6 — Get It Right, Baby!

Carefully choosing the correct materials is the key to your success. The materials you choose determine whether you will speak good English, bad English, right English, or wrong English.

I would like you to see this very clearly:

The pronunciations of British English and American English are different. If you want to speak like a native, you want to speak like a native of what? A native of what? You can't mix the the two accents if you want to speak like a native! You must pick only ONE to learn. Either one is fine, but you must pick ONE. Pick one, stick with it, and leave the other one alone. You can go back to other one AFTER you speak one like a native. Before you speak like a native, focus on one.

In other words, if you want to learn to speak British English like a native, pick ALL materials in British English. Likewise, if you want to learn to speak American English like a native, pick ALL materials in American English. Pick one language, British or American, and stick with it!

There are two boats you can catch. Each boat will get you to a different destination, but you can only sit on one boat at a time. So pick a boat and get on it.

You want to speak English like a native, right? Listen to the expert! Pick one. You can understand the other one perfectly well, but to speak like a native, you must pick one and only one.

Remember what Bruce Lee said? Focus!

If unfocused, your laser beam is not strong enough to melt snow, but if focused, your laser beam is strong enough to cut steel!

Take three seconds to think of which accent to learn and then continue reading.

Now that you have chosen your language, it's time to choose the right materials. Think of it this way:

If you choose materials in which someone is speaking native English, you'll learn to speak native English.

If you choose materials in which someone is speaking incorrect English, you'll learn to speak incorrect English.

If you choose materials in which native speakers are speaking English in real life situations, you'll learn to speak real life English.

If you choose materials in which native speakers are speaking English in unrealistic situations, you'll learn to speak unrealistic English.

…

I remember listening to a tape which a friend was introducing a friend to another friend. The conversation was like this:

“Mr. Wong, this is Mr. Chen, Bill Chen. Mr. Chen, this is Mr. Wong, Dan Wong.”

“How do you do?”

“It's my pleasure to meet you.”

“Me, too!”

This conversation from an old recorded lesson was perfectly correct in English grammar, and the people participating in the conversation were native English speakers. However, this is wrong! Very wrong! Native English speakers don't speak this way. This makes people feel awkward and uncomfortable, and the atmosphere is filled with restrictions. Essentially, the conversation would be unnatural.

In the real world, the conversation would be like this:

“Dan, meet Bill!”

“How's going, Bill?”

“How's going, Dan?”

Notice the “How's going” but not “How's it going?” This is the actual conversation native speakers use when meeting new people. This is a casual, informal conversation that native speakers feel comfortable to take part in.

So if you have lessons from English instructional textbooks or recordings that are not performed by native speakers or are not about real life situations, put them away. Choose something that people actually do use.

Choose these materials:

• All materials performed only by native speakers.

• All English must be naturally spoken in real life situations.

• Pick all materials in ONE accent: British English OR American English.

• Again, learn ONE language and only one language. Either one is fine.

Here are some right materials to use:

• News! Yes, news! Two good examples are BBC News and NPR News. These are real life situations reported to you in direct, clear, and easy to understand English.

• Learning sites: For British English, BBC Learning is excellent choice. Here is a shortened URL . For American English, Voice of America Learning is an excellent one. Here is a shortened URL .

• Audio story books! This is, by far, my favorite source. Listen to stories with lots of action. There, you can pickup English vocabulary words quickly. Pick ALL audio story books written by native writers and read by native speakers. You can get a free copy of audio book on Amazon. Go to .

• Movies. With pictures, movies are easy to understand.

• Your choice of your favorite materials performed by native speakers in real life situations.

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