363. How the 80/20 principle will help you improve your English

Welcome to the Influency Podcast. I'm Hadar and this is episode number 363. And today we are going to talk about the 8020 rule.

Hey everyone, thank you so much for.

Being here and listening to another episode of the Influency podcast. Today we're going to talk about the Pareto principle, the 8020 rule, and how the Pareto principle can help you improve your English practice, optimize it so you can get better results and a lot faster. I love talking about the 8020 rule when it comes to learning and speaking English. And today you are going to learn how the 8020 rule can help you too.

Foreign. Hey everyone, it's Hadar and I want to discuss the 8020 rule. Do you know the 8020 rule? The Pareto Principle? The Pareto principle says that the majority of the results, 80% of the results, come from 20% of the causes. It's relevant for most of the things in our lives. And, and when I teach English or when I teach pronunciation or when I talk about your English studies or when you're learning something new, I really believe in focusing on the 20%. So I truly follow the 8020 rule. Because here's the problem. There is so much content out there. There is so much going on out there. All the amazing teachers that teach on YouTube, that release hundreds of videos, I'm one of them, right? I have tons of videos and there are really amazing teachers out there that teach you all of those things and you watch one video and you're like, oh my God, this is exactly what I needed. And then you watch another video and then it's like, yeah, how am I going to remember or implement all that, right? How to take all the massive information that is out there, especially if you're a self learner, if you're learning on your own and you don't have a teacher to tell you, you do this on Sunday, this on Monday, this on Tuesday, that's it. You don't need to think about it, you don't need to plan out your own training. But most of you are self learners. So you create your own training. You kind of like collect all the information. But there's a downside to it. I mean, there's an upside because you do learn the things that you want to learn and the things that interest you. But also you don't know to distinguish what's good for you and what's not. Maybe what will really get your results and what wastes your time. I mean, nothing really wastes your Time. But let's be practical. You don't have all day, every day to practice English. I mean, am I right? You probably all are busy people who you have your day job or your business, your family and you want to also improve your English. And you know, learning English could be a full time job but we don't have, you know, the extra hours during the week. So how do you turn your training or how do you train or practice in a way that is super effective and will get you the results that you want? And this is what we're going to talk about today. Okay, so let me know if you feel that way. If you feel that sometimes you're learning and you don't know to distinguish between the important and the less important, does that happen to you or do you feel that you pretty much know what you need to do when you get the information of, you know, you understand the distinction between what is the priority when you're learning. So let me know and also let me know what is your biggest struggle as a self learner? If it's discipline, if it's structure, practice time. Okay, so Ehsan, Ehsan, that's your name. So he says or she practice makes perfect. Absolutely. But I agree with that. But also I feel that sometimes people practice and they practice mistakes and they practice in vain and they spend so much time practicing but not really seeing results and they don't understand why. And the reason for that I think is focusing on the wrong things. And of course, especially when you practice pronunciation, you never know if you're practicing the right thing or not. By the way, this is why I have a video, how to practice on your own and how to give yourself feedback. Because sometimes, you know, you need someone to give you feedback and you can't always afford a dialect coach or, you know, English classes. So there are ways to give yourself feedback. But what I'm trying to say is that when you're practicing and planning out your practice, you really want to focus on the most important things. So I'm going to talk about the 8020 rule when it comes to improving your pronunciation and intonation so your accent in general. Then when you're learning new vocabulary, how to learn it in an effective way and learn only the things that will get you to results, how to focus on the 20% when you practice or learn grammar and when you want to improve your fluency in general. Okay, so these are the things that we're going to talk about and see how we can apply the Pareto rule when it comes to pronunciation. Vocabulary, grammar, and fluency. Fluency is basically the result of everything. So you take all the knowledge that you have and you add confidence and practice to it, and that's fluency. But how do you practice your fluency? You can say that, oh, how do you improve your fluency? Okay, so let's begin with pronunciation. My favorite. So when it comes to pronunciation, again, if you type in American pronunciation, you'll get a billion videos about all the different