#419 8 Great Apps for Practicing Your English Every Day
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These days, there are thousands of apps out there claiming to help you achieve English fluency, but let's be honest, most of them don't live up to the hype. They don't give you what was expected. And we all know the name of these apps. I'm not here to talk about them today. Instead, I want to tell you that there are real people out there, myself included, who are using other apps that are not even meant for English learning to surprisingly live at

activate and connect your English every day. And even Ethan, I was chatting with him the other day about this, and he mentioned that he has used some of these same apps to master the other three languages he speaks. So if you are curious to find out what these are and how to use them so you can be successful too, stick around because that's exactly what we are going to do today. And by the way, I just use an expression here to live up to the hype.

You should know that we're making this expression available for vocabulary practice on the RealLife app when you watch this lesson over there. This is really great because it helps you never forget the new, advanced words you learned with us and there's a ton of them in today's episode. So head over there right now to get this lesson for free and continue watching it with a way better learning experience. You can download it on your favorite app store or click the link in the description.

Yeah, real life first global citizens. This is Izzy from Real Life English, where it is our mission to guide you beyond the classroom to speak English confidently and naturally to connect to the world and to actually use your English as a doorway to the best version of yourself.

And if you're new here, every single week, we bring you new lessons like this that help you to go from feeling like a lost, insecure English learner to being a confident, natural English speaker. And if that sounds like something that you want for your English, then be sure to hit that subscribe button and bell down below so you don't miss a single lesson here on YouTube. Or if you're on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other streaming platform like that, be sure to follow us.

Ah yeah. Now Ethan, let's get started with the first app. Now again, these are apps that we have used ourselves that our most successful students have used too to lift your English, to activate your English and to connect your English, which is the three superpowers of the real life way. And we're going to talk a little bit about these superpowers too and how these apps help you with those.

What is that first app on your list, Ethan? Yeah, so I feel like this was really an ace up my sleeve when I was seriously studying different languages. It's called Lyrics Training, at least it was back in the day. And now they have a mobile app that's called Lingo Clip. So you can download that in your favorite app store or you can use it on the desktop.

And it's lyricstraining.com, if I'm not mistaken. And this is such a great resource for those of us like you and me that love learning languages with music, because you can really put to test your listening skills. And it's kind of done in a fun quiz-like way. And also your writing skills. So basically...

It's very simple how it works. They play a song for you. You get to pick a level and based on the level that you choose, they're going to take out a certain percentage of the words from the song. And then you have to, while it's playing fill in the blank as it's being said. So, like I said, this is really pointing to test your listening and your ability to quickly write words. So I used to do this when I was studying with a song, you know, I'd pick a song I really loved. I would.

learn the lyrics, the vocabulary and so on. And then I would maybe use lyrics training every single day until I felt like I really had that song memorized by heart. So better than me just describing it, maybe we could actually show the learners how it works with a short sample. Let's do that. And before we do that, actually, you just said the word expression by heart that

You'd learn it by heart. What does that mean? That means that you have it completely memorized. So if you know a song by heart, it's like you're able to sing it by memory without looking at the lyrics anymore. All right, now let's look at how this works. All right, so I'm on the desktop app. And as I mentioned, if you prefer doing this on your phone, you can look up LingoClip, the app.

So basically you search for the song that you want. The one that I've chosen for you all today is called Lose Yourself by Eminem. I brought this up a couple of podcasts ago with Ksenia that this is one I would use in classes with all of my new students because it's just so perfect for learning different connected speech that's prevalent in American English. So we would practice it with it together. I'd actually have them memorize certain parts of it, wrap it themselves at home and then

it did wonders for their pronunciation so let's check it out see if you already know the first word of this song Izzy without without uh already hearing it

He says a few words, right? Before singing. Look. Look. Look. If you had. If you. One shot. One opportunity. To seize everything you ever wanted. To seize. One moment. To seize everything you ever wanted. I'm not a fast enough typer. One moment. To capture. One moment.

What was it? In one moment. Okay. One moment. So you guys could see, even for me as a native speaker, it is a challenge because you have to type really fast what you're hearing or you have to, that's why it can be good to learn it by heart because at least some of the lines, you'll already be able to type them in before they appear. But yeah,

And songs like this one, especially later in the song that he starts rapping quite quickly, it can be difficult to keep up with. So I think it's a really great challenge for your listening, for your writing. And the next app that I want to bring, it's also great for listening and also for your pronunciation. It's called Audacity. It has nothing to do with language learning. It's actually an audio editing software.

