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Saturday, February 2, 2008

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Conversation: AJ & Chris, Part 2
Email:
AJ: No problem. Submit
Chris: Yeah, go.

About Me
AJ: Yeah looking forward
AJ Hoge
to it.
Chris: Awesome man, I have a Masters degree and
well I think it’s been I over 10 years of English teaching

don't know how many
experience. I am the Director of The
years has it been since
Effortless English Club.
we got together?
View my complete profile

AJ: Good God –
Chris: Three or four huh?

Effortless English Links
AJ: Yeah. Yeah I guess it woulda been before I went to Thailand

● Effortless English Lessons
right? I think just before I went to Thailand –
● Old Blog Archives
Chris: I think so yeah.
● Love Language World (Japanese)
AJ: Didn’t I – I drove up and yeah I think I – yeah so its been about
three and a half years, almost four? Yeah. It’s been awhile. ● Flow English Slang Podcast
Chris: About freekin time.

Blog Archive
AJ: Yeah. Yeah and you know we’ll get this going and hopefully it
won’t be a problem any more. ● ▼ 2008 (10)
❍ ▼ February (1)
(Laughter) ■ Conversation: AJ &
Chris, Part 2
AJ: You can – but we’ll both just be nomads.
❍ ► January (9)
Chris: Yeah man, sounds great. Well I appreciate it, it’s gonna be
great to see you and I’m glad you’re carvin out some time to come ● ► 2007 (28)
hang out with me, it’s gonna make a big difference me getting these
things done too so –
Link & Blog Roll
AJ: Yeah, yeah, I – you know I think it is the best way to do it if you
● Lingq English Tutors
http://www.effortlessenglishclub.blogspot.com/ (1 de 28) [05/02/2008 12:28:53]

can – especially you have someone to kinda – you keep each other on
task but just try to do it in an intense burst you know really work ● Learn English Directory
hard for a couple weeks and – I’m hoping we can really, yeah get the
whole thing done. You know at least the bulk of the recording done
and –
Chris: Yeah I mean let’s shoot – I mean let’s definitely shoot for that
then and you know we can sit down and try to even sort of figure out
to sort of meet you know what goals you think we need to meet for a
complete lesson set, you know how many we need to get done by
here and here –
AJ: Yeah, yeah.
Chris: And I think I was sort of you know I’ve sorta been thinking
geez I wish I could have carved out a little more time for your visit
but at least having those 3-day weekends I think –
AJ: Yeah, yeah, we could get a lot of work on those days, that’s true.
Chris: Yeah, I think even if we’re not making the kind of progress we
hope to during the week or maybe not quite making it then at least
we’ll have you know, have nice 3-day sort of periods to do some of
that so –
AJ: Yeah, yeah and you’ve got Audacity, right, on your computer?
Chris: I do. I’ve got that on my – I actually put it on both my work

laptop as well as my desktop.
AJ: Okay good and you've got a good mic? Good microphone?
Chris: I don’t – I wouldn’t necessarily say that.
AJ: Okay, okay. Well I’m gonna bring mine with me.
Chris: Okay. I think you said you were and I just use the headset that
I had to record that other and you probably noticed there was a little
hiss in it.
AJ: Yeah, yeah, right. Yeah we can use mine, I’ll bring it. It’s really
good and – cause I – in the beginning I used to use a headset and
yeah, it’s actually quite a big difference. So yeah, that’s cool.
Chris: And I can get, you know I'll certainly get one at some point if it
makes you know, it probably will make sense for me you know to get
one at some point too so – I think you said you’ve got one you really
like so –

AJ: Yeah, yeah it’s really nice, I know – do you have a – is there an
Apple store in Chapel Hill?
Chris: There is. Well it’s not right in Chapel Hill but it’s just – it’s you
know it’s like 12 minutes down the road.
AJ: Oh okay.
Chris: Sort of on the – sort of right into Durham.
AJ: Oh okay, cool, cool, great, there’s – yeah that’s where I got mine
and it’s really nice. It just plugs in the USB.
Chris: So maybe they might even have them there huh?
AJ: Oh yeah, yeah, cause in fact I just bought one for Kristin to use
so – and yeah, I’ll buy it, don’t worry about that. So maybe we can go
by there and then – yeah we have two microphones, maybe at some
point we can be in different rooms you know cranking out –
Chris: Yep.
AJ: Cranking out lessons at the same time.
Chris: Yeah that’s – that and that’s entirely possible and you know
we’ll set up – I think you remember, you probably remember how my
place is set up. I figure – I think you slept in the – that sort of study,
spare room I have last time?
AJ: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Chris: You can do that again. I been trying to clean out some of my
junk in there but that’s – you know that’s – I’ve got a couple sort of
desks and tables in there so we can you know set up one studio up
there if we want, we can set up one downstairs, I can clean my
kitchen table off, you know whatever – whatever works for us so –
AJ: That sounds good, okay great. And so maybe we can or I could
just get directions, I could do it while you’re at work, run by the Apple
store and pick up another one.
Chris: Yeah, I mean I don’t – you know I don’t really expect you to
buy that for me but you know if –
AJ: Yeah, no worries, no worries.
Chris: You’re comfortable do it.

