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  • Hi everyone. I'm Jade. I'm your new teacher! That's my name. I'm from London. So it's really

  • nice to meet you all, and if -- I want you to watch my video, and I really do want you

  • to subscribe at the end of the lesson so you get to see my other new videos on EngVid.

  • But, first of all, for today's lesson, I've got a confession to make. I am an introvert.

  • What's an "introvert"? This is a kind of person who, actually, just prefers to spend a lot

  • of time alone. But people misunderstand introverts, and they always think that it means "shy".

  • They think that every introvert is shy, and I wouldn't say I'm shy. It's just the way

  • my personality is. For me, when I spend time alone, that's kind of, like, how I get energy.

  • And then after, I feel good again, and I can go out into the world. But most people in

  • the world, they're, actually, opposite to me. They are extroverts, okay? And this means

  • that -- when you are an "extrovert", you just love to be around people all the time, and

  • that's what makes you feel great, basically. So we've got some people who are extroverts

  • in the world, and we've got some people who are introverts in the world.

  • How does this relate to you learning English? Well, I think it does, because it can really

  • help you know that the way you're learning English is right for you or, you know, you

  • could change it and make it better for you. But also, I would say that, in general, the

  • whole world of English language teaching kind of focuses more on these guys because, actually,

  • they've got a great advantage when it comes to learning languages.

  • So we're going to talk a little bit about these guys and give advice for, you know,

  • the majority of you watching this video. But we're also going to look at the introvert

  • perspective because this is something that I just found out myself when I was trying

  • to learn languages. I found out that, although I didn't realize it at the time, I was just

  • really slow. Like, I'd be trying to remember a word and really, really slow, and everybody

  • else has already said it or everybody else has already finished. Like, the words came

  • really, really slowly to me. But I always understood a lot, and that confused me because

  • I'd think sometimes, "I'm just rubbish at this language." But I understood a lot. So

  • my speaking wasn't as advanced as my other skills in the language. It's not something

  • I realized until later. I wish I'd seen a video like this to help me explain why.

  • So let's take a look, first of all, at some expressions that can describe extroverts and

  • introverts. So an extrovert who -- an extrovert is somebody who thinks "the more the merrier".

  • And that means, "The more people there are around me, the happier I am." They love to

  • be around people. Extroverts also are often "the life and soul of the party". That means

  • they're the most fun person in the room, and people like to be around them -- great, fun

  • people to have at a party. Also, very often, extroverts are "chatterboxes", blah, blah,

  • blah, blah, talking all the time, always got something to say. Extroverts are chatterboxes.

  • And I'm just pointing out the differences. I'm not saying that you guys are wrong to

  • be extroverts. That's just the way you are. Let's have a look at the introvert, the person

  • who likes to spend time alone a lot of the time. For them, you could say their motto

  • is, "It's just me, myself, and I." Happy to be alone. You could also say an introvert

  • at a party is more likely to be a "wallflower". A "wallflower" is someone who's not going

  • to start conversation with anyone, who's not going to be dancing around having great, amazing

  • conversations. The wallflower is going to be a bit shy and is going to wait for other

  • people to come to talk to them. And the introvert, also, likes to have deep and meaningful conversations,

  • okay? Doesn't like small talk. Doesn't like chatter, chatter, chatter, chatter -- likes

  • to talk on a meaningful level. So they've got different ways of being. How

  • does this relate to learning English? Well, as I said earlier, the extrovert, really,

  • has the learning advantage when it comes to languages because most people, you know, when

  • they learn a language, they do it because they want to be able to speak the other language

  • because communication is so much about speaking. And the great thing for you, if you're an

  • extrovert, is you're so curious and social you want to know what's happening all the

  • time; you want to be in the middle of things; you want to know what's going on. And that's

  • a great advantage for you because it means that you talk -- you take every opportunity

  • to talk. It's no problem for you. So you could be in a new situation -- in a

  • different country or something -- but, you know, maybe you feel a little bit shy because

  • you don't, you know -- you don't want to say something wrong, but you'll need to be in

  • conversation. It's so strong, and you're so proactive, that you'll talk. So that means

  • that you get lots of speaking practice, and that's so good for you developing in your

  • English. So if you're an extrovert, you'll learn a language much more quickly -- at least

  • at a speaking level -- than your introverted friends.

  • Your introverted friends are, really, quite shy speakers. They might not be shy people,

  • but to say, you know, small talk stuff, for example, to actually be speaking the other

  • language at a very basic level -- like, "What are your hobbies?" That kind of thing -- an

  • introvert's almost thinking, like, "I can't bring myself to ask the question." So they

  • might know what to say, but they might not say it. And because they don't say it, their

  • mouth is not getting the practice of speaking that other language. They know a lot in their

  • head, but they're not actually using it. So this can make their progress with the language

  • quite slow. And also, the introvert very often misses

  • the opportunity to speak because they're hesitant. It means they're slow. Maybe before they speak,

  • they think about what they're going to say. Plus, they don't initiate -- they don't start

  • conversations with people. The introvert waits for the other person to come and speak to

  • them. And when you're an introvert, you're quite

  • fearful of mistakes. You don't want to look stupid; you don't want to say the wrong thing.

  • And that's -- that means it's one of the reasons that you don't speak to people. So this is

  • not looking very good for you learning a language as an introvert.

  • But, but, but, it's not all bad because let's look at the other side of the situation now.

