Goodbye and Good Riddance 2020

Goodbye and good riddance, an English saying meaning that you are glad to be ‘getting rid’ or leaving something behind.  No, I’m not talking about a certain Mr. Trump, but the year 2020 in general. It’s a phrase that I think many (all?) people will be saying about this year.  But what have we learned in 2020?

Personally, I tried to learn a bit more Czech, better running technique and to have have more patience in general. Unfortunately I let ‘the situation‘ distract me from persevering with my Czech so it’s back to passive learning I’m afraid.  It also became a bit of an excuse if I’m honest, for not writing any blog posts or filming any videos. I will try to make up for that next year, starting today.

New words and phrases in English you may have heard this year?  Leave yours in the comments below.  For one I have to admit I had never heard the verb ‘to furlough‘ before the start of 2020, but it has quickly found its way into the lexicon of the mainstream.  People working in the civil service may have been aware of it as it means ‘to give workers temporary but long term time off work’.  Outside of the medical profession you would be ‘hard pressed‘ (challenged) to find someone who knew what a ‘corona virus‘ was, I think we are all now acutely aware! The phrase ‘global pandemic‘ is one we hoped we’d never hear in our lifetimes and although the word epidemic was widely used, I don’t think too many people used the word for someone who is a specialist in the science of epidemics, ‘an epidemiologist‘, sometimes referred to as ‘disease detectives‘. Other related phrases such as              ‘social distancing‘,            to keep one’s distance from another, [[[‘self-isolate‘]]]  taking the social distancing to the extreme and ‘denialist‘ someone who denies (to deny) the existence of something (like corona virus), and the acronym (abbreviation using the first letters of each word in a phrase) ‘WFH‘ meaning working from home have all come into our regular chosen vocabulary. Note: not ‘WTF‘ which means something else 🙂  Who would have thought ‘face masks‘ would become a fashionable item and that the hyphenated word ‘single-use‘ would refer to something other than plastic and condoms!

More positively, an ‘e-bike’ is something your parents or grandparents are very likely to be talking about and the word ‘Anglosphere‘ has become more popular as a way of grouping together the countries where English is the first language (UK, US, Canada, Australia. New Zealand, Ireland). ‘Contactless‘ as in your new credit or debit card which do not require inserting into a terminal to pay as opposed to ‘a contact sport‘ such as football, rugby and ice hockey. ‘Influencer‘, a social media term meaning someone who has a lot of influence by way of a large online audience. Another acronym, ‘G.O.A.T.‘ in sporting terms meaning: the greatest of all time found its way into my ears for the first time this year. Think Muhammad Ali, Pelé, Michael Jordan etc. Maybe that has been around for longer and I was just ‘living under a rock‘.

Anyway, here’s to hoping next year will be a little more positive. Let me know your favourite new words from 2020 in the comments below. I’ll be back at Christmas.

New Year Update – Free Goal Setting Help – Course Discounts

Howdy folks! (as they say in some parts of the U.S.A.) How y’all doin’? So, as we are two thirds of the way through January already, I thought we should have a little catch up to assess our goals for 2020. Did you make any new year’s resolutions?

If you read my previous post. 2020 Vision. you will know that my three main resolutions were:

  • Run a sub 40 minute 10km at a specific race in Kladno in November (my current PB is 40.32, what’s yours?)
  • Improve my Czech language with my new teacher and be able to use and understand all modal verb usage + learn and use 52 new verbs (one a week)
  • No alcohol for the first two months of the year. (9 days in so far, so good)

Of course, you want to know how I’m getting on right?

Be alcohol free

Well, I’m still alcohol free after three weeks, so I’m well on the way to two months. However the thought of (and sight of on tv) a cold beer is pulling my coat tales on a daily basis. That said, I am enjoying the clarity of going without any alcohol. I’m sleeping better and feel like I have more energy. I’m not usually a big drinker but the regularity of it is good to keep in check. Anyway, I do this most years and it’s no problem to go for long periods without visiting the pub or the green and brown bottle aisle of the supermarket. The downside is that it’s probably not saving me any money as water is more expensive than beer in the Czech Republic!

