I must
admit that when I first heard of this new method of learning English I didn`t
suppose I will like it. I am one of those people who believe that to achieve
something you need to put some effort in it. So the expression “Effortless
English” triggered an alarm in my head and made me thinking that this is some
kind of a trick.
After few
moments with the lessons I changed my mind and found them fairly interesting.
But before I start, I`ll try to describe what Effortless English is and how it
works. I`ll get back to the word “effortless”, too.
Ann recording video for Effortless English Page YT channel |
For people who try but can`t
Effortless
English is an English course prepared by A.J. Hoge, American from San Francisco , who teaches
English to foreigners. As the lessons are all in English, it is prepared for
people with at least basic knowledge. The group target are people who tried to
learn English very hard and often for a very long time but never succeed. So,
if you are able to understand some basic lines from movies or songs but have no
idea how to say anything in English, the course is for you.
Every
lesson – set, consists of few parts: there`s a Text Article you should “read
but not study”, according to A.J. There is also an audio version of this text
you should listen to. Then, there`s audio Vocabulary Lesson in which the
teacher explains words used in the lesson. The most important part is the
Mini-Story. This is the key to overcome the fear of speaking English. There are
30 regular lessons and 10 bonus ones. There are also Action Vocab videos during
which you will learn new words by repeating them and showing them with your
whole body.
A very
important rule is not to do more than one set a week. Even if you feel you
understand pretty much everything you need to wait until another week to start
the next step. This course is based not on learning the vocabulary by heart but
on listening to it so often that you will finally learn them without actually
noticing that.
A.J. Hoge - Director of Effortless English Club |
Power English Lessons (Print Screen of Folder Structure) |
Effortless or not?
And this is
when we go back to the word “effortless”. In the Welcome Guide we learn that it
would be best to listen to all the audios every day of the week for two hours a
day – as you need to listen to all the parts (or at least to most of the parts)
repeatedly. You do not need to listen them all at once, though, and A.J.
advices to listen them from some mobile devices while commuting to work, eating
lunch or before sleep. However, if you don`t commute to work or your daily
schedule is to occupied to spend so much time on learning every single day your
chances of succeeding aren`t too big.
Click Here to Get Effortless English Lessons and Learn English Fast!
Click Here to Get Effortless English Lessons and Learn English Fast!
This is why
I wouldn`t call this method effortless. Yes, you don`t sit by your desk for
hours, you don`t need to keep a notebook with vocabulary or learn grammar but
still you need to put a lot of effort and time into learning.
You should
listen to every set for at least a week but there`s no upper limit – if you
don`t feel you learnt everything, you may listen to it for a few weeks. As it
is good you can work in your own pace, the time of learning lengthens.
So, the
course does take a lot of time but is it its disadvantage? Well, not really, it
would be better to say it`s the reality. As I said before, if you are going to
achieve something, you need to put something in return – and with this course
it`s your time. The good thing about it is that you can work when you want and
when you have time for this and if you sign up for a course with meetings twice
a week with at stated time you can`t change it. What I mean is that with
Effortless English you decide how and when you want to be taught.
Big dose of positive energy
When you
start watching first video you see this excited guy who tells you he will teach
you English. The impression is… overwhelming. OK, to be honest, he does sound a
bit stupid. But after few minutes you can`t help sharing his energy and good
feeling. You will soon learn that the attitude is what matters in learning
English and achieving new abilities in general.
According
to many studies – says A.J. – it is not the method you choose that matters. It
plays only about 20 per cent in your success. The truth is that 80 per cent are
your attitude and your emotions. Basically, the happier you feel about learning
English, the easier you learn. Many studies show that students who felt relax,
cheerful and rested were able to make much more progress than students who felt
tired, angry or anxious. And with every lesson that deepens – happy students do
a lot of progress, feel that learning is easy and find it more and more
painless to study hard. On the other hand, unhappy students are angry and feel
more and more anxious about their lack of progress. Vicious circle.
Start Learning with Effortless English today!
"Energy" during Effortless English Seminar |
Start Learning with Effortless English today!
Well, it is
easier said than done. It is not like you can just start feeling content, is
it? These is what those Text Articles are all about. Those are ways (based on
different studies and books about self-development) of how to “master your
emotions”, to quote the subject of the first lesson.