And unfortunately they only have a web app, but if you want a mobile app, I saw that there's many other free softwares like this available that you can download in your favorite app store. You might just have to do a little bit of research, but basically what you're going to do is grab the MP3 of a song that you love or that you're learning English with, for example, could be lose yourself. Like we were just looking at and especially rap is great because it's

very similar to how we speak in real life but if you hate rap then you can do it with something else you're going to take a very short maybe eight second clip of the song slow it down so let's say around 50 and you're going to you can even download it at that point and put it on your phone but you're going to listen to it over and over and over again

And you're not worrying about the meaning of the words that are being said. Rather, you're really paying attention to the individual sounds. You really want to get to the nitty gritty of those sounds, especially the ones that don't exist in your native language so that you can start to perceive these much better when you hear them in a fast spoken English. So you're really activating your listening in this way. Once you've listened to it a lot,

And then you can try to mimic it. And again, you're focusing more on the individual sounds, the rhythm of the language, saying it exactly like you're hearing it there. And this is going to help you to develop those muscles articulation again with the difficult sounds that don't exist in your mother tongue. Yeah, this is awesome for learning connected speech. I just mentioned the chorus of the song that has so many word chunks. So if you slow it down, you're going to start paying attention. You're going to start hearing the parts that get really connected, like a

you better lose yourself in the music like the moment you own it, you know? So it's super easy to pick it up if you just slow it down like that. Yeah. The connected speech becomes a lot more obvious. And then when you're watching a TV series, for example, you'll also be able to perceive that more. So yeah,

The next step basically is just, you were at 50%, let's say, so you raise it up to 75% and you do the same process of listening to it over and over again, then practicing it and then eventually getting up to 100%. And this doesn't take so long as it sounds, cause you're doing it with an eight second clip.

You could do this with many different parts of the song and eventually you might be able to rap just like Eminem, maybe not as beautifully, but it's going to do wonders for your English speaking, your ability to pronounce more like a native, more clearly so people can understand you.

And that's really the goal, right? For communication, ultimately. Yeah, these are amazing recommendations for living your English and connecting your English as well. Because these better be songs that you love because like you're going to be obsessing over them. So if you do enjoy listening to them, it's going to be connecting your English to who you are and it's going to be easier to live it. And you're also activating it. So it's a really complete exercise covering the real life way. And also I mentioned activating it. And a big part of this is

having the curiosity so you're being curious about the details of the sounds of the language and deliberate practice which is like what top performers do to gain mastery so for example how

an Olympic athlete, how they might be doing small exercises over and over and over again to build a certain part of their strength that's going to help them to outperform competitors. And I believe the next app that you're bringing, Izzy, similarly helps you to activate your English, but in a different way, right? Yeah. And the first one that I got for you today is Kindle, the Kindle app. Now, a lot of people have the Kindle gadget, right? The e-reader that looks like a tablet and it's made for reading books.

And what's really great about the app is that you can do it on your phone. You don't need to buy the device. And Kindle is really great for learning English anytime, anywhere in just five to 10 minutes, just like the real life app, but for books. And if you're an avid reader like Ethan and I, you're going to find this really valuable because it gives you some extra tools for learning with. Let me show you guys how this works. I have the app here open on my phone and...

This is a page from the book Atomic Habits. Now in this book, he tells a lot of stories. And one of the stories he's telling here is the one of Brian Clark, an entrepreneur from Boulder, Colorado. So in that one sentence, I have an interesting word here that I could, maybe I don't know the meaning of entrepreneurs. If I tap and hold, I can already learn the meaning with a dictionary. By the way, for all of you guys listening to us, I'm showing this on my screen and you can watch this lesson as well in video on the real life app.

