– English Lyrics

Lyrics & Translation

[English]

- Today, I'm gonna show you a simple technique

that can dramatically improve your fluency,

and it just takes five minutes a day.

(bright upbeat music)

Hello my, friends, it's Keith

from the Keith Speaking Academy.

And here today to help you

become a more fluent speaker of English.

Now this one technique I mentioned

is called the chunking method.

Now you've probably heard of this.

I've talked about it a little bit before.

but I want to make it crystal clear,

super easy for you today

so that you can start practicing this straight away today

and getting to that habit of five minutes a day

practicing this chunking.

Sound good?

Great.

So in this video,

I'm gonna show you how this works, how you can practice,

and then we'll finish up with a little story

to review this.

Let's do it.

(screen whooshing)

Now then, one of the reasons you're not fluent yet

is probably because you focus on individual words.

And this is quite normal for students to do.

The thing is, proficient speakers and native speakers,

we don't focus on individual words,

we focus on chunks,

two or three words together.

And we speak with chunks and we think in chunks.

If you focus on individual words,

it slows you down.

And it's because normally,

you've learned through writing and reading English.

And so you're focusing on the written word

that you see is individual words.

But when we speak, we don't think in words,

we think in sounds

and we speak with sounds.

So each chunk is a sound

rather than an individual word, right?

When I say "When I say,"

I don't say WEN-AI-SAY.

I say wen-ai-say, "When I say."

It sounds almost Japanese: when I say, when I say.

But I think in sounds.

And so it's much easier to speak

with more flow and more fluently.

It's a bit like when you go shopping and you take bananas,

and if you take an individual banana, put it in your bag

and another, boom and another.

It's quite slow.

If you take a bunch of bananas,

it's much quicker.

And it's the same with chunks.

It's a bunch of words put into one sound.

That's the secret.

Now there are different kinds of chunks.

There are grammatical chunks

and there are lexical chunks.

Let me give you a few examples today.

Grammatical chunks, we've got verb chunks,

like I tend to, I'm used to, I find it easy to,

I'd like to, okay?

Adverbial chunks, I'm sure you know,

at the moment, at the moment,

by and large, at the end of the day.

And when we say these,

we just say them as one sound, one chunk, right?

By-and-large, mm-mm.

By and large, by and large.

Meaning generally speaking, by and large, okay?

So verb chunks, adverbial chunks.

So these chunks are our building blocks,

and as we put them together,

we build and speak with more flow and more fluency.

And the more you use them

and the more you think in this way,

the more fluent you're gonna become.

Let's move on.

(screen whooshing)

Great, let's have a look

at this five-minute a day fluency drill.

So we're gonna look at three chunks,

three verb chunks that we can practice with,

and then later we'll add some adverb chunks.

So the verb chunk is what you do,

the adverb chunk is how you do it.

And then we'll start building with blocks.

So the first chunk we've got is, over here:

"I tend to do something,"

meaning I usually do something.

It's a habit, right?

I tend to, da da da da da, okay?

So instead of saying "I tend to,"

we say I tend to.

That means repeat.

I tend to wake up early.

Wake up early, another chunk.

Wake up early.

Good, together.

I tend to wake up early.

Got it.

Hear the difference between I tend to - wake up early,

and I tend to wake up early.

Totally different building blocks

rather than individual words.

Let's try another one.

I tend to - have a big breakfast.

Great, that's true for me.

Tell me something true for you.

Really?

Another one: I tend to - drink tea.

Okay, I tend to drink tea.

Great, and you?

Three chunks now.

I tend to - get nervous - before meetings.

Right, you've got it.

Okay, so what we can do,

we are just kind of repeating these little chunks.

Let's move on to chunk number two,

which is I am used to doing something.

So instead of, "I am used to,"

it's I'm used to.

I'm used to, that's it,

getting up early.

That's another chunk, getting up early.

I'm used to - getting up early.

I'm used to - working - on my own.

Three chunks, right?

I'm used to - working - on my own.

I'm used to working on my own.

I'm used to - living - in the countryside.

Okay, again, three chunks.

I'm used to - living - in the countryside.

We put them all together

with a bit of intonation.

I'm used to living in the countryside.

It's almost one chunk, right?

The more you do it, the better you get at it.

Chunk number three,

"I find it easy to do something," okay?

For example, for me,

I find it easy to cook, okay?

The difference again between "I find it easy to cook,"

I find it easy to cook.

Practice that little chunk.

I find it easy.

I find it easy.

Yeah, I find it easy - to learn languages.

I find it easy - to stay organized.

And you?

Excellent, good.

(screen whooshing)

Now let's start combining a bit.

Let's start adding some adverb chunks.

Do you remember like at the moment, okay?

So I might say: "At the moment,

I tend to wake up early."

Kind of three chunks, right?

At the moment - I tend to - wake up early.

I'm slowing it down a bit

so you can hear the chunks.

Obviously, as you put them together.

I would say, at the moment, I tend to wake up early.

I have the intonation, but that comes later.

Just focus on the chunks first.

Another one.

Right now, I'm used to living on my own.

Okay, we've got this adverbial chunk and the verb chunk.

Another one:

By and large - I find it easy - to stay organized.

Stay organized or stay focused?

Stay organized, yes.

By and large, I find it easy to stay organized.

And what I could start to do

is extend the sentence

by having a because or since or as.

"At the moment, I tend to wake up early

because I'm on holiday."

No, that wouldn't make sense, would it?

At the moment - I tend to - wake up early

because - I'm very busy.

That would make sense.