AJ: Yeah, yeah, especially after this week man, no, no problem.
(Laughter)
Chris: Cool.
AJ: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So yeah I’ll do that then and at least have, I
guess probably during the week one will be enough but I’ll try to get
it at least before the weekend so that we’ll have two on the weekend
when you maybe you know –
Chris: That probably does make sense, yeah. Then we can be doing
some simultaneous stuff.
AJ: Yeah. Exciting, cool!
Chris: Yeah. I think I’ve got – and I’ll let you – I’m not sure that I did
send you – I think I sent you a second draft of the first part of that
lesson I did but I’m not sure I sent you the second part of it cause
basically I had like – I probably have like almost I don't know maybe
a 20 – if you combine the two parts together, almost a 25 minute
lesson.
AJ: Oh perfect, perfect.
Chris: So the other thing you might – yeah, if you don’t mind doing
when you get here is listen through the both parts of that and decide
if we should combine em or if you think I should do some more work
on a particular section.
AJ: Okay, that sounds good.
Chris: But at least you know at least we might have at least one
lesson to begin with so –
AJ: Oh good.
Chris: That’s 5% less work for us to do I figure.
AJ: Absolutely.
Chris: I did finish that book you had recommended to me, the – I
guess it was Blaine Ray and Contee Seely?
AJ: Oh yeah, yeah the TPRS book?
Chris: Yeah, I finally – cause I had read maybe a third of it but I

hadn’t finished it but I also worked my – the rest of the way through
that and – over Christmas break so –

AJ: Oh good, good, so that gives you a nice overview of the

storytelling technique and –
Chris: It does.
AJ: Kind of the rationale behind it.
Chris: Yep. Yeah it all looks good, it makes a lot of sense to me so I

think it’s a great model.
AJ: Yeah, yeah, it’s fantastic, it’s the best I’ve found which is why I
use it. Yeah, really nice. Cool, cool. And what was the – what other
book did I send you – the marketing book was the Permission
Marketing right?
Chris: Yes.
AJ: Stuff go – yeah that’s good stuff too.
Chris: And I’ll get to that.
AJ: Excellent.
Chris: Yeah man and I got plenty of DVD’s here so if you get bored
during the day or whatever you’ll – I don’t have cable but I don’t
suspect you’re a big cable television person anyways.
AJ: Nah. Yeah, DVD’s will be great. Cool. Yeah actually I gotta load up
my ipod too with some videos for the flight. I’ve got like a 9 hour, 9
½ hours.
Chris: Nine – so you have – is like – is that just like a big layover they
have for you or –
AJ: Yeah there’s a – well there’s a 3-hour layover in Chicago, three,

three and a half maybe in Chicago.
Chris: Now do you – do you – it’s so funny that you say that because
I didn’t have an ipod until I saw the video ipod’s come out and it’s –
for me it’s such a drag to hang out in airports twiddling my thumbs
and one of the reasons I got it was so I could put videos on there and
be entertained in the airport.
AJ: Exactly, that’s why I did it too cause I had –
Chris: But I don’t know anybody – I don’t know anybody else who’s
got one for that reason.
(Laughter)

AJ: Yeah. No that’s exactly why I did it – I already had a little like old
nano, one of the little ones you know, I used it with some Spanish
stuff and a little bit of music and you know really that was fine for my
normal use, I don’t need a big one but then as we started traveling
more it’s like oh – this is – it’s just a pain in the ass, you know the –
none of the American Airlines show movies any more or very rarely
do they and you know yeah all the long layovers, I’m like it would be
nice to have a, just download some you know, couple little movies or
something and some you know. And I did that when we went to
Indiana and it was, it was really nice so –
Chris: Cool. Have you – did you discover the – I can’t remember what
it’s called, it’s not the Lego podcast but they were like these movies,
these sort of movies they make with you know stop-action Legos?
AJ: Oh no I haven’t seen that. I think I’ve heard of it but I haven’t

seen it.
Chris: Well you might wanna, you might wanna download one but
they’re – some of them are pretty fun, especially the Star Wars one,
you might check that one out sort of –
AJ: Oh okay, cool.
Chris: Yeah they’re sorta funny.
(Laughter)
Chris: Anyways. Get you all full up on your ipod.
AJ: Yeah.
Chris: But yeah there’s a Apple store’s around the corner and I’ll
show you, the other thing I should do is show you around the area a
little bit. So and there a couple restaurants right around here, you
know for breakfast and lunch and that kind of thing and –
AJ: Oh nice. Yeah I remember I think your – the last time I was there
I think it had just been built right? Your house and that area around
it, I think it all seemed really new at that point.
Chris: Yup, you’ll have your car but you’ll certainly be able to find a
lot of the basics just by walking around the neighborhood, the grocery
store’s open 24 hours a day and –
AJ: Oh nice, that’s great.

Chris: So yeah, yeah we’ll try to make you as comfortable as you can
be. Home away from home. Nomad man.
AJ: Awesome. Well I guess maybe if you go ahead and email just
some basic directions from the airport and I’ll get on you know, print
out a map or something too, I mean I’m sure it’ll be fine and I’ll call –
if I get lost.
Chris: It will and I’ll – you’ll have my number and you’ll have your cell
phone.
AJ: Yeah.
Chris: So I can always coach you into the last part of it. The other big
thing is once you sort of turn into Meadowmont, the grocery store is
there and you’ll – in our.... all these, you know the 32 units are right
here so it’s almost gonna be impossible to miss actually.
AJ: Okay, great. Hey you know, I was just thinking, I’ll bring my
video camera, maybe we can make some videos and put em on the
blog, you know like introducing you –
Chris: Yeah man, yeah, let’s do that.
AJ: Introduce you and you know hey, this is Chris. The new teacher,
da-ta-dah!
Chris: Yeah that sounds great. That’d be fun.
AJ: All right cool, great. Well all rightie then, I’ll give you a call you
know once I’ve landed and in the car and –
Chris: Okay.
AJ: Yeah so see you tomorrow night.
Chris: Sounds great. Anything you want to plan to grab a bite when
you get here or –
AJ: Yeah.
Chris: Well I guess we can figure that out.
AJ: Yeah, I imagine I may be hungry after a bunch of bad airline

snacks and – they don’t – actually they don’t feed you at all actually
now so yeah, actually that – I’ll probably be hungry.
Chris: Yeah I've been, I mean when I flew up over the holidays, they
like the one flight they didn’t even give a drink so yeah.