Just search for RealLife English on your favorite app store or click the link in the description if you want to get quick access to that. Now, I can see here that the meaning of entrepreneur is a person who sets up a business or businesses. And I have an expression here or a cultural expression.

expression, Boulder, Colorado. If I don't know the meaning of those and it's not exactly something that I'd find in a dictionary, where should I look for that? Well, Wikipedia. That's what I use, by the way, back in the day, watching TV series, movies, reading books. I'd stop a lot what I was doing

and get curious and be like, "Hmm, why is this joke funny?" And I would look up the meaning of something called for there in Wikipedia. And a lot of times I would find a meaning and even get lost in Wikipedia and get really immersed in it because I'm going to show you guys now. This is the other app that I wanted to recommend. It's the fourth one on this list. Let me show you here. So Boulder, Colorado.

Oh, by the way, Ethan, I know you went to college in Boulder, right? That's true. Me and Justin, who's the CEO of RealLife English, went to the University of Colorado in Boulder, although it was like 10 years apart. So we never actually met there. We've never been to Boulder together, but that's kind of a fun coincidence in the history of RealLife English. Nice.

So yeah, Boulder, which is actually a word in English. It means a rock, like a large stone, right? But Boulder is a city in the state of Colorado. And if you really geek things out here, you can start learning a lot other expressions like a boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Now, what the hell is the Rocky Mountains, right? And you can tap and learn more about the Rocky Mountains. This is really great because...

I think I got to learn so much about culture doing exactly this. And then I'd get lost in Wikipedia and an hour later, I'd be like, wait, where was I? Oh, I was reading a book. Okay. And then I go back to it.

But for me, it was just as valuable as reading anyway. I love that you even forget what you were originally doing. But that sort of deep dive can be really valuable. And why would you say it's important in the first place to learn about culture? Yeah, so culture is one of the three pillars for understanding and being understood in English. It's what helps you

really activate your English and go from intermediate to advanced. If you understand vocabulary, the vocabulary that natives actually use, pronunciation, the way that natives actually speak using connected speech,

And culture. Now, culture is something that a lot of learners overlook. They don't really pay attention to. And Wikipedia is my secret to learning a lot about culture. Maybe, yeah, I would say this is the number one tool that I use for learning culture. And I remember watching different TV series back in the day and not really understanding what was going on there. For example, How I Met Your Mother.

right? There is lots of jokes and references to stuff in New York City and Canada as well. There's one character there, Robin, that she's from Canada and they make lots of jokes about that. Do you remember that? Yeah, I loved all those bits. I actually remember a scene from the show that we could even show here so we can talk about culture in that clip. Now, if you haven't watched this series or if you don't remember it, I

You should know that Barney, the character that they're talking about here, is this guy who likes to go out with lots of women. And in this scene, he is flirting with different women at the bar, trying to get a date. And then there's a stranger who walks into the bar. And then his friends, Barney's friends, suddenly lose confidence that Barney can actually find a date because that guy walked into the bar. And then they make a joke there. Let's check that out. Barney's streak ends at six. What? Why? Because that guy with the weird hair just walked in?

That's Nick Swisher. He's a New York Yankee. No normal guy in New York City can compete with a Yankee. No, I'm not saying it. So you first, they talk about a Yankee, a New York Yankee. What is that, Ethan? It's someone who plays on the... There's actually a couple of baseball teams, but I'd say it's the bigger of the two in New York City. So someone who's an athlete from that team, it might be similar to someone who is a football player or soccer player on...

the biggest team from your country, right? Exactly. So Robin doesn't understand it either because she's not from New York or the United States. And then they explain it to her by referencing a team from Canada.

Okay, let me try to Canada this up for you. How would you react if one of those Kachowk guys with the skates and the sticks walked in here? Lily, if one of the Vancouver Canucks walked in here, my panties would drop so hard there would be a hole in the floor halfway to China. That's what it's like with the Yankees. Oh, Barney, screwed. So there you go. That's the importance of learning culture. And the Vancouver Canucks, by the way, that's a... A hockey team, no? I love that Lily, the other character that she's...

Not remembering what the sport is called, but hockey is kind of popular in the States too. So it's a bit of an exaggeration. Anyway, so there you go. This is how Wikipedia can save you from...

these moments of like where you miss a joke or something like this. And I think too, it's not just for people who want to go live in the United States or an English speaking country. But I know for me in different languages, I've learned different countries I lived in, learning the culture, learning about the history. It's just really tied to people who live there's identity. Like we can see in this clip, for example, it's like you're from New York,

The Yankees might be a really important part of your identity because it's one of the main sports teams there. So learning about these things can help you to have a better connection with people there. It gives you topics of conversation that, you know, are sure to allow you to connect on a deeper level with people there. So that can be really interesting. And it, I think it kind of like adds a little, it spices up a little bit, the language learning itself, because it makes it more three-dimensional, right?

