Don’t Study

To Speak
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11 Tips you can use right

where you are to start
communicating in your
target language

Manuel J. Schot
Thousands of songs can be played using just four chords.

This book isn’t about music, but this analogy applies perfectly to getting fluent in
a language.

I’m a far cry from a musician, but I can play almost any song on a guitar, how?
Because I did what most people do when starting out with guitar.
I learned the three most basic chords, G, C & D, and like that I was able to learn
to play basic songs. I learned a few minor chords, and I learned the chord
progression of most songs.
Then I was able to change the key, and then after playing more, the natural
melody of songs started to make sense and I could pick up simple songs by just
hearing them played on the radio.

If I had just looked at chord diagrams without using them with a guitar, hoping
that those would translate into making me able to play songs, I would still be
here years later wondering why it is that I know a bunch of theory, but I still can’t
play a single song.

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The traditional and educational approach to learning a language is the
opposite.

Take a course - study grammar rules - do a bunch of grammar drills - write or

click on multiple option questions - repeat what a teacher tells you to, etc.
All this is supposed to come together somehow into making you able to have
complex conversations in the real world.

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Throughout the 10 years that I’ve been working with people from all over the
world to learn languages, I’ve heard this from my students in different variations
countless times:

“I’ve tried to learn a language, I’ve read books, I’ve taken a number of courses,
I’ve listened to podcasts, watched youtube videos, but I still can’t have
conversations at level I want to”

Here in these pages I’m going to share with you 11 simple strategies you can
use to develop the communicative aspect of your target language, and ways you
can start using and applying the language from where you are right now.
So you don’t get stuck in the vicious cycle of learning theory, but are able to learn
a language naturally, by using the language, to learn more of the language…

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 1. Visualize
What You’re
Saying

When a child learns a language, they learn by connecting things they see,
and actions they take, to words and phrases.
The whole world opens up to them as they’re able convert all the information
they’ve accumulated in their first few years of life into communication, to express
what they want, how they feel, and describe objects.
There are endless possibilities for them as they partake in this very exciting
journey of labelling all actions, objects, and experiences with spoken words.

It can be very tempting to learn your new language by translating everything

from your native language into your target language. That can be an initial help
with learning the first few words, but long term it will limit you considerably once
you start creating phrases, cause the structure of languages is different, even in
very similar languages.

The way we can avoid this and still make the language relevant, is by connecting
words and phrases visually.

For example, if you’re learning the phrase:

I - am - going - to - the - gym
Defragment the phrase: I - am (I quickly picture myself standing) - going - to (I
picture myself walking across the street, cause this is exactly what I do when I
go to the gym) - the - gym (I see the gym sign above the entrance, with door
slightly open).

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 1. Visualize what you’re saying

Now, to really learn those extremely important connecting words in this phrase
(am - to - the), and to make sure we have this very important structure down pat,
right away we’ll elaborate…also visually.
I - am - going - to - the - store

Same process…
If I repeat this a few more times and change the object,
I am going to the house/park/airport
You can keep changing it, he-is-going-to-the-store and so on. There are many
more variations you can do to keep working with this phrase, but you get the
point.

This is done! By connecting visually, in a few minutes you’ve learned how to use
the be verb, how to structure verbs and nouns, preposition to, article the, & the
progressive from. Without spending hours in class learning about why they’re
important to use, and doing a bunch of drills.

Those images can flash through your head in a The longer you prolong your
split second, it only takes a little more focus on first conversation in a new
your part and being a little more present during language, the further you get
your language learning time. from mastering it.

Don’t just parrot the phrase, remember:

Learning a language is an experience.

It’s not a lesson, it’s not a class. As they call it in language schools.
You see, this is relevant for me. I go to the gym everyday so now saying that
phrase in my new language is stuck in my head.

Application:
Always picture what you’re saying while you’re saying it. You can use
this effectively for phrases and words.

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 2. Don’t Study
Grammar At The
Beginning

In sports you learn to play by going out with your friends on the street
corner, then you go to a field and start competing.
The grand majority of what you do is playing, a small percentage is tactics that
you learn theoretically. But you learn the theory once you have a basic grasp of
the practical side, this way the theoretical information about the sport is relevant
and you know how to apply it.

