The most common question I get is: I signed up for 1-on-1 online ESL lessons, why do I want to quit after only 3 weeks? Am I just not disciplined enough?
Last month, Xiao Zhou, an admin worker, came to me complaining that she spent thousands on courses, was excited at first, but felt lazy as soon as she got off work. She canceled almost 10 booked lessons, and now even opening the app gives her anxiety. It's not that you lack discipline, it's that you set the bar too high for yourself. Just follow these 3 steps.
01Step 1: Lower the barrier to attending lessons to the minimum
Many people set a bunch of rules for themselves when they start learning: memorize 20 related words before class, write a 300-word review after class, master 100% of the content before moving to the next lesson. After two tries, you don't want to bother anymore.
Our 25-minute high-frequency short lessons are designed to reduce burden. At the beginning, you really don't need to add extra requirements. You only need to do 3 things before and after class:
- Spend 2 minutes glancing at the course theme sent by the teacher before class, just check the pronunciation of new words you don't know
- Just speak along with the teacher during class, even if you stop halfway or only say single words, it's totally fine
- Spend 1 minute saving the common expressions marked by the teacher to your phone memo after class, just glance at it when you have time
To put it simply, your initial goal is to "show up for class", not to "master every lesson perfectly". Being able to attend every class is more important than anything else.
02Step 2: Choose **1-on-1 online ESL lessons** with teachers and content that match your needs
Many people can't stick with it because the content they learn has nothing to do with them: if you just want to be able to ask for directions when traveling abroad, but you are forced to take business English negotiation lessons, you will get annoyed after two classes. If you are already afraid of speaking, and you choose a particularly strict teacher, you will be nervous as soon as class starts, so naturally you don't want to go.
If you are afraid of speaking, you can try our Callan English course, which uses the Callan method to guide you to speak quickly, and won't ask overly complicated questions at the beginning, which perfectly solves the problem of how to overcome difficulty speaking English. I personally recommend that you tell your teacher your specific purpose for learning English in the first class, for example, you just want to send voice messages to foreign clients, or be able to read English instructions for overseas shopping. The teacher will adjust the content directly, and you will learn things you can use immediately, so you will naturally be willing to attend.
Our teachers are all full-time teachers based at our physical campus in Manila, Philippines, with plenty of experience. They can adjust to whatever your needs are, so you don't have to worry about not keeping up.
03Step 3: Build a no-brainer trigger mechanism for your lessons
Don't force yourself to "remind yourself to learn English every day". Just tie your lessons to something you do every day without fail: for example, if you always watch 10 minutes of short videos after dinner, book your class right before that time, and let the short videos be your reward after finishing the 25-minute lesson. If you always slack off for 10 minutes after lunch break to wake up, book your class at 1:30 pm, and you will be ready for work right after class.
Lin, a foreign trade specialist, used this method, booking his class right after lunch break every day. He has stuck with it for 8 months now, no longer hides in the back during meetings with foreign clients, and even summed up his own set of tips for how to practice spoken English.
"I used to think I needed to set aside a large block of time to learn English, but later I found the 25-minute lessons are so low-pressure that I stuck with it without even noticing." said Lin.
Actually, signing up for 1-on-1 online ESL lessons is meant to lower the threshold for learning English. Don't put too much unnecessary pressure on yourself. First make sure you can stick with it, then think about progress. If you haven't found a learning mode that suits you, you can book our free trial lesson to experience it for yourself.
