Can learning English be easy?
“I want to improve my English. The problem is I am just… lazy.”
The story of my life. I wanted to do so many things in my life, and I haven’t done them. Mostly, my willpower is to blame. I have problems delaying distinct pleasures (like Netflix and Chill) for the benefit of my goals (becoming fluent in Japanese, Danish, exercising, and many more).
Since we know that motivation and laziness are an issue for a lot of language learners, here are a few easy tips on how to learn English without effort.
1. Make Learning English A Habit
Habits are easy to do. You don’t think about brushing your teeth in the morning. In the same way, you don’t think about whether to put on trousers or not. You just do it.
Julian Northbrook wrote a wonderful piece about how to make learning English a habit.
Making choices costs you mental energy. If you want to learn something, do not decide to do it, but get used to doing it.
How?
Commit yourself to one week of learning every day. Keep it simple – five minutes a day. If you need help, use an app like Duolingo or Memrise, that will remind you of your goal with emails and notifications.
The key is doing it every day without thinking about it. It can be a part of your going to work routine or before-bed routine.
Remember: the most important part is not giving it a thought, just doing it. Before you know it, you can get a 342 days streak with your habit without a second thought!
2. Listen To English As Often As Possible
Learn English effortlessly by listening to the radio, podcasts, news, and watching your favorite series. The more things you come up with, the better.
Set the language of your Facebook page to English. In addition to that, don’t forget to set your phone, laptop, and web browser in English. This will limit your options for escaping the influence of the language.
There are unlimited podcasts in English. If you listen to a podcast everywhere you go on foot, you can daily listen to one hour of spoken English without any effort.
Don’t forget that there are numerous topics related to podcasts that do not focus on learning English directly, but can be an excellent addition to your English journey.
Another option is listening to Audiobooks. Audible is a source of thousands of beautiful books in English, which you can listen to during a chill day on a couch or while you are on a walk.
If you like reading articles, try the app Pocket that has a function that will read out loud for you. Although the voice of Pocket is a bit robot-like, the pronunciation is very accurate and can help you remember how the words sound.
Remember, we learn a language by listening and repeating. Even as children, we tend to learn by listening to our parents. Listen as often as possible, even repeatedly.
I learned most of my English by watching movies. Some of them, I know by heart. As weird as it sounds, it works.
3. Write At Least One Email In English A Day
If you are a lazy learner, as a result, you are probably too lazy to socialize and talk English.
I get that. Personally, I prefer spending my Friday evenings at home, browsing around on my PC. I do not need to talk gibberish the whole evening with random people.
For writing, you have no excuse.
The cool thing about dailydiary is that they send an email directly to your inbox to which you can reply. No need to register, remember, or create a notification.
Dailydiary is a way to keep a private diary online. Respond to the email in English, write about your day, and you are done. Effortless and easy.
In this way, you can also see your past English email and track how you’ve improved.
An enjoyable side effect of keeping a diary is also happiness, clearer thoughts, and better coping with stress. No bullshit – American Psychological Association has our backs.
4. Nail The Speaking Part
Ok, you are too lazy to talk.
But without a proper conversation, you will not get far. Making mistakes when talking will help you remember what is right and what is wrong.
How to hack it if you want to avoid putting effort into it?
- Read out loud. As silly as it is, this can help you get English out of your mouth. And reading out loud is one of the best ways to do so, if you want to avoid contact with people.
- Record yourself speaking. It is hard to face how your voice sounds even in your mother tongue, so this might be an issue for some. On the other hand, it is the best way to know your own mistakes and correct them before embarrassing yourself.
As a matter of fact, meeting with English native speakers can help you a great deal as well. If you are willing to go out of your comfort zone, you can find a language partner on Swap Language. Sign up for our website to find a language partner for free in your city.
If you enjoy talking, you might also be interested in Toastmaster clubs. These clubs are aimed to develop public speaking and leadership skills in English. Giving a speech in English is a challenge – but you will learn a lot and gain confidence like nowhere else.
Last, don’t forget to check our guide on how to speak English like a native speaker, which can give you more useful tips.
Happy lazy learning!
