect with others because they will

  • judge something within us that tells them that we're not worthy of that

  • connection with them.

  • Now Brené Brown actually discovered that the way to beat

  • shame is through vulnerability, however in most societies we tend to think that

  • vulnerability is the same as weakness.

  • Now Brené Brown shows us that this is not so.

  • Brené shows us the vulnerability is actually courage.

  • Now the courageous people, the people who are willing to be vulnerable

  • they show up, there in the arena, they are willing to fail.

  • I have a vulnerability issue and you know and I know that vulnerability is kind of the

  • core of shame and fear and our struggle for worthiness but it appears that it's

  • also the birthplace of joy, of creativity, of belonging, of love.

  • now the reason that this book is on this list is because most English learners feel shame when it

  • comes to speaking English now for you as a learner vulnerability is being able to

  • admit that you are not perfect that you make mistakes and to embrace those mistakes.

  • Is that courage to be able to have a

  • conversation with someone and to sound a bit like a child to feel that silliness

  • and be okay with it and to know also the people who are critical are just scared

  • by your courage because they don't have that same courage to go out there and to

  • do something that's really difficult like speaking in another language.

  • Now Brené Brown can say it's so much better than I can

  • she actually has one of the most watched TED talks of all time on these topics so

  • I highly recommend that you start out by watching that and if you're interested

  • in these ideas then you're going to really love at reading Daring Greatly.

  • So a really great strategy to improve your English with these books is to listen to

  • the audiobook while you are reading it this way you not only improve your

  • reading and your vocabulary but you also improve your English listening and it's

  • just so convenient I love listening the audiobooks every day while I'm making my breakfast.

  • Now I've got a really great opportunity for you to do this as well

  • you can sign up for audible with the link down in the description below and

  • in addition to a free 30-day trial you'll get two free books!

  • So just imagine you could choose two of the books from today's video and listen to

  • the audiobook absolutely free and even if you decide not to continue your

  • subscription after the 30 days you get to keep those two audiobooks yours forever.

  • So what are you waiting for?

  • Sign up with that link down in the

  • description below so that you can start learning with audible and improve your

  • listening with those two free audiobooks.

  • All right so the last but not least

  • book on this list is The War of Art by Steven Pressfield.

  • Now this one is very short but nonetheless impactful and it was extremely popular in the

  • entrepreneurial community. Now Pressfield shows exactly why we don't

  • do the things that we know we must do in order to become better at whatever the

  • skill is that we're dedicating ourselves to and it's called resistance.

  • Now resistance is the fear that you feel when you want to go up and start a

  • conversation with someone in English but you don't or it's the procrastination

  • that you feel when you really know that you should be studying or it's the

  • excuses that you give that you can't do it for some reason even though other

  • people are out there doing it and resistance shows up all the time in our

  • lives just to give you an example this has probably happened to you there's

  • something that you know that you're going to do that you want to do it's

  • something that will help you to advance your English or another skill that

  • you're building but then all the sudden your head you think okay well the dishes

  • are dirty so I better do the dishes and then I need to take out the trash and

  • then by the time you actually have done all these little chores around the house

  • or little things that seem important you don't have time for the thing that is really important.

  • Resistance is when we tell ourselves that we'll start tomorrow

  • instead of just getting started right now.

  • Resistance as I define it with a capital R is that negative force that arises

  • whenever we try to move from a lower level to a higher level or we're trying

  • to identify with our nobler nature with our higher nature you're trying to get

  • out of your own little petty ego and and channel the muse or try to get something

  • wonderful out there so that elicits resistance it'll assist this equal and

  • opposite negative force.

  • Now Pressfield differs between pros and amateurs

  • now amateurs let all that fear excuses and procrastination get in the way of

  • attaining their higher self now the pros they also feel the fear they also hear

  • the voice in their head tying them they have to do something else before

  • they get started but they recognize that as part of the process and they show up and do it anyway.

  • Now in the war of art Pressfield gives us the information that

  • we need to stop being an amateur and to become a pro.

  • Now are you a pro or an amateur with your English?

  • An amateur we'll watch this video and then not

  • really do anything different, a pro will watch this video and get inspired and go

  • out and get one of these books or sign up for audible and download the

  • audiobook and start learning with it or just watch one of the TED Talks that I

  • mentioned in this video or do something else that's going to actually advance

  • their skills in English.

  • So my challenge to you is to pick one of these books and

  • download it or order it and start reading or you could get the audiobook

  • and start listening or do both together now you could read these in your native

  • language and they will really have an immense impact on you that could be a

  • great place to start but you could kill two birds with one stone learn a ton of

  • vocabulary by reading in in English so let me know down in the comments

  • below which of these books are you going to read or if I missed any great ones

  • then be sure to share them with me and other learners down in the comments below.

  • And if you enjoyed this lesson and want more lessons to help you with your

  • reading then let me know by giving it a like below or let me know down in the

  • comments what you would like to see and if you'd like to get some help learning

  • the vocabulary that natives really use in our everyday lives

  • then our Fluent with Friends course can help you a ton so I highly recommend

  • that you check that out by signing up for our free three-part masterclass.

  • Now it's time to go beyond the classroom and live your English, aww yeah!

What's up guys?

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