E-book Effortless English learn to speak English like a native. Chapter 22: English Connects You With The World

Chapter 22: English Connects You With The World »

CHAPTER 22
English Connects You With The World
Think about why you are studying English. Chances are it has something to do with communicating
or connecting with other people. English conversation is about connection. That is the purpose of
English conversation – to connect with people around the world. We want to connect personally and
emotionally. We want to connect with business partners, clients, and customers. We want to connect
with professional peers. We want to connect with new friends.
In short, you need a community to use English. As a learner, it's especially useful to join a
community of other English learners in order to practice and improve. The kind of community you
join, however, is very important.
Your peer group has a strong effect upon your ultimate success. A “peer group” is simply a group
of people who are interconnected with each other. Your friends are a peer group. Your family is
another peer group. If you join an English class in a school, your classmates become your peer group.
When you join an online community of English learners, they become your peer group.
Peer groups influence their members because, as a group, they share and promote certain values
and behaviors. The group as a whole has certain standards and every member of the group is pulled
towards those standards. This group effect can produce powerful positive or negative results.
A negative peer group is one with generally low standards. These groups are typically
characterized by frequent criticism, focus on errors, complaints, and even insults among members.
Such a group tends to pull down its members, discouraging and distracting them from success. Sadly,
such groups are especially common in schools and online – the two most common English learning
environments.
You want a peer group to pull you up. You want to join a group that encourages you, that feeds you
positive thoughts, that interests and entertains you. You want a group that will boost you when you are
struggling, and celebrate when you are successful.
Peer groups create spirals, either upward or downward. Through their shared interactions,
standards and values, peer group communities exert ever-increasing influence upon you. Participation
in a toxic peer group will eventually erode your confidence, no matter how strong you are. On the
positive side, an inspiring peer group will empower you to improve, grow, and achieve tremendous
success, even if you now feel hopeless.
Choose carefully. When considering a class or online English community, research it thoroughly.
Notice how the members interact with each other. When a member is successful, are they celebrated,
or do other members gossip jealously? When a community member struggles, do other members jump
in to encourage and help them or are they ignored?
While it seems obvious, many students forget the ultimate reason they are learning. In traditional
English conversation classes it's easy to get too focused on tests, textbooks, grades, and “levels.”
After a while, you as a student are so worried about these artificial measurements that you forget your
ultimate purpose for study.
At the deepest level, English conversation is about international community-building and sustaining
meaningful connections between people. What kind of people do you want in your English speaking
community?
One of my ongoing goals is to use our seminars and courses and online groups as a way to create
strong international communities. I want to help people connect and communicate in positive and
meaningful ways – and help them stay connected. One way you can do this is through our member
forums and conversation clubs. They're designed to allow you to interact and ask questions of other
students who are learning English just like you.
I also want you to always keep in mind why you are studying English in the first place. Forget
grades, tests and worrying about mistakes or how you might sound to others. Just focus on
communicating and trying to connect with positive people. Surround yourself with enthusiastic people
who love speaking English.
The more you connect with people who are excited about English, the more excited you will
become. Enthusiasm is contagious! So is negativity. Choose your peer group wisely.
COMMUNITY IS IMPORTANT
When learning anything, especially when learning English, it's important to have a community – a club of other enthusiastic learners.
This is why people continue to go to schools, even though they know the schools' methods are terrible. People want a community. They
want to join with other people. They want the increased motivation, support, and inspiration that a good community can provide.
This is why our website is called the Effortless English Club™ (EffortlessEnglishClub.com). Effortless English™ is more than great
courses – it's also a community of very positive and enthusiastic learners. In fact, we are very careful about membership in our
community. We only accept the most motivated – English learners who are very positive and enthusiastic.
We monitor our club quite closely, and we have zero tolerance for the negative, insulting, or childish behavior usually seen in internet
communities. On most internet forums, for example, you find a massive amount of insults and arguing. We don't allow that. Such
members are quickly and decisively eliminated from the club, and are never allowed to re-join.
Yes, this is a tough policy. But it is necessary. It can be difficult to create a great international learning club online. And I admit – I
am not interested in accepting and tolerating everyone. My goal is to create an international English learning club of only the most
positive learners. I want the most enthusiastic, the most supportive, the friendliest, the most energetic members in the world… and that, in
fact, is exactly what we have.
The members of the Effortless English Club™ are absolutely amazing. The level of enthusiasm and friendliness is tremendous. New
members are always very happy to discover such a fun and supportive learning club. We have many super members who will answer
your questions, give you learning advice, encourage you when you feel discouraged, and inspire you with their success.
We made that community even stronger when we launched our new VIP Program. For us, VIP stands for Vision, Inspiration,
Persistence… a monthly membership site where the most dedicated members meet… and get new lessons from me every month. All
lessons have video, audio and text, so you can understand everything… but more importantly, the lessons focus on three powerful topics:
Advanced Learning Strategies, The Psychology of Success, and Positive Leadership.
The VIP Member Program focuses not only on English, but also on Learning and Success in general. This is a place where our most
motivated students (the top 1 percent) meet and learn together – a powerful club and community of the Best of the Best. They are the
best not because of their starting English ability, but because of their positive attitudes, persistence, and devotion to learning