Improve my Czech

I’ve had a big win already on this one as I have been proactive in finding myself a new Czech language teacher. I say ‘teacher’ but really she’s a language coach and works in a very similar way to me. How is a coach different from a teacher? I’ll try to explain that in a future post, but suffice to say that it’s my preferred way of learning as it puts the onus on me.

Run a sub 40min 10km

Ok, my goal here is to run the time I want in a specific race which isn’t until November, but that gives me 10 months of training to get up to speed. I have started the year strongly and structured my weekly training in a methodical way after reading a great book by Julian Goat

er called The Art of Running Faster. I highly recommend it. For the last three weeks I have incorporated a short hill repetition session and an interval training session as well as cross training (swimming). Added to my usual weekend long run and a few recovery/easy runs in between and I am already feeling like I am stronger and faster.

Your Goals

So what about you? Did you set any new year’s resolutions? Have you got some goals or target for the year? Do you have specific goals for your English? If you would like some help in setting your goals download this. It’s my guide to setting S.M.A.R.T Goals for your English journey.

And Finally…Master the Present Perfect video course

If you are looking to make some quick improvements in your English and want to do it in a fun, relaxed way, take one of my online courses. They are available at a discounted price of just 499kč until the end of January. Better Your English Now will help you correct up to 30 of the most common mistakes you make and Master the Present Perfect does exactly what it says on the tin!

Ok folks, that’s all for now. Get your S.M.A.R.T. Goals guide here and Enroll in a course here.

Enjoy learning English the smart way and see you next time,

Richard.

2020 Vision for Your English

Howdy All! How is 2020 treating you so far? Have you started exercising? Given up smoking and drinking? Saving more money? Using less plastic? Eating healthier food?

Whatever you want to achieve this year, make improving your English one of your habits. Yes, a habit! Improving your English isn’t a goal in itself, it’s a habit to form to continually improve. If you’re not very good at creating new habits, and let’s face it who is?,  take a look at this. I have created a free blueprint pdf for you to get into the habit of studying, practicing and improving your English.

Click here for this week’s free cheatsheet – Your English Habit Blueprint

To read more about creating habits have a look at this post from last year.

I know you are itching to find out what my goals are for this year so here’s my shortlist:

  • Run a sub 40 minute 10km at a specific race in Kladno in November (my current PB is 40.32)
  • Improve my Czech language with my new teacher and be able to use and understand all modal verb usage + learn and use 52 new verbs (one a week)
  • No alcohol for the first two months of the year. (9 days in so far, so good)

So what’s your vision for your English this year? Do you have one? A target of where you would like to be by the end of the year? Have you thought about and set some goals. If you want some help in determining your goals you can download this useful goal setting sheet. To read more about why goal setting is important to your English, read this.

So, I’ll keep it short this year as you are a very busy person 🙂 but I’ll be back soon to help you learn English the smart way.

Happy New Year,

Richard.

 

Merry Christmas 2019

Oops! I forgot to post this 🙂

Merry Christmas

First of all, I would like to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas. Of course, this time of year is traditionally when we reflect on the last year and as well as happy times we may also feel melancholy and even sadness.

So, as we are coming to the end of the year it’s time ‘to take stock of’ (review and think about) your English journey so far. Here are a few questions I put together to help you figure that out. Spend some time thinking about the answers to these questions. It may be a good idea to print off this email and use the space under each question to answer it. If you want to email me your answers I would be happy to read them and of course that will help me to help you even more. So, here you are…

Did you improve your English this year?

What did you do to get better at English?

Was it a successful year or are you disappointed with your progress?

Could you have done more?

What could you have done differently?

What else could you have done?

… and what else?

Ok, so I am sure this will help you to reflect on your English journey so far. In the new year I will email you again with some free tools to help you start the year ‘on the right foot’. Look out for those. In the meantime, have a great Christmas holiday/December and see you in the new year.

