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みなさんこんにちは。
いつもブログを読んでいただき、ありがとうございます！
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☆Effortless English無料ポッドキャストとはEffortless Englishとは違い、英語学習にまつわるトピックスをAJがレコーディングしています。とてもユニークで面白いとの評判をいただいていいますので、是非聞いてみて下さい。こんな話が聞いてみたいとか、コメント等もお待ちしています！

☆Effortless English　無料ポッドキャスト

☆無料ニュースレター

さて、今回はニュースレターより抜粋　（２００７年４月３日Effortless English無料ニュースレターより）

Make A Daily Schedule

How much time do you need to study English each day? Well, that depends on your goals, of course. But in general, I recommend 1 hour and 15 minutes of study.

75 minutes a day is enough to become fluent in English in 12 months. "Fluent" means you will speak English quickly and easily. No, you won't be perfect (even native speakers aren't perfect). But you will feel comfortable speaking English. You will be able to understand English conversations. You'll be able to communicate your ideas.

To do this you need to use those 75 minutes correctly. If you spend 75 minutes a day studying textbooks, you will not become fluent. If you spend 75 minutes a day in a normal English class, you will not learn to speak easily. If you spend 75 minutes a day studying grammar and vocabulary lists, you will not learn to speak fluently.

You must use those minutes well.

Here's what I recommend:

1. Listen to English One Hour Every Day
Of course, you can break this up. You might listen for 20 minutes in the morning, 20 minutes in the afternoon, and 20 minutes at night (in fact, that's a great idea).

What you listen to, and how you listen, are very important. First, you must listen to "authentic" English. "Authentic" means real-- in other words, you must listen to conversational English that is actually used by native speakers. Don't listen to textbook CDs. The best thing to listen to are recordings of real conversations-- chats between native speakers (not actors!). I will soon be offering these to Effortless English Club members-- with text and mini-stories to help you understand the vocabulary and grammar.

If you can't find real conversations, use movies that have a lot of modern casual conversation. The kind of English used in these movies is much closer to the English we use every day.

Another important point is how you listen. When you listen, you must listen carefully. You should focus on both the meaning and the pronunciation (don't worry about the grammar). You should listen to the same thing many times... repeating it many days. Then you will really learn the phrases, grammar, and pronunciation deeply.

2. Practice Pronunciation 15 Minutes Every Day
Pronunciation is very important. If nobody understands you when you speak,... it doesn't matter how much vocabulary you know or how good your grammar is. Understanding and being understood should be your top goals.

To practice pronunciation, listen to some real English. Pause after every sentence and copy the speaker's pronunciation. Focus especially on intonation--- the stretching of words, and the rise and fall of pitch. Americans love to stretch words (especially vowel sounds) and we usually start with a high pitch on stressed syllables and then drop, drop, drop. For Effortless English members, you can also do the pronunciation lessons on the site.

とりあえず、とっても面白いので、是非聞いてみて下さい。これってレッスン？？↓　↓　↓
How To Say Shit! (Pronunciation Lesson)

You can download a Free audio lesson on American pronunciation. I decided to use the common American word "shit". This is profanity (a rude word) of course, but its a great example of how to use intonation correctly. If you say the word with the wrong intonation, you completely destroy the meaning and power. So, practice saying "Shit" and improve your American pronunciation ;)

To download this free lesson- go to the Free Effortless English download page.