So many intermediate English learners and by  intermediate English learners I mean people who can already speak simple basic English you  can understand a lot of things. You can already kind of have some simple conversations but still  struggling in expressing themselves beyond their comfort zone. Often times you would think that  your biggest problem is not knowing enough words, not knowing enough grammar, not knowing enough  phrases. So what happens logically to solve your problem? you would think to yourself, okay,  I need to learn more words, more grammar, more phrases, and then I'll become fluent. But  oftentimes when you do this, it doesn't solve your problem completely. You still find yourself  hesitating. You still find yourself overthinking, feeling overloaded, and just, you know, it  doesn't build your confidence too much. So, this is one of the biggest misconceptions  that I see among my students, my clients, and my followers, subscribers on social  media. The thing is, one thing that you need to know is that your biggest problem is not  so much about you not knowing enough English, but it's more about the processing,  how your brain processes communication.

Hey guys, before we move back to the video, I  just want to remind you that if you are living abroad or if you are working in an international  environment and you urgently need to improve your English communication skills because you're  experiencing all of these issues that we are discussing in this video, you might really  benefit from coaching. So, we are opening our next cohort on April 6 and you can simply apply  using the links below in the description box or in the comments. So, I will see you around. So  a lot of people think that speaking in a second language work like this. First you would have  to collect and learn a lot of new vocabulary, a lot of new words. And then you would have to  learn the grammar. And the grammar often times comes in a formula, right? S O know, subject,  verb, object, and all of that. And then you're also going to learn phrases to sprinkle in between  your sentences here and there. So when you learn a new language as a beginner, that helps a lot. But  when it comes to actually using the language for communication, this process is counterproductive  because it's making you feel overloaded. It feels like you're going to think to yourself, okay, the  grammar is like this, and then you're going to have to individually manually plug in different  words into the grammar formula and then add some phrases here and there. And when you're  speaking, you don't have the time to actually build sentences from scratch like that. Your brain  doesn't actually work that way. So before language or words appear in your mind, something else  needs to happen first. So there's a thinking process behind communication that most language  learning completely ignores. And once you see it, a lot of things are going to start to make sense.  So in order to help with your processing when you're speaking in a second language, I want you  to understand the user mental model or the user framework. And it stands for U understanding, S  structure, E expansion, and R refinement. And a lot of language classes usually only focus on the  refinement part. But I'm going to get into this one by one. And before I get into the explanation,  this also connects to a mindset shift. So, if you've been following um my YouTube, my Instagram,  you know about my philosophy um in order for you to change your mindset from an English learner  who learns English from the outside and shifting yourself to an English user, as in using the  English in your daily life, seeing English as a part of you instead of seeing it as separate.  Learner focuses on correction or perfection, but user um focuses on using it as a tool for  communication. Anyways, I just thought that it was interesting that the framework acronym um spells  out user. It was a huge coincidence which I love.

But anyways, let's get into the component each  component one by one. So, let's talk about the first component U which stands for understanding.  So understanding basically is the main idea or the core idea that you want to communicate. What is  it that you want to talk about? What is the topic?

So a lot of people would think that when you're  thinking to yourself, when you're thinking about a concept or an idea or a feeling, you think  in words. I'm angry or I am sad or ah that was annoying. You think in words. But in reality most  of the time people think in abstract concepts. So people think in feelings, people understand what  is going on but they don't necessarily translate it in words into words in their own mind. So this  is why sometimes when you're feeling a certain way or when you understand some concepts, you don't  automatically have the ability to translate that into words. And by words as in um I actually  mean in your native language or in a second language. Sometimes you actually have difficulties  articulating your feelings in a native language.

Right? And this is to say that your thoughts  your understanding of a concept or an idea does not necessarily translate is completely different  to words or to language. So to put it in short, before language or words appear in your mind,  your brain usually thinks in concepts or ideas or even feelings, not words. For instance, let's  say that you were in a meeting and it was a long messy meeting that was just not very un not very  pleasant. You're probably thinking to yourself, long meeting, boring. It was messy, too. And then  before you actually speak to another person about how it was, that concept and that feeling of it  being long, boring and just, you know, too many opinions and messy, it first came in concepts and  feelings instead of actual words. Only when you convey to another person, you communicate it to  another person, it comes out in words. First, it comes in ideas and then it comes in sentences when  you speak about it out loud. So to summarize it, understanding means clarifying the idea, the main  message before you speak about it out loud. So for people who have difficulties articulating or not  having enough understanding of the main idea or the concept, it usually speaks it usually comes  out like this. I know the topic, but I don't know what to say or like my thoughts are a bit messy or  just like I don't really know how to explain this.

