57- The Unsexy Truth About Learning English
Lindsay: This is an All Ears English Podcast, Episode 57: Deep Thoughts Thursday, “The Unsexy Truth About Learning English.” [Instrumental]
Gabby: Welcome to the All Ears English Podcast, where you'll finally get real, native English conversation. Now here are your hosts, Lindsay McMahon, the ‘English Adventurer' and Gabby Wallace, the ‘Language Angel,' coming to you from Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Lindsay: In today's episode, you'll learn where most of your success with English comes from.
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Lindsay: Hey Gabby. What's happening today?
Gabby: Hey Lindsay. Not much. How are you doing?
Lindsay: I'm doing well. I'm doing great.
Gabby: Awesome.
Lindsay:
Yeah.
So today we're gonna (going to) talk about what is unsexy about learning English.
Gabby:
Oh, my goodness.
Lindsay:
Yeah.
What do we mean when we say ‘unsexy'?
Gabby:
Well, unsexy is (like) not exciting.
Lindsay:
Yeah, not exciting, not interesting not mysterious.
Gabby:
Right.
Lindsay:
It's just something pretty simple.
Gabby:
(Mm-hm). Plain and simple. And it has to do with our quote today. Our motivational quote for you is “80% of success is showing up.” Lindsay:
Oh wow.
Gabby:
So most of your success is due to just being there.
Lindsay:
And just to note, this is a quote by Woody Allen.
Gabby:
Thank you.
Lindsay:
I think a lot of people like Woody Allen… Gabby:
Yeah.
Lindsay:
…and his movies about New York. So… Gabby:
Yeah.
Woody Allen's a classic.
Lindsay:
He's a cool guy. Yep, yep. So showing up is what? Can we say that one more time? What is ‘showing up'?
Gabby:
‘Showing up' is being here, (uh) being present. Yeah, being prepared.
Lindsay:
Exactly. Being prepared. Putting in the work. Like Gabby and I are showing up for you guys by publishing this podcast four times a week.
Gabby:
Right.
Lindsay:
We're actually here working hard.
Gabby:
Every week.
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.
Lindsay:
Every week.
Gabby:
Yeah.
Lindsay:
So that's what you guys need to do.
Gabby:
Mm-hm. Just show up. (I mean) sometimes you're tempted to, (you know), take a day off, which is okay every once in a while, but it can become a pattern and that's where it's dangerous because if you consistently show up, day after day, you consistently study a little bit every day, make it a habit, that's where your strength and your improvement lies.
Lindsay:
(Mm). And the opposite of showing up would be maybe hoping for a miracle with your English.
Gabby:
Yeah.
Lindsay:
Or maybe going through a study spurt, where you study really, (you know), with a lot of intensity for a week and then you don't study again for a month.
Gabby:
That happens with a lot of people. You get (like) a rush of motivation and then you study really hard for 20 minutes and then you don't open your book again for a year. Has that happened to you? I know it's happened to me.
Lindsay:
Yes.
Gabby:
Yeah.
Lindsay:
Absolutely. So that's not what we want to do. We want to be consistently taking action every day.
Gabby:
Yeah.
Lindsay:
That is showing up.
Gabby:
So if 80% of success is showing up, what do you think the other 20% is? We haven't really talked about this.
Lindsay:
Good question.
Gabby:
Yeah.
Lindsay:
I think it's luck.
Gabby:
Luck? I don't know. (I mean), I think it's (like) going above and beyond. Right? Showing up, (like) asking questions.
Lindsay:
Curiosity.
Gabby:
Yeah.
Some of it could be luck, (like) who is your teacher. (You know), are they helpful? Or who are your classmates? (Like), you can't always control that, but, (you know), you can control the other 20% sometimes, (like)… Lindsay:
Yeah.
Gabby:
…yeah, being curious
Lindsay:
Desire, desire to learn.
Gabby:
Yeah.
Lindsay:
Like you want to learn no matter, more than anything.
Gabby:
Right.
And, (you know), a part of it is definitely a cup of coffee.
Lindsay:
Like we have our coffee here now, so that's certainly helping us to show up.
Gabby:
Yes, yes. That helps us show up for sure. Cool. Well that's a great quote and good tips, so thanks Lindsay.
Lindsay:
Thank you Gabby.
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Gabby: Before we end today, we want to let you know about our special, premium transcripts. You can purchase our premium transcripts for the whole month. We have November, December, and January available for you tocheck your listening comprehension. Make sure that you're understanding every word we're saying on this podcast. Build your vocabulary and you can learn independently or with a tutor using the premium transcripts.
You can find those at our website, www.allearsenglish.com/conversations.
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Lindsay: Thanks for listening to the All Ears English Podcast. We're here to help you learn English and you can help us by leaving a five star review on iTunes.
See you next time.