sounds in American English. For each sound, you'll have like a thousand videos, right? And first of all, which one do you choose? So you start watching them and then decide which one is better for you. But, okay, so there is the R, and there is the stir, and there are vowels, and then there is the P and the t and the Z and the s. And you don't know whether you should work on your L or your R first, right? And then someone says, look, to sound like a native speaker, you really have to work on your TH's after R's, because otherwise you'll sound foreign. And then you're like, okay, but. But I don't even know how to pronounce the th first, so why would I need to work? So here's the thing. Yes, There are tons of things out there, and you shouldn't learn everything. If you're a beginner or intermediate, then you have to understand that, first of all, having a foreign accent is not a bad thing. And always striving to sound like a flawless American speaker is a great goal, but it shouldn't be your main target, because it's not about losing your accent. It's about speaking speaking clearly. It's about being confident. It doesn't matter that you have an accent, and an accent is a great thing. That's who you are. That's your personality. That's your, you know, your background. Not a bad thing. Okay, so let's assume that we're not looking to lose our accents completely. I mean, again, if you want to do that, that's amazing. Fantastic. I did it. I'm obsessed with it. I was. But the goal is to be clear. So especially if you're a beginner or intermediate speaker, you know, if you don't need to work on the final 20% if you're still, like, if you have a long way ahead of you. So first of all, don't focus on the nuances, focus on the major sounds that really interfere with your clarity, which means if you are misplacing the primary stress in words, do not spend time practicing your ths. I mean, practicing your THS is great, okay? And super important. It's one of the first things I teach. But misplacing the primary stress is critical, okay? Because people do not understand when the syllable is not in the right place. So that's one thing. If you say they instead of they in context, everyone will understand you. This is a substitution that people understand. If you say right and great instead of right and great, again, people will get the substitution that you're making. But if you're stressing every single word in the sentence, or if you're saying something like it's a great possibility instead of it's a great possibility, or I'm an engineer instead of I'm an engineer, that's a bigger problem. So to really gain a massive improvement in your speech, the 80% focus on the 20%. What are those 20%? First of all, figure out where the primary stress of the word is. Spend all your time learning it effectively and making sure that you're actually making progress. And don't just repeat things or videos without knowing if you're doing it right or not. If there is a doubt that you're not on the right track, you need to change something up. If you're feeling, then you're stuck, stuck, and that you're not improving, then you need to change something because you're wasting your time. And other than wasting your time and time is money and effort and you know, you don't see results, you get discouraged. When you get discouraged, you lose faith that you can actually make a change. And that's the worst thing that can happen. Because if you have the right training and the right plan and you don't need a teacher to tell you that you can create it on your own, but if you're on the right direction and you take the right journey, you will see results like there is no way that you won't, okay? But when you are not challenging what you're doing and you're just doing things because that's what people tell you to do. Especially if you're learning in school or at the university, like with an old school kind of that teaches you grammar by teaching you the rules first, then again, you need to challenge it and change something up until you really feel results. Because with effective practice, you see results by the minute, okay? And if you don't feel that, you know, not by the minute, but within a few days, you should feel results. You should feel physically the results or see the process and the progress, okay? And if that doesn't happen, challenge what you're doing and try it again. So going back to pronunciation, finding, the primary stress of a word is first, not finding, but being able to place it in the right position. Okay? After that, you probably have the major pronunciation elements like the r, the th, as well the open vowels. Because if you speak with closed mouth, no one will understand you. So these are important. After that, you have intonation and rhythm, and then you have all the sheep, ship and pool pull. So again, if you haven't mastered the R, then go back to the practice table, the practice board, and practice your R first before you spend a lot of time working on the sheepship vowel. I know it's boring, but I want you to see results quickly. So you have to go to those major sounds that once you start applying them, you'll see immediate impact. You'll notice that people understand you better, okay? And again, it's not about them feeling more comfortable speaking to you. It's about you not getting those blank stares