All the best,
Richard.

 

Nejlepší způsob jak se naučit anglicky

nejlepší způsob jak se naučit anglicky, English Learning Goal Setting

Have you set goals to improve your English?

If you want to know nejlepší způsob jak se naučit anglicky then two of the most important things you need are motivation and goals. I have discussed motivation in another article so today we will talk about how to set specific goals to learn English. Click here for a link to my vocabulary list for the highlighted words. Let’s begin…

In all my years of helping people with their English and trying to learn Czech myself, the one thing that I have learned, is that no magic potion can make you the master of a language overnight, it takes time, dedication and a systematic approach. Luckily for you, I’m here to help you set those goals and also follow them religiously, so that you can converse with confidence in English. Keep reading to find out how to get this week’s free Goal Setting Creation Sheet.

Aren’t Motivation and Goals the same thing?

The difference between motivation and goals is that motivation is subjective and varies from person to person, but goals are objective. They are set according to your learning skills and retention capability. Today I’ll help you learn how to set great goals that you can follow to learn English more effectively.

You may have heard the saying ‘work hard, play hard, but the modern era needs something more than hard work, it needs smart work. Working smartly has become such a vital attribute today that it has been revered as a benchmark for doing everything in your life. Our phones have become smarter and our essential amenities are run by technology-driven systems, so let’s incorporate this smartness into our learning. By the way, if you would like to know more about working smartly in the office, have a look at my friend Jiří Benedikt’s site.

nejlepší způsob jak se naučit anglicky, English learning goals

S.M.A.R.T Goals je nejlepší způsob jak se naučit anglicky

Of course, there are many different systems and techniques for setting goals but my prefered method is one that uses the acronym SMART. Setting SMART goals will help you achieve them and by writing them down and ticking them off you will be able to measure your progress. (Guess what the M stands for!) So, without further ado, here’s what the letters of the acronym SMART stand for:

S- Specific

Be specific when you set your goals. Who is going to do it, when and where is it going to happen, how will you do it. What do you need to happen in order that the task is finished. Some of these questions may not be relevant to every task you set yourself but ask them anyway just to make sure.

M- Measurable

You need to set goals which are measurable. Devising long term plans is a good start but if you can ‘chunk it’ and break it down into smaller and more easily measureable tasks it will encourage you to continue learning the language. What you want is both a long term measurabe goal AND a series of shorter term goals that are equally measurable. An example might be to set the job of reading and finishing a book by a certain date; and then by chunking the longer term task into weekly (3 chapters) and daily goals (15 pages) you can more easily measure your progress.

A-Attainable

What’s the point of setting tasks if you cannot complete them? Instead, your tasks should be attainable on a hourly, daily or weekly basis. Consider this, you start with a task to write 5 essays this week on various topics. By the end of the week you were only able to complete 2 essays; this would surely demotivate you to work on it further. In its place, you can ensure that at least one 500 word essay is completed by a particular day of the week, and in it, you will try to use some of the new words that you learned earlier. Not too easy, not too hard!

R-Relevant

Making your goal relevant will help you learn better and faster if the daily tasks are more orientated towards your field of interest or your daily activities. For Example, if there is going to be a festival in your town next month, you can read material related to it or learn words that are associated with festivals. This will assist you in learning new words and allow you to converse more easily with people at the festival.

T-Time based

Time is your greatest acolyte while learning anything in life, so set limitations for your goals, like “I will … by the end of this month.” It will help you organize your tasks and daily routine. The important thing is to push yourself, but not beyond the limit. There is no rush, remember “Slow and steady wins the race.” I have been thinking about playing a gig (concert) for friends and family for a long time now. Just a few songs on the guitar, most of which I already know, but I’m still procrastinating about it because I have’t booked a venue and made it a concrete, time bound plan. When I have the date, I’ll put the time in to practise.