Just what I mean by that is that instead of feeling just like a school subject, it really gives life, breathes life into what the language is, which is a whole something that's representing an entire group of people who have a history, who have a shared set of values. And that's what we learn languages for, right? For communicating these cultural things and what's going on with our lives, with other people's lives. And we exchange ideas. This is all culture. If you don't learn it, you don't have depth. You don't have that richness to your language.

All right, Ethan. Now, before we continue, I want to shout out a learner who also saw this potential in learning language that you not only learn English by using these apps, by using the real life app, but you get something extra with it. Let's check it out.

Yeah, so today's shout out goes to Adizu Dexiza. Sorry if I am butchering the pronunciation of that. So they say this is an exceptional app to learn English. I'm not just learning English. I'm using your podcast for personal development. It's like killing two birds with one stone.

Yeah, so it's great to see you using such a great English expression. And I couldn't agree more. That's one of the things that we try to really set ourselves apart is helping you not just learn English, but actually learn things that will help you to have a better life. Yeah, just like I said in the beginning of this podcast, we're learning English, not just for the sake of learning English, but also to become the best version of ourselves. And this happens exactly as we

touch on culture as we touch on these different aspects of language learning that also help us in life in our professional lives and our personal lives so reading atomic habits exactly hey guys so i want to speak with you who are listening to us and watching us right now that the reason why i believe most english learning apps don't work is because they don't help you get immersed in english they don't challenge you with real life english

And I'm being really honest here when I'm recommending all these different apps and Ethan as well, because these are the actual tools that we use that our students used to develop real life fluency in English. So when the real life team got together to develop our own app, we observed exactly the mindset and the behavior, the actions of the successful learners. And what were the apps that they were using? What are the apps that I use that Ethan use and all

these other successful students have used and and we took inspiration from them because they help you get immersed in english more naturally you might have noticed we always talk about the importance of living your english activating your english and connecting your english and the reason for that is that these are the exact three habits that we have observed in the most successful learners the ones who actually achieve confident natural fluency

If you want to learn exactly what these three habits are and how to implement them, I want to invite you to take the Real Life Way mini course for free right now on the Real Life app.

I'm going to leave the link in the description below, or you can simply search for RealLife English on your favorite app store. This mini course is made of four short lessons with Ethan, Xenia, and I. And in it, we're going to guide you. We're going to tell you exactly what you need to know to achieve confident natural fluency starting today. All right, Izzy. So the next app that I want to talk about is one that I imagine most learners already have on their phone, Google Translate, or maybe you have a different Translate app, but it's

I think that most learners are probably using it quote unquote wrong. So,

Want to just give some do's and don'ts of when you should use a translation app and when should you avoid it? So the way most learners would use it is they see a word in English They don't know they translate it into their native language because it's the fastest way to understand what the word means However, you are sort of shooting yourself in the foot That means that you're doing something that's harmful to yourself or it's self sabotage because you are

propagating the bad habit of translating your head. And most learners say that they're really frustrated. You might have had this experience that you speak so slow because first you have to think how to say something in your native language and then say it in English. So a way that you can use translation to your benefit

is by when you realize that there's a word that you don't know in English that you do know in your native language is look it up in your native language to find out the word that you're wanting to learn. And this will go into other tools we're going to talk about today. But

This happened to me just the other day, for example, that I was wanting to use in a message the word findings in Katalan, but I realized like, oh man, I've never actually come across that word in Katalan. I don't know how to say that.

And so I went to translate, I translated it to Catalan and it's like, oh, now I've learned this word. And now I remember it's troballes in Catalan. So I'm not going to forget that word anymore. Right. And I've added it to my active vocabulary. So this is really great because I've expanded my Catalan. But, you know, the other way of using it, really try to avoid using

If you can, and like what Izzy brought up about using a dictionary, using Wikipedia, these are much better resources for if you actually find something in English in the target language that you don't know, because that way you're keeping your learning completely in English. And I think it's really great that we're being fully honest here because we're not ashamed of using Google Translate. You used it and you speak six languages now.