If the first time you encountered the sport, say soccer for example, they tell
you…
“I want you to stand firmly leaning on your left leg and bring the ball down with
the upper part of your right foot, then dribble with the right side of your foot, then
step on the ball, and kick the ball with the left side of your foot into the goal box.
Good, now repeat that three times!”
Whoa…you lost me at stand firmly…on which foot did you say?
First you have to feel the ball, kick it with the tip of your foot or however you can,
and then little by little you start to make other distinctions, and more technical
things start to make sense.
A language, like sports is something practical. And applying the same process is
the most effective way to master a language quickly.

You need to get out and try to speak. Make a fool of yourself and screw up
often, and then with practice & use you start understanding and being
understood clearly.

In the educational system language learning has been lumped in with science
and mathematics, which is wrong. The current results we’re seeing prove that it’s
wrong.

It takes people 5+ years to learn a language in school!

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 2. Don’t Study Grammar At The Beginning

Sports training has come a long way, and in general the methods used get
practical results, that’s why we see athletes jumping higher, running faster, and
lifting more.
But the educational systems methods haven’t shifted. Why?

Because it’s much simpler to teach, than it is to coach.

If you’re going to coach someone in a language

you have to be present, and reacting to how
they’re processing the language, and seeing
Success in learning a new
what’s working for them.
language is a lot less about
studying, and a lot more
It’s easy to read from a book or course, and
about speaking.
explain the concepts and theory. It’s simple to
follow a certain pattern and keep that same
pattern with everyone regardless of their interests
or individual needs.
If you have to work with someone along with their personal objectives it takes
more time, you have to discover things together and tailor things to their needs in
order to get them quicker results.

There have been tons of advancements in technology, but generally all we do is

use modern technology to apply the same old non-effective language learning
methods.

Instead of learning a language conceptually in school, now we learn a

language conceptually in an online school.

Now a lot of language schools have added a word to their promotion:

“conversational”
But all they’re doing is having you repeat “conversationally” what they tell you,
they not activating your creativity and your brains natural desire to expand and
learn.

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 2. Don’t Study Grammar At The Beginning

Anyway, back on point…what you need to do is start with simple phrases that
you can connect and that you can expand, instead of learning a bunch of rules
that you are not able to connect yet.

For example:

I want to…
I need to…
Where is…
I have…
How do you say…
What does…mean
I must have
Can you repeat that please?

this way you’ll use the language, to learn more of the language.

Your progression through the language will be natural, and you’ll build on your
own creativity, you won’t be limited to what the teacher is telling you to do.

The above phrases are some of the first things I learn in a language, and the
ones that I always have my language learning clients learn first.
It’s crucial that right from the beginning you’re already formulating questions
properly.
It takes a grand total of about 10 minutes to learn these and a few other ones,
and you’re already enabling yourself to use the language immediately.

Application:
Learn phrases that enable you to learn the language naturally. Above are
the very first few phrases you can start with, spend some time now
learning them in your target language.

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 3. Culture

I remember some story I heard when I was a kid about a girl who hated a
course in school cause the course book was so boring.
She dreaded doing the homework, she marked the day of that class with an x,
she couldn’t read through a paragraph of the book, until..

She met the author.

He was a total stud. Tall, handsome, & charming.

Obviously not a very animated writer, but still, she got a crush on him the size of
Russia at first sight.
After that she couldn’t put the book down.

Get involved with the culture of the language.

If you like food, learn about their food. If you like art, look at their art, and
research their artists. Look up their famous landmarks, etc.
And if you really want to do something cool, plan a trip there for a specific date.
That will give you a concrete goal for when you want to have a communicative
grasp of the language.

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 3. Culture

Culture is very intertwined with a language, and you need to develop some kind
of a connection with the language that will motivate you to want to be a part of it.

Application:
Do something right away having to do with culture of your target
language. If you’re learning Chinese, read about how they built the
“Wall of China”. English, put a picture of Mount Rushmore or Big Ben
on your wall. Italian, go see an opera.

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 4. Your Why

Why are you learning a new language?

Is it to pass a test? Is it to get a job?

Your goal and focus should be on one thing:

To be able to communicate clearly and fluently in the language

If your focus is on that then you’re naturally going to mentally organize what you
learn into communication.
You’re going to imagine yourself using what you’re learning in a conversation,
and you’ll find ways to use your new language in conversation, because that’s
just what you care about.

It’s alright if you have these other benefits, but align your focus to the result
you’re after.

