Hi, I'm Joe Weiss, one of the directors of Learn Real English. And today you are going to be learning Rule Number 5 for Excellent English Speaking. But before I talk about Rule Number 5, I want you to think back a couple of days to Rule Number 2.
Rule Number 2 is do not study grammar rules. When you study grammar rules, then you think about that grammar before you speak, and that causes you to hesitate. And you speak much slower and you understand much slower. So since you learned Rule Number 2, you may have wondered, "Hmm, how am I going to learn to speak English with correct grammar if I do not learn grammar rules?" Well, that's what I am going to be teaching you today.
Okay, so how do we do it? Well, there is a simple, powerful technique. And there is research that shows that this technique is the best way to learn grammar, the best way to learn English grammar or grammar for any language. Okay, so what is this technique? Well the technique is called point of view stories, or sometimes it's even called point of view mini-stories. Mini means small, so a mini-story is just a short story.
So Rule Number 5 is use point of view stories. Okay, so now that I've told you what the technique is, how do we use this technique? How do we use point of view stories? Well, first I tell you a story, a mini-story. Then, second I tell you the same story but this time I change the point of view of the story. So you may be wondering, what does it mean to change the point of view of the story? Well, one way to change the point of view of the story is to change the time that the story occurs.
So in the first story, I may tell you that story in the present. Then, in the second story, I tell you the same story in the past. So that is how I change the point of view. Another way to change the point of view is to change the person who is actually telling the story or narrating the story. Now, I'll give you an example of that later in this video. But one important thing to remember is each time that you change the point of view of the story, you change the grammar in the story. So each time I tell you the story, I tell you the same story but you hear different grammar.
Okay, so now that I've told you how to use this technique, I think it's a good idea that we practice. So let's practice this technique. So I will tell you a story in the present, right now. Okay, let's start.
There is a man and his name is John. And John goes to the store and John buys a shirt, and the shirt is blue. And John pays $20 for the shirt.
Okay, so that is our first story, told in the present. Now your job is easy. You just listen to this story; listen, listen, and you just try to understand what is happening in the story. And you listen many times, because we want this information to be stored deeply in your memory. Okay, so how do we use these stories to learn grammar? Well, now I'm going to tell you the story again. Same story, but this time I'm going to tell you the story in the past. So let's start the story.
One year ago, there was a man and his name was John. Now John went to the store and John bought a shirt, and the shirt was blue. And John paid $20 for the shirt.
Okay, so that is the end of the story that I'm telling the second time, in the past this time. Now I want to tell you that this is just a very simple and short example. Now if you get any of our video lessons or our audio lessons, or if you come to our live event, like one of our seminars, the stories are much longer. And they're much more difficult. But in this easy example, we have just heard the story two times. We heard the same story, but one time we heard it in the past and one time we heard it in the present. So now you would listen to this story, listen many, many times.
And when you listen, do not think about grammar. Do not think about what verb tense I'm using. Do not think about whether I'm using irregular verb form, no. Do not think about that. When you listen, you simply listen and you try to understand the story. That's all you need to do. That's why this method is so easy, yet so powerful. You hear these different stories and you hear them many times. You hear the same story with different grammar. And soon this grammar becomes deeply stored in your brain. And when you speak, you will be able to use this grammar.
Okay, let's continue practicing this method. Now I am going to tell you this story in the future. So let's start the story.
One year from now, in the future, there will be a man and his name is going to be John. Now John is going to go to the store and John is going to buy a shirt, and the shirt will be blue. And John is going to pay $20 for the shirt.
Okay, so now we have heard the same story three different ways. We have heard it in the past, the present and the future. Now you notice this is the same story but the words in each story are different as we change the point of view. So once again, you would listen to this story many, many times. You would not think about grammar at all. You would just listen and try and understand the story.
Okay, now I would like to continue practicing this technique. I want to tell you one more story. This time I'm going to change the point of view of the story so that John, the character in our story, is telling the story. Let's start the story.
I am a man and my name is John. I went to the store and I bought a shirt. The shirt was blue, and I paid $20 for the shirt.
Okay, so that is the end of our fourth story. The same story that we have heard each time, but the fourth time I am telling you this story. You can hear how the words in the story change, but the story stays the same. So this is a very powerful way for you to learn grammar. You will listen to this story again and again. And you will not think about grammar.
You will simply listen and try to understand what is happening in the story, that's why this is such a simple, powerful way for you to learn grammar. You hear correct grammar many, many times, and it is stored deeply in your brain. Then, when you speak English, you are able to use this correct grammar. And you will be able to speak quickly, easily and confidently. And your friends and coworkers will notice that your English has become stronger and that you speak more confidently.
When you use English using point of view stories, you learn English just like a native speaker would. You learn like a child would learn, by listening, listening, listening.
Okay, so Rule Number 5 is use point of view stories. They are a powerful, easy way to learn grammar without memorizing boring grammar rules.
Okay, so this is the end of Rule Number 5. I hope you've enjoyed it and I look forward to seeing you soon.