You can soon learn English in San Francisco from me directly!  We are finishing the details for our first San Francisco English Speaking Breakthrough Seminar.  Wear comfortable shoes and be ready to experience the most interesting and fun English class you have ever had.

If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, I have even more good news.  As a special opportunity ONLY FOR PEOPLE WHO ATTEND THE SEMINAR,  we will be starting an Effortless English evening class.  The class will meet once a week in San Francisco.  To register for the class, you must first complete one of our seminars.

The class will run during most of the summer.  We have not decided the details yet.  Most likely, the class location will be somewhere in The Mission.  If that doesn’t work out, I’ll probably try to find something downtown. In either case, Ill be looking for locations near a BART station- to make transportation easy.

I have not decided on the cost of the class either– it will depend on how much it costs me to rent a room every week.

We’ll announce more details about the class at the May 30th seminar!

See you in San Francisco!

We have scheduled our first English Speaking Breakthrough Seminar in San Francisco!

The Date: Saturday, May 30th

Time: 10:30am – 4:00pm

Location: Women’s Building,  18th St. (between Valencia and Guerrero)  (This site is only 2.5 blocks from the 16th & Mission BART station).

Cost & Registration: To be announced soon (probably ~$100)

This first event is a warm-up for a bigger seminar coming in July– so we are keeping this first seminar small.  This is a great chance to experience the English Speaking Breakthrough Seminar with a small group!

To get more details and registration information, join our San Francisco information email list at:

Learn English San Francisco: www.EffortlessEnglishClub.com/sf

As students learn English, too often they become obsessed with the future.  They think, “someday I will speak English fluently and then I’ll be happy.”   But in the present, they are miserable.   They are miserable in their boring English class–  sitting in a small chair, scribbling in a notebook, memorizing word lists, analyzing extremely boring grammar rules.    They are also stressed because they know their English speaking is not improving quickly.

This is not the way to learn English.  Indeed, it’s not the way to learn anything.  Of course, most students are merely following the learning system they know best– a learning system created by boring, tired, stiff, and ineffective teachers and bureaucrats.   This is the only system most students know.  They grew up learning in this way– from elementary school through graduate school.

However, you must never confuse “education” with “learning”.

True learning is a celebration.  True learning is active, fun, energetic and exhilerating.  Human beings are naturally designed to learn.   When we are truly learning (not just being “educated”) we automatically feel great.

How can you learn English in this way?  How can you rediscover the excitement and happiness of learning– right now?

Mostly you must unlearn your ideas about education.   Teachers taught you to sit still, be quiet, and obey.

You must do the opposite–  move your body as you learn, be loud, and break all the rules.  In my seminar, students were shocked (in a good way) by my teaching methods.   Immediately, I had them standing and dancing to music.  They looked at me like I was crazy!

But that was just the beginning.   As the 5 hour seminar continued, I continually raised the energy level.   Students didn’t just dance a little bit–  they jumped, they yelled, they moved powerfully.   They energetically and enthusiastically partcipated in every minute of the class.   During five full hours, the energy level never dropped.

The seminar was more than just an English class–  it was a celebration of learning.  As the students walked out the door at the end they were laughing and glowing.   They were excited and they felt great.   They had learned a tremendous amount in a short time– more than they had thought possible. And they loved it.

The problem with most teachers is that they have such low expectations of themselves and their students.  They are content to be “average” or merely “good”.  And so they create average boring classes.

You should demand more.  Demand more from your teachers and demand more from yourself.   Insist that your English learning experiences be absolutely fantastic.  Insist on an enthusiastic celebration every time you learn English.   Insist on excitement.  Insist on excellence.  Insist on tremendous results.

Do not settle for less.

To learn English, or any other skill, follow “The Mastery Formula”.

What is the mastery formula?  Well, I follow a very basic “mastery formula” whenever I’m determined to truly master a skill.  For example,  I use this formula for Business, for Music, and for Health.

