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How to Learn English
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Overlearning
Sometimes, it is useful to study things that are a little bit too difficult for your English level. When you do, your goal is to get the main idea without worrying too much about details. However, when students only study in this way, their English becomes full of mistakes. These mistakes are like "holes" in their English, which need to be filled in! Everyone has some "holes" in their English and these holes can be filled in by using an idea called "overlearning".
Overlearning means that you study something so completely that you know it as well as you know something in your native language. In the words of one of Teacher Joe's teachers, there are some things you should "learn like your own name". All students overlearn some words and expressions, such as "hello" and "how are you". I'm sure you can say these things as well as your own name, can't you? Now, you have to apply this same idea to longer, more challenging sentences.
Try overlearning a sentence that uses a grammar point that is difficult for you. Repeat it over and over again until it feels easy and you can say it automatically. Do the same with whole paragraphs, stories or songs. Make sure you get EVERY detail right, so there are zero mistakes. At first, you may not be perfect, but you will in time. Things that you overlearn will become so easy for you that you won't need to think much when you speak. The words will just come out naturally. Then you will have real fluency in English.
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