English Toolbox

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5 Principles and 7 Actions

This part is summarized from this talk.

Principles

1: Focus on langurage content that is relevant to you

Information that helps achieve personal goals has relevance. If the content is relevant to you, then you will pay attention to it.

This brings us to tools. We master tools by using tools, and we learn tools the fastest when they are relevant to us (e.g. a crisis). Because it was relevant, meaningful and important.

2: Use your new language as a tool to communicate from day 1

As a kid does.

3: When you first understand the message, you will unconsciously acquire the language

Comprehension is key. Comprehensible input approach is better than grammar focus language teaching.

Language learning is not about accumulating a lot of knowldge. It’s about physiological training.

Because we have filters in our brain that filter in the sounds that we are familiar with and they filter out the sounds of languages that we’re not. And if you can’t hear it, you won’t understand it. If you can’t understand it, you’re not going to learn it.

4: Talking takes muscle

Practice coordinating your face muscle in a way that you make sounds that other people will understand. When you face hurts, you are doing it right.

5: Psycho-physiological state matters

If you are sad, angry, worried, upset, you are not going to learn. If you are happy, relaxed, in an Alpha brain state, curious, you are going to learn really quickly.

You must learn to tolerate ambiguity.

If you are one of those people who needs to understand 100 percent every word you are hearing, you will go nuts. Because you will be incredibly upset all the time, because you are not perfect.

If you are comfortable with getting some, not getting some, just pay attention to what you do understand, you will be fine, relaxed, and you will be learning quickly.

Actions

1: Listen a lot

It is brain soaking.

you put yourself in a context where you are hearing tons and tons and tons of a language, and it does not matter if you understand it or not. You are listening to the rhythms, to the patterns that repeat, you are lisening to things that stand out.

2: Focus on getting the meaning first (before the words)

E.g. by observing the body language.

3: Start mixing

If you have got 10 verbs, 10 nouns and 10 adjectives, you can say 1000 different things.

Language is a creative process.

4: Focus on the core

Any language is high frequency content. In English 1000 words covers 85 percent of anything you are ever going to say in daily communication. And 3000 words gives you 98 percent of anything you are going to say in daily conversation. You got 3000 words, you are speaking the language. The rest is icing on the cake.

Start with your tool box:

1. Week 1
   • What is this?
   • How do you say?
   • I don’t understand…
   • Repeat that pelase
   • what does that mean?
2. Week 2-3: Pronounds, common verbs, adjectives. Communicating like a baby
   • you
   • that
   • me
   • give
   • hot
3. Week 4: Glue words
   • And
   • But
   • Even though
   • therefore

5: Get yourself a language parent

When a child is speaking, it will be using simple words, simple combinations. Sometimes quite strange, other people from outside the family don’t understand it. But the parents do.

And so the kid has a safe environment, gets confidence. The parents talk to the children with body language, and with simple language they know the child understands. So you have a comprehensible input environment that is safe.

So you get yourself a language parent, who is somebody interested in you as a person who will communicate with you, essentially as an equal but pay attention to hel you understand the language. Spouses are not very good at this.

Language parent rules:

• Works to understand what you are saying.
• Does not correct mistakes.
• Confirms understanding by using correct language.
• Use words the learner knows.

6: Copy the face

You got to get the muscles working right, so you can sound in a way that people will understand you. There is a couple of things you do.

You hear how it feels, and feel how it sounds, which means you have a feedback loop operating in your face. If you can look at a native speaker, and just observe how they use their face, and let your unconscious mind absorb the rules, then you are going to be able to pick it up.

7: Direct connect to mental images

Don’t translate it to your familiar language. Everything you know is an image inside your mind, its feelings. You go into that imagery and all of that memory and you come out with another pathway. Same box, different path.

Grammar

GrammarBook.com

Subjunctive Mood

This section is adapted from the answer generated by ChatGPT-4.

虚拟语气是英语中一种特殊的动词形式，用于表达假设、建议、愿望或非现实情况。虚拟语气有几种不同的形式，根据句子的时态和结构而变化。以下是虚拟语气的主要用法和语法细节：

1. 条件句虚拟

条件句虚拟用于表达假设性的情况，通常分为三种类型：

a. 第一类条件句（真实条件句）

• 形式：If + 现在时, 将来时。
• 例子：If it rains, we will cancel the picnic.（如果下雨，我们将取消野餐。）

b. 第二类条件句（非现实条件句）

• 形式：If + 过去时, would/could/might + 原形动词。
• 例子：If I were rich, I would travel the world.（如果我富有，我会环游世界。）
• 注意：”were” 而不是 “was” 即使主语是第一和第三人称单数。

c. 第三类条件句（过去非现实条件句）

• 形式：If + 过去完成时, would/could/might + have + 过去分词。
• 例子：If I had known about the traffic, I would have left earlier.（如果我早知道有交通堵塞，我会早点离开。）

例子

• 如果我过去很有钱，那么我过去会环游世界
  • If I had been very rich in the past, I would have traveled around the world then.
• 如果我过去很有钱，那么我现在会环游世界
  • If I had been very rich in the past, I would be traveling around the world now.
• 如果我过去很有钱，那么我未来会环游世界
  • If I had been very rich in the past, I would travel around the world in the future.
• 如果我现在很有钱，那么我过去会环游世界
  • 不存在这种情况，逻辑不对
• 如果我现在很有钱，那么我现在会环游世界
  • If I were very rich now, I would be traveling around the world.
• 如果我现在很有钱，那么我未来会环游世界
  • If I were very rich now, I would travel around the world in the future.
• 如果我未来很有钱，那么我过去会环游世界
  • 不存在这种情况，逻辑不对
• 如果我未来很有钱，那么我现在会环游世界
  • 不存在这种情况，逻辑不对
• 如果我未来很有钱，那么我未来会环游世界
  • If I become very rich in the future, I will travel around the world then.
  • 这个不是虚拟语气

2. 愿望虚拟

表达愿望，特别是对现在或将来不太可能发生的事情的愿望。

• 形式：wish + 过去时/过去完成时。
• 例子：
  • I wish I were taller.（我希望我更高。）
  • I wish I had studied for the test.（我希望我为考试做了准备。）

3. 建议虚拟

用于提出建议或命令。

• 形式：should / ought to + 原形动词。
• 例子：
  • You should see a doctor.（你应该去看医生。）

4. 过去的建议或愿望

表示对过去情况的建议或未实现的愿望。

• 形式：should/ought to have + 过去分词。
• 例子：
  • You should have called me earlier.（你本应该早点给我打电话。）

5. 虚拟语气的特殊用法

• 为了…：用 “were to” 或 “should” 构造假设性的句子。
  • If you were to fail the exam, what would you do?（如果你考试不及格，你会怎么做？）
  • If she should call me, tell her I’m not available.（如果她打电话给我，告诉她我不在。）
• 建议、命令或要求：使用 “suggest”, “insist”, “demand” 等动词后，可使用 “should” + 原形动词或 “(should) + 主语 + 动词原形”。
  • I suggest that he (should) leave immediately.（我建议他立即离开。）

虚拟语气在英语中是一个复杂的概念，涉及许多不同的结构和用法。掌握虚拟语气可以帮助更准确地表达假设性或非现实性的想法和情感。