So at this point the goal is not perfect language.  The goal is clarity clarifying what your main message is. So the second component is S and that  stands for structure. So basically structure is how you organize your ideas so that your listener  can follow it. So let's say you actually have a pretty clear idea. It's very full. You have a  pretty deep understanding about it. The next step is that how can you structure it so that your  listener can have a logical path to follow your explanation to also understand your explanation  and a structure provides that path. So a very simple structure that you can follow is the prep  structure. First you start with your main point and then you follow with reason why you think that  main point um is relevant and then E stands for examples or explanations. So you provide examples  or explanations to further support your main point and then you end it with just stating the main  points again like the conclusion. So a very simple monologue that follows this prep framework would  be something like um I prefer living in Bali over living in Amsterdam. Why? Because living in Bali  gives me a more relaxed lifestyle. I'm closer to my family and it's always warm. So here in Bali,  there isn't really this big hustle culture that I often find in big cities like Amsterdam. And  of course, Bali is located in um the equator, close to the equator, so it's warm, warm all year  long. Um not like Amsterdam when it's always gray, cloudy, and cold 7 months of the year. And of  course, now that I get older, I want to be closer to my family. And even though Bali is still a  bit far away from Jakarta where my parents are, it's still much much closer than in Amsterdam. It  only takes about three hours for me to get to my parents. Whereas in Amsterdam, it would take a  whole um day, a whole uh a trip of 24 hours to get there. And that's why I prefer to live in Bali  over Amsterdam. And yeah, that structure follows a simple prep structure. So why is it important for  you to have structure? Two things. One is because it reduces the mental pressure for you to come  up with explanation um on the spot. You can just follow a path. And reason number two is because  it's a lot easier for the listener to follow your explanation. Structure can actually help you stay  on topic instead of rambling around and just going off track. When a structure is missing, people's  explanation usually go very long. They ramble, messy, repetitive and just very hard to follow.  And this happens very often in real life. And the third component which is E, stands for  expansion. And this is basically when you expand on your main idea and you add details,  examples or explanation to make your main point.

And the third component which is E stands for  expansion and this basically means developing your main idea with supporting information with  more details. So I this is especially helpful for people who tend to stop conversations. So it's  quite often that I come across people who let's say I would ask questions and they would answer it  and then the conversation stops there. Why do you prefer to live in Bali? Well life here is simpler  and then that's it. you know they don't really give more um explanation about what they mean by  that. So expansion helps the listener to fully understand your point and also make your point a  lot more convincing. This is still connected to the example that I provided before when it comes  to the structure. Let's say the prep the R the E are actually the parts where you can expand on  your main idea. I prefer living in Bali and then give reason for it and then you can expand by also  giving more explanation and examples to make it more stronger to make it to make your main idea  stronger. So yes, expansion gives your idea more depth and more clarity but expansion can only  come after you know the structure. what is the path that you want to talk about and then you can  expand from there because if you start expanding your speech without structure you're going to  start rambling and just adding many details without a clear direction. So having a clear  structure to your speech always has to come before expanding. And now the last component R stands for  refinement. Refinement basically means improving the language quality of your message. So this  usually comes in, you know, speaking with better grammar or using more advanced words or using more  natural phrasing or improving your accent and tone and everything that you want to learn to be able  to polish your language, let's say. So a lot of language courses, language classes usually really  just focus on the refinement of it of it without really going deeper into your main message or what  do you want to talk about and how do you deliver it. So refinement makes your English communication  sound a lot more natural, a lot more professional, precise, pretty, and just polished. So for  example, a basic sentence would be I like living in Bali because it's nice. A refined version would  be I prefer living in Bali because the lifestyle there feels a lot more relaxed and it just calms  me down and it's right for me. So yes, the basic version it's very direct, it's very simple, it  conveys the main point, but the refined version is a lot more precise, right? There there's a lot  more words and adjectives to really um describe the feeling and what you truly feel about it.  But the thing is refinement should only come after the main three components are figured out.  Because if you focus too much on the refinement, the vocabulary, the words, the um the accents  and all of that before you form the main ideas in the US, SE, your brain becomes overloaded.  your brain will be thinking about the content or how do I structure it or like the way you are  being perceived and also the language components of it the grammar the vocabulary and the phrases  your brain will just get overloaded and that's why it freezes so yeah this is why many learners would  always feel stuck thinking what word should I use instead of thinking what is the main message  that I want to convey so yes first get clear on the main message and the main idea and often  times your your brain will come up with the word by itself if you stop focusing so much on it. Of  course, this only applies to you guys who actually already know the word. So, only for intermediates  who already know a lot of English words but don't really know how to use them. Usually, being  able to use the word at the right time comes naturally as a side effect, as a byproduct after  you get clear on the main message. So there you go. Clear communication in a second language in  English usually follows this order. Understanding, structure, expansion and refinement. And when  these stages happen in the right sequence, speaking becomes a lot easier and your ideas will  flow more naturally. So instead of focusing on how to build the right sentence, shift your focus on  the main idea and the main message that you want to convey. And also this is a reminder for you  to shift your focus from becoming just an English learner who sees English as separate from you to  becoming an English user where you see English as a part of your daily life and you use it as a  tool for communication. If you like this video, make sure to give it a thumbs up and also  comment down below what you think about it. And I will see you next time another  video. Until then, take care and bye-bye.