AJ: Damn, not even a drink?
Chris: I know.
AJ: Stingy bastards. That’s why – the Asian airlines are so much
better, God. That’s another one that Tomoe is always going on about,
service, customer service and things like that. “I can’t believe it.” Like
yes, it’s not Japan where they – they you know an army of people is
running to serve you everywhere you go.
Chris: Do you have any – do you have like any video of her or
anything?
AJ: Trying to think, do I have any video of Tomoe? I shot, she’s so,
like kind – she’s a little camera shy.
Chris: Is she.
AJ: Let me think if I – I may actually have, I’ll bring my video from, I
think there’s a little bit, like a couple tiny little snippets from our
vacation on – in Honduras so I’ll –
Chris: Yeah bring some along, I’d like to – of course you said maybe a
picture or two but that’d be interesting to see what she’s like.
AJ: Yeah, yeah, yeah I’ll do that.
Chris: Okay, cool. Well I’m looking forward to it man, it’ll be a good
time and yeah give me a call when you get in and we’ll start figuring
it out.
AJ: All rightie then, see you tomorrow night.
Chris: Okay.
AJ: Okay.
Chris: Okay great.
AJ: Okay.
Chris: Bye.
AJ: Bye.
Listen To This Article at:

The Effortless English Podcast.

Posted by AJ Hoge at 12:28 PM 6 comments
Tuesday, January 29, 2008

New Lessons at a Discount
Hi.
This is it-- finally!
The new Flow English Lessons are now available to my podcast

listeners and my blog readers.
Because you are part of my loyal audience, you get the new Flow
English lessons at a discount-- for only $77. The normal price is $97.
This discount price is available until February 2nd. On that day, we

will raise the price to $97. So if you want the new Flow English
lessons, get them now :)
To get the new Flow English lessons, go to:

http://www.EffortlessEnglishClub.com/flowenglish.html
Enjoy them!

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

New Lessons Finished!
The new lessons are finished! Chris and I worked together for many
long hours to get them finished before the end of this month.
The new lessons are called "Flow English Lessons". Flow, of course,
describes the movement of water. And water, of course, moves easily
and effortlessly. We want you to speak English easily and effortlessly.
The new Flow English lessons focus on the most common idioms,
vocabulary, and grammar in English. You learn these very deeply. In
some ways, they are easier than the Effortless English Club Lessons.
However, I recommend the New Flow English Lessons for everyone
who needs to speak faster, better, and automatically.

Another great thing about the new lessons-- they are good for adults
and older children. I think the lessons would be fantastic for High
School or even Middle School students. Of course all of our lessons
are made for adults, but these lessons have a lot of funny and
strange stories which would also be entertaining to HS & MS students.
A couple of days ago, I announced the new lessons to my email

Newsletter subscribers. They got a very big discount-- but only for
one day. It was amazing! So many people got the lessons in just 24
hours.
Today, we are sending an announcement to all subscribers to my 7

Rules Email course. If you subscribed to that course, you get the new
lessons at a discount also. After three days, we'll raise the price
again... so check your email soon!
Next week, I will officially announce the new lessons here-- on my

podcast and blog. I'll include a link to the Flow English page, so you
can get the new lessons immediately.
We're very excited about the new lessons. They fit perfectly with The
Effortless English Club Lessons.
In a month or two, we hope to have our next album ready-- the

album everyone has been asking about -- the Movie Lessons!

Posted by AJ Hoge at 10:13 AM 12 comments
Labels: flow english, lessons
Friday, January 18, 2008

Conversation: AJ & Chris
[I called Chris before visiting him. We talked about my coming visit,

making new English lessons, Tomoe's trip to Japan, a new book we
just finished (Prometheus Rising), travel, and the Effortless English
business.]
[Telephone Ringing]

Chris: Hello, you’ve reached 932•7708. Leave me a message. (Beep)
AJ: Hey, it’s AJ. What’s up? Well, I guess we’re gonna –
Chris: Hey, man.
AJ: Oh, hey, good. Gotcha.
Chris: (Laughs) How’s the new year treating ya?
AJ: Yeah, pretty good. Things are going well. Actually, it’s been a
great beginning to the year so far.
Chris: How so?
AJ: I don’t know. I had a really good time New Year’s Eve. Went out
with a bunch of friends to a party here in San Francisco, yeah, it was
great.
Chris: Yeah, yeah.
AJ: A lot of good music, some kinda international music. There was a
group from India, some from Africa, bunches of different ones; it was
nice.
Chris: Alright.
AJ: Yeah. How ’bout yourself?
Chris: Pretty good, pretty good. A little bit busier. The vacation’s
always nice and sometimes you come back to a few too many e•mails
and voice messages, but all in all, it hasn’t been too bad.
AJ: Good, good.
Chris: I finally got going with the gym memberships, so I’m even up
to date with some of the resolutions and all.
AJ: Alright, good. Yeah, I’ve got a gym membership, but I need to
use it. (Laughs)
Chris: (Laughs)
AJ: I guess that’s my resolution.
Chris: Yeah. Well, cool, man.
AJ: Yeah. So tomorrow I’m flying out. I’ll be there tomorrow.
Chris: Yeah. You’re getting in around 9:00 or so, assuming.....