Today’s Freebie – SMART Goals Creation Sheet

Develop an action plan: I have developed a chart to help you create your SMART goals.   On the top of the sheet write your biggest English goal, on the line underneath write a shorter term goal. Use the questions on the sheet to help you develop a specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound goal. Finally use your answers to write a short statement of comittment to achieve your goal. I have included an example sheet where I outlined how you might achieve the goal of reading a book in English.

Finally

Remember that goals are not ‘the be all and end all’ (all that matters).  The journey is what is important. Enjoy the learning process. Celebrate when you achieve your goals but remember the joy will soon fade and you will be looking for another goal. If you are still struggling with a reason why you need to learn English, take a look at my motivation article.

Jak Mluvit o Fotbale v Anglictine – Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham

How to avoid sounding like a football novice
jak mluvit o fotbal v anglictine
Be Cleverer Than These Two

How to pronounce English football team names properly (jak mluvit o fotbale v anglictine). A quick guide to not sounding stupid in the pub. I bet you think you know how to say Chelsea, right? What about Aresenal and Tottenham? Easy? Read on…

Instead of trying to read the letters you see in the English spelling, try to pronounce what you see from the Czech spelling (including some phonetics). I have also added an audio file for each club name so you can hear how a native (northern British, English, Yorkshire – West, Leeds – North Western) speaker says it.

Arsenal

ásnl – We don’t pronounce the e or the a at the end.

Bournemouth

boónməth – Some people may say the mouth part like the word mouth but most of us replace the vowels ou with the short schwa sound ə.

Brighton & Hove Albion

brajnənhouvalbýən – To be honest most people just call them Brighton so you don’t need to learn the whole name (only f you want to sound really clever). Some people, those who have better (more standard) pronunciation will say the letter T in the middle but in my accent and for many others, we drop the T but leave a glottal stop.

Burnley

bɜnli – The schwaa sound that replaces the UR is the long version. It sounds like the noise we make in English urrgh when in Czech you say fuj (something is disgusting).

Chelsea

čelsi – The most common error I hear is people pronouncing the S as a Z. It should be pronounced as an S.

Crystal Palace

kristəlpaləs – Again, change the letter A at the back of both words to a short schwa.

Everton

evətən – As with Brighton, the T in the middle is optional but remember to replace it with a glottal stop if you omit it.

Huddersfield Town

hudəzfíltawn – Many speakers with my accent (West Yorkshire) would actually drop the H from the beginning and as well as the D from the end of HuddersfielD and as Huddersfield is also in West Yorkshire, you’ll sound like a real local if you pronounce it this way.

Leicester City

lestəsiti – Or just lestə. A perfect example of the letters in the word being more confusing than helpful.

Liverpool

livəpůl – Try to take out your rolled R from the middle and replace with a schwa. Also, the double O is a long sound like in the word ZOO not short as in look.

Manchester City

mančestəsiti – Not so hard but do try to replace the rolled R at the end of Manchester with a schwa.Or just simply ‘site’ to their local supporters.

Manchester United

mančestəjůnajtid –  Or just simply jənajtid (optional T/glottal stop) to their northern born supporters. With united you can also pronounce it jənajtəd.

Newcastle United

ňůkasljůnajtid – The N in Newcastle is said more like an ň or nj, something called an intrusive j sound. It’s the sound of a letter that we don’t write. It’s the same sound you make when saying words like, you, universtity and Europe. (Jolanda and Jachim)

Southampton

sawthamptən – The OU part of SOUTH is said in the same way as when we hurt ourselves and say OW!  (cow, coward).

Stoke City

stouksiti – This has been the most difficult one for me to work out how to pronounce using Czech sounds so listen carefully.

Swansea City

swonzisiti – Ok, so the word SEA is a soft S sound and yes, it looks the same as in ChelSEA but here it IS pronounced like a Z.

Tottenham Hotspur

totnəmhotspɜ – This club has the unfortunate title of ‘Most Overpronounced Football Club Name in the World’. You do not need to pronounce every letter you see, if you do you will sound quite ridiculous. To sound more like a native, remove the E from the middle of the word, don’t pronounce the H in the first word and if you REALLY want to sound good, replace the TT with a simple glottal stop. If this is all a bit much for you, try calling them just  SPURS (spɜz).