But it doesn't matter if it makes sense.

Actually, it's good not even to make sense.

Say something illogical,

but focus on these chunks.

De, de, de,

and you are building up your sentences, right?

The idea is not to make the idea of this practice.

The five-minute fluency drill is just to practice fluency.

Practice these chunks, okay?

We can do it with a mini story.

Let me develop these into a mini story,

and I want you to really focus on the sounds of the chunks

as I speak, okay?

Whether it's logical or not.

Here we go.

(screen whooshing)

At the moment, I tend to wake up early.

By and large, I find it easy to wake up early

because I go to bed early.

Right now, I'm used to going to bed early

because I'm on holiday, right?

Mini story, but I'm just building blocks,

building little sentences.

And in your practice, do this,

make up stupid stories that make no sense,

but just practice the chunks, right?

Later it will all start to work out.

But this is the drill.

This is where you're kind of like the soldiers

learn to walk and to drill.

It's the basic footsteps.

These are the footsteps of your language,

if you like, okay.

(screen whooshing)

So let me just recap,

summarize this five-minute fluency drill.

Very simple routine.

First of all, pick three verb chunks.

You can use the ones we've done today.

I do have a PDF, boom, boom.

And you can download that

and get lots more chunks you can practice with.

First, pick three verb chunks.

Practice repeating and changing something.

Take some adverb chunks, practice repeating.

Put them together, building up little phrases,

and then make a mini story, sentence after sentence,

using these chunks or others, building them up.

It can be totally illogical.

And then if you've got time,

do a mini story but that's true for you.

And that's more difficult

'cause you have to think about meaning as well.

But if you've got time, record yourself.

Great to listen back

and listen to the sounds and the chunks.

See how well you're doing.

You can do this five minutes a day.

Seriously, three chunks, some adverb chunks.

It's so easy.

Practice, first of all, with the ones you've seen today.

Go and get the PDF.

There's loads more there you can start practicing.

And just with this focus on sounds and chunks

rather than individual words.

You will notice a difference after a few weeks.

That's it for today.

If you've enjoyed this video,

subscribe to the channel,

and why not even join my YouTube channel?

Become a member.

You get emojis, custom emojis,

but you also get access to private videos

on all the different topics I talk about,

especially IEL speaking,

model answers really helpful for you.

Join, it's just $2 a month.

It's price of a coffee in most countries.

Anyway, and it also helps me,

but I'll leave it to you.

It would be lovely to see you as a channel member.

If you want to find out more about my courses,

go and visit keithspeakingacademy.com.

You can find out all about the work that I do there.

It's been lovely today.

Thank you so much for watching.

I've really enjoyed it,

and I will see you soon,

maybe in the next video on YouTube.

All the best now.

Take care, bye-bye.

(bright upbeat music)

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
fluency /ˈfluːənsi/ B2	noun - The quality or condition of being fluent
chunking /ˈtʃʌŋkɪŋ/ B2	noun - The process of breaking down information into smaller units
proficient /prəˈfɪʃnt/ B2	adjective - Competent or skilled in doing or using something
habit /ˈhæbɪt/ A2	noun - A settled or regular tendency or practice
dramatically /drəˈmætɪkli/ B2	adverb - In a sudden or striking way
lexical /ˈleksɪkl/ C1	adjective - Relating to the words or vocabulary of a language
technique /tekˈniːk/ B1	noun - A way of carrying out a particular task
practice /ˈpræktɪs/ A2	verb - Perform an activity regularly to improve skill
crystal /ˈkrɪstl/ B2	adjective - Very clear and easy to understand
grammatical /ɡrəˈmætɪkl/ B2	adjective - Relating to grammar
illogical /ɪˈlɒdʒɪkl/ C1	adjective - Lacking sense or clear reasoning
summarize /ˈsʌməraɪz/ B2	verb - Give a brief statement of the main points
routine /ruːˈtiːn/ B1	noun - A sequence of actions regularly followed
individual /ˌɪndɪˈvɪdʒuəl/ B2	adjective - Single; separate
intelligible /ɪnˈtelɪdʒəbl/ C2	adjective - Able to be understood

Key Grammar Structures

• I tend to wake up early.

  ➔ Verb pattern: 'tend to' + infinitive

  ➔ Use 'tend to' to describe a habit or something that happens frequently.

• I'm used to working on my own.

  ➔ Be used to + gerund (V-ing)

  ➔ We use 'be used to' + '-ing' to talk about something that is familiar and no longer strange.

• I find it easy to stay organized.

  ➔ Introductory 'it' + adjective + infinitive

  ➔ Use 'find it' + [adjective] + 'to' [verb] to express your opinion about the difficulty of an action.

• I'm gonna show you a simple technique.

  ➔ Future intention: 'going to' (informal 'gonna')

  ➔ Use 'gonna' (going to) to talk about a plan or intention for the near future.

• I've talked about it a little bit before.

  ➔ Present perfect: 'have' + past participle

  ➔ Use the present perfect to talk about an experience that happened at an unspecified time in the past.

• If you focus on individual words, it slows you down.

  ➔ First conditional: 'if' + present simple + present simple

  ➔ Used to talk about a direct cause and effect in the present.

• We don't focus on individual words, we focus on chunks.

  ➔ Present simple (negative and affirmative)

  ➔ Use the present simple to express general truths or facts about how we speak.

• The more you use them, the more fluent you're gonna become.

  ➔ Double comparative structure: 'The + comparative... the + comparative'

  ➔ This structure describes how one change is linked to another change.