I've used it too for learning English and this really is a resourceful app, I would say, for any learner to have. For example, I have here the app open. Let's look up the word resourceful. Now I'm translating from English to Portuguese, but not because I want to learn the meaning, but because the app also gives you definition here. Having the ability to find quick and clever ways to overcome difficulties. That's what the Google Translate app can do for you. And a lot of synonyms there too, right?

And a lot of synonyms too. Yeah. Ingenious, imaginative, inventive, creative, quick-witted. And all of these have different, slightly different meanings, right? But it's so nice. And you can tap on them and get their meaning as well.

And you get the pronunciation as well. In both the language you're translating it to, but also in English. It's really nice. And another tool for your belt, your tool belt. All right. So as long as we're talking about vocabulary, Izzy, I want to bring one that I have depended on a lot in most languages that I've learned. It's an absolute must-have for learning and remembering vocabulary. So there's many apps like this, but it's a free one that you

has so like Google Translate, it has so many different ways that you can use it. It's very resourceful and it's called Anki and it uses spaced repetition software. This is basically a technology that helps to remind you of something right as you're about to forget it. So

it spaces it out because when we first hear something, we're going to forget it very quickly. But as time goes on, if we are reminded of it over and over again, we don't need to be reminded of it as often. So that's exactly how it works along with your memory.

You can just put in the word and its definition. Again, I wouldn't recommend, like a lot of learners might just have their first reaction be, let me put the word in English and then the translation into my native language. But again, this is going to perpetuate you translating your head and speaking slowly. So try to always stick to the word in English and the definition in English. And you can make it a lot stickier, which is going to help you to remember it by adding images.

by adding examples. So you could add it from the context that you saw it in. You might take, for example, the word entrepreneur that you took from Atomic Habits and actually copy and paste that sentence into your Anki. But you could also look up on Google News, for example. That's something that I would do a lot to find like headlines that had that word or expression and use that

And you can add audio to it so you can have the pronunciation. Another website I would use for this a lot is Forvo because it has natives pronouncing a bunch of different words and expressions. You can download the MP3 of that and attach it to Anki. So you can see like I have mine right here for Portuguese. I have different decks for different languages. You can use it even for studying other things if you want, but definitely go and check that out.

But it's a lot of work too. When I create one of those flashcards, it might take me a few minutes just by going through, adding in the images, the examples, the audio that I have to download. And we take all the hard work out for you in the RealLife English app because you get 30 new flashcards with every

podcast lesson like this one that we have already curated with the image, with audio, with examples, with writing exercises so that you will learn those words, never forget them. And you're going to be a much better speaker because you'll have the right words at the right moment. Check that out in your favorite app store or by clicking the link in the description if you haven't already.

And Izzy, I think the next one is going to help them continue organizing their learning, right? Totally. So my next app is the Notion app. I use it for so many things in my life, my to-do lists, my grocery shopping lists, the different things that I need to do. For example, if I'm traveling, I have my checklists there, the things that I want to bring in my trips and just general note-taking. If I'm reading a book, it's the one app that I use and

People say I'm obsessed with it because I bring it up a lot in conversations. People say, ah, that's because you're a Virgo. People like astrology. What an excuse. Yeah. But I'm really obsessed with it. And for learning languages, it's just as great. So I'm going to show you on screen one way that you can use it, kind of like Unkey for saving all these different words. Or for example, you can use it for saving resources, different videos that you're

watching, you know, podcast episodes, TV series. You can save all of those in a special list and organize them by categories. And it's really great. It's really great for organizing your knowledge. Yeah, I did want to highlight some really nice connected speech I heard you use.

Because you didn't say, I'm going to show you. You said, I'm going to show you. So we have this progression of connected speech in English, right? Of I'm going to becoming I'm gonna. And nowadays, natives will often just say, I'm gonna, dropping the G altogether. And it sounds almost just like one word. I'm gonna, I'm going to show you. Nice. And it can get even shorter, right? Like you said, it's progressively getting more and more connected these days. So you can even hear it as I'm a.

i'm gonna show you yeah yeah anyway so i'm gonna show you guys uh the next app that i hear the last one on this list that is the chat gpt app now you know now you guys know this one was coming right like it's it's all the rage like people can't stop talking about it because it really is that powerful that innovative uh and there is really interesting ways that you can use it beyond the

the vocabulary definition or the general coaching that people use it for. And I'm gonna show you guys how this works on my phone. All right, now I find the ChatPetit app particularly fun for playing games because it's not a person, but it's a machine that you can play with.