Watford

wotfəd – Simply right? Optional T, replace with glottal stop, the A sounds like an O and the OR becomes a schwa.

West Bromwich Albion

wesbromičalbíjən – NEVER EVER, I repeat, EVER pronounce the W in BromWich, the same can be said for Norwich City or Harwich. However, you do say it in Northwich Victoria (8th level of English football league system). Also drop the T from WesT.

West Ham United

westhamjůnajtid – Here we do pronounce the T in West but sometimes drop the H from Ham to make Westam.

And so to the end of this piece on how to pronounce English football club (Premier League) names. The final recording is a reading of the English Premier League results from the weekend of Fri-Sun 24-26th November 2017. You can hear how I naturally read them. Note, this is slightly different to how I would pronounce them when I talk. During this reading, my pronuncation is more of an attempt at a BBC standard.

Here are the English Premier League fixtures for the weekend of December 2nd 2017. My  challenge for you is to see if you can pronounce the names a little beter than before. If you’re feeling really brave, make a recording of yourself and send it to me :-). Remember I love to read your comments so please, post them below.  If you want more help with pronunciation, take my free video course.

Richard.

  • Chelsea v Newcastle
  • Brighton v Liverpool
  • Everton v Huddersfield
  • Leicester v Burnley
  • Stoke v Swansea
  • Watford v Tottenham
  • West Brom v Crystal Palace
  • Arsenal v Man Utd
  • AFC Bournemouth v Southampton
  • Manchester City v West Ham United

 

Just For You. A Traditional English Christmas.

So, what’s a traditional English Christmas like? Every year I am asked the same questions; How is it different to a Czech and Slovak Christmas? What do you eat? Does Ježíšek come to the U.K.? Who the hell is that fat guy in the red suit? (But not that last one.) Well, here you are. Read on to find out the answers to all your questions and more, such as, my favorite Christmas food and do I prefer Czech or English Christmases?

Here is a vocabulary list of the words in bold you may find unfamiliar in this post about a traditional English Christmas.

To church or not to church, that is the question

Christmas in England usually follows a traditional pattern, whether you are religious or not. If you are religious then it will certainly involve going to church. If you are not religious it might still involve church depending on how guilty you feel.

Of course, I can only really tell you about my personal experiences, which were both of the above, my mother going to church and my father going… nowhere near it.

The week before Christmas I used to enjoy carol singing with a friend and then on Christmas Eve we presented the money to the local church to give to charity..

Traditional English Christmas carol singers

Christmas Day is when?

So, there is our first difference; for us in Britain the 24th is Christmas Eve and not what we call Christmas Day as you do in The Czech Republic and Slovakia. Christmas Day for us is the 25th, more on that in a minute. Christmas Eve is still a working day for many people and for many of my friends it was also the day they bought their first underage alcoholic drink in a pub.

I didn’t start going out to the pub on Christmas Eve until a little later when I was about eighteen or nineteen years old but the tradition still continues to this day although in a less wild fashion. Back in the day it involved a pint and/or a shot in every pub over a 2 or 3 km course with about twelve or thirteen pubs along the route before finishing in a curry house. We ended the night either falling into a taxi or making the long, wobbly walk home again. These days, a more sedate pace involves two or three pubs and a lot less drinking and walking. It is, however, great to meet up with many old school mates whom I haven’t seen since the last Christmas Eve I was out.

When we were children of course, it was a very different story. After the short, carol singing church service we went home, had tea (evening meal) and hung stockings by the fireplace, went to bed and tried to stay awake to see Father Christmas (Santa Claus) bringing out presents. Usually we fell asleep long before delivery. Clever Santa.Jak se nejlépe naučit anglicky?

Get a free copy of my Easy Guide to the Present Perfect.

