Have you ever studied a language like crazy… only to freeze when you hear a native speaker?
Maybe you’re able to understand sentences in a textbook, but TV shows sound like gibberish?
You’re not alone – and you have NOT wasted your time.
Luckily, there are only a few things to change to go from – mental block, to natural speaker.
And it all starts with noticing one problem…
The #1 Mistake Language Learners Make…
⚠️ Relying on resources ‘meant’ for language learners.
Ironic, right?
The materials meant to help you could hold you back from fluency.
I’ll let you in on a little secret…
In the language learning industry, almost all the money is made from ‘Beginners’.
Maybe you’ve noticed the abundance of beginner level material…
Only to see minimal resources for intermediate and advanced learners…
This is why.
These companies have to focus on beginner material to continue making a profit.
That’s fine… but because of this, there’s little incentive for them to make you fluent in your target language.
If you rely on things meant for ‘language learners’…
You will likely plateau soon after finishing the beginner material.
This is why you must set your own learning journey.
And the best way to do that, is to…
Bring Back Your Inner Child!
Remember when you were a kid, and you’d mimic your favorite TV characters?
Without realizing it…
You were studying the language.
You didn’t learn your native language in a textbook.
You learned it by watching and mimicking the real world.
So, if you’re learning a new language, why would you do anything different?
3 Easy Steps to Become Fluent in Any Language
1. Start With Video
A child listens to the world around them.
They understand nothing – but they HEAR everything.
Don’t pressure yourself to understand everything all at once.
Sit back, relax, and enjoy watching the world.
“Cool, But What Do I Even Watch?”
Glad you asked!
Right off the bat, you probably considered YouTube or Netflix, but there’s one problem…
How do you start your search?
You can try searching in your target language…
But since you’re still learning, how do you know if you’re getting good results?
I felt the same way as you. That’s why I created…
🔎 The Search Engine for Language Learners
Here on Mezasu.com, you can search anything (in any language) and find interesting content in your target language.
Plus get video recommendations based on your interests.
2. Break Down the Language
Sentences are the heart of language.
If you want to get good fast, your best bet are phrases (not just vocabulary).
Every video you watch can be broken down into easy to understand sentences.
Take your time and break down the language.
“Okay, But Which Sentences Get The Best Results?”
Some sentences, you may already know…
While other sentences, make you feel like your brain is going to pop…
I’m all for easy learning – there’s no need to spend too much time with sentences you don’t understand at all.
I say: Collect sentences you already understand that has one word you want to learn.
AKA – Take, What you know +1
So while you’re watching videos, start collecting sentences.
How do you do this?
✂️ Clip Audio To Create Your Own Study Material
With Mezasu.com, you can clip audio from the videos you’re watching and save them for practice.
Use your audio clips for speaking practice!
1. Listen to the audio you clipped.
2. Record yourself speaking that same phrase.
3. Compare.
3. Pick Up the Pieces
When learning vocabulary, Context is King.
Every video on Mezasu.com has captions so you can read along and click on words to learn their meaning.
Take the sentences you collect and look up words you don’t know.
Try to fully understand the sentence.
Little by little, you will start decoding the language.
“I See…But How Can I Learn Vocabulary Fast?”
Well, I have some good news and some bad news…
Flashcards are the easiest way to learn a lot of vocabulary fast.
The Bad News:
Flashcards are tedious.
It can feel like you’re a robot trying to learn a language.
The Good News:
There is a simple method to make flashcards more enjoyable and effective for language learning…
📝 The 2 Review Decks of Mezasu.com
Vocabulary Deck: Save images, write notes / mnemonics, and add sample sentences for every vocabulary card.
Images
Notes
Sentences
Sentences Deck: Turn your vocabulary into usable sentences. (Add your audio clips for extra immersion).
With vocabulary, your goal is to create usable sentences as fast as possible.
As you become more familiar with each word, Mezasu.com automatically pushes you to create sentence cards.
Plus, it cleans out old cards to make sure you only review what you need.
How Long Does it Take to Speak Naturally
Before I explain, I want to be clear about one thing…
⚠️ There is a difference between Speaking Naturally and Speaking Fluently.
Many people start their dream by saying, “I want to become fluent in [x] language!”
It’s a nice goal to have, but there’s one thing that happens to everyone…
You never ‘feel’ fluent in the language.
I’ve been studying Japanese for years now. I’ve even lived in Japan for 15 months…
And I still feel nowhere near fluent.
However, I’m confident I could speak naturally.
It’s like the saying goes…
It’s not how big (your knowledge) is; it’s how you use it.
I won’t tell you how long it will take to become natural…
This entire article is meant to get you to create your own learning journey.
How long it takes is entirely up to you.
That said, I do have…
A Challenge For You
Start with the 2,000 Most Frequently Used Words of your target language.
These account for about 80% of spoken language.
Impressive, right?
But don’t forget; Context is King.
Get these words into usable sentences as fast as possible.
I challenge you to collect 3 sentences for every word.
At minimum, that’s 6,000 sentences to collect.
That might sound like a lot! But these sentences could easily add up by shifting around words and phrases you already know:
- I like dogs.
- I like to go swimming.
- I like playing sports.
- I like my mom’s cooking.
- I like learning languages.
If you follow everything in this article:
You watch videos…
You collect sentences…
You learn how each word is used…
And you practice what you’ve learned…
Then I guarantee you’ll become a more natural speaker.
How long will that take you?
Well, there’s only one way to find out…