I don’t need to tell you the importance of learning languages, I’m sure you
already know that, otherwise you wouldn’t have read up till this point.
But knowing how important it is, and setting yourself up for getting maximum
results are two different things.

Application:
Communicate everything you learn, even if it’s to yourself. When you
learn a phrase, imagine your in a conversation and practice saying it.

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 5. Talk To
Yourself

This is my all time favorite, and something that I used to do a lot.

Now a days it’s much simpler to connect with people, but when I was learning my
first language from scratch, not my native tongue obviously, but the first
language that I learned when I had grown up I did this frequently.
I was in a country that had recently come out of communism, and internet was
just starting to be easily accesible. We didn’t have luxuries like Skype, etc.

Sometimes it’s difficult to find people who The biggest motivation to learning
you can practice speaking with, so as an a new language comes after your
alternative to that you make that important first conversation in the new

connection between the knowledge you have language.

in the language to communicating it. You can

practice saying it out loud to yourself.

Application:
What you can do is use earphones so that while you’re walking down the
street people will simply think you’re having a conversation.

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 6. Don’t Work
Backwards

When a person learns to play guitar, they work forward.

They pick up a guitar, play the few chords they know, and manage to play a
song. It usually sounds off key, the timing is terrible, generally just awful.
Then they gradually learn a few more chords, can play more complex songs,
then scales, etc.

The sense of achievement with learning guitar is in how you can use chords and
play songs, and in how many distinctions you can make in music.

In the traditional approach to a language, people work backwards.

They learn a bunch of information, grammar, rules, conjugations, tenses, etc.
Then after all that, they go back and try to make sense of it all.

There’s no sense of achievement, because when the time comes to use what
you’ve learned you go blank.
Your mind is viciously cogitating trying to navigate through the reams of
information and put it into a simple phrase.

Grammar, rules, & tenses are important, and I personally spend a good deal of
time on them.
But it won’t do you any good if you’re not applying them in conversation, and
making the connection between the informative and the communicative side.

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 6. Don’t Work Backwards

Keep your structures simple, don’t fall into the trap of spending all your precious
language learning time on things that won’t contribute efficiently to your
communicative abilities.

There’s a difference between studying, and learning.

You can use the “Pareto Principle” with a language perfectly. 80% of the effects
come from 20% of the causes.

Spend 20% of your language learning time time learning a concept, and 80% of
it applying it in conversation.

Application:
Work forward. Study a little, practice a lot.

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 7. Describing

So important, since a lot of the communication that we have is basically

describing.
When we talk with someone we’re usually describing ourselves, or we’re
describing our day, the weather, our favorite sports, etc.
Or if we’re communicating professionally, we’re describing something in a
presentation, we’re describing a product we’re selling, we’re describing an
outcome to a client if they buy the product or service.
We’re always describing, so getting really good at this is crucial to reaching
fluency.

You know I had a client once who was blind since birth, and he wanted to learn
English.
Whether you believe it or not, this guy actually learned English quicker than a lot
of my other students.
I had taught English to his mother, and she really wanted me to try with him. I
was a little reluctant at first, but I thought it would be an interesting challenge so I
took it on.
He was a great student, lot’s of fun, and extremely intelligent.
I wasn’t really sure what to expect when starting out with him, but through the
whole process it reinforced the importance on describing when learning a
language.
We would describe experiences, authors, stories, objects, technology, physics,
and on and on.

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 7. Describing

He had an incredible imagination and we had lot’s of fun during our sessions.

This is not something that’s done a lot in traditional language courses, which I
just don’t understand why that is. It’s extremely simple to do and organize.

Application:
To practice, you can regularly describe objects, your day, the food you eat,
your home, etc.

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 8. Learn About
Topics That
Interest You

People when they take a course they study general concepts.

The weather, or a random story about a guy who visited lake Tahoe, etc.

I get extremely bored if I have a conversation with someone about the weather,
or about what routes they take to work.
I want to talk about things that interest me, that challenge me mentally, that
activates my creativity.

Spend time learning about topics in your When learning a language If you
target language that interest you. If you like aren’t facing some kind of
sports, read about how the league works. occasional confusion, you aren’t
You can get really good about knowing the advancing.

ins and outs about the sport while at the

same time learning a language.