To bed late and early to rise

When we were very young we woke up very early, 2:30am was the record but more usually around 5 or 6am. We then pestered our parents to get up so that we could get more presents from them. Here is our next difference. While you only receive your presents from Ježíšek, we get presents from Father Christmas and from each other. Only the most eagle-eyed children might notice the same wrapping paper on the presents.

Visitors, Presents and Food

Around 11am my mum would go to pick up the olds (Grandma and my uncle Harold – more on him in a later post) and another round of present giving would ensue. One o’clock – Christmas dinner. Now, I’m sorry, I don’t want to offend anyone here but carp and potato salad, is not my idea of a Christmas dinner. Don’t get me wrong I am learning to enjoy it and every year I do enjoy it more but I am still craving this…

A traditional English Christmas dinner

If you can’t work out what all that food is it’s: turkey, cranberry sauce, pigs in blankets (sausages wrapped in bacon – my favourite), roast potatoes, carrots, sprouts (everyone’s least favourite), stuffing, parsnips and topped off with gravy (the brown meat juice). Then with bloated stomachs it’s a local walk and then a bit of television; always a new TV film premiere suitable for all the family. Uncle Harold likes to watch the Queen’s speech but he’s pretty much on his own for that in our house. 5pm is tea time, that’s roast ham, pork pies, turkey sandwiches and Christmas cake. The evening is more drink, nut cracking, board games then sleep.

If you like what you are reading, remember to leave me a comment at the end.

Sports?

Boxing Day, yes, the 26th is also a holiday in England and for many families it’s straight to the sales in the shops. For my family it’s about sport. Boxing Day always has football matches and this year Sunderland (my team) are away at Manchester United. Sometimes we go horse racing with my mum. Boxing Day has nothing to do with boxing though and is probably named after the giving of boxes (presents) to servants, staff, errand boys and postmen in the 1800’s.

horse-racing on a tradtitional English Christmas

And that is basically my traditional English Christmas. Any other questions? Ask below and I’ll answer them for you. How are you spending your Christmas? In a traditional Slavic way? Low key or big party? I love to read your comments.

Merry Christmas. See you next week with a preview of 2017 and what to look forward to in the new year.

Richard.

New Richard Hill English Website

You may have noticed that my website (richardhill.cz) is currently unavailable.  We are working on a new site now and I will let you know just as soon as it’s ready. The new site will include a new video section available via monthly subscription. Meanwhile, keep up to date by checking your inbox for my emails which will include some teaser videos.

That’s all for now, ta ta.

Richard.

Where’s My Television?

Me and my big ideas!  I have long been extolling the virtues (saying how good something is) of a TV-free home (not having a TV) and often suggested to my family the idea of removing the television from our house.

Click here for a vocabulary list of the words and phrases in bold.

I’m sure the benefits are obvious to most of you; more quality time spent with your family, more meaningful conversations, less distractions and increased ability to concentrate etc. It was with all this in mind that last week I again made the suggestion that we could try a week without television as an experiment.  No Minimax corrupting my children’s brains with adverts for plastic crap they really don’t need, no Ordinace v Ružové Zahradě killing my wife’s brain cells with its mindnumbingly boring stories and personally less time wasted pretending I’m learning something by watching repeated episodes of TimeTeam on the History channel and bike races from Azerbaijan I have no real interest in on Eurosport.

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kid in front of tv

In English we use the word programme to mean a show ie. The Simpsons, Československo Má Talent. When you program in Czech we say channel eg. Nova Cinema, CT1, Prima Cool. Česká Televize is a TV station.  In short:

  • A TV Station broadcasts the shows and it may have more than one channel.
  • A TV Channel is the frequency being used.
  • A serial is a programme with one story split into many episodes.
  • An episode is díl in Czech.
  • A TV series has the same characters every week but different plots (stories).
  • A season is a collection of episodes.

BBC-Logo

So, as an example; the BBC is a station, BBC1 is a channel, Lost is a serial and Lost has six seasons. The Big Bang Theory is a series and in season 9 there were 24 episodes. Got that? (Do you understand?)

