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If you aren't exercising immediately before you study your new language, you are missing out on a fast and easy way to boost your learning.
Plan on walking briskly (or doing any exercise) so you are almost, but not quite out of breath. Then do this exercise for 15 minutes before you start your lesson or your study session.
This boosts something called "brain derived neurotropic factor" and it physically helps your brain make the new connections that are the core of what learning really is.
It's a big enough effect that you definitely should try to arrange your schedule to do it.
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When you want to make fast progress in your new language, taking an intensive language course really works. Fortunately it's easy to set up your own intensive course right here on Italki. I did this for six weeks using teachers from Italki, and when it was over, I was delighted with the results!
Here's what I did.
I set up a consistent schedule studying for a total of five hours per day with four different Spanish teachers at the same time every day.
I also used a spaced repetition program to learn Spanish phrases for 60 minutes per day, split into two different 30 minute sessions.
It was incredibly exhausting. Every day, I felt like I had gone on a difficult four hour hike, but my oh my, was it effective.
The subjects that we worked on were whatever I was interested in that day, so I led out with the subjects, and the teachers relentlessly and lovingly, corrected my accent and usage. When I was corrected, I always tried to repeat what the teacher said immediately.
So what would I do differently next time?
I think I would take one day off per week and just watch Spanish movies instead of studying seven days per week. I think that would have been just as effective.
I would also use fewer teachers if they had time available in their schedules. Two different sessions with the same teacher I think would have helped me learn better.
I would also walk briskly for 15 minutes before each study session. This increases brain derived neurotropic factor and helps you learn faster.
After my intensive course was over I switched to a more relaxed 30 minutes per day, five day per week study schedule with my favorite teacher, and that was by itself enough to keep me from forgetting what I learned during my intensive program and continuing to make slow progress.
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What does the expression, "You hit the nail on the head." mean? I means you said something exactly right.
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When you want to improve your English to get a better job, you should consider reading books in English about how to get a job.
If you know that you want to get a better job, but if you aren't sure what kind of job you should get, then you should definitely read the career guidance book called, "What Color is Your Parachute" by Richard Nelson Bolles.
They come out with a new version every year, so it's always up to date. Amazon makes it easy to buy Kindle (electronic) books and audio books from anywhere in the world.
The optimum English learning experience would be to buy both the audio book and the Kindle book and read while you listen.
https://www.amazon.com/What-Color-Your-Parachute-2021/dp/B08QB3SW1F/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=what+color+is+your+parachute&qid=1627107203&sr=8-1
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What's in a Name?
If you are learning English because you want to make more money, you probably should pay more attention to your name.
It turns out that people will trust you (or not) hire you (or not) all based on your name. They shouldn't of course but they do.
If you haven't thought about your name as something that can either make you money, or cost you money in English, it's time to start thinking about it.
In Russian, the name Ivan is very common and I like it. But if you ask most native English speakers to complete a phrase starting with Ivan, a lot of them would say Ivan the Terrible. This name has very negative connotations (a connotation is an implied meaning or an association) in English. So if you are one of the many wonderful people in the world with this name you should consider using something else in English.
Since Ivan is a Bible name, you could use the English translation of this name which is John. John has good connotations in English as it is associated with Saint John.
Igor, also has very negative connotations in English. Do a Google search for "Igor movies" to see what I mean. If your name is Igor, you could be the most wonderful person in the world, you will make less money in English than you would if you used a different name.
I worked with a programmer whose last name meant Friday in Arabic. When he used his real last name in English it was terrible, but Friday is a cool last name for a programmer!
For your name to help your career in English, it needs to be easy for everyone to say in English and have positive connotations.
I highly recommend working a teacher here on Italki to make sure that your name is both easy to say in English and has positive connotations.
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