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  • - Hello, this is Jack from ToFluency.com.

  • And today we are going to talk about,

  • you're going to learn about the power of input

  • and sentences when it comes to acquiring English

  • and mastering the English language.

  • And to do this, we're going to use the help

  • of a website called Antimoon.com.

  • Now, I came across this website quite a long time ago,

  • and I've just recently found it again.

  • And the writer of this website, the owner of this website

  • is called Tomasz, and he is from Poland originally.

  • Now, Tomasz has reached a fluent level of English.

  • If you read his writing, you can clearly see

  • that he is fluent in English.

  • And he writes about how he learned English.

  • And I love his ideas are very similar

  • to what I believe is the most powerful to learn English.

  • And a lot of this is similar

  • to the input hypothesis method,

  • or getting enough comprehensible input

  • so that you can store language in your brain

  • to then use later.

  • Now, what Antimoon and I have in common

  • is that we both love sentences.

  • And what I mean by that is

  • we both see the power of sentences.

  • And the input method through sentences works like this:

  • if you see lots of sentences in English,

  • then you are going to store them away in your brain,

  • and if you get enough flexibility in this

  • or enough variety of these sentences,

  • then you'll be able to use them in a natural way.

  • You're not going to think about grammar rules,

  • you're not going to translate in your head.

  • Instead, you're going to use this store of sentences

  • that you have and be able to produce language

  • accurately, instantly, and flexibly.

  • And this is much better than being in that stage

  • where you're having to think about grammar rules

  • when you're speaking English,

  • when you're having to think about

  • how to construct this sentence in the correct way.

  • And you know a word in English

  • but you're not quite sure how to put it into a sentence

  • and you're not quite sure

  • exactly what the sentence structure should be.

  • Or, worse, if you're always translating

  • from your native language word for word into English

  • when you're speaking.

  • So, we're going to have a look

  • at some of what Tomasz writes about here

  • when it comes to this method.

  • And he really explains in a very clear way

  • it's not just about taking one sentence and repeating it,

  • but it's the power of being able to use these sentences

  • flexibly when talking.

  • So, let's have a look at this now.

  • He says, "Of course, this model is very simple.

  • "The brain doesn't really look for whole sentences,

  • "but rather for parts of sentences, phrases.

  • "It can build very complicated and long sentences

  • "from these parts.

  • "So it doesn't just imitate one sentence at a time,

  • "it uses many sentences at the same time

  • "to build original sentences."

  • (upbeat music)

  • If that doesn't quite make sense,

  • the next part is going to give you some examples.

  • "For example, if it has heard 'the cat is under the table,'

  • "it can easily produce 'the dog is under the table'

  • "or 'the book is under the chair.'

  • "The brain can also do more advanced transformations.

  • "If you give the brain these three sentences:

  • "I like golf, I like fishing for salmon, golf is relaxing,

  • "it can produce this: fishing for salmon is relaxing."

  • So, what is doing is

  • it can take all these different sentences

  • and the way I like to explain it

  • is that you internalize the grammar,

  • you internalize the patterns of English.

  • You don't consciously think about them

  • but instead you reach this stage

  • where it just feels right to say a sentence

  • in the right way.

  • So you're not having to think about rules,

  • you don't have to think about sentence structure.

  • It just feels right to say it in the correct way.

  • And this is a stage that I want you to reach.

  • And to reach this stage means

  • that you're going to have to get lots of input

  • and focus on sentences and not single words

  • and not grammar rules.

  • The article goes on to say, "The model describes the process

  • "of a child learning its first native language.

  • "The child listens to its parents and other people."

  • Now, this sentence can be construed in two different ways

  • because a child doesn't always listen to their parents,

  • in that a child doesn't always do what their parents say.

  • But what it is saying is the child is always listening,

  • it's always getting lots of input

  • by listening to their parents, their friends, TV,

  • and anyone else who is present in their life.

  • "The child's brain collects sentences

  • "and gets better and better at producing its own sentences.

