English

the smart way

from the perspective

of a non-native
English speaker

a complete guide to get your English to the next level

BY IVAN OTTINGER, IVANOTTINGER.COM

English the smart way

a complete guide to get your English to the next level

from the perspective

of a non-native
English speaker

This guide is dedicated to all of my friends, family, followers and readers everywhere in the world. :)
Special thanks goes out to Pat Flynn, AJ Hoge, Marianne Cantwell and Tony Robbins for the inspiration to write this guide.

The information contained in this guide is for informational purposes only.

The material in this guide may include information, products or services by third parties. Third Party Materials comprise of the products and
opinions expressed by their owners. As such, I do not assume responsibility or liability for any Third Party material or opinions. The publication of
such Third Party Materials does not constitute my guarantee of any information, instruction, opinion, products or services contained within the Third
Party Material. The use of recommended Third Party Material does not guarantee any success. Publication of such Third Party Material is simply a
recommendation and an expression of my own opinion of that material.
No part of this publication shall be reproduced, transmitted, or sold in whole or in part in any form, without the prior written consent of the author.
All trademarks and registered trademarks appearing in this guide are the property of their respective owners.
Please understand that there are some links contained in this guide that I may benefit from financially.
Users of this guide are advised to do their own due diligence when it comes to making decisions and all information, products, services that have been
provided should be independently verified by your own qualified professionals. By reading this guide, you agree that myself and my company is not
responsible for the success or failure of your decisions relating to any information presented in this guide.
guide version 1-15-1

2014 Ivan Ottinger. All Rights Reserved.

Preface

Hello my friend :)
Thank you very much for opening this guide. I am delighted
and at the same time privileged to be able to share with you
the knowledge I have accumulated over the years of learning
English as a non-native speaker.
Writing and publishing this guide is at least one little action I
could take to make a positive difference to the lives of English
learners over the world who might have been struggling with
English as I used to in the past. If I could help only one person
to improve his or her English I would be really grateful for it
and the time spent on writing this guide will have been worth
it.
There can be many reasons why you got to reading this guide.
Maybe you are just stuck in learning English and would like to

find some inspiration; or you just lost motivation to learn

English anymore and are trying to get it back. Or maybe you
are looking for some new ideas on how to improve your
English speaking and gain confidence... Whatever it is for you,
the goal of this guide is to help you get your English to the
next level. The guide contains ideas, techniques, learning tips
and resources I have found really useful, effective and have
been using myself throughout my own learning process.
Lets talk about learning English as a fun activity that we
can really enjoy. At least for the time of reading this guide
forget about the old, often ineffective, traditional methods of
English learning we know from schools. Leave the grammar
study for linguists and other language professionals - we dont
need extensive knowledge of grammar rules to succeed. We
just want to enjoy English and learning without thinking
about it. Lets acquire fluency subconsciously with as
little effort as possible while having fun in the
process. :)
Thank you to all of you, my followers, subscribers and friends.
I appreciate your support and without you, this guide would
have never come to life.

If at any point while you are reading this guide you have
any questions, dont hesitate to contact me. You can also
reach me on Facebook, Twitter, or simply send me an
email.

ii

Table of Contents

Introduction
What this guide is not
Who am I to write this guide?
How to read this guide
Motivation
Your personal results workshop
Where are you? (or Evaluate your English skills)
Where do you want to be (or Lets dream :) )
Lets get there! Take action!
The 30 days challenge
BONUS
Tips for your English success
Common difficulties of English learners
Final words from Ivan

iii

C HAPTER 1

Introduction
The future depends on what you do today.

Mahatma Gandhi

S ECTION 1

What this guide is not

Before we get any further, let me tell you what this guide is
not.
1.

This guide is not some sort of magical book that

you read once and can speak flawless English
automatically. Lets get real here. In everything we do, to
get better we have to work on it. Nothing does itself. This
guide will save you much time and show you the
strategies, techniques and tools that work when applied.

2.

This guide is not a conventional grammar book or

English textbook. You are not going to find here any
grammar rules explained. Why? Because there are so
many grammar books or textbooks available already and
many of them are boring and just dont help people to
speak better English. As you will see, this guide takes a
different approach. We want to enjoy English and
improve at the same time! :)
5

S ECTION 2

Who am I to write this

guide?

There are two answers:

1.

I am a non-native English speaker who have

already struggled with English and got through it

Ive already wasted too much time studying English at school.

Although some things Ive learnt there were useful, most of
the English classes were spent on studying grammar and
doing some exercises from textbooks. Yeah, maybe I could
describe how does present simple or present perfect tense
look like, but I couldnt use English in real life. Even I
could understand written English, I wasnt able to express
myself on paper, and couldnt express myself in speaking. I
had also difficulties understanding spoken English. And it
wasnt everything I struggled with.
The biggest challenge for me was that I used to feel
insecure with my English speaking. I was afraid of
making mistakes and was constantly thinking about what I