AJ: Yeah, yeah. And then I’m gonna go ahead and rent a car.
Chris: Okay.
AJ: I guess I can probably just get like a Google map to your house
from the Raleigh airport.
Chris: You can, and I can – that’s probably sensible, and I can also
send you some directions to sort of maybe supplement that. It’s not
gonna be too bad. I don’t think you’re gonna find it to be too difficult
’cause basically you’re gonna – 40 is sort of one of the big highways
around here, and that’s gonna run pretty much straight from the
airport, pretty close to where I live. And you’re gonna get off 40 onto
54, and then 54’s gonna bring you right into Meadowmont, where I
live, so it’s not gonna be too bad. But I’ll send you some
supplementary directions.
AJ: Okay, great.
Chris: Yeah.
[Crosstalk]
AJ: What’s the weather like out there?
Chris: It warmed up today. It’s like in the 50s today.
AJ: Oh, that’s not bad.
Chris: Yeah, it’s not bad. Actually last week, we had some surprisingly
cold weather where it stayed sorta below freezing for a few days.
AJ: Alright, I guess I’ll pack –
[Crosstalk]
AJ: I was gonna say I’ll pack some warm clothes just in case. (Laughs)
Chris: Yeah, at least like a good warm pair of pants and good coat. So
yeah, but, too, if you want to do some hiking and that, whatever you
like to hike in. I just started this gym membership, but I have a few
free passes, so if you wanna work out there, too, or try that out.
AJ: Yeah, actually, I’d like that. That’d be great.
Chris: Yeah, yeah, man.
AJ: Try to burn off some of the fat from Indiana. (Laughs)
Chris: Did you put in a winter’s layer over the holidays?

AJ: Yeah, damn. It’s frightening. Tomoe was pretty much horrified by
the diet in Indiana. (Laughs)
Chris: Is that right?
AJ: Yeah. She’s like, “Oh, my God, I can’t believe that they eat like
this.” It’s like, “Welcome to America. Welcome to real America.”
Chris: (Laughs)
AJ: Yeah, you’re like cookies, cakes, just everything with tons of
sugar.
Chris: Right.
AJ: Oh, man.
Chris: I’m almost sure I didn’t share this story with you, but I won’t
keep it long now. I had all these holiday parties I went to- that was at
the school and at the shelter before Christmas. And just was like
basically just astounded at what people were gonna eat. There were
like eight cakes there and three pies, and there were people who
would try all eight cakes and three pies.
AJ: Wow.
Chris: And get one of these paper plates, and the paper plate
collapsing under the weight of it. I was just like, “Wow. No wonder
every other person I work with has diabetes.”
AJ: (Laughs) Yes. Well, two people in my family have diabetes. It

didn’t stop ’em.
Chris: Yeah, yeah.
AJ: Yeah. So she’s [Tomoe] happy to be back in Japan right now

eating healthy Japanese food.
Chris: Is she there now?
AJ: Yeah, she’s there for two months. She’s visiting her family for a
couple months.
Chris: Oh, okay. Well, that’s a good long spell.
AJ: Yeah, yeah. She’s been pretty homesick, so –
Chris: I see.
AJ: – she’s quite happy. And then we’re gonna meet back up again

actually in Thailand.
Chris: Oh, you are? Nice.
AJ: Yeah. In March, we’re taking a trip to Thailand and be there a few
months. Hopefully I’m gonna do a dive master course as get the dive
master certificate and then we’ll –
Chris: I think this is the one you were talking a little bit about.
AJ: Yeah, right, right.
Chris: Going to Thailand to do some diving, yeah, yeah.
AJ: Yeah, and visit our friend, Kenny, down in Malaysia, and just see
Thailand again. I missed Thailand, so it’ll be nice.
Chris: Yeah. Well, it’s a little more globetrotting for you, huh?
AJ: Yeah. Can’t get enough.
Chris: (Laughs) You bastard.
AJ: (Laughs) Well, that’s why I’m coming. (Laughs) Right?
Chris: (Laughs)
AJ: To get these lessons finished and –
Chris: Yeah, I can’t really – if things go well, I won’t be able to call

you bastard for long, right?
AJ: No, you won’t.
Chris: (Laughs)
AJ: So get it now while you can. (Laughs) And then other people will
be calling you bastard.
[Laughter]
Chris: Cool.
AJ: Yeah.
Chris: Then I’ll really be a member of the club.
AJ: Yeah, that’s right. You’ll be able to make them feel bad with all
your tales of vacation and relaxation and fun.
Chris: I know. It’s been- I’ve burnt out all my good old stories of
traveling really pretty much, so I can’t really – it’s been hard to make

people jealous lately, to be honest with you.
AJ: Yeah. You need some new ones.
Chris: Mm-hmm.
AJ: Yeah. Hopefully, we can make some good progress. We’ll have a
couple weeks. I figure we can – especially once we get in the groove
– do maybe two sets per day, one or two sets per day. I mean we
may be able to –
Chris: Yeah. I mean, let’s see what we – I really don’t – to tell you
the truth, I don’t know what to expect and you – yeah.
AJ: I mean, I can do ’em fast at this point, so –
Chris: Okay. (Laughs)
AJ: So I was thinking that at the very least, like while you’re at work,
I would probably crank one out myself –
Chris: Okay.
AJ: – and then maybe when you got back, then we could crank –
work on another together.
Chris: Yeah, that’d be great.
AJ: There’d be a mix of voices then on the lesson, mine and yours,
and then that’d be nice for the students I think. So I mean I don’t
know. I have the feeling we may be able to – if we’re shooting for
about 20 or so sets, we may be able to get most or all of them done I
think.
Chris: Yeah. That’d be pretty awesome.
AJ: Yeah. And that’s the bulk of the work. After that, we just pay
somebody to do a Web site or just use the template I already have,
etcetera, etcetera.
Chris: Yep, yep.
AJ: And I know that lots of people are wanting lessons. I get e•mails
asking me, “Do you have more lessons?”
Chris: Good. Keep ’em hungry, man. (Laughs)
AJ: Yeah, that’s right, keep ’em hungry. (Laughs) Say, “Not yet. You
have to wait.”