  • So if you're an extrovert, you might be great at talking, but -- I know this for a fact

  • -- very often, extroverts are not so good at listening because you're -- you just want

  • to be talking and not so much listening to what other people are telling you. And one

  • -- the reason this is also a bad thing for extroverts is it also means they have a small

  • passive vocabulary. You don't, actually, know that many words. But the words you do know,

  • you can use very well, and, you know, you can have great conversations with it. So that's

  • good. On the other hand, the introverts might not

  • be saying much, but they could be great listeners, and they could understand a lot more than

  • the extrovert. The extroverts really seem like they know everything and can say everything,

  • but they don't understand so much. Also, the introvert has a really wide passive vocabulary.

  • There are lots of words they know, but the thing is, it can be -- there can be a time

  • delay in remembering those words. So very often, you miss the opportunity in conversation.

  • You know them, but they come too slow. This is one of the reasons that introverts are

  • good at writing in their own language and also in English because when you write, you

  • have a little bit of extra time to remember what you want to say.

  • Also, because introverts very often like to do stuff by themselves, we could say that

  • maybe they've got more time for actually doing their studies and their work. So very often,

  • they have better grammar skills because they're actually willing to do that kind of work.

  • So what can you do now that you know the strengths and witnesses of either being on extrovert

  • or an introvert? Well, I've got some advice for you. And I think it can help you with

  • your development when you're learning English, basically. So we'll start with the extroverts.

  • It's really amazing that extroverts are the kind of people who can learn a language -- or

  • English -- actually just on the street. They can go to a place, and, you know, just kind

  • of learn from the people they're around. That's so great. For an introvert, that would be

  • really hard to do because it would take so much courage to make themselves speak in every

  • single opportunity they got. They probably wouldn't do it. So anyway, if you're an extrovert,

  • it's easy for you to take every opportunity to speak. So that's why doing immersive experiences,

  • travelling to other countries where you can do an exchange, or studying in a different

  • country -- that's great for you because, again, you take every opportunity to speak.

  • Also, traditional TEFL (English) classes -- these are great for you as well because there's

  • a big class of people. You can swap around. You can swap. You can talk to many people

  • in the room. That's great for you. So much opportunity for you to be practising your

  • English in traditional classroom situations. What's not so useful for you? I would say

  • "book learning" in general. You really like to have it -- have your English practice active.

  • You like to be speaking; you like to be involved; and you like to be doing things. So wherever

  • you can, make sure you're doing that. Of course, studying is helpful. But for you, know that

  • you'll really develop your speaking just by being in the right situation around the right

  • people. Also, I've had a couple of times where extroverts

  • have told me, "Oh, I could never learn on Skype because, you know, I need to be around

  • more people, and it's just one person, blah, blah, blah." I mean, that's something you'd

  • have to discover for yourself -- could a one-on-one situation actually work for you. But just

  • as a general rule, extroverts do like to be around a lot of people. So perhaps, maintaining

  • the teacher-student interaction for as much as an hour is not something that an extrovert

  • is going to enjoy so much. Also, audio learning programs, they could be okay, but not fantastic

  • for the extrovert because there's no interaction there for them. Moving on.

  • Advice for my introverted friends. Sounds a bit silly, but talk to yourself, okay? Because

  • you don't take opportunities to speak, what you know in your head is often at a much higher

  • level than your ability to actually say it and speak it. So when you try to speak, the

  • words don't come out in the really nice way you want them to just because you haven't

  • practised moving your mouth enough. But when you talk to yourself, nothing can go wrong.

  • You can just talk to yourself. So that's something to try.

  • You can make a friend -- singular friend. Someone that you feel really comfortable speaking

  • English with, so you can get a lot of practice with that one person and, you know, feel good

  • about yourself when you're doing it. And know that some things will be scary for you when

  • it comes to learn a language, and that's okay. For example, in a -- and I speak from experience

  • -- in a typical TEFL classroom situation, there's a very strong emphasis on games all

  • the time, always playing games with this person, speaking about things, moving to the other

  • table, speaking to another person. And it can be quite draining for an introvert because

  • there are many people, there's a lot of small talk, and there's a lot of games. So maybe,

  • if you're like me, you won't like that. Also, big classes might be something you don't

  • like because there are many people that you will need to speak to. And that can maybe

  • shake your confidence a bit, and you might not be feeling too good.

  • I don't know why I put "teach yourself" there. This is in the wrong place. But teaching yourself

  • is one of your strengths, so it's okay just to do lots of self-study, talking to yourself,

  • doing your grammar, watching EngVid. You can do all that stuff by yourself.

  • So I hope that this has helped you understand the way you learn a little bit better from

  • a personality perspective. What I would like you to do now is go to www.engvid.com where

  • you can do a quiz on today's lesson. Plus, this is my reminder to you to subscribe here

  • so that all my English videos on EngVid you're going to know about when they're released.

  • But my other news -- and I hope you're paying attention -- is that I have my own separate

  • YouTube channel. And if you go to my personal YouTube channel, I've got so many videos on

  • there, more than 200 videos to help you learn English, but also, sometimes, some more general

  • videos a bit like today, just sharing my perspective about different things and English accents.

  • So please subscribe here and there. I'd really appreciate it. So now, I'm finished. And I'm

  • just going to do some introverted stuff. So, anyways, I'll see you later.

Hi everyone. I'm Jade. I'm your new teacher! That's my name. I'm from London. So it's really

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