or people asking you to repeat yourself. Because then you become self conscious. And when you become self conscious, then your English deteriorates and we don't want that, okay? So focus on those main elements that will get you the best results, okay? Not just the best results, but you know, will improve your English significantly. Let's just say that, okay? So first of all, focus on getting the right stress, okay? Placing the right stress in the word. Then you have the major sounds, like the R, the as in cat, the oz, and father, even the th. Then stressing the right word in the sentence. Sometimes that's the most important thing. Even more than the R. Okay? Sometimes placing the right stress. It really depends on the speaker. But you have to analyze your speech. You have to compare yourself, let's say read a text and compare it to the original. If you're reading a script of a TED Talk, compare it to the original and see where you feel the most of the difference. Is it the intonation, the rhythm? Trust your intuition, trust your ears. And then if you feel that the stress sticks out like the difference in the stress patterns, then this is probably the first thing you should focus on. Okay? So again, I'm saying things that are very general because it really depends on the speaker and their background and their needs. But you have to understand that don't just take everything that is out there and learn it, you know, and just review it and practice it because it will help you. But you know, the growth is going to be a lot slower. Zoom in. Focus on 1, 2, 3, 4 elements, major elements, and just Practice those. Okay. And then you'll see a faster improvement. And as I said, focus on the 20%, and it'll get you 80% of the results. Then once you achieve your goals, then you can start learning all the nuances. Okay, but the aspirated tea or the healthy, I mean, they're important, but they're not more important than placing the right stress. Okay. And when you learn all the things together, then sometimes you get lost, and then you get overwhelmed, and then you don't know what you need to practice anymore. Let's move on to vocabulary. Okay, so I have students that tell me, you know, there was a time where I studied 30 new words in one day. I was like, yeah, great. And do you remember those words? Not really. Okay, great. So you open the dictionary and you start with the. You know, with the abc. You start with all the words at a. Have you ever used all those words? Do you hear people use these words? The answer is no, because there is a very like, you know, you have tens of thousands of words in English. People don't use all those tens of thousands of words. In colloquial English. Right. Maybe on the news. Not even that. Probably in writing. Definitely in, you know, when you read articles or definitely when you read books. But there is, you know, the language people actually use and speak. And you don't need to know all those fancy words if basic words are not retrieved when you need them. Okay, so here's the thing. When you want to enhance your vocabulary, don't start with words that you don't know and try to implement them. Start with the words that you know when you hear them, but you never use. Okay. With the words that are never available when you need them. With those nicer words that help you describe something that you know those words, but you usually use a more basic word or a word that is not precise. Now, how do you do that? Well, every time you come across a word that you know that you know, but you never use. Okay. Again, it doesn't need to be a new word. Then either take a mental note of the word or just write it in your phone. And then again, as I said, it has to be thorough and effective practice. So memorizing the word is not effective. Again, I have a video about how to boost your vocabulary so you can go back to it if you need more tactics and tools. But again, what is effective practice? Not to memorize the word. You have to say the word. You have to say it 50 times to train your muscles to say it and to remember it. Okay? To develop the muscle memory of you saying the word, okay? So that's one thing. But then you have to use it in context, because otherwise you don't brand it in your brain and not in your head. Don't think it. You have to speak it, because you have to feel it in all your senses. You have to hear it, you have to feel it here. You have to connect your brain. You have to write it to feel it when you're writing it or maybe typing it because it's more effective. But if you can write it or even write it phonetically on the page, then do it. And then you see it and you feel it, and you say it in context. So you got to create three, four different sentences using the word that you know but you don't use on a regular basis. Okay? So again, don't learn new words. Focus on the words that you do know and you don't use. Or if you work in. If you're a lawyer, okay? And you need to use certain vocabulary, right, that maybe you won't use when you go to buy groceries, but you need certain vocabulary and you don't have it yet or you're not sure. Let's say you don't work in English all the time, but sometimes you have meetings in English and you do have to perform. So every time you see an email of a word that you know that you'll have to use, so pick it and collect it and write