And that's totally new. Like before ChatchPT, before AI, I don't think it was possible for you to just create a game, you know, come up with an idea for a game and actually play it with a computer, with a machine, right? But now we can, can create our own games and play it. So let's play a synonyms game. We've done this on this podcast, but now we're

we can try and do this with AI. Now for all of you guys listening, what I asked Chachapati here is, "Hey, let's play a game for me to practice my English." It's a synonyms game where you ask me to swap a keyword in a story one short sentence at a time. So you can try typing this on Chachapati and playing this yourself. Do you want to give this a go, Ethan? - Let's do it. - So the first sentence here is, "The sky was filled with stars last night." What's the synonym for the word "filled"?

Bursting. Bursting. Wow. Really paints a picture. Bursting. Yeah, so that would be the sky was bursting with stars last night. All right, so next one. She walked slowly through the quiet forest. Gives a synonym for the word quiet. I did want to quickly reference back to the conversation we were having earlier about

Google Translate, then maybe-- I mean, you could just ask ChatGPT. But maybe if you see quiet here and you're like, oh, I don't know any synonyms for quiet, you could go over to Google Translate and get that list there and then try one of those. And that way, you're expanding your vocabulary to start becoming more and more of an advanced English speaker. FRANCESC CAMPOY: Or you could ask it, right? So let's see. I don't know. Give me five synonyms for it.

Silent, calm, tranquil, serene. We could go for the last one, serene. She walks slowly through the serene forest. That sounds really poetic. So there you go. You can really play so many different games with Chachaputi.

And this is one that I often go to when I'm just practicing speaking, you know, for before recording the podcast, I need practice too. So as I said, we actually use these apps. These are great for living your English, activating your English and connecting it, connecting your identity to your purpose, to who you are. I was just going to say, like, I was just in the gym this morning. I was listening to a podcast in Portuguese and I heard an expression I hadn't heard before. So I quickly opened ChatGPT and asked like,

I have the conversation for my learning Portuguese. It's like completely in Portuguese, right? So, you know, I asked in Portuguese, okay, what does this expression mean? And it told me, it gave me examples and everything. So it's like, you know, it's another one. I'm not going to forget that now. So I think it's a really good one to have on your home screen so you can quickly reference it when you're out there living your English and you come across a new word or expression that you want to learn. Or you can even talk with it, right? So you're practicing your speaking and your listening.

So you guys can see that ChatGPT has become one of Izzy and my favorite app for learning languages and many other uses. So if you guys would like to also make it one of your secret weapons for your English learning, let us know down in the comments below and we will make a lesson talking all about how we ourselves are using ChatGPT for learning different languages. Now, Ethan, it was a pleasure doing this lesson with you. I love talking about

learning English in reality, like not using fake methods and courses and things that don't actually fit your lifestyle, but rather real life English solutions, real life English apps. And just to wrap up today's lesson, let me give you guys the full list of the apps we covered today. So first, Ethan talked about the app LingoClip and Audacity.

Then I explained how I live my English with the Kindle app and also with Wikipedia for learning more about culture. Then Ethan explained to us a better way to use the Google Translate app and also how he learns vocabulary with Anki. And finally, I showed you how to use the Notion app for managing all of your knowledge, all of your English learning resources and the ChatGPT for practicing vocabulary and so much more.

And guys, a free way that you can support us if you're enjoying these lessons is if you're on YouTube, subscribe and hit the bell down below to make sure you don't miss any of our new lessons and give us a like because that helps our channel and other learners find our channel.

So they can also learn with these lessons. You can follow us if you're listening to us on Spotify or Apple podcast that also help other learners find us. And if you didn't actually watch this lesson on the real life app, what are you waiting for? It's the best way possible for you to learn with this podcast. We're going to leave the link in the description below, or you can simply search for real life English on your favorite app store. Thank you so much guys for joining us today. And remember that no matter what divides us,

that which unites us is far greater. One, two, three. Oh yeah. Yeah.