Chris: “We want ’em to be so good this time that –”
AJ: That’s right. (Laughs) “They’re gonna be so good that your mind
will explode with English after five minutes of listening.”
Chris: (Laughs) Yeah. I mean the future plan needs to be selling

English microchips I think.
AJ: Yeah, that’s true. Just download the English language.
Chris: Straight into the brain.
AJ: Yeah, of course, at that point, we’re out of business. (Laughs)
Chris: (Laughs) We might be out of life units, too.
AJ: Yeah, that’s true. We’ll probably be dead, so it shouldn’t – we’ll be

okay. (Laughs) We’ll have enough time to find another business.
Chris: Well, with all this Prometheus Rising stuff you have exposed
me to, we gotta think of the future, right?
AJ: That’s true. That’s true. Yeah, pretty interesting, huh? It’s an
interesting. He’s an interesting guy.
Chris: Yeah. I read it over break. I didn’t get to the marketing book,
but I did finish his book. Yeah, it was really good. He’s a little spacey
sometimes, but mostly I really liked it, yeah.
AJ: Yeah, yeah.
Chris: When did you stumble across him?
AJ: Let’s see. I stumbled across him a couple years go. This essay he
wrote on the Internet called ePrime. Have you heard of that?
Chris: ePrime. I think that was stuff that – maybe I’m getting
confused, but I almost think that was – that one of the guys that
wrote a book that Albert Ellis was into that.
AJ: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That could be. I mean it’s not just this
guy’s invention. It’s basically the idea that the English language is not
– its structure is not kind of in line with scientists' thinking, especially
the whole physics and uncertainty principle. And so basically the idea
is that you remove the verb “to be” from the English language. So
you never say, “He is black.” You say, “He seems to be black. He
appears black. He looks black to me.” So you include the idea of
perception in everything you say.

Chris: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, okay.
AJ: And that gives it a more accurate – it basically introduces the

uncertainty that it’s not something "is" something, it’s something
"seems" or "appears" or –
Chris: And you’re also not essentializing things. Yeah, yeah.
AJ: Exactly, exactly. So you make it clear that you’re describing your
perceptions or characteristics, that it’s not necessarily an inborn
essence or –
Chris: Mm-hmm.
AJ: So interesting. Hard to do. I actually tried doing it just with

writing where you can edit, but it’s pretty damn hard to eliminate “is”
and “are” and “was” from the language. But it’s fascinating. I’ve read
a couple things that he wrote in ePrime and it is, it does come across
as far more rational and clear. You could see where if people would
stick to that during discussions and debates that you really would be
getting – there’d be much more room to find a common ground or at
least to agree at what you’re talking about.
Chris: Right. And it’s good to not – I mean it really introduces sort of
a healthy skepticism into what we’re all over confident about, too.
AJ: Exactly, yeah, exactly, ’cause you never – well, basically exactly
that, that there’s always some degree of uncertainty, small or large,
but it’s always there. So anyway, I found that essay by him and I was
like, “Oh, this is really fascinating,” and then I ended up eventually
getting that book Prometheus Rising which is also very interesting.
Chris: Yeah. Yeah, it’s good stuff. Well, we’ll have time to delve in,
won’t we?
AJ: Yeah. Yes, we will.
Chris: Talk more about it. I’m trying to think what – is there anything
else you need to know, anything you’d particularly like to do or make
sure you get in while you’re here?
AJ: Nothing in particular. I mean I’m pretty much open for anything.
Maybe I’ll bring my discs and we could maybe go out to your disc golf
course again if you want. (Laughs)
Chris: Yeah, yeah, sure.
AJ: A little strolling out there.

Chris: I haven’t been out there since you were here. (Laughs)
AJ: Oh, yeah. (Laughs) Yeah. I’ll bring a disc or two, a couple of ’em I
guess, and – yeah, I don’t know, just anything. Good veggie food and
–
Chris: Yep.
AJ: Yeah. Looking forward to it. It’ll be, yeah, one of my secret
motivations is to get this thing launched so that you’re free to come
out and travel a lot, too.
Chris: And play, man.
AJ: And play, yeah. We can scuba dive and go to Thailand and India
and Latin America and Europe –
Chris: (Laughs)
AJ: – and keeping working. That’s what I love about this business is
that I can do it from anywhere. I go to Mexico and just bring the
computer and keep on working.
Chris: Yeah.
AJ: It’s quite nice.
Chris: Well, I still have to get over my – get out of my own little box.
It’s hard to sort of believe that that would be possible.
AJ: Well, you believe it when it happens.
Chris: (Laughs) It’s easier to believe it when it’s actually already

happening?
AJ: Yeah. I was the same. I had this so irrational period that I just
would never get anybody – I think it told you. That was my thing in
my head for the longest time, for like a month as I was putting it all
together. I just kept thinking, “What if I don’t get any person, not
one? All this for nothing.”
Chris: Yeah, yeah.
AJ: And actually this week, I’m having a huge week this week. I don’t
know. I guess everyone’s New Year’s resolution is to learn English,
because –
Chris: Yep. I was sorta wondering if you would _____. You had

mentioned that it had been sorta slow and I was like, “Yeah. I wonder
if –” it might be slow but maybe it’ll pick up and even triple what you
normal make up for the slow time.
AJ: Yeah. And that’s exactly what’s happened. This week has been
unbelievable. It far exceeded my best week ever.
Chris: Awesome, really.
AJ: Yeah, oh, yeah. I think before – God, it’s probably 40•50 percent
more than my previous best week.
Chris: That’s great.
AJ: So, yeah, fantastic. Hope some of that continues.
Chris: (Laughs) Yeah, man.
AJ: So yeah, it’s fun when it’s growing, too. Kinda creates more of a
critical mass of people who’ll be using the forums. I don’t know. Yeah,
it just kinda a lot more fun, too. A little more of a community.
Chris: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
AJ: And one fun thing for me, too, is that with all these members all
over the place, it’s kinda meeting one or two of ’em every time I
travel which is what I’ve been – I did that in Mexico a little bit –
Chris: Right.
AJ: I know we’ve got a couple Thai members. I think maybe I’ll just
post it on the forums wherever I’m traveling and try to meet up with
some of the people. It’s kinda cool.
Chris: Yeah. And that’s all sort of one more thing that you can sort of
build the community and then share that sort of community building
with the blog and all, too, right?
AJ: Yeah.
[End of Audio]



More Spontaneous English Is Coming
Hi.
I've got good news for my podcast listeners. This year, I will be
adding a lot more spontaneous English to the podcast.
What is "spontaneous English". Its totally natural speaking-- no plan,

no reading.
My recent post "Cool Stuff for 2008" was spontaneous. I hit the
record button and just started to talk. I had a general topic in mind,
but no plan. I wasn't reading anything.
This kind of English is great for you, because its the kind of English
we use in real conversations.
In the past, I couldn't offer much spontaneous English. Why not?

