Welcome to Lesson 2 of your 7-lesson course. Today, we want you to follow the steps below.
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Watch Video Lesson
Click Here to Read the Video 2 Transcript
Hi. Welcome to Day 2 of your video course on becoming a more fluent English speaker.
Yesterday, we saw how grammar and vocabulary alone are not enough to really becoming the kind of English speaker you want to be. Now, how do you do that? Well, it’s just like anything in life. If you want to get better at something, you need to focus on it and you need to do it consistently. If you want to lose weight, you need to focus on your diet and watch it every day in order to reduce your calories. If you want to be stronger, you need to work out and exercise consistently. And if you want to be a better speaker and a better listener, you need to do listening and speaking and do lots of it.
So, in today’s lesson we are going to focus on listening. Now, when you do listening there are three important points to remember. First, you need to listen to something that’s easy. Not too easy, but definitely not too difficult. You should be able to understand 85, 90% or more of what you are hearing. If you only understand half of what you are listening to, it’s too difficult and you will not make the kind of progress that you need to make. So remember that. It should be easy. Second is that it should be enjoyable. It should be interesting. It should stimulate your mind and your imagination. You should want to listen to the topic and talk about it with others. That’s the kind of listening that will stimulate your mind and keep you interested in what you’re listening to. Nobody wants to listen to boring material. And finally, you need to listen a lot. If you just listen a little here and a little there, you’re not going to make fast progress. So, lots and lots of listening. So if you can do those three things, you will improve quickly in your listening ability.
Now in today’s lesson we are giving you a download, and inside the download there is an audio mp3 file and it’s about two men, Michael Jordan and Thomas Edison, who achieved great success in their life. And the way they did it is they never gave up. Even though they failed many times, they kept going, they were consistent, and they never, never gave up.
When you open the zip file you will find two versions of this audio. One is a very slow version and the other is a more natural, normal version in terms of speed. So, start out listening to the slow version until you feel comfortable then you can move to the faster version. Also, there is a PDF file with the text in it but don’t open and read that yet. Make sure you listen several times before you look at it. This is important. You need to develop confidence with the listening material. And it also helps to imagine what you’re listening to. And it helps to close your eyes. Closing your eyes brings many more images into your mind while you are listening. And this is stimulating to do that, and that helps you to understand. And if you don’t understand a few words or phrases, that’s okay. Skip over them or just imagine their meaning and keep going. So, download the files, start listening and start imagining.
Tomorrow in the Day 3 lesson, we’re going to give you some opportunities to begin speaking, but for today, just listen and listen many times. Enjoy the lesson!
Yesterday, we saw how grammar and vocabulary alone are not enough to really becoming the kind of English speaker you want to be. Now, how do you do that? Well, it’s just like anything in life. If you want to get better at something, you need to focus on it and you need to do it consistently. If you want to lose weight, you need to focus on your diet and watch it every day in order to reduce your calories. If you want to be stronger, you need to work out and exercise consistently. And if you want to be a better speaker and a better listener, you need to do listening and speaking and do lots of it.
So, in today’s lesson we are going to focus on listening. Now, when you do listening there are three important points to remember. First, you need to listen to something that’s easy. Not too easy, but definitely not too difficult. You should be able to understand 85, 90% or more of what you are hearing. If you only understand half of what you are listening to, it’s too difficult and you will not make the kind of progress that you need to make. So remember that. It should be easy. Second is that it should be enjoyable. It should be interesting. It should stimulate your mind and your imagination. You should want to listen to the topic and talk about it with others. That’s the kind of listening that will stimulate your mind and keep you interested in what you’re listening to. Nobody wants to listen to boring material. And finally, you need to listen a lot. If you just listen a little here and a little there, you’re not going to make fast progress. So, lots and lots of listening. So if you can do those three things, you will improve quickly in your listening ability.
Now in today’s lesson we are giving you a download, and inside the download there is an audio mp3 file and it’s about two men, Michael Jordan and Thomas Edison, who achieved great success in their life. And the way they did it is they never gave up. Even though they failed many times, they kept going, they were consistent, and they never, never gave up.