Anyway, back to the case in point and two days ago Radka said to me “OK!, Yes, let’s do it.” So, we decided to remove the TV from the living room the following day (yesterday).  It was then that I realised my mistake…

tv football

I love football, it’s one of my main interests; I play it, I go to stadiums and most importantly for this blog post, I watch it on TV. Those of you who are football fans will already see my error.  Starting today is the European Championships in France. Usually, for these big tournaments (the Euros and World Cup) I watch every game, not just the England and Czech Republic games.  So what am I to do now?  Our gogglebox is hidden away at my request and with it the chance to watch the best footballers in Europe fight it out for the title of Champions of Europe. I can’t believe I didn’t think this through properly.

Does anyone want to invite me to their house to watch a game?

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My Bad Habits

English habits

So we’re into the swing of things in the new year and hopefully those new year’s resolutions haven’t fallen by the wayside. I managed to cut out the beer for two weeks before lowering my guard and succumbing to a night out and I know why this happened, I hadn’t replaced the need for social company (involving drinking beer) with something else. Having a break from beer through January was the goal and I will continue to not drink for the remaining week and a half but I must find a substitute habit to fill the void. It’s not all doom and gloom though oh no!

As a new feature to my blog you can click on the bold words to go to Vocabulary.com vocabulary logowhere I have created a page with a definition and an example sentence for each word. There is also audio pronunciation and a practice spelling bee!  Idioms and phrases in italic are also linked to a definition.

The Good News

I have however, kept up the smaller task of running once a week and this is down to (because of) my ingenious plan of starting a running group. Not only does this create the regular habit of running every Wednesday (Anyone living near Rynholec is welcome to join us!) but it adds to it a support structure of other like-minded people and it’s much more fun than running on my own.

running legs
not MY ACTUAL LEGS

I am motivated by the social aspect as well as the fitness. Starting something is always harder than doing it once you’ve got going and is why so many of us procrastinate about so many things. Starting the group from my house means I have to be prepared as other people are now counting on me.

Furthermore, I have been running on my own at least twice in each of the last three weeks because of this new found enthusiasm and the will to be fit enough to run with other people.

How to Change Your Habits

In his book, ‘The Power of Habit’ Charles Duhigg talks about the habit loop. Put simply this is a three part process; 1. The Cue, 2. The Routine, 3. The Reward.

cue routine reward

The cue is the thing that triggers the feeling of need, if you’re a smoker that might be the smell of a cigarette, the sight of one on TV or it’s 11.15 and time for your break. The routine is the habit you want to change, in this case, reaching for the cigarettes. The reward is the little high you get from the nicotine and a chance to socialize out of the office. Identifying the reward is the key. If you like the social aspect of standing outside smoking you could substitute that routine with a walk (around the office or outside) a chat with a colleague or friend on the phone. If you think ahead and plan for it, when you get the cue you can substiute the routine with anything else that also gives you a similar reward; 30 press-ups, 5 mins of internet surfing, making a coffee etc.

Your English Habits

So, in terms of your English learning resolutions, have you developed any habits to help you along the way? If you want to learn quickly then you simply must develop the habit of regular and continuing practice. Get my FREE English Habits Blueprint here.

How can you develop the habits that will help you to learn regularly, frequently and effectively? Here are a few ideas…

dictionaryPut a dictionary (yes, it’s old school I know!) next to your bed. Every morning when you wake up, randomly open the book and pick out a word. Create a mnemonic (See my recent post) for it such as a visual image or word association hook and then go about your normal day.

Richard Hhill English

Start your own conversation group with friends, the same day and time every week.

alarmclock

Choose a time when you are always free and set an alarm to spend 5 minutes learning something new.

metro logo.pngListen to an English podcast when commuting on the metro or in your car.

Share your own ideas with us here in the comments below and help others to improve their English quicker too. Remember, I read all your comments. Get my FREE English Habits Blueprint here.

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