was about to say and if it is correct. I thought about grammar

all the time and tried to construct perfect sentences in my
mind before I opened my mouth. The result of all of this was
that I couldnt talk at all! I was stuck and couldnt react in a
normal conversation in English. What a nightmare! That
wasnt enough unfortunately. Each and every bad experience I
had with my English speaking created a reference in my mind
that I am just not good at English, lowered my confidence and
my motivation dropped. I was also afraid how are others
going to judge me if I make a mistake when speaking.
It was just too much to handle. I realised that the methods I
had used didnt work for me. So much time was spent and I
couldnt see any results. I started searching for some
new, better and more effective ways to learn English
that are also fun and motivating. It took me several
months, but the time was worth it. I finally understood what
really works and could apply it in my learning process.
The second reason I am writing this guide is:
2. I have helped people like you with their English
After all of my own struggling, then finding the best ways to
improve English and working on it, I have decided to start a
small blog to share the word and help people from all over
the world with their English. After months of running the blog
I realised that I could help even more people by packing up
everything I learnt into one complete guide and publish it
online. Today this guide is in your hands (or on your
6

computer screen) :) and I hope it will be a shortcut to your

English improvement.
Everything that has helped me on a way of learning
English can be found in this guide. Enjoy it! :)

S ECTION 3

How to read this guide?

Before we dive right into the main content, let me share a few
words on how to use this guide.
The guide was written to be read from the beginning to the
end. But if you like, you can start with any part of it - it is
completely up to you.
If you dont understand any of the words used in the guide,
dont worry. You can always look it up in the dictionary. One
of my favourite English dictionary is online Oxford Dictionary
which is free to use for everyone.

Do the exercises!

You might ask - Why are we doing exercises? The reason is

simple: we cant get all the answers we are looking for just
from reading. Real insights come in doing, not just thinking.
Questions in exercises can unlock the thoughts we have never
thought about and can help us on our way of mastering
English. Trust me, you will certainly benefit from writing
down the answers to all of the questions in this guide. You are
worth the extra few minutes it takes to do an exercise. :)
Tip 1: Do the exercises in your native language or
English depending on how comfortable you are with
your English writing already. If you prefer answering the
questions in your native language thats completely
fine. :)
Tip 2: Have your pen ready: If you like, you can
dedicate a notebook to make notes from this guide.
Write down all the things you found useful and put there
your answers to the questions from exercises.
The guide contains clickable hyperlinks that will get
you to the extra content online. Example of such a link is
Power English. You will find similar links later in the guide.

This guide is not just about reading. We are going to do a few

simple exercises which are spread throughout the guide. :)

C HAPTER 2

Motivation
Of course motivation is not permanent. But
then, neither is bathing; but it is something you
should do on a regular basis.

Zig Ziglar,
Raising Positive Kids in a Negative World

Many English learners I have met online or in person struggle

with the lack of motivation to work on their English. When we
start learning something new, e. g. a new language, we are
usually motivated enough to learn the basics. Then, after
some time motivation tends to slowly disappear and suddenly
we realise that we have lost the power to continue learning.

life? ;) Or anything else? Pick some exciting and positive

reasons! The more specific they are the better.

The goal of this chapter is to build a strong foundation

for your motivation to master your English. If you are
motivated enough, this chapter will help to make your
motivation even stronger. And if you are feeling you might be
losing some of your powers already, this chapter is here to
ignite your motivation again and keep it high for as long as
possible. :)

I want to travel the world and discover different cultures;

English makes travelling easier

Why we do what we do?

In everything we do motivation is something that drives
us to take action. We are not doing anything unless we are
pushed or pulled enough. So how to get ourselves to learn
English?

For example, my personal reasons to be fluent in English are:

I want to be able to communicate with as many people as
possible

I want to help people from all over the world - fluent English
will definitely help to share the thoughts and ideas
I want to learn from the sources which are available online
but are mostly in English
I want to be able to do public speeches in English as it was
my native language
I want to understand most of the movies and songs which
are in English

Try to answer for yourself this simple question:

Why am I learning English?

Is it because of an adventurous travelling you are planning

soon, or because you want to get a better job in a specific
company, or meet some new people, maybe love of your

10

Note: I want to pass an English exam in school is not

enough exciting reason to learn English. :P You have to
have much more exciting reasons. ;)
When I started working seriously on my English, the top
motivating reason was that I wanted to be accepted for a work
internship in United Kingdom.
Now, try to answer the question yourself:
Why are you learning English? Why do you want
to be a fluent English speaker?
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________

Great! I am glad you did the exercise. :)

How do you feel after answering the question
above? - Write down the feelings you are
experiencing now. Are you feeling motivated?
Excited?
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________

Now, every time you are feeling that you are losing motivation
or energy, try to remember your exciting reasons to be a fluent
English speaker. You may also consider rewriting your
answers on a piece of paper you can hang on the wall to see it
every day to remind yourself your motives to get fluent
in English.

Thoughts can change our lives

Lets talk now a little bit about relationship between our
thoughts and the motivation we have.
Have you ever experienced the state of mind when you are
completely motivated - when you feel you have super powers
to do anything you want? I bet you have. And on the other
hand - have you ever been in a state when you just wanted to
stay in bed all day long and do nothing to follow your dreams?
Isnt the difference between these two states only in the way
we think?
What do you think about when you are not motivated? And
what do you have in mind when you are ready to break
through any problem that comes into your way? Thoughts and
believes we have affect our behaviour, our actions and can
literally change our lives. As you could experience in the
previous exercise, even one simple question and your
powerful answer can change how you feel.
We have to take care of our thoughts and believes not
just when we talk about mastering English. To

11

illustrate the point I would like to share with you a quote I

find very inspiring (not sure about the author):
Watch your thoughts, they become words;
watch your words, they become actions;
watch your actions, they become habits;

What would happen if you couldn't speak

English fluently as a native speaker?
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________

watch your habits, they become character;

watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.