When you open the zip file you will find two versions of this audio. One is a very slow version and the other is a more natural, normal version in terms of speed. So, start out listening to the slow version until you feel comfortable then you can move to the faster version. Also, there is a PDF file with the text in it but don’t open and read that yet. Make sure you listen several times before you look at it. This is important. You need to develop confidence with the listening material. And it also helps to imagine what you’re listening to. And it helps to close your eyes. Closing your eyes brings many more images into your mind while you are listening. And this is stimulating to do that, and that helps you to understand. And if you don’t understand a few words or phrases, that’s okay. Skip over them or just imagine their meaning and keep going. So, download the files, start listening and start imagining.
Tomorrow in the Day 3 lesson, we’re going to give you some opportunities to begin speaking, but for today, just listen and listen many times. Enjoy the lesson!
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Listen To Active Listening - Slow Speed
Click Here to Read the Transcript
“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot...and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life...and that is why I succeed.” Michael Jordan was one of the greatest athletes of all time, but like all great people, he also failed regularly. Watching Michael Jordan play basketball was like watching a man fly. His grace and talent were unmatched. Clearly he had a lifetime of training and incredible natural talent, but these weren’t the only things that made him great. He also had a healthy relationship with failure. Like many greats in sports and business, he wasn’t discouraged by failure. The shots he missed and the games that he lost didn’t make him give up. He knew that failure was just another chance for him to improve.
Many highly successful people in the world of sports and business have this healthy relationship with failure. One of the world’s most famous inventors, Thomas Edison made thousands of attempts at creating a light bulb. He tried hundreds of materials for the light bulb filament, but there was always a problem. Some would burn out. Others would explode. Some would melt the glass. There were always problems, but he never gave up and he never saw his failure as a failure. He just saw it as a step towards success. Edison once said, “I have not failed. I have merely found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” This attitude of seeing failure as a learning experience helped him persevere. This way of thinking eventually led him to Japan, where he found a kind of bamboo, which was the perfect material for his light bulb invention.
Many highly successful people in the world of sports and business have this healthy relationship with failure. One of the world’s most famous inventors, Thomas Edison made thousands of attempts at creating a light bulb. He tried hundreds of materials for the light bulb filament, but there was always a problem. Some would burn out. Others would explode. Some would melt the glass. There were always problems, but he never gave up and he never saw his failure as a failure. He just saw it as a step towards success. Edison once said, “I have not failed. I have merely found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” This attitude of seeing failure as a learning experience helped him persevere. This way of thinking eventually led him to Japan, where he found a kind of bamboo, which was the perfect material for his light bulb invention.
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Listen To Active Listening - Normal Speed
Click Here to Read the Transcript
“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot...and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life...and that is why I succeed.” Michael Jordan was one of the greatest athletes of all time, but like all great people, he also failed regularly. Watching Michael Jordan play basketball was like watching a man fly. His grace and talent were unmatched. Clearly he had a lifetime of training and incredible natural talent, but these weren’t the only things that made him great. He also had a healthy relationship with failure. Like many greats in sports and business, he wasn’t discouraged by failure. The shots he missed and the games that he lost didn’t make him give up. He knew that failure was just another chance for him to improve.
Many highly successful people in the world of sports and business have this healthy relationship with failure. One of the world’s most famous inventors, Thomas Edison made thousands of attempts at creating a light bulb. He tried hundreds of materials for the light bulb filament, but there was always a problem. Some would burn out. Others would explode. Some would melt the glass. There were always problems, but he never gave up and he never saw his failure as a failure. He just saw it as a step towards success. Edison once said, “I have not failed. I have merely found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” This attitude of seeing failure as a learning experience helped him persevere. This way of thinking eventually led him to Japan, where he found a kind of bamboo, which was the perfect material for his light bulb invention.