it. So take those notes and don't learn all the words, but the words that you'll need for your work, okay? If you feel that you can't express yourself when you're talking about politics, then, you know, write the words that you hear around you when you listen to other people. Speak politics. Speak about politics. Discuss politics or sports or the weather or your commute to work, okay? So again, decide on what you want to learn and focus on that. And then the next time you'll have a conversation about politics, you'll already have the words. So you're not just learning random words about life. You're learning specific words that will help you in a specific conversation. And that will also give you the motivation to start a conversation or to express your thoughts and opinions because you already have the vocabulary or not. Like, I don't know if I should start telling them what I think because I have no idea what words to use, okay? So it will also help you improve your fluency because you already have the basics. You know the words. You'll trust that you can create sentences Using those words. But if you haven't been practicing those specific words to be used in a conversation that you know you'll have, then it's going to be very difficult to start it. Okay, so the 20% don't practice all words in the world, but word that will help you convey your message on certain topics that you usually discuss in your life, whether it's about work or about your hobbies or about anything else. When you learn grammar again. Oh, my God, I'm a terrible grammar teacher. I can teach you some hacks, but, like, because there are all these rules, and to be honest, even Americans don't use all the rules that you learn in school, right? All those tenses and past perfect, progressive and future past and future perfect. So I might have just invented new tenses. I'm kidding. But what I'm trying to say is that don't learn the rules when you speak and you get stuck. Stuck because you don't know how to say something. For example, it happens to my students whenever they try to use conditionals, right? If I had, if I would have been. They start with the would after f, and there is no if after, and there is no future form after if, but they never remember it. So let's take that for example. So if you get stuck, maybe you can get away with it and keep the conversation going, but you feel that you've made a mistake, but you know that you always get stuck when you need to talk about conditionals or the on, in, at, or the past, about when you talk about the past or about something you've been doing for a long time. And you know that every time you talk about that, like, your brain goes like, how. How should I say it? Then try to narrow it down to what the issue is. And learn just that. Don't go and learn all the grammar rules. Okay, I have a good example. I had a student coming to me the other day telling me, you know, I told my colleague, I wear glass. I started to wear glasses when I was five. And then her colleague replied, oh, so you started wearing glasses when you were five? Something like that. I can't remember the context. So she said, wearing after start. And I said, start to wear. And I said, yes, okay, gerunds. So she said, see, I never know what to do. And I was like, so what's the problem? Take the list of verbs that you use, I and you. Okay, like start wearing, stop seeing, and just memorize those verbs. Not memorize, but just, you know, learn them. Use them in context. Create sentences. What Is it a list of about 15, 20 verbs that she uses on a regular basis? That's not a problem. And then from this, I don't know English, and I don't know what to do, and I always get stuck, which is a valid feeling because it feels, like, so overwhelming and enormous. But, no, if you make it very specific and you think about it, wait. It's only 15 verbs that you might use on a regular basis that, you know this thing happens. You don't say two after you say the verb plus ing, then just memorize that and that it empowers you and it puts you in control and you're a lot more open. Oh, yeah. So. And then there is a sense of accomplishment, okay? And when that happens, then everything else is a lot easier, and confidence leads to fluency, okay? So it all goes together. So that's about grammar. So we talked about pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, fluency. We're left with fluency. So as I said, fluency is basically a result of the knowledge that you have, which is the 20% of the knowledge that is out there, because you don't need to know everything. But if you know what you need to know to see results, then this is the knowledge that you need. Practice, time, and work at it. Okay? So it's not like, okay, I'm gonna pr. It's practicing effectively, meaning quality over quantity. So, for example, if you practice the R's, you don't need to practice 100 words with the R, but you. You keep on going back to your native R. You can only practice 10 words and every word, say, 50 times, until you feel a change, until you feel that you're out of your comfort zone, until you feel that you're actually saying it differently, even if it's the same word and you repeat it 100 times. And every time you're changing something and you recognize that there is a change, it's so much more effective than just drilling 100 words, saying, okay, practice, but