Here’s The Learning Formula for Mastery:

1.  Find an OUTSTANDING coach, mentor, role model, or teacher.

2.  Practice “CANI” (Constant And Never-ending Improvement)

3.  Learn Intensely

(Alternate & Repeat 2 and 3 forever)

That’s it!  Very simple but extremely powerful!

The first step to mastering anything is to find a truly outstanding coach or role model or teacher.   This is actually not easy.  Most teachers (by definition) are mediocre or “average”.    In fact, I’ve found that in every field of study I have pursued, 99% of the teachers range from bad to mediocre to “good”.

Obviously you don’t want a bad teacher… but neither do you want mediocre or merely “good”.   Such teachers tend to all use the same methods and the same materials.  They have the same basic ideas about teaching English (or anything else).   With English, you find this everywhere:  teachers everywhere using the same textbook-based methods of teaching…  the same drill, exercise, memorize methods.

But it’s not just English.  With music, I found the same thing.  Most guitar teachers, for example, use the same basic methods.   It took me one year to find a truly outstanding bass guitar teacher.  This is normal– it takes time to find an OUTSTANDING teacher,… you need to search patiently.

When you evaluate teachers, it’s important to remember that Teaching is a separate skill from Performing.  In other words, just because someone is a native speaker and has a Phd. in English does NOT mean they are a good teacher.   I found this with guitar teachers–   there are a lot of great guitar players who are terrible guitar teachers.

Teaching is a distinct skill.  Look for a teacher that has their own powerful teaching system… not just a collection of textbooks.   Look for teachers who are very energetic- who make you feel excited about learning. Psychology is 80% of success, so you need a teacher who will inspire you and keep your motivation strong!

Once you have found your truly remarkable teacher, you should employ two different learning approaches.  One is called CANI (Constant And Never-ending Improvement).  This is the same as the Japanese idea of “kaizen”–   it means focusing on making very tiny improvements constantly– every day.   This is a very easy, gradual, and consistent approach to learning.  Basically, you practice/learn for an hour a day and each day you try to make at least a tiny improvement.

CANI/Kaizen is very powerful over time.  You start with a few tiny improvements, and keep improving a little bit each day… and suddenly you build momentum… and the improvements grow larger and faster.  Its a very powerful process.

However, slow & consistent improvement is not enough.  Occasionally we also need to learn very intensely.   For example,  every 3-5 months  do a 4 week super-intensive–  where you study/listen to English for 5 or more hours every single day.    The goal is to overwhelm your brain with English… but only for a short 4 week period.  After 4 weeks, you return to a more gradual “CANI” approach.

And that’s all you need to do:   Find and Keep your OUTSTANDING teacher.   Then alternate between periods of steady and gradual study (CANI) and periods of very intense learning (Intensives).

Learn English using the Mastery Formula and you will learn much faster and will enjoy your learning more.

Watch Video

I am now back in San Francisco after a fantastic 10 week trip to SE Asia (mostly Thailand).  The highlight of the trip was our first “Effortless English Breakthrough Seminar”.   The seminar was great– all of the students were super-energetic, very positive, and very motivated.   We had a great time together!

Now that I’m back in San Francisco, there is a lot to do.  We just started Beta testing our new “Master Member Video Site”.   There are a lot of bugs to fix and a lot of things to test, so the site won’t be available to everyone for at least 6 weeks, possibly more.   We want to thoroughly test it to make sure it’s truly great!

Another project I’m working on are my new “Power English” lessons, which are 85% finished.   However, I’ve decided to record about 8 more lesson sets–   using easier English — so that the Power English Lesson Pack will contain a full range of both intermediate and advanced level English.   We also need to finish transcribing all of the audio– so that every audio file has text.

Finally, I’m planning to do one or more seminars here in San Francisco, starting in May.   I think I’ve found a place to do it too–  the Women’s Building in the Mission District.    Keep checking this site for updates and information about upcoming seminars.

I hope you enjoy the video, above.  Part of the testing process for our new Video Member site is for me to learn how to record videos that are clear and easy to hear.   So I’m playing around with different cameras, microphones, and lights.

Take care and enjoy your English learning!