Because to help you understand, I always want to include text. I
know it can be very difficult for some students to understand-- unless
they can check text.
Well, I tried typing the text myself-- but I was much too slow and it
took way too much time. Next, I searched for professional companies
that could type the text. I found a few-- but they were all expensive.
So, I usually typed the text first, then read it. Its still great practice
for you... just not the best.
Well, now that Effortless English is growing fast, I can finally afford to
pay a professional to transcribe my speech. Its expensive-- but our
growth makes it possible to do more often.
So, for you, I will be paying for more transcriptions. More of my

podcasts will be spontaneous. Also, I'll be including more recorded
conversations between two people.
In fact, I just sent a conversation between Chris and I to the

transcription company. The text should be ready in 5-7 days.. then I'll
post both the audio and the text.
I hope this helps you improve your English. I hope you enjoy it.
Have a great New Year!


Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Update on the New Lessons
Good news!
Chris Moses and I have been making new lessons everyday. I'm
currently in North Carolina, visiting him.
We now have 12 new lesson sets! By the end of the week, we should
have 20 new sets. Then we will put them on the internet-- and you
can buy them.
Wow, its taken a long time to get these finished.
This lesson album will be called "Flow English Lessons". "Flow" is a

word that describes the movement of water. Of course, water moves
easily and effortlessly. We want you to speak easily and effortlessly.
These lessons focus on the most common idioms and vocabulary. We

want you to get a lot more repetition so you learn very deeply.
The Mini-Stories have been very fun to record. The Mini-Stories in

"Flow English" are funnier (and easier) than the Mini-Stories in the
"Effortless English Club" album. I hope you enjoy them. I have
enjoyed making them.
I will make an official announcement very soon.
First I will send an email to my email newsletter subscribers-- and of

course they will get a big discount on the new Flow English lessons.
Next, I'll send an email to my full email list-- all the people who have
done my 7 Rules email course. They will also get a discount (though
not as big as my newsletter subscribers ;)
Then I'll announce the new Flow English Lessons here-- on my blog &
podcast. You'll get a discount too!
And finally, we will start advertising the lessons at the normal price.
The full price will be around $97.
And now... I have to return to the office and record some more
lessons!



Cool Stuff For 2008
Hi, this is AJ. Today I want to talk a little bit about the coming year,
about 2008, and what will be happening at Effortless English in the
next year. I'm happy to say that we are working on new lessons.
When I say "we," I mean myself, AJ Hoge, also Kristin Dodds, who is
another one of our teachers, and Chris Moses, who is our newest
teacher. We're all working on lessons right now, and I'm gonna talk a
little bit about those.
Unfortunately, these things don't get finished as fast as we want them

to. Now, I've been talking about making new lessons for a long time,
actually. Some of our older members are probably thinking, "AJ, when
are you finally going to finish? You've been talking about new lessons
for months and months, and they're still not here!"
And it's true; I'm sorry. Unfortunately, I've been very busy. I'm really
the only person who does Effortless English right now, and then when
Kristin and Chris got involved, I've had to spend a lot of time teaching
them and training them, especially with the storytelling method. So
that's taking some time; and of course, I have to manage the
business itself as well. The company is growing quickly, which is
great. It's fantastic. I'm very happy that Effortless English
Incorporated is growing, but that creates a lot of extra work for me
that is not focused on teaching.
So I'm trying to juggle and trying to handle all these different things,
and that's why it's taking longer than normal — longer than I want —
to get more lessons finished, so my message is please be patient!
People are emailing all the time. "AJ, we want more lessons! AJ, we
want more lessons!" I've gotten a lot of good ideas about different
kinds of lessons that people would like, and they've been fantastic
ideas. I think our members are very creative and have a lot of great
ideas; and I hope to do most of them or all of them at some time in

the future, but right now we're where we have to go a little bit slowly,
little by little.
So let me talk about what we are actually doing now, what we're
actually working on now, and what will hopefully be finished- I'm
hoping in the next few months. So first let me talk about Kristin.
Kristin Dodds. Kristin Dodds is an excellent English teacher. I have

taught with her, actually, at several different schools. We taught
together in Korea way back in 1997. We taught small children,
actually, we taught English to small children. Kristin is an excellent
teacher. We are very good friends; we've known each other a long
time. So she's already started helping me. Kristin is actually our
customer service manager right now, so if you email — you have a
question, you have a problem, if you email Effortless English —
probably she's the one reading your email. Sometimes she sends an
email to me if there's a big problem that I have to take care of, but
normally she solves the problems. She takes care of them. So she is
our customer service manager, and she's also a teacher.
She is working on the movie lessons. Now, all of you who bought my
lessons have a sample movie lesson. I think there are actually two
sample movie lessons on there, the beginning of a romantic comedy,
a real movie; and we use the dialog, right? We use the talking, we
use the story, the English in the movie to make our lessons. Why are
we using movies? Well, because movies are excellent for learning
real, spoken English. Okay, there's a difference between written
English, the English you see in a book, and spoken, the English you
hear on a street in America or England or Australia.
The style is different, the phrases are different, and even the
vocabulary can be different. So movies are much better for learning
spoken English. They're better than books. If you want to learn to
really speak, if you want to — for example, if you want to come to the
United States, and you want to come to San Francisco and walk
around, and you want to talk to people on the street and talk to
Americans and make friends, and you want to understand what
everyone is saying, and you want them to understand you, well, then
movies are better for that kind of English.
If you read a lot of textbooks, they're not gonna help you. In fact, I
see it all the time here. When I was teaching at my school in San
Francisco, so many people — so many students came from Asia, Latin
America and Europe; and they knew a lot of textbook English, but

