Critical Focus

To be effective in your English practice, you must focus your efforts. Learning how to order food, how to talk to a taxi driver, or how to book a hotel room is unnecessary. These things always work out.

Instead, you must narrow your focus. Your goal should be to practice the 1% of English that will help you to accomplish your objective. (If you don't have an objective, maybe you should not be learning English. See "How can I learn English: 5 Dos and 5 Don'ts.")

That 1% of English will determine whether you succeed or fail. We call it your "Critical Focus."

The concept of Critical Focus helps explain why so many people don't benefit from academies and tutors. The material does not apply to their objective. It's irrelevant.

Your Critical Focus will only include the people or scenarios that you deal with most often--daily if possible. Finding your Critical Focus will help you succeed in the following ways:

1. It will enable you to use what you practice.

2. It will allow you naturally to repeat and improve what you learn.

3. It will help you maintain context.

4. It will be relevant and interesting.

How do you define your critical focus? Here are some guidelines:

1. If you regularly deal with only two or three important native speakers, focus on conversations with them.

2. If you deal with many people, but usually about the same topics, focus on those topics.

3. If your pronunciation is not good, focus on fixing it quickly. Fix one pronunciation at a time.

4. If your objective is presentations or performances (not conversation) then don't practice conversation--focus on pronunciation, intonation, and body language.

Of course, helping you develop your Critical Focus is a core feature of our Executive English Coaching mission.