A language has to be fun and aligned with something that makes the time you’re
spending learning it enjoyable and interesting.

Application:
Do case studies with your language coach or language partner about a
topic that interests you. Role play positions, or research about the
intricacies of a topic and describe them.

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 9. Be
Argumentative

You know, interesting conversations are broad. They’re controversial, they

make you think, they activate some kind of emotion.

The people who you’re friends with, you are friends with them because of an
experience that activated some kind of emotion.
Maybe it was a conversation, an experience, something funny or interesting that
they did, or someone that you are friends with introduced you to them, etc.
There are countless reasons, but they started because some kind of heightened
interest or intrigue.

When I first took a language teaching course, one of the main things they said
was “never discuss touchy subjects”.
And they’re right, you shouldn’t just go and start having discussions about
sensitive issues with someone that you just met, that could land you a black eye.

But once you’ve developed mutual respect, you can discuss topics that evoke
some kind of heightened emotion, it will be more interesting, and will prepare you
for real life conversations.

In the real world, real things happen. Things get negative, things get stressful,
you have to be ready to use your new language in those kind of situations.
Dealing with tough bosses, annoying coworkers, emergencies, breakups, clients
problems, etc.
That’s life in the fast lane. You might as well get prepared for it while you’re
learning.

So don’t be afraid of getting controversial with a language, in your conversations

with a language coach or language partner.

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 10. Invest Your
Time Wisely

Look, there’s a lot of videos and podcasts with people teaching languages.

And a lot of these people are nice guys, and they most likely sincerely want to
help.
But the problem here is that for the most part, at least with the ones I’ve seen,
they themselves aren’t language learners.

They don’t know the process, they haven’t experienced the twists and turns of
the language learning journey.
They took a teaching course for a month, and then jumped into language
teaching.

They can explain their native language well because they’ve spoken it their
whole life, and you can learn a lot of theory from language teachers, but that
theory isn’t going to do you much good when you’re having conversations in the
real world.

If you want to learn mechanics, you should learn from someone who’s taken
different engines apart, and put them back together. Not just from someone
who’s been driving for most of their life, but never looked under the hood.

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 10. Invest Your Time Wisely

Get a course that will take you through the communicative side of a
language first, and will help you dominate that.
A course the understands what it takes to actually speak it, and use it. And not
one that will just teach you about the language.

How will you know that?

It’s simple, if you’re communicating and using

your creativity during a session.
If the course is enabling you to expand in your
A second language is like
use of the language.
coffee, you might survive
without it, but you won’t get
That means that during a session you’re not just
much done.
copying what the teacher tells you to, but you’re
learning tools that enable you to elaborate and
create longer structures and phrases on your
own.

Remember:
Having connection with the language by listening, reading & writing is
great, but it’s an enhancement. The only way you’re going to be able to get
fluent in the language is if you practice speaking it.

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 11. Take Action

Finally this is the most important of all:

Take action!
How? Choose one thing you’re going to start now, for example:

•I’m going to tune in to Spanish radio when I run

•I’m going to sign up to take live English sessions

•I’m going to practice saying phrases in French out loud in the shower

•I’m going to start having simple conversations with acquaintances who speak
my target language

And take consistent action.

If your goal is “I want to learn English”.
There’s no time frame, that’s just a wish. You’re expressing your desire to learn
English at some point, could be next year, could be in 8 years, could be never.
If your goal is “I”m going to learn English by October”.
That’s a plan! There’s a definite time frame, it’s clear. It tells your subconscious
by when you’re going to achieve your specific outcome.
At that point you need to add action steps, like for example…switching your
phone to English, signing up for a course, forcing yourself to speak in English
from this point on with your English speaking friends, etc.

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 11. Take Action

Don’t be a part of the large group of people who get all hyped up for something
and start but don’t continue.
Be part of the exclusive group that starts with a goal the want to achieve, and
sticks with it until they get the results they want.

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Being able to communicate fluently in language can be one of the most
satisfying things.
It opens up whole new worlds, and can dramatically improve your personal &
professional life.
Not to mention that scientifically it’s been proven to be one of the most beneficial
things you can do for long term brain functionality.

Thank you for reading this book.

I hope apart from the practical tips here, I’ve been able to motivate you to take
action with this fulfilling, exciting and fun process.

- Manuel J. Schot

“A year from now you will wish you had started today”
– Karen Lamb

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