China232.com Blog

As I’ve mentioned before, Add and I are working our asses off (Working super hard) on making a sick (awesome) course for

learning American pronunciation.

Add recently improved the design of that site and we’re doing our best to make the world’s best accent training course.  2013 is no joke here at the 232!  We’re also getting into videos for our upcoming learning English site.  Subscribe to our English learning Youtube channel to make sure you don’t miss any new videos when they come out.  There will be some awesome ones soon!

Since we’re going to be making tons of different kinds of videos, I’ve been playing around a lot on Youtube.  I do this partly because it’s fun and I like to waste time, partly to see the kind of competition we’re going to face, and partly to get some cool different video ideas.

In this sense, “playing around” can be used for “surfing” the internet.  I’ve noticed a lot of non native speakers ALWAYS say they are surfing the internet.  If you want to be more native, mix it up.  Sometimes say “surfing”, sometimes say “playing around”, and sometimes say “goofing around”.  They all mean the same thing in this context.  Here are 3 examples.  Use them all from time to time.

1.  I spent all afternoon surfing the internet.

2.  I spent all afternoon playing around on the internet.

3.  I spent all afternoon goofing around on the internet.

…..Anyway, I came across one absolutely hilarious English learning video.  It was made in Japan.  Now PLEASE understand that I honestly love going to Japan and I don’t want to make fun of them or any culture at all.  I just think this video is hilarious.  I’d love for some of our Japanese fans to explain what this might be.  Is it for fun?  Is it serious?  I really don’t get it, but it’s definitely fun to watch.  One thing I do appreciate is that it seems that the Japanese can have fun.  For some reason, westerners would never make this because they are too self conscious and worried about what other people think.  I respect that Japan seems to have this ability to be playful and have fun as adults.  All cultures have their unique parts.

(***Please also understand, that I totally realize I have no idea if this is normal or common in Japan or not.  That’s why I’d really like to hear some opinions from real Japanese people AND people from other cultures too on the video below)

This type of video certainly makes us feel more confident that our Accent training course will be a great bonus for everyone.  The Japanese accent is super cute, don’t get me wrong, it’s just always interesting when you hear non native speakers teaching any language.  It would be like if I tried to teach Westerners how to speak perfect Chinese.  I can speak it, but it’s better to let a Chinese person teach you.  A LOT better!

Don’t forget, our Accent Course will be FREE for any VIP members.  It’s going to be $47 USD for all other people.

If you are interested in the course we are making, getting the VIP membership now (On the Apple or Android App is ok too) would be a great idea since you will get everything for a year PLUS the free accent course!  (Please don’t write about this all over the internet because we’re going to sell the accent course for $47 USD to people who have never heard of this website.  Again, here is the Accent course ONLY you guys will get for free with a VIP membership.

Please watch the video below and comment on it.  I’d love to hear what you guys think.  Say anything at all.  Keep the comments coming and I’ll keep blogging!

Get the VIP Membership now so you can be sure to get the FREE accent course!  You won’t regret it!

Add and I are going wild in 2013.  WILD!

…And it’s going to be the “good kind of wild” for you guys.

One thing we’re doing is finally getting serious about making videos.  These are gonna be sick!

We’re going to use the “232 brand” on a new website and English learning Youtube Channel called www.learnenglish232.com

There isn’t much on the site now, but you’ll be able to go there to learn English soon.

To start any Youtube channel, we need to have a high number of “subscribers”.  The first thing we’re doing is making all of our old free English learning podcasts into videos where people can read the dialog while they listen.

(We will also be making a totally NEW video style as well, professionally done, with US in FRONT of the camera, it won’t just be reading words)  Please check out this video below and also make comments below for suggested improvements on this style.  Of course, as I mentioned above, we’re just getting warmed up for a whole new awesome style that is coming out soon.  This video is about our latest free podcast. 

To get the awesome videos that are soon to come, please subscribe to our channel now

Looking forward to reading your comments!

We’re making an accent training course to teach you guys how to speak English with the most standard American Accent.  We truly believe this is possible to achieve with the proper method.

Add and I made our first short video with some tips about how to say certain words.  We’d love for you to watch the video below and make comments on it.  We’re going to be making many videos and lessons to teach American standard pronunciation.  It would be great to get as many honest comments as possible from you guys.

I hope you like this one.

American Accent Training Series

Please comment below and subscribe to the Youtube Channel for all future videos on this topic.

We can’t wait to read your comments.

Add and I are working on a new program.  We’re making a video series and e-book complete course about teaching non native speakers how to speak English with an American accent.

We believe that learning to pronounce words with a standard American accent, you know, the kind you hear on popular TV shows and in movies, is not only cool to be able to speak, but it’s also very advantageous to learn for business and social reasons.

