In episode 8 of the To Fluency Podcast (Learn English with Jack), I talk about the strange reason why I started learning Spanish and the mistakes that I made as a beginner.

I then go through what I would have done differently if I knew what I know now (what a great sentence to learn!).

Enjoy this episode and then, head over to https://www.tofluency.com to get your free book.

Thanks for listening.

Get your free book here: https://www.tofluency.com

You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” – Jim Rohn

Our friends, family, and workmates influence us more than we think. The famous quote from Jim Rohn states that we are the average of the five people that we spend most of our time with. Here are some examples:

- If everyone around you eats unhealthily, you will most likely eat bad food too.
- If everyone around you is always complaining and isn’t enjoying life, it will be difficult for you to be carefree and to have fun.
- But, if everyone around you is highly motivated, you are more likely to be motivated too.

As James Clear puts it: “Most of our behaviors are driven by two things: our environment and our beliefs. And environment is perhaps the most powerful of those two because in many cases your environment can shape your beliefs. This is especially true when you consider your environment to include the people who surround you”

How We Can Apply This to Learning English?

It’s hard to do anything on your own for a long time, especially when progress can’t always be seen. Learning English is a long-term journey; a journey full of different challenges. And it’s even more difficult to do what we need to do over the long-term if others aren’t supporting you.

We only have so much willpower [the ability to control our actions]; we need the support of others and to be in a positive environment to achieve our goals. Think about the people that you spend the most time with:

- Are they driven and motivated?
- Are they supportive of your English learning goals?
- Are they the type of people who can achieve a goal such as learning English?

If not, they could be slowing down your progress without you knowing it. They could be affecting you subconsciously and stopping you from doing the things you need to do to reach English fluency.

This might sound quite depressing, but there is good news..

Spend More Time With Those Who Inspire You:

What I don’t suggest is that you leave your family, ditch all your friends, and then only hang around [spend your time with] Richard Branson, Bill Gates, and Barack Obama!

But a great starting point is to hang around with others in person or online who have similar goals and ambitions that you have. For example, I meet up with four other entrepreneurs once a month in my local area, and we chat regularly online too. We all inspire, motivate, and help each other to do the things that we need to do in order to achieve our goals.

I’m also friends with teachers online who are as driven and committed as I am. We inspire each other to keep creating amazing resources for our students and to keep improving as teachers.

Being surrounded by these people has helped me and this website grow tremendously over the past year. And I don’t think that I would be where I am now if I hadn’t taken that step.

So, let’s now take a look at what you can do to improve your circle of influence so that you reach your English learning goals.

As learning English isn’t something that can be achieved in 3 months, you may hear a lot of negative things from other learners, such as:

- English is so hard.
- I’ll never reach fluency.
- My English is terrible and it’s getting worse. I should give up.

What I suggest you do is to ignore these comments, and don’t spend time with these people (when possible). Instead, connect with others who are going to have a positive influence on your English learning. The effect this will have will be huge, and will make a big difference to the progress you make.

You can do this by:

- Following inspiring people on social media (teachers and language learners) and communicating with them in meaningful ways.
- Joining groups with other English learners to discuss your goals and what you are doing to achieve them. Keep the discussion positive, and encourage each other to keep progressing.
- Changing the subject when someone talks about your goals in a negative way.

This is a great starting point, and you will soon notice how being around positive people, both teachers and fellow learners, will have a positive effect on your learning.

In this episode of the To Fluency Podcast, you're going to learn 37 phrases related to cooking pizza (see the phrases below).

Want a free fluency book? Go to my website here: https://www.tofluency.com

Here are those phrases:

- the woman is wearing an apron
- I don't think I've worn an apron for 10 years
- we also have all the different ingredients out for her
- the chef is taking some flour and pouring this into a bowl
- she's adding flour to a bowl
- she picks up the bowl of yeast and adds that to the mix
- yeast is very important when it comes to pizza bases
- now she mixes all of that together
- you can see here she is pouring milk to this flour base
- she's pouring the liquid into the bowl
- This is when things can get a bit messy
- you obviously want to wash your hands before doing this
- you can see now that she's kneading it together
- now unless you want the dough to stick to the table, it's a good idea to sprinkle some flour on the table
- she breaks off some of the dough
- She puts that dough on the table, pushes it down a couple of times
- she flips it over
- she takes the rolling pin to roll the dough into the shape of a pizza
- Before making the rest of the pizza, she goes out to the garden
- she cuts off some basil
- she brings the basil inside and washes it under the tap
- she then places it on a towel to dry
- the puts the pizza base on a plate
- she puts some sauce on the base and spreads it out
- she grates the cheese over the pizza
- this can be called grated or shredded cheese
- she brings over some vegetables
- the vegetables have already been sliced
- she puts the vegetables on the pizza
- this adds a little bit of spice to the pizza
- she then takes the basil that she picked before
- she adds this as a garnish
- the last thing it needs is a little bit of salt on top
- I would have added some meat
- she then takes the pizza over to the oven
- the oven is already preheated
- she puts the pizza in the oven
- I hope she puts a timer on
- you never want to burn your pizza
- the cheese is going to start burning in a second
- it's starting to look really good
- she opens the oven and takes the pizza out
- she uses oven gloves so she doesn't burn her hands
- I would have cooked that for another two or three minutes
- I like a crispier crust
- I would still eat it
- it's now time to cut the pizza into slices
- I normally burn my fingers doing this because I'm too eager
- everyone jumps in and takes a slice
- hopefully, they're going to wait until it cools down

Thank you for listening!

In this English lesson, I'm going to go through American vocabulary and Americanisms that seem natural to me now (I'm from the U.K. but live in the U.S.) - listed below.

I'll also go through words and phrases that still sound strange to me.

This is great for you if you want to learn some differences between British and American English.

Want a free English fluency book? Visit our website here: https://www.tofluency.com

Here is the list of the words and expressions used in this episode:

- Soccer
- Diaper / stroller
- Like
- Did you have breakfast yet?
- Can I get…?
- Chips and fries
- Takeout
- Gas and gas station

Words and phrases I still use that are considered British English:
- Couldn't care less (not could!)
- Yoghurt
- Tomato
- Water bottle
- Trolley
- Torch

To find our British and American English conversations, simply search for "English Conversations To Fluency" in your favorite search engine.

Informal contractions are common in everyday English. In this episode, you're going to learn the most common examples so that you can better understand English speakers.

Here are the examples from the episode:

1. Didja do it?
2. I shoulda done it
3. I hafta go
4. Wouldja do it?
5. I dunno
6. Gimme some time
7. Whatcha doing?
8. Doncha wish your…
9. I kinda like it -
10. Tellem to do it
11. I kinda wanna go soon

Go to https://www.tofluency.com/relax to get the show notes. Thank you for listening!

In this English lesson, you're going to learn a way in which you can learn English over the next 12 months. Most learners fail because they don't stay consistent. This video will give you the 10+ Method for English learning success.

Learn more about our methods here: https://www.tofluency.com

In order to reach English fluency (a C1 level in most cases), you need to do the right things consistently. This includes:

- getting lots of input
- learning the sounds of English and pronunciation in general
- using repetition in a smart way
- getting natural speaking practice

But it's one thing knowing what to do. It's another thing actually doing it.

That's where the 10+ method can change everything!

It's this: commit to ten minutes of something that you need to do every day. Just ten minutes. You must do this every day. No excuses.

If you do more, great! If not, no worries.

There will be days when you want to do more. There will be days when you don't. But the minimum amount is 10 minutes (or 5 or 15 or 20 - whatever you choose. Don't get greedy though!).

In this episode, I talk about why it's important to embrace difficulty and to get excited when you can't do something. This is how you're going to improve.

Learn more about our methods here:
https://www.tofluency.com

We also go into the difference between deliberate practice and passive learning and I give you my favorite method for learning English fast.

I hope you enjoy it!

In this English audio lesson, you're going to learn about a typical day in the life of Dave. And in this short story, you're going to hear over 50 phrasal verbs. After listening to the story, you'll learn what these phrasal verbs mean and I'll give you lots of examples to help you better understand how to use them.

Phrasal verbs are important for being able to speak English fluently and with confidence. So, listen to this episode and take notes!

Want to learn more about this podcast? Go here: https://www.tofluency.com/podcast