they were very upset because here in San Francisco they could not
understand anybody. They would sit at the bus stop, and they didn't
know what people were saying. People were talking quickly, people
were using strange phrases, strange vocabulary, different kind of
pronunciation, nothing like the textbooks. So I feel bad because so
many students have this experience. They come to the United States,
for example, they think they know English well, they've studied many
years with textbooks in schools, and then they're very frustrated
because they can't actually communicate.
So that's why we chose movies as one of our next lesson sets

because movies are really great for learning common phrases,
common pronunciation, the way we actually speak to one another.
Movies are closer. They're not exactly the same, but they're closer
than a book.
So Kristin is working to finish the movies. We are about 70% finished

with those lessons, so we have 30% more to do. We're working
together, she's recording some of the new lessons, I'm still recording
a few of them also, and I'm hoping by the end of February, maybe
the end of March, that those will be finished.
We'll create a new website to sell them, and I will announce those
lessons here on my Podcast and on my blog, and also those of you
who get my email newsletter, I'll send out a message on that also. So
keep reading the newsletter, keep listening to this Podcast, keep
reading the blog. You will find out about the new lessons first. In fact,
as a little bonus, you'll get a chance to buy those lessons at a
discount. I will — when I announce the new lessons to the Podcast
and to my newsletter, actually I'll announce it to my newsletter first
— and the newsletter readers will get a very, very good discount on
those lessons.
I want to reward my newsletter readers because I appreciate your

attention, I appreciate that you let me keep sending you emails about
learning English and about my lessons, so I appreciate that. I want to
reward you, so I will be giving you a chance — you'll probably have
one week. I'll send — first I will send a message to the newsletter;
you have one week, and you can get a very, very good discount.
After that, I'll send another message on my blog and Podcast, and
maybe my general email course, and that'll be a discount, too. You'll
buy them at a discount but a smaller discount. Finally, we'll do the big

announcement, we'll run some advertisements, and that will be
normal price. So anyway, if you're listening to this, you'll have a
chance to get those new lessons at a discount.
So that's the first set of lessons, the movie lessons. The second set of
lessons that we're doing are being done by Chris Moses, who I
mentioned. He's also a very good friend of mine, and excellent
teacher, and in fact he also taught English in Korea way back in 1997.
So Kristin, Chris and I, we kind of started together. We knew each
other way back in '97, and we all taught in Seoul, Korea.
So Chris is making a set of lessons for lower level learners and also
for people who want the most common phrases, grammar and
vocabulary. So we're gonna call this "high-frequency English." That
means the most common English. His lessons will focus on the most
commons words, and phrases, and grammar. The things you hear in
America, for example, every day. The things we say every day, the
idioms that we use, the phrases that we use every day and the slang
that we use every day. The words we use every day. So this is
designed, these lessons are designed, to give you fluency practice so
that you can practice these words and phrases, this common English,
so that it can go deep into your brain.
Many of you, if you're listening to this, you might say, "I already
know these common words." Probably you know them; if we gave
you a test, you could tell the definition. You would choose the correct
A, B, C or D. But the question is- do you use them correctly? Do you
still make mistakes with the simple past tense? Probably. Most very
advanced learners that I saw in my school, for example, that came
from another country, they were — quote — "advanced". Very good
test scores. Yet when they spoke, they made simple, simple errors,
simple mistakes. They would use the past tense in the wrong
situation or they would use the present tense instead of using the
past.
So this is a common problem, actually, it's a very common problem

because people know about English, they study the rules, they do
well on tests; but that's a different kind of knowing. It's a different
kind of knowledge than deep knowledge. Deep knowledge means you
know it automatically, you use it instantly, you use it correctly
without thinking. For that, you need a lot of repetition; you need a lot
of learning in a natural way with stories, with articles, with a lot of
listening,... not reading rules. So that will be the focus of Chris'
lessons.

I'm going to North Carolina this week; North Carolina is in the

southeast part of the United States. That's where Chris lives, so I'm
going to visit Chris with my computer and my microphone, and we
are going to start making his lessons starting next Monday, actually. I
will be there for two weeks in North Carolina, working with Chris to
get a start on these lessons. Now, we probably won't finish in just two
weeks, but I'm hoping we can make a lot of progress and get started,
and I can train him with the storytelling method — that's the main
thing I need to teach him. Once we do that, then he can continue,
and he can finish the lessons, and again I hope he can finish his
lessons maybe end of March, possibly April or May. So we'll have
another set. When he finishes, we'll make a website for him, and
again, I will announce his lessons first to my newsletter subscribers,
second to the email course people, and finally to the blog and the
Podcast.
Okay, and third, finally, I am working on my own new set of lessons.