What do you think about it?

Now when we talked about how thoughts can change how we
feel, lets answer four simple questions to inspire even more
powerful answers. Each question is slightly different and you
will see how various thoughts are coming to your mind when
you are writing the answers. The questions are about you and
for you. :)
What would happen if you could speak English
fluently as a native speaker?
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________

What wouldnt happen if you could speak

English fluently as a native speaker?
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________

The last one might be little bit difficult to imagine, but lets try
anyway. :)
What wouldnt happen if you couldnt speak
English fluently as a native speaker?
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________

example: If I couldnt speak fluent English, I wouldnt get to an

internship in United Kingdom.
12

The intention of these questions is to make us think more

about the reasons why we really want to master
English. You might be surprised of what simple but powerful
question can discover.
Tip: Anytime you are feeling that you are losing
motivation, get back to this section of the guide and refer
to your powerful answers. Remember all the things,
experience and feelings that fluent English is
going to bring to your life. :)

13

C HAPTER 3

Your
personal
results
workshop

Whenever you want to achieve something, keep

your eyes open, concentrate and make sure you
know exactly what it is you want. No one can hit
their target with their eyes closed.

Paulo Coelho, The Devil and Miss Prym

This chapter is all about you and your English. We are going
to evaluate your current level of English, set the goals
for your learning and also prepare a day-to-day schedule
of activities which are going to take your English to the next
level.
In order to do that we have to understand the process of
reaching for our goals. How do we get what we want? How
do we usually get where we want to be?

A dream holidays on Bali Island

Lets take look at the process of reaching for our goals through
the analogy of travelling: Say, for example, we want to get
to Bali Island for our holidays. :) What steps do we need to
take to enjoy sunny days on the island?

Step 1
The first thing we need to know if we want to get to Bali is:
Where are we now? It would be impossible to get to our
destination if we didnt know what is our current location. We
wouldnt know which direction to take, where to book flight
from or how to get to the nearest airport. Its similar with our
English - we need to know what is our current level of
English in order to set appropriate strategy and use
specific tools to get us where we want to be.

Step 2
The second important thing to know is - of course - our
desired destination Where do we want to be - Bali Island
of course! :) When we talk about our English, the ultimate
destination can be fluency and confidence in speaking, ability
to express everything we have in mind and understanding
other English speakers. We need to know where are we
going to get there. Without a specific goal, we would
just walk randomly.

Step 3
The third thing we need to ask ourselves when we already
know where we are and where we want to get is: How are we
going to get there? Are we going to take a flight, a bus, a
helicopter, a boat, or a train? Or are we going to walk to our
desired destination? Not every kind of transportation can take
us where we want to get with the same comfort, speed,
safety Some types of transportation cant even take us where
we want to get at all. We would hardly get to the open
15

universe by a normal bus, right? :) With English it is similar.

When we know where we are and where we want to be, the
only thing left to figure out is how we gonna get there. As a
way of transportation, while speaking of English
learning, you can imagine specific learning method,
language school, online Skype conversation, a book,
meeting with native speakers in your city and so on...

break out from the ground, grow and bloom beautifully.

Similarly,

Step 4

To sum up: In order to get to your dreamed destination whether we are talking about travelling to Bali Island or
fluency and confidence in English speaking - you need to do
the following:

And now? Now we need to Take action! If we planned

everything above and then havent start the journey at all, we
wouldnt get to our dreamed destination - whether it is Bali
Island or our perfect English speaking. All of the planning
would go to waste if we havent booked that flight ticket,
packed ourselves or start the journey at all. With English it is
the same - lets imagine you would bought a nice package of
English audio lessons and then didnt listen to it at all; or if
you joined an English conversation class and then didnt
speak or even listened to your classmates or your teacher
there... Thinking without taking any action doesnt make a
difference!

if we want to be fluent and confident English speakers

we have to expose ourselves to English and dedicate
the time to actually use English on a day-to-day basis.

1.

Find out where you are now

2.

Decide where do you want to be

3.

Choose the best strategies and tools

4.

Take an action!

5.