Many highly successful people in the world of sports and business have this healthy relationship with failure. One of the world’s most famous inventors, Thomas Edison made thousands of attempts at creating a light bulb. He tried hundreds of materials for the light bulb filament, but there was always a problem. Some would burn out. Others would explode. Some would melt the glass. There were always problems, but he never gave up and he never saw his failure as a failure. He just saw it as a step towards success. Edison once said, “I have not failed. I have merely found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” This attitude of seeing failure as a learning experience helped him persevere. This way of thinking eventually led him to Japan, where he found a kind of bamboo, which was the perfect material for his light bulb invention.
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Listen To Active Listening - Fast Speed
Click Here to Read the Transcript
“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot...and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life...and that is why I succeed.” Michael Jordan was one of the greatest athletes of all time, but like all great people, he also failed regularly. Watching Michael Jordan play basketball was like watching a man fly. His grace and talent were unmatched. Clearly he had a lifetime of training and incredible natural talent, but these weren’t the only things that made him great. He also had a healthy relationship with failure. Like many greats in sports and business, he wasn’t discouraged by failure. The shots he missed and the games that he lost didn’t make him give up. He knew that failure was just another chance for him to improve.
Many highly successful people in the world of sports and business have this healthy relationship with failure. One of the world’s most famous inventors, Thomas Edison made thousands of attempts at creating a light bulb. He tried hundreds of materials for the light bulb filament, but there was always a problem. Some would burn out. Others would explode. Some would melt the glass. There were always problems, but he never gave up and he never saw his failure as a failure. He just saw it as a step towards success. Edison once said, “I have not failed. I have merely found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” This attitude of seeing failure as a learning experience helped him persevere. This way of thinking eventually led him to Japan, where he found a kind of bamboo, which was the perfect material for his light bulb invention.
Many highly successful people in the world of sports and business have this healthy relationship with failure. One of the world’s most famous inventors, Thomas Edison made thousands of attempts at creating a light bulb. He tried hundreds of materials for the light bulb filament, but there was always a problem. Some would burn out. Others would explode. Some would melt the glass. There were always problems, but he never gave up and he never saw his failure as a failure. He just saw it as a step towards success. Edison once said, “I have not failed. I have merely found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” This attitude of seeing failure as a learning experience helped him persevere. This way of thinking eventually led him to Japan, where he found a kind of bamboo, which was the perfect material for his light bulb invention.
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You can listen to all of these lessons on this page in the above steps. If you want to download the Mp3 audio lessons and the PDF text files on your tablet or smartphone, you have 2 choices:
1. Download them to your computer and then transfer them to your device.
2. Use a separate app on your device to download.
Computer to iPad or iPhone: This is the easiest way. Download these files to your computer. Go to iTunes and add the PDF files to your iTunes books section. Add the Mp3 audio files to your iTunes music. Sync your iPad.
Computer to Android: Download these files to your computer, connect your device to your computer using a cable connector, and copy the files to your Android's storage.
iPad or iPhone App: There are also some free apps on the app store for downloading files to your iPad. These apps are always changing so we cannot guarantee that they will work. Here's one you could try: "Documents by Readdle.” You can use this app to visit our website, download the files, read the text files and listen to the audio files. "Documents by Readdle" is one of many apps that do this.
Android App: There are also some free apps on the Google Play Store for downloading files to your Android. These apps are always changing so we cannot guarantee that they will work. You could try "Download Manager" or "AndroZip."
1. Download them to your computer and then transfer them to your device.
2. Use a separate app on your device to download.
Computer to iPad or iPhone: This is the easiest way. Download these files to your computer. Go to iTunes and add the PDF files to your iTunes books section. Add the Mp3 audio files to your iTunes music. Sync your iPad.
Computer to Android: Download these files to your computer, connect your device to your computer using a cable connector, and copy the files to your Android's storage.
iPad or iPhone App: There are also some free apps on the app store for downloading files to your iPad. These apps are always changing so we cannot guarantee that they will work. Here's one you could try: "Documents by Readdle.” You can use this app to visit our website, download the files, read the text files and listen to the audio files. "Documents by Readdle" is one of many apps that do this.
Android App: There are also some free apps on the Google Play Store for downloading files to your Android. These apps are always changing so we cannot guarantee that they will work. You could try "Download Manager" or "AndroZip."
What did you think of today's lesson? Any comments or questions? Leave them below.