Now, I have a different idea about what I want to do with my next
lesson set, my next lesson album. It's going to be different than the
ones that you all have now. I've been thinking a lot, and I want to
create a set of lessons, an album of lessons, that is very powerful,
that helps you learn totally unconsciously. It means you don't have to
think at all; it happens totally automatically. How I want this to
happen is I want to create a story — okay, like a small book, a small
novel, or maybe a small movie if you want to think about it in that
way — but it'll be one big story. There'll be 10, 15, maybe 20
chapters. Each chapter will include the basic story, we'll have the
story; and then there'll also be a mini-story, the normal listen-and-
answer lessons for that chapter as well.
The idea is that — what I hope — is that you will focus totally on the
story, not on the English language. I want the story to be so
interesting, so different, that you focus on the story. You're focusing
on the information, not on the English language, not on the grammar,
not on the vocabulary. I want you to focus only on the story. What's
happening? Who are these characters? Why, why did that happen?
Who is this? I want you to be asking a lot of questions about the
story, focused on the story, interested in the story.
If that happens, you will learn the vocabulary automatically. You'll

learn the grammar automatically. You won't even know you're doing
it. You'll think, "I'm just listening to this cool story in English," but in

fact, you'll also be learning new words, new phrases, and getter
grammar. But you'll never think about the grammar, you'll never
think about the words if I do it well. That's my goal. Can I do that
100%? I don't know; I'll try, but that's my goal. More and more, I
want my lessons to become invisible so that the English becomes
invisible. I want you to forget that it's happening in English. I want
you to be so into the story, you forget it's in English, that it's just like
it's happening in your native language.
That's how the most powerful learning happens. That's how the
deepest learning happens. When you forget that you're actually
listening to English because you're so focused on the story and
because you understand everything, that's when you really learn
deeply, automatically. That's when you'll be able to use English, and
you won't even think. You won't translate. It just comes out of your
mouth. It's like, "HUH!" and then you say, "Wow, how did I do that?
How did I say that? What happened?" That's what I want for you.
Now, my current lessons will give you that power also, but I want the
next lessons to be even better. Much better. Much more focused on
story and information, and let me do the the — let me do the English
part, okay? If I'm smart, if I do the mini-story lessons correctly, you
won't realize that you're learning English. It'll happen without you
trying at all. That's the most powerful form of learning, and that's my
goal for my own next lesson set.
Okay. Well, that's it, and those are our big plans for the beginning of
this year, 2008. We've got three possible sets of lessons coming.
We've got the movie lessons, which we're working on now; we've got
the high-frequency, most common English lessons, which I will start
with Chris next week; and then we've got my own lessons. They'll
probably be at a high intermediate and low advanced level, and I am
just now starting to outline and create the story.
So thank you for joining me. I really enjoy Effortless English. I've just
had a fantastic time emailing you guys, talking to you, doing this
Podcast. I've met some of the members when I've traveled, and in
general, it's just been a fantastic experience this first year of
Effortless English. I look forward to us growing even more in 2008, I
look forward to meeting more of you in 2008, and please keep
commenting on my blog, keep giving me your ideas. I love hearing
from you, and my blog is the best place to contact me directly.
Okay. Have a great 2008. This is the year you will be fluent in

English; this is the year you will speak English automatically without
trying, without thinking, and without translating. You can do it. See
you next time. Bye-bye.

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Saturday, February 2, 2008

AJ: No problem. Submit

Chris: Yeah, go.

Chris: Awesome man, I have a Masters degree and

well I think it’s been I over 10 years of English teaching

View my complete profile

Chris: Three or four huh?

AJ: Yeah. Yeah I guess it woulda been before I went to Thailand

Chris: About freekin time.

http://www.effortlessenglishclub.blogspot.com/ (1 de 28) [05/02/2008 12:28:53]

AJ: Yeah, yeah.

Chris: I do. I’ve got that on my – I actually put it on both my work

Chris: I don’t – I wouldn’t necessarily say that.

http://www.effortlessenglishclub.blogspot.com/ (2 de 28) [05/02/2008 12:28:53]

Chris: Sort of on the – sort of right into Durham.

Chris: So maybe they might even have them there huh?

AJ: Cranking out lessons at the same time.

AJ: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

AJ: Yeah, no worries, no worries.

Chris: You’re comfortable do it.

http://www.effortlessenglishclub.blogspot.com/ (3 de 28) [05/02/2008 12:28:53]

AJ: Yeah. Exciting, cool!

AJ: Oh perfect, perfect.

AJ: Okay, that sounds good.

Chris: That’s 5% less work for us to do I figure.

AJ: Oh yeah, yeah the TPRS book?

Chris: Yeah, I finally – cause I had read maybe a third of it but I

http://www.effortlessenglishclub.blogspot.com/ (4 de 28) [05/02/2008 12:28:53]

AJ: Oh good, good, so that gives you a nice overview of the

AJ: Kind of the rationale behind it.

Chris: Yep. Yeah it all looks good, it makes a lot of sense to me so I

AJ: Stuff go – yeah that’s good stuff too.

Chris: And I’ll get to that.

AJ: Yeah there’s a – well there’s a 3-hour layover in Chicago, three,

AJ: Exactly, that’s why I did it too cause I had –

http://www.effortlessenglishclub.blogspot.com/ (5 de 28) [05/02/2008 12:28:53]

AJ: Oh no I haven’t seen that. I think I’ve heard of it but I haven’t

AJ: Oh okay, cool.

Chris: Yeah they’re sorta funny.

Chris: Anyways. Get you all full up on your ipod.

AJ: Oh nice, that’s great.

http://www.effortlessenglishclub.blogspot.com/ (6 de 28) [05/02/2008 12:28:53]

Chris: Yeah man, yeah, let’s do that.

Chris: Yeah that sounds great. That’d be fun.

AJ: Yeah so see you tomorrow night.

Chris: Well I guess we can figure that out.

AJ: Yeah, I imagine I may be hungry after a bunch of bad airline

http://www.effortlessenglishclub.blogspot.com/ (7 de 28) [05/02/2008 12:28:53]

AJ: Damn, not even a drink?

AJ: Yeah, yeah, yeah I’ll do that.

AJ: All rightie then, see you tomorrow night.

Chris: Okay great.

Listen To This Article at:

http://www.effortlessenglishclub.blogspot.com/ (8 de 28) [05/02/2008 12:28:53]

Posted by AJ Hoge at 12:28 PM 6 comments

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

This is it-- finally!

The new Flow English Lessons are now available to my podcast

This discount price is available until February 2nd. On that day, we

To get the new Flow English lessons, go to:

Listen To This Article at:

Posted by AJ Hoge at 1:29 PM 6 comments