And be consistent

The graphics illustrate the process:

Step 5
The last step is very important even though many people
forget about it. In order to master English we need to
be consistent with our actions. Action itself is not
enough. What do I mean by that? Does a plant seed grow
when we water it only once? No, it doesnt, unfortunately. We
need to water the seed everyday and take care of it to make it
16

That is the way of how we can reach for our goals. In the
following subsections of this chapter we are going to go
through all the steps above. Step by step we are going to build
our action plan for success in English. Lets continue! :)

17

S ECTION 1

Where are you? or Evaluate

your English skills

In paragraph or two describe your current level

of English:
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________

For example, someones answer could look something like

this:
Now its the time to take the first step - lets find out how is
your current level of English. Dont be afraid - theres not
going to be any English test. :) I believe that everyone is able
to evaluate his or her English skills oneself - we know
ourselves the best.
Finding out what are your biggest challenges with English is
very important in order to choose appropriate learning
strategies later. Lets have some fun with exercises! :)
How would you rate your current level of English
on a scale from 1 to 10 where 10 is the best? Rate each
skill separately:
reading 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10
writing 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10
listening 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10
speaking 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10

I think I can understand most of the written English, but I have

problems with speaking. I am afraid of making mistakes and I dont
feel confident enough to express myself. I find it difficult to
motivate myself to study every day.
Or something like this:
I can read and write in English without much trouble, but when it
comes to speaking I am missing fluency. Sometimes I also dont
understand spoken English. I also think that I dont have many
opportunities to practice speaking.
Of course, description of your English skills may be
completely different from the examples above. It can also be
longer or shorter. :) The more precise your description
is, the better we can address your current knowledge of
English later and set appropriate strategy for improvement.
18

Everyone of us is unique but at the same time we often face

the same challenges and obstacles when reaching out for our
goals and dreams. Lets discover the difficulties you are
having with English:

3. All the grammar rules just confuse me! It takes me too much
time to form a sentence. Its ok when I write - because I have
plenty of time to think about what I am writing - but speaking
requires immediate reaction.

What are your 3 biggest challenges or difficulties

in English you are facing? Write down what is
stopping you from being a confident and fluent
English speaker. You may also describe exact
situations that you find difficult.
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
Some readers may answer for example:
1.

I dont have confidence in speaking, I feel shy when I am about

to say something, I dont believe in my English knowledge.

2. I have problems understanding spoken English. I understand

more when I listen to some foreigners speaking, but when I

As you could read in the beginning of this guide, my biggest

challenges with English were:
I couldnt speak English, had low confidence and were afraid
of making mistakes
I thought too much about the grammar and tried to carefully
prepare each sentence in my mind before I opened my
mouth
I had problems understanding spoken English
Maybe you are facing the same challenges as I used to. Or
maybe you have difficulties with something else. Important is,
that now you know what exactly is the challenge for
you. It is so much easier to choose the best techniques and
sources when you know where you are with your English.
The next section is all about dreaming :) and then, we are
going to use all we have learnt to take action!

hear native speakers, I cant understand because of their

accent, or they speak too fast.

19

S ECTION 2

Where do you want to be?

or Lets dream :)

Now its the time to let your imagination wander. :) As we

could see before, the second step in getting where we want to
get is knowing exactly where we want to get. :) It might sound
ridiculously obvious, but sometimes we dont realise how
important is knowing where are we going.
We have already touched this topic in the chapter about
motivation. Lets build on that with the following question
and your powerful answers.
This time I am not going to give you any examples for the
answers in the exercise because I want you to dream free just
with the ideas you have in your mind. ;)

Imagine yourself speaking excellent English.

Describe the day when you finally speak fluent
and confident English. How would be your
interactions with other people in English, how
would your job be? What opportunities would
you have if you could speak perfect English? How
would your life look like if you were an excellent
English speaker right now? Write down
everything that comes to your mind even if it
sounds crazy or unreal. Dont let the pen stop
and get your thoughts out. :)
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
Great! Now you should have an idea where is your desired
destination with English. :) The next section is all about how
you will get there!

20

S ECTION 3

Action Plan Example

Lets get there! Take an

action!

At the time when I created this plan to improve my English, I

studied at the university that was about an hour journey away
from my home. It means that every workday I travelled for 2
hours a day by bus for full 5 years. If we count all these hours
together, it makes 1 200 hours in total! :) (and thats just
time spent on commuting)

I am so excited you got to this section finally! This part of the

guide is all about taking action. We are going to prepare the
action plan for your success in English, choose the best
English resources for you and commit to get your English to
the next level.

Building the Action plan

What is the Action plan? It is simply a set of daily activities
you can do everyday to improve your English. Action
plan has to suite your own time schedule, needs and lifestyle.
Therefore its different for everyone and your own action plan
will be unique! :)
Before you build your own action plan, let me share with you
my own plan that has helped me on the way of improving my
English. Even though my current plan is little bit different, I
am sharing with you the example that I think you will find
useful.

In the evenings when I got home, I was exercising for about

30 minutes each day and also I usually had around 3 hours for
myself during Saturdays and Sundays (not every weekend of
course).
How did I use all these hours?
Every time I travelled by bus I put the earphones on and
listened to the Power English audio lessons. Then, when I
was at home and exercising in the evening I turned on a
computer and watched two or three videos on TED.com
while I was lifting weights. That was my schedule for every
workday.
When the weekend arrived, I went to British Council
Learn English website and did language exercises, played
language games and watched some more videos. Sometimes
during a week me and my brother watched a movie in
English with English subtitles together. Also I was chatting
with my friends from all over the world on Facebook and
maybe once a month we had a Skype call together. :)

21

When I found a word or a phrase I didnt understand, I used

Oxford Dictionary and then noted the new learnt
expression into my notebook.
That was pretty much it. I didnt attend any English school
apart from obligatory course at the university, neither I
studied any grammar book that time.
On the next page you can find how my action plan looks like
on a week schedule. At the end of this chapter you will find a
similar, but empty week schedule you can use to create your
own personal action plan. :)
When you will be creating your action plan keep in mind the
following:
Action plan is not to be set in stone forever. Always
adjust your action plan to your current level of
English, time possibilities and life style.
and ;)
Be creative! - theres nobody to tell you how your
action plan should or shouldnt be. Get inspired, but be
your own boss and choose what is best for you. :)
Make your plan fun! - learn English in a way that
makes you happy. It is so much important to enjoy our
time while mastering English.