In my personal opinion, I don’t mind if someone speaks English with a thick accent.  If I can understand them, it’s fine.  But from their perspective, I can totally understand why they would want to learn to speak like a native speaker.  Our training course is going to make people come very close to achieving this goal in a short time.

It takes a lot of work and we’ve been working hard on it.  When we have some lessons ready, we’ll show you guys the videos and let you learn from them and tell us what you think.  We’re probably going to make the program free for VIP members and we’re thinking of $47 for “other people”.  We’re going to put the course on a different site, so it will be a special bonus secret for our 232 fans.

I just researched some accent training courses and found some pretty terrible ones for $157 USD.  That’s pretty expensive in my mind.  We want to make something better and cheaper.  As I said, it will likely be free for the VIP members and we’ll give some free lessons to absolutely everyone.  This is where we are going to host our Online American Accent Training Course

The site looks like a joke now, but we just bought it today and are making lessons “behind the scenes”

I’d love to know what you think about the advantages of learning an American accent.

Do you think it would be cool?

Do you think it would help you in your career?

Do you think people would respect you more if you sounded like a native speaker?

Do you think it’s possible for adults to learn an American accent?

What other benefits do you think you’ll have if you are able to speak like an American when you are speaking English?

Are there any specific pronunciation questions you have that you’d like me to include in our lesson series?

Any advice would be great.  We’ll be sure to provide at least some free stuff for you guys and we won’t make the VIP people pay for the course.  It will be our little 232 secret.

Thanks guys!  Looking forward to hearing your answers and opinions.

I spend about 20% of my “waking hours” reading stuff.  I absolutely love learning new things on a variety of topics.  I want to include more educational or inspirational material in these blogs.  Ideas which can hopefully benefit you guys in different ways.

You probably already guessed the meaning of the term “waking hours”.  It is a common expression to refer to the time a person is awake in a normal day.   Here is an example:

He spends almost all of his “waking hours” thinking about ways to earn more money.

Ok, I’m starting to get off topic and I want to start writing about what I originally planned on.

I recently read a scientific study about optimists and pessimists.  ”Optimists” are optimistic people, people who tend to look at things positively.  ”Pessimists” are the opposite.

I think everyone already knows that optimists are more likely to succeed than pessimists.  This part is nothing new.

Here is the interesting thing I learned:  Optimists are much LESS accurate in their predictions than pessimists.  Basically, optimists are more “wrong” in their guesses.

Pessimists are much more realistic.  They aren’t just more “negative” than optimists, they are also more likely to make a reasonable guess.

So optimists have crazy and unrealistic beliefs about how good their future is going to be, and this helps them in life big time!

Think about what this means.  Optimists are willing to try new things.  They don’t fear failure as much as pessimists do because they think everything is going to be awesome for them.  They are more likely to learn English faster, they are more likely to get better jobs, they are more likely to get a perfect body if they go to the gym, they are more likely to date who they most want to date.

Pessimists are more likely to quit things before they really start trying.  This is sad.  They can already see the negative things that might happen if they try.  They might think, “What if I fail”?  ”What if I lose my money”?  ”What if she or he says no when I ask them on a date”?  ”What if it takes me 1 year to learn great English instead of only 1 week”?

The truth is that pessimists are often very intelligent people.  They think a lot.  They often think too much.  This can be a problem.  It can make them afraid to try.  The truth is that neither optimists nor pessimists knows exactly what the future will be like, but at least optimists will try things and take active steps to get the better life they want.  It is this positive action that makes them more likely to succeed than pessimists.  This is why being smart isn’t always enough.

So, if you are a pessimist, which we all are sometimes, you should seriously learn from this.  I’m often a pessimist in my own life.  The thing to learn is that it’s better to just try things instead of focussing and worrying what could go wrong.   Stop being afraid, failure isn’t as bad as you think.  It’s not trying that is the real failure in life.

Here is an example.  If you are a pessimist and are thinking about joining the VIP membership, but you are a little worried that it won’t help much, I understand how you feel.  I’ll make you a deal.  If you try it and you don’t like the results after 3 months, I’ll give you all your money back.  I’m really not saying you should buy the VIP membership if you don’t want to, but I hope that it’s not your pessimistic side speaking to you.   My point is, don’t let your fears or doubts get in the way of your success.  You can apply this to many or even most areas of your life.

For other things you are considering, I encourage you to take more chances and risks.  Learn from the optimists.  Your life will be better for it.  Look for a better job.  Ask that guy or girl you like on a date.  Try more things that could possibly help you.  If you keep doing this, your life will be better for it; A LOT better.  Even if you are kind of sceptical or a bit afraid of something, just remember that taking more chances is a great thing.

There is a very famous saying in English that says, “Life with no risk is no life at all“.  Think about it.

Some questions for you:

Are you generally an optimist or a pessimist?

Did you learn anything about yourself from this blog?

After reading this post, are you planning on making any changes in your own life?  What changes?

Thanks guys!  I can’t wait to read your comments