In my
opinion, these is the best and most valuable part of this course.
You may
really want to learn English and in general have fun with this. But from time
to time (or even every time) you may just find yourself too distracted or too
tired to do the lessons. You may be angry that you don`t see the results yet.
That is why A.J. shows some methods to make yourself feel better. These are
some simple exercises – both psychical and mental – which will help you force
yourself to have better attitude. And this is why the way A.J. acts and talks
is so important. He is very joyful and while listening to him it is hard to
stay serious.
Another
important thing is that you are more than welcome to use those methods in
different activities and it doesn`t matter if they are connected to learning
English or other things in your daily life. You can use some working patterns in
your school or at work. They can be used while you`re at home and just feeling
too tired to spend time with your child or to go to the gym. All the book
titles he mentions you can find in texts so it is easy to read them later.
Mini-Story, mega-fun
Before I
start with the Mini-Stories, I must admit that they are my favorite part of
this course. Those are the easiest ones, also, if you think about vocabulary or
grammar. But their main goal is to help people overcoming their fear for
speaking English.
There are
many students terrified of speaking English. They are so afraid of making
mistakes that are unable to speak even if they know vocab and grammar rules.
What is worse, in standard, old-fashioned schools, teachers correct every
single mistake those people do, making them feel even worse. With Effortless
English that is not the problem.
The
Mini-Story is a very simple narrative which consists of simple statements eg.
“Vanilla was a beautiful, intelligent woman”. The students role is just to say
“Ohhh” or “Ahhh”. Then there is a question eg. “What kind of woman was
Vanilla?” and the student responds “She was a beautiful, intelligent woman” or
just “beautiful and intelligent”. A.J. says not to worry about grammar or about
giving full answers but only to focus on giving the answers. Saying them aloud.
Shouting them.
Does it
work? Yes. You are at home alone, there`s no one who see you shouting strange
statements about Vanilla and there`s no teacher to correct your answers. You
will hear the answer from A.J. so to know if you are correct. In the comfort of
your own home you do not need to feel ashamed of anyone. The stories are funny
and said in a very joyful way. There are not only statements and answers but
also little mistakes that bring students
attention to the plot and make them want to say “no, you are wrong, that is not
true”. Again, it is hard not to share A.J. positive attitude and by repeating
over and over the same words it is hard not to learn them by heart.
Mini Stories are very popular among Effortless English fans |
The problem
is, it is not the best thing to listen to Mini-Stories while commuting,
otherwise people may think there is something wrong with you murmuring some
strange things.
For who Effortless English is?
This course
is basically for people with at least basic understanding of English. If you
are watching a movie and are able to understand parts of it without any
translation than it`s OK. It is aimed for people who tried signing up for
regular classes but failed to memorized vocabulary and grammar rules. It is
also for people who hate learning English – A.J. Hoge will quickly change your
attitude.
Those
lessons are definitely for students with fear of speaking. The whole idea is to
help them to start speaking: not to start speaking correctly, not to start
speaking using wide vocabulary, only to start speaking. Now think about your
daily life: how do you speak? Because I – as most people – do some mistakes and
use rather simple vocab most of the time.
Go to The Official Effortless English Website and Start Learning Today!
Go to The Official Effortless English Website and Start Learning Today!
So, if you
want to communicate with foreigners during your vacations or are planning to
live and work abroad and want to be able to speak freely with other people,
Effortless English will respond to your needs.
But what
about taking tests, like those prepared by British Council? Or working with
English and writing official correspondence? Than the Effort English course is
not enough. Again, this method teaches everyday life English – if you need to
learn medical English to work as a nurse abroad than Mini-Stories won`t help
you with this.
But no one
said that Effortless English is the only course you can take at the time. A.J.
often says that these methods of fast learning or being motivated are good to
use with other kinds of English courses. If you need to learn all the grammar
rules and specific vocabulary it would be best to mix Effortless with some more
old fashioned lessons.
And there
is one more thing to remember. A.J. Hoge is American and he teaches American
real-life English. While on vacations or doing business in Europe you will
encounter many people for whom English is a second language and who learnt it
with those standard rules. And yes, some of those people would expect you to
speak in long, formal sentences.