22

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

Listening English
on the bus

Listening English
on the bus

Listening English
on the bus

Listening English
on the bus

Listening English
on the bus

9:00

English at home

English at home

10:00

English at home

English at home

7:00
8:00

11:00
12:00

lunch break

lunch break

lunch break

lunch break

lunch break

13:00
14:00
15:00
16:00
17:00
18:00

Skype call
Listening English
on the bus

Listening English
on the bus

Listening English
on the bus

Listening English
on the bus

Listening English
on the bus

19:00
Chatting with
friends in
English online

20:00

21:00

English while
exercising

English while
exercising

English movie
with brother
English while
exercising

English while
exercising

English while
exercising

22:00

23

Lets Build Your Action Plan

Use the example plan as an inspiration and build
your own action plan that will suit your personal
lifestyle and needs.
Do the following exercises - they will help you to create your
unique plan for your success in English. :)

Imagine your normal week. When do you have

extra time that you can dedicate to English?
Monday:_________________________________
Tuesday:_________________________________
Wednesday:_______________________________
Thursday:________________________________
Friday:__________________________________
Saturday:________________________________
Sunday:_________________________________

1. Finding the time

As you could see in the example action plan - I
improved my English a lot while I was
commuting to university and during the weekend
mornings.
If you think that theres not enough time in your week for
English, try to think about activities like:
commuting (to/from work, university, school, ...)
physical exercise (running, working out, cycling, jogging,
walking, ...)
or cooking, doing chores, cleaning the house, ...
Can you imagine how much time we spend on these activities
in a year? What would happen if we used all of this time not
just for that primary activity, but also to improve our English?

Example: Monday: 7:00 - 8:00 on the bus, Tuesday: 6:00 - 6:30

while exercising, Wednesday: 17:00 - 18 :00 on a train home, ... ...
and so on...
2. Discovering your interests
When we are improving our English, it is worth
choosing the materials based on our
interests. If you love cooking for example, its
great to focus on reading blogs and TV shows
about cooking. If you are a fan of racing cars thats the one of the topics you should focus on. And so on :)
Combining our interests and hobbies with learning
English is so powerful tool to get better fast!

24

What are your top 5 interests?

_______________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
From now on, every time you are going to read, watch or
listen to something new about one of your interests, search for
the information in English first. Discover videos, podcasts and
blogs about your hobbies.
3. Choosing the right resources
English language is so popular that there are
many materials to choose from. The wide
selection of resources is growing everyday and
sometimes it might be difficult to choose the
best materials for your personal needs and
preference. I would like to show you the materials that I think
are one of the best out there.
Everything I share with you is what I have been using
personally to improve my own English. These resources
have helped me and I believe they can help you too. :)
As you could read in my own action plan, I use a combination
of resources to improve my English. Let me tell you a little
more about each of them.

Power English
When I am on the bus, commuting, travelling or exercising, I
listen to the Power English audio lessons. Heres why I
like and recommend the program so much:
you can actually havefun while learning English :)
each lesson tells a powerful inspiring idea which can
help you in other areas of your life (not just learning
English)
all audio lessons have transcripts, so if you dont catch a
word while listening, you can read it
you learn spoken grammar without studying grammar rules;
you just listen to mini stories and actively answer simple
questions
there are so-called action vocabulary videos that make you
move, laugh and feel good; and teach you vocabulary at
the same time
mp3 files are easy to keep on a phone or mp3 player
everywhere you go; theres no need of a computer to
enjoy the course :)
In general I think that Power English has helped me most
with my speaking, fluency, pronunciation and showed
me how to be confident when using English.
If you want to know more about the Power English, read my
full review here.
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British Council Learn English

Have you created your action plan? If so:

I use British Councils Learn English website mostly

because of its great videos and language exercises. if you
are into British English, definitely check out the website. :)
You can find there many fun language games and also a
grammar reference that may come handy sometimes. I
consider this website as one of the best resources I have found
on the internet. Its better if you can use the website on a
computer because the exercises are interactive. :)

Great! I am so happy for you and your new action

plan! If you would like to share your new action plan
with me, feel free to do so at [email protected]. ;)

TED: Ideas worth spreading

Do you like to get inspired? The TED.com website does
definitely offer huge amount of inspiration! You can find
there great talks in English - interesting people sharing
interesting ideas. Select the category you prefer, then listen,
watch and enjoy variety of talks. If you like, you can turn on
subtitles or read the interactive transcript (sometimes
even in your native language!). Get a friend and watch videos
together! ;)
That were the top 3 online resources I use to improve my
English.
If you would like to learn more about other great resources I
use, check out this article.
Choose the resources you like the most, combine them with
your time possibilities and create your own action plan
now! Everything is in your hands. :)