  • "By the age of five,

  • "the child can already speak quite fluently."

  • This is true.

  • By age five, children can speak fluently.

  • They make a lot of mistakes

  • but they're constantly improving,

  • and you can have great conversations with a five-year-old.

  • Now, here comes the key part,

  • because a lot of you watching this will be saying,

  • "Yes, but that's different.

  • "That's how children learn.

  • "That's how children learn their native language."

  • "The same model works for learning a foreign language.

  • "In fact, we think it is the only way

  • "to learn a language well."

  • I love that part.

  • I love that part.

  • Adults learn in the same way.

  • This is saying you learning a second language

  • should learn in the same way as a child does.

  • By getting lots of input.

  • By recognizing grammar rules and patterns in the language.

  • By internalizing vocabulary

  • through the repetition of various sentences,

  • thousands of sentences over time.

  • "What the model means for language learners.

  • "The brain produces sentences

  • "based on the sentences it has seen or heard.

  • "So the way to improve is to feed your brain

  • "with lots of input, correct and understandable sentences,

  • "written or spoken.

  • "Output, speaking and writing, is less important.

  • "It is not the way to improve your language skills."

  • Now, I'm not completely convinced about this part

  • because there are a few things here.

  • Firstly, you can practice your speaking in a controlled way.

  • So, you can repeat sentences out loud

  • so that you're improving the way you speak

  • at the same time as getting lots of input.

  • That is my method, the To Fluency method.

  • Also, when you are speaking

  • and having conversations with people,

  • I think you are getting

  • some of the most powerful input you can get.

  • Because think about when you have a conversation

  • with someone in English.

  • You are so focused on what they are saying

  • and you're getting specific input

  • based on the types of conversations you're having.

  • You're speaking in a conversational way

  • so you're getting conversational English as input.

  • And also, I think it's good to practice

  • to put everything together,

  • specially if you are working on things

  • like your pronunciation

  • and also using a method like the To Fluency method.

  • But I understand what the writer is saying here,

  • that input so just so important

  • when it comes to acquiring English

  • and mastering the language.

  • And the last part: "You don't need grammar rules.

  • "You learned your first language

  • "without studying tenses or prepositions.

  • "You can learn a foreign language in that way, too."

  • I agree, grammar rules aren't necessary

  • for mastering the English language.

  • Sometimes they can help,

  • specially when you take examples from grammar lessons.

  • And again, it's those sentences in the grammar lessons

  • that you need to internalize

  • in order to speak more naturally.

  • So, I am a big fan of input method,

  • and specially when people focus on sentences

  • when it comes to language learning.

  • So, here are some takeaways.

  • Get lots of input.

  • Listen to things in English, always be listening.

  • Read a lot in English.

  • And when you are focusing on language,

  • be sure to learn English through sentences.

  • I also recommend using space repetition software

  • to get lots of repetition

  • of the sentences you want to focus on.

  • So, use something like Anki

  • and just put sentences into that software

  • so that you can repeat them in the most effective way.

  • Or if you want to get phrases delivered to you,

  • then join the To Fluency program.

  • And then get some natural practice on top of this

  • to put everything together

  • so that you can practice using your English

  • in a more natural way,

  • and also so that you can get some really good input

  • when you are having those conversations.

  • So, let me know what you think about this

  • and what you have learned from this lesson.

  • I'll leave a link to the article in the description

  • so that you can read this article

  • and then just read all the other ones

  • that he recommends to you,

  • because I love the way that this writer writes in English.

  • Everything is simple and concise.

  • It's a good example of not trying to over complicate

  • the English language.

  • So you, as an intermediate or advanced English learner,

  • will be able to follow this article and get a lot from it.

  • And before you go, please like and share this video.

  • Share it with anybody

  • who needs to learn English in this way.

  • And while you're here,

  • why not watch another one of my videos?

  • They are on your screen now.

  • Thanks again for watching, bye bye.

- Hello, this is Jack from ToFluency.com.

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