I don't see results, okay? Because you won't. If you're repeating old patterns, then you'll stay in the same place and you'll feel that you're doing something wrong. Whereas it's not that you're doing something wrong, it's just how you go about it, going back to fluency. So you need practice. You need to be able to take the opportunities that are given to you that are English opportunities and leverage them into practice opportunities and to speak, okay? Because fluency is about what comes out here. It's not what's in here. Because if you had to read or write an email, then you'd be excellent. Okay? You'd be so good at it and maybe super clear. But then when you have to speak it, then that's when you get stuck. That's when fluency comes in. So what's this idea of fluency? You have to turn those passive opportunities into active opportunities. I talk about it all the time. So if you're reading an email, read it out loud. If you are in your car, then look around you and think about what's going on. But think in English, okay? Use these opportunities. And when you think in English, then immediately after, you can start speaking your thoughts out loud in English. So again, you have to feel it, you have to think it and hear it and say it. So you have to connect all of those things together. So we said take advantage of the opportunities around you. When you listen to someone, you can repeat. And after them, if you like listening to podcasts, then repeat what you're hearing. So all of those things are things that you can do constantly in order to improve your fluency. And of course, speak as much as possible, partner up with other people. So, for example, I don't know if you know, but I have a Facebook group called the Fluency Challenge. And if you haven't joined, this is the time to join. I'll post a link right below. So one of the things that they did, they created a conversation group. So they're meeting via Zoom, and either they go live together in the Facebook group and they talk and people comment on their conversation and they engage themselves in the conversation and people upload videos so they take the opportunity to speak. This is what you need to do to improve your fluency. So they. They have like online meetings around them and they speak with each other about different topics. So this is a fantastic opportunity to improve your fluency. You don't need native speakers to be able to speak up. It's all about the process of you retrieving the words, of you hearing how you sound, of you listening to others, and maybe recognizing things that they do differently and either help them or learn from their mistakes. Okay? It's even a better opportunity to speak with someone who is eager as you to practice their English, because you can. When you teach someone and when you help someone, it really helps you and it helps you clarify what you want to achieve. So again, when it comes to practicing your fluency, don't wait until you move to the US or you travel. You don't need that to improve your English. You have people around you, your partners, spouses, children, parents, friend, online friends, right? You can just meet up with them and say, let's have an hour of practice time. And if you can't find friends, speak to yourself. Okay? But again, it's about being active. It's about understanding that you don't need a lot to make it happen. You just need to do it. Okay? As I said, even if it's with yourself, even if no one's there to give you feedback because. Because everything is just another step on your way to reaching your goals. Okay? And when you're practicing, when you're speaking to yourself and you're introducing yourself, even though no one's out there to listen to you, when you do need to do it with real people or in a job interview, then you'll be a lot more confident because the words are going to be available. You know yourself and you know how to say things because you've practiced it before. Okay? So I think that's it when it comes to fluency. Okay? So going back to the 8020 rule, focus on the 20% and trust that it'll get you 80% of the result. Because if it'll get you 80% of THE results that you want, you will be at an amazing place. Because we're not after just after sounding like a native speaker, we. Or losing your accent completely. No, it's about being a confident speaker, a strong speaker. It's about having impact, engaging others. Okay? That's the important stuff. Okay? And your accent is an asset. And sometimes other people, non native speakers, will have a much easier time understanding you thanks to your accent. So it's not a bad thing. And as I said, being a foreigner is always, always means that you have something new to bring to the table. You don't want to hide it. At the same time, you want to understand English perfectly and know how to use it. In order to be a strong speaker and to be able and to trust yourself and to be able to speak up and express your thoughts and ideas to the world. That's it. Okay? If you're not a part of my fluency group, join us and start uploading videos and start speaking with other members because it's an amazing community, so you don't want to miss it out. Okay, guys, thank you so much. If you have any questions for me, then you can find me on Instagram, you can DM me or on Facebook. Accentsway English with Hadar Bye. Sa.