Lets finish this section with one more exercise:

What are the 3 little actions you can take right
now that will take you closer to the fluency and
confidence in English?
1.______________________________________
2.______________________________________
3.______________________________________

You can for example:

put your action plan on the wall in your room so you can
see it every day; or show your action plan to a friend
bookmark the resources you like the most and check out
the websites of the resources :)
dedicate a time in your calendar to work on your English;
create a reminder on your phone
Decide and take the action! See you in the next
section. ;)

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My personal action plan

MONDAY
7:00
8:00
9:00
10:00
11:00
12:00
13:00
14:00
15:00
16:00
17:00
18:00
19:00
20:00
21:00
22:00

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

S ECTION 4

The 30 days challenge

Now I have one little experiment for you. Will you join? ;)

The 30 days challenge

What is the 30 days challenge? Its more of like a game.
Rules are simple:

I believe that when you are now reading these lines you are
already committed to be a confident and fluent English
speaker. :) Let me congratulate you because only a handful of
people are able to work hard on their goals and enjoy the
benefits of their constant effort. You definitely understand
how mastering English can help you in your career or
personal life. How much new and useful knowledge is opening
to you and how your great English can help your family,
friends and community you are part of.
When we are learning English, theres really nothing we can
lose. English is an investment of our time and effort
we put together to enjoy brighter future.
Now you should be clear on why you are learning English,
what are the biggest difficulties you are facing and have an
idea of how to overcome them. Theres also an action plan
you have created for yourself.

1. Have your English action plan ready - if you havent

prepared it yet, now its the right time!
2. Decide that you are going to follow your action plan
every day for 30 days in a row.
3. Use the tips, techniques and sources you have
learnt in this guide.
4.Have fun and enjoy the process
5. See what happens after 30 days :)

Tip: If you miss a day or two, dont beat yourself up.

Sometimes we cant make our schedule for 100%, and
that is ok. Important is to never give up and continue.
The goal of the 30 days challenge is to help you build a habit
of improving your English. After 30 days of challenge, you
should not just feel better about your English, but also your
action plan should feel like a usual part of your daily life
similar to brushing teeth or taking a shower. :)

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C HAPTER 4

Bonus
Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if
you were to live forever.

Mahatma Gandhi

S ECTION 1

Tips for your success in

English

written nothing if I was trying to be perfect in English before I

started writing this guide or blog. :)
Mistakes are our friends. Every time we realise we made a
mistake, we certainly learnt something new. Important is not
to fear our mistakes, but to use them on our way to success.
But what if people are going to judge me when I make
a mistake?
From my personal experience, people are not going to judge
you at all.

Fear of making mistakes

When you speak English, you can either talk to:

As you know already I am not a native English speaker. Maybe

you could find some grammar mistakes in this guide or on my
blog. Did my not-perfect English stop me from writing this
guide or posting articles on the blog? No! :)

a non-native English speaker

Well, I had three options basically:

1.

write the guide and hopefully have some positive impact

on you :)

2.

learn and learn English until I am ready, my English is

perfect and then start writing

3.

don't write anything (this is not an option in fact :) )

The problem with the second option is that: Do we really

know when We are ready? Isn't perfection just
something we can never achieve? I would have probably

or
a native English speaker
Non-native English speaker is like you and me - we are all
English learners, we have very similar feelings when using
English. We can understand the difficulties we are
experiencing and therefore - why would we be judging or
making fun of our friends?
What more, when we talk to native English speakers, they
are usually glad that we are trying to communicate with them
in their own native language. Imagine a foreigner who is
trying to talk to you in your native language. How would you

30

feel? I bet you would like it. ;) You would even like to help
him, wouldnt you?

dedicated to our English learning. There you can put

everything new you have learnt.

Physical exercise and learning English

How does the English notebook look like? Simple. It can be a

normal A4 format notebook where you put line by line
everything new you come across - doesnt matter if it is a new
word, an interesting idea, joke or some language speciality as
long as it is related to English. :)

I think we can all agree that physical exercise is important for

our health. But have you thought what positive impact can
exercising make to our learning process?
If possible, do a little bit of easy exercise before learning
(walking, running, lifting weights, ...) - it will make you
energised, keep blood flowing and you will be more alert. You
can also exercise while learning (listen to some English
audio for example).

Example: Here is how I noted when to use word someone

and when to use anyone in a sentence. :)

How to watch movies or videos in

English?
When you watch something in English, try to have English
subtitles on the screen, or have a transcript around.
Sometimes we don't understand a word and when we can see
how is it written we can check it out in the dictionary later.

How to make notes from your English

progress?
When we watch a movie in English, or read a book, or maybe
listen to an audio lesson, sometimes we come to a word or a
phrase we dont understand. Thats completely ok. If we want
to be really effective, its worth to have a separate notebook

When you look at your notebook after a year of using it, you
will realise how much you have learnt. :)

Travel or meet with tourists

If you can, spend at least several months in an Englishspeaking country. It can be one of the best investments in
your language learning. If you dont have an opportunity to
travel abroad, try to meet up with English-speaking tourists in
your area.
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How to make friends online?

