Lesson 2 – The Imitation Technique

Welcome back. In this lesson, you're going to learn how to take your spoken
English to the next level using a powerful technique called Imitation.

What is Imitation?

Imitation is when you learn something by observing and copying the behavior of
others, whether it be movements, skills, speech, etc.

It's a great way to learn a skill.

So, if you want to use Imitation to improve your speaking, you want to listen to
native speakers and try to copy the way they speak English — you copy their
pronunciation, the way they form sentences, the way they use vocabulary words,
and so on.

There are many ways to improve your speaking, but if you can do only one thing,
make sure you use this technique.

We are extremely enthusiastic about this technique for many reasons, but for
now, I’ll give you two reasons.
Reason #1: Imitation is a compound practice. It allows you to improve four
aspects of your spoken English simultaneously: your listening, your pronunciation,
your grammar, and most important, your speaking vocabulary.

This reason alone is compelling enough. No other method or technique can

Reason #2: Imitation solves the biggest problem among English learners; finding
the right words to use.

This is the problem where you want to say something, but you can't do it because
you can't find the right words to express what you want to say.

I don't think I need to tell you that this is a serious problem. Think about it. Even if
your grammar is not very good, you can still communicate quite well if you have a
large speaking vocabulary.

Now, let's consider the opposite. Imagine that your grammar is perfect, but your
vocabulary is small. Do you think you'll be able to communicate easily? Probably
not.

That's why you need to focus on expanding your speaking vocabulary as much as
possible. And this technique is the most effective way to do that.

By the way, whenever I say vocabulary in this lesson, I'm not referring to just
individual words, I'm also referring to compound nouns, phrasal verbs, idioms,
speech patterns, and so on. So, please keep that in mind.
In the previous lesson, you learned about Parroting, which is a technique that
allows you to improve your pronunciation and listening.

But there's a problem with Parroting.

Parroting makes you pronounce words properly, but it doesn't teach you to use
those words in your own speech. I mean, think about it. When you use Parroting,
all you do is just repeat after someone. It's too passive. Too easy.

In order to expand your speaking vocabulary, you need a more effective

Imitation has three essential steps: Learn, Recall, and Repeat.

Let's go over each step in detail.

Step 1: Learn
In this step, you learn how to use new words and phrases by repeating after a
native speaker.

<Demonstration>

As you noticed, this first step of Imitation is like the Parroting technique that you
learned in the previous lesson. The difference is that you don't repeat after the
speaker nonstop. After repeating about three to six sentences, you need to pause.
Why do you need to pause?

Well, let's say you've imitated these sentences. At this point, you’ve learned how
to use the words and phrases in these sentences as well as some grammar. But
here's the problem: we tend to forget things easily. So, if you do nothing else,
you'll forget what you've just learned very quickly. That's why you need to go to
step two.

Step two: Recall

<Demonstration>

Why do you need to do this?

When you try to recall certain information, that information is less likely to be
forgotten. And that's the key. When you recall those sentences from your
memory, it increases the chance that you'll remember how to use the words,
phrases, and grammar that are used in those sentences.

Of course, you won't be able to recall the exact wording of each sentence. It’s
normal. In fact, it’s perfectly OK if you can recall only 50% of what you've
imitated. So, don’t beat yourself up if you perform poorly. Just relax, take a deep
breath, and go to step three.
Step three: Repeat
In this step, you rewind the material to the starting point and repeat steps 1 and
step 2 at least one more time.

Do not miss this step. Repetition is crucial for learning. The more repetitions you
do, the more likely you are to remember what you've learned.

You'll probably do much better this time around — you'll make fewer mistakes
and you'll speak more fluently. It'll be a lot easier than the first time. But if you
still have some trouble recalling the sentences, then you should do one or two
more repetitions. Once you’re satisfied, you can move on to the next set of
sentences.

Alright. That's how you can improve your spoken English using Imitation. Let's
recap.

Imitation consists of three essential steps: Learn, Recall, and Repeat.

Step 1: repeat after a native speaker to learn vocabulary and grammar. Stop
repeating after three to six sentences.
Step 2: try to recall the sentences you've imitated out loud.
Step 3: rewind the material and repeat steps 1 and 2 at least one more time, then
move on to the next part of the material.

As you begin to use this technique, you might come across an obstacle, you might
have some questions along the way. So, to help you get started, we've put
together a mini eBook which can be found in the same folder as this video. In this
eBook, we share some tips and answer some of the questions you might have
about this technique. So, make sure you check it out before you get started.

OK. This is the end of this video. We hope you find it useful, and thank you for
watching.