Here are my main recommendations on how to get the maximum benefit from your studies and reach your goals.

I’ll remind you of them during the lessons too!

• Do: Plan to spend between 60 and 90 minutes studying every day.
• Don’t study many hours one day and then nothing for several days.

•  Do: Focus on one lesson per day. If you have more time, revise the lessons from previous days.
•  Don’t study several new lessons on the same day.

•  Do: Study when you are rested and your mind is clear so you can be 100% focused.
•  Don’t study when you’re tired or distracted and cannot focus.

• Do: Study all the lessons and follow the instructions for each activity.
• Don’t skip any of the lessons or any of the activities included in the lessons.

• Do: Do the oral repetition exercises without reading the transcripts at the same time.
• Don’t give up if, in the beginning, it’s difficult to repeat without the help of the transcript. Persist, and it will get easier very quickly.

• Do: Make notes while you watch the video lessons. This keeps you focused on the topic and increases your assimilation.
• Don’t watch the video lessons passively. You will not absorb the material.

• Do: If you don’t understand a word in a lesson, look it up in an English-English dictionary.
•  Don’t rush to find its translation into your own language. Only if you still have some doubt about its meaning, check its translation.

• Do: Write down the definition of the new word in English, and practise its pronunciation before you go back to your lesson.
• Don’t write down the translation of new words. This reinforces the translation habit.

• Do: When you have the time and the opportunity, expose your ears to ‘real world’ English. You can listen to the news, podcasts, or audiobooks, BUT be very relaxed when you do this. Choose content that you’re interested in, and choose accents that are important for you to understand easily. If you like watching movies and series, watch them first with subtitles, then without subtitles several times.
•  Don’t try to understand every word when you listen to ‘real world’ English. Just the opposite: Relax and let your ears open to the sounds.

So, to be clear:

• Do ‘focused listening’ with the course materials, and ‘relaxed listening’ with ‘real world’ content that you enjoy.
• As you progress with the course, you’ll notice that you’re naturally hearing more and more details of your ‘real world’ choices.

•  Do: If you want to read in English, choose easy texts and simplified books, and make sure you have the audio version of the text to listen to.
•  Don’t read complicated texts. If you have to look up more than 2-3 words in a paragraph, the text is too hard. Choose something easier for now. Build up to harder content gradually.

• Do: Share your thoughts and questions in the Facebook page and during the Q/A sessions to benefit from the community support.
•  Don’t be shy!