As you could read in the previous chapter, one part of my
action plan is chatting with people from all over the world and
having a Skype calls with them. You may ask - How can we
meet all this people? Now when we have internet it is so
easy. Check out the website like italki.com where you can
find many friends who are eager to exchange language
knowledge and meet new friends. You can arrange a Skype
call with them for free, or you can take a paid lessons with
professional teachers.

How to make friends offline?

Even almost everything can be done online these days, theres
nothing better than practicing language with a person sitting
nearby. :) But how can we meet someone? And how do we
know if a person wants to practice English? Perfect website
for meeting people is meetup.com. There you can search for
meet up groups based on your location and interest. You can
for example search for English in Delhi or English in
Hanoi and you will find groups of people who regularly meet
and practice English. Often you can meet there foreigners
from English-speaking countries.

nice way of meeting new friends and learning language at the

same time. Try to search for language cafe in you city!

Let your electronics help you with your

English!
If you can, set English as a language on all of your
electronic devices - phone, camera, car navigation... You
can also learn some new phrases when you choose English
language when withdrawing money from ATM. :)
Plus, dont forget that you can set English language on
services like Facebook, Gmail, Twitter and so on... If you use
these websites on a daily basis you can pick up new words
really fast!

How can I improve my writing?

Simple answer - by writing. :) I know, I am not telling you
anything new here, but people sometimes ask this question.
Great way of improving writing skills is actually chatting
with your online friends on social networks. Its
interactive, fun and it requires you to react faster than if
you were to write an essay in English.

By the way, have you heard of language cafe? It is an

informal meeting of people who are interested in language
exchange. These meetings usually take place in a normal pub
or a bar. Each table has a label with a country flag or language
name on it. You can just come to the table with language that
you want to practice and join the conversation. :) Its a very
32

Dont study grammar so much!

Most of the English teaching methods especially in public
schools are based on constant studying of English grammar
from grammar books and textbooks. From my own experience
this is a very ineffective way of improving English.

When someone asks an inappropriate question, or doesnt

apologize when he or she should; or is complimenting wrong
person - it doesnt necessarily mean he or she is impolite. His
or her culture just values different things for being polite. :)

From my point of view, its fine to study a little bit of

grammar when we are total beginners starting to learn
English. But as long as you know the basics, its time to stop
studying grammar rules.
Instead of memorising grammar rules, focus on
listening English and actually enjoy it. Use the
recommended resources from the previous chapter, immerse
yourself into real English and you will see how you can learn
grammar automatically without even thinking about it. :)

Be aware of cultural differences

People all over the world communicate in English. We share
the same language but we all have different cultures.
Isnt that great?! :) We can share and experience each others
traditions, habits and values.
When talking to someone who is from other part of the world,
keep in mind that some words or expressions might be
interpreted in a very different way than we are used
to in our native language. Yes, there are speech
differences.

33

S ECTION 2

Common difficulties of
English learners

Everyone of us might come from different country or culture.

But all of us - English learners - face very similar obstacles
and roadblocks on the way of learning English. This section
summarises frequently asked questions and common
challenges English learners encounter while they are
trying to achieve fluency in English. All the questions in this
section are asked by English learners from all over the world. I
hope this section will be beneficial for you. :)
Question: My mind gets blank and I struggle to speak in
English with people who have better English knowledge than
me. What should I do? - Anonymous
Note: The person also mentioned that an example of such a
stressful situation is meeting with managers in a company
who have far better English knowledge.

My answer:
Thank you very much for this question.
I can completely relate to your problem because I have
experienced something similar in the past. I believe that the
underlying problem is our psychology - when we are
dealing with someone who we think is better than we are in
some way we can feel intimidated, or frightened.
This isnt related to speaking in a foreign language only - we
can have similar experience when dealing with our boss,
potential partner on a first date, and so on...
The reason our "mind gets blank" is because of the stress we
are experiencing at that moment and the way we are
focusing our thoughts.
The problem is also that this negative experience works
as a reference for the future. That means - when we are
about to get to the similar situation again, we can start feeling
stressed even before the situation begins.
How to overcome this? :) (or what has helped me
personally?)
Focus is the key - we have to stop focusing on the
negatives - don't think about managers as some "special
people" who have "perfect English". It might be true, but it
will make you feel unworthy. Don't even compare your
skills with theirs.
34

 Think about the situation differently. Think that you are

going to have a nice conversation with another human
being, your friend, or colleague. Focus on the goal of the
conversation you are going to have.

If this is the case, I think, the best way to learn grammar is by

doing practical exercises and watching videos where grammar
is explained on the examples from real life. Very good source
for this is for example:

Then, we need the practice - it's going to take some time

until we are ok with the situation itself. We have to expose
ourselves to the similar situation again and again - and
create positive reference.

Learn English from British Council - there you can find

useful videos where grammar is explained and do many
exercises which are more of like games.

What has helped with my confidence in speaking a lot is

Power English program that is focused exactly on that.

But, if you want to get better in English in general - speaking,

reading, listening and writing - I don't think that extensive
knowledge of grammar is necessary. Then you just need to
practice English in real life without thinking about
grammar. :)

Question: I have been reading and practicing English

grammar since I was 10. Now I am 28 and my grammar is
still not good. How should I improve my grammar?
- Anonymous
My answer:
It's really an interesting question. First thought coming to my
mind was - what is your goal with English? - what is the
reason you are trying to make your grammar perfect - is it
because of some English certificate or test? Or you just want
to understand all the grammar constructions, exceptions,
tenses and so on?

Question: As a non-native English speaker, how do I use

prepositions properly (such as in phrases like be good at, be
interested in, concentrate on, etc.)?
- Anonymous
My answer:
When I went to elementary and secondary school we used to
learn prepositions in a "grammar" way - for example:
preposition "in" is used here and there, preposition "on" is
used with these nouns... and so on. This way of learning never
worked for me.
35

What worked was just to use English - read, listen and

speak. It is far more easier to remember correct preposition
constructions when we encounter them in the context several
times than to memorise them. This way it's more fun and we
don't realise we are learning. :) You will soon get a feel what
preposition goes with what noun without even thinking.

Over time we can move to more difficult book.

I also think it is important to focus on the part of the English

we need in our lives. And find reading / listening materials
according to what we enjoy. Learning English has to be
pleasure.

Listen to the audio books by your interest. Plus, you can

also read the original copy of the book while listening.

Question: What are a few good books to read when trying

to learn English?
- Yaroslav

But, there's an exception. :) If I really really want to read a

specific book, I don't care so much what percentage of words I
already understand.
Two more tips:

Dont feel ashamed to read a childrens book if you like

them and it suits your needs. :)

There are many more difficulties and challenges we - English

learners - face. If theres something special you are struggling
with and havent found the answer to in this guide or on the
internet, feel free to share it with me.

My answer:
I think it depends a lot on your level of English and your
interests. When choosing a book or ebook in English I
usually take this approach:
do I like the topic? or, Is the book interesting to me?
do I understand at least around 70% of the words used in
the book without using a dictionary? (we want to enjoy
reading book, not a dictionary :) )
36

S ECTION 3

The English lesson from

Southeast Asia

The last part of this guide is little bit different. I would like to
tell you about what I have experienced when I was travelling
through Vietnam and Cambodia with friends.
The story is about two helpful Cambodian guides and
Vietnamese boy and his father in Hanoi. :)
Me and my friends travelled across Cambodia and stopped by
in the world famous temple complex Angkor Wat for a few
days. If you have been there or ever seen the place, I bet you
were certainly amazed of the history, architecture of the
monuments and the beautiful surrounding nature.
When we got to the place, we didnt know much about it.
Luckily, one Cambodian guy came to us and offered his
guiding service. He didnt speak perfect English, sometimes
he mispronounced words, or got stuck for a second. But he
kept speaking, kept trying and without a fear he
shared his knowledge about old temples with us.

Our second stop was so-called Floating Village nearby the city
Siem Reap. We took a boat trip there. On the boat was a
young boy in his 17-years who was showing us the village and
all the interesting places like around. When we got to the
conversation, he told me that the reason he is working as a
guide on the boat is that he can meet tourists and talk to
them in English and practice. He would do that even for
free just to learn and improve his speaking skills.
After several days spent in Cambodia we moved to Hanoi in
Vietnam. One day when we walked in the city, suddenly a boy
and his father who were playing badminton on the pavement,
jumped to us and asked if we would like to join them for one
game. We agreed. :) After a few minutes of playing, we started
to talk. The boys English and also the English of his father
were quite good. We were talking about life, travel and how
they learn English. Then we took a group picture, said good
bye to each other, and walked away. It was an interesting
experience.
Is there anything special about this story?
Well, all the people there - whether the Cambodian guides or
Vietnamese boy and his father - all of them do look
everywhere for opportunities to improve their
English. They literally go outside to speak English! :) They
dont care about the mistakes they make; important
for them is to speak, practice and get better.
What if we applied their approach in our English learning
process too? :)
37

Final words from Ivan

Congratulations! You have just completed the guide. I am

glad I could share with you all the techniques, tips and
suggestions I have used to improve my own English. Now is
the time to put in practice everything you have learnt.
Dont be afraid of mistakes, they are our friends
Keep your ultimate goals and dreams in mind, they lead us
Take care of your thoughts, they have the power to change
our lives
And dont forget - on the way of reaching for our goals and
dreams we have to have fun! We have to enjoy the process.
Even there will be challenges on the way dont forget that we
we want to enjoy our life and live fully because
Life is a journey, not a destination.

Thank you so much for taking the time for reading this
guide. I hope I could help you with your English or in any
other way. Even if there was only one thing that inspired you,
motivated you or just made your day better, I am grateful for
it. :)
Please do let me know what you think about the guide. What
do you like? How did the guide help you? Feel free to share
your thoughts and leave a comment here. Or if you
prefer more private way of communication, don't hesitate to
send me an email. I appreciate your feedback and will
read every message or comment. :)
If you havent done so, join the discussions on my Facebook
Fan Page or Twitter (@IvanOttinger) to get the latest
updates from me. :)
And if you would like to share this guide with your
friends - please direct them to the link below so they have
the chance to join the newsletter as well. Thank you.
http://englishthesmartway.com/english-the-smart-way

Ivan Ottinger

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