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Tribes Main Text

Hi, this is AJ, welcome to our next and final lesson. Are you ready? This is it! So you’ve got to be strong for this one, this is our last week. Remember, keep your body strong. We’ve got to get this English, get this learning, deep into your body not just your brain. So I want you moving. I want you smiling. I want those shoulders back. I want you to use all the tools for this one, okay? Let’s go.

This one is called “Tribes.” This comes from a book called Tribes by Seth Godin, so Seth Godin again; a different book. And in this book Seth Godin talks about modern tribes. What’s a tribe? A tribe is basically a family, a big extended family. So it’s not just a mother and father and sister/brother, not just grandparents. It’s really a whole collection of families that are connected together, so a collection of families that create one big group called a tribe.

Now, of course, there’s sort of an old historical meaning to this. We talk about Native American Tribes, African Tribes, but there’s also a modern meaning and that’s what Seth Godin is writing about. He’s writing about modern tribes. Now a modern tribe is not based on family. It’s just a group of people that are connected by some common purpose, some common meaning.

And, of course, the Internet makes it possible for us to have international tribes. We can connect with people all over the world who share the same purpose, the same meaning or similar purposes, similar meanings, as ourselves.

Seth Godin, again, is a business writer, so he writes a lot about this phenomenon, this experience of tribes on the Internet from a business perspective. But, really, it’s also a phenomenon, an experience that is very general. People are connecting with each other all over the world for learning, for social purposes, for dating, for business, of course, for many different purposes.

And at Effortless English this is one of my big goals for Effortless English is to create a tribe of enthusiastic, passionate, positive, English learners and really more than just English learners. The meaning of Effortless English, the purpose of Effortless English, is not just learning English. Have you noticed? It’s about living better lives, happier lives, more passionate lives, more energetic lives, healthier lives.

We’re just using English to connect with each other. We’re using English to find other people who want these same things, so we can encourage each other, so we can learn together. English is our tool. It’s the way we can all share together. It doesn’t matter if we’re from the United States or from Mexico or from somewhere in South America or from Spain or Germany or Japan or Thailand, anywhere in the world, we can share together. We can connect using English as our tool. But English is not our final purpose. It is not the final meaning or purpose of our tribe.

So let me read a little bit from Seth Godin’s book Tribes , which is an excellent book, by the way, and then I’ll talk more about it. So here we go:

“The Opportunity - It’s simple, there are tribes everywhere now. Inside and outside of organizations, in public and in private, in nonprofits, in classrooms, across the planet, every one of these tribes is yearning for leadership and connection. This is an opportunity for you, an opportunity to find or assemble a tribe and lead it. The question isn’t ‘Is it possible for me to do this?’ Now the question is ‘Will I choose to do it?’

“For a long time I’ve been writing about the fact that everyone is now a connector; a member. The explosion in media channels, combined with the increased leverage of individuals within organizations, means that just about anyone can influence just about anyone else.

“This book says something new, something even better, more exciting. Everyone is not just a connector, not just a member, everyone is now a leader. The explosion in tribes, groups and circles of interest means that anyone who wants to make a difference can. Without leaders there are no followers. You’re a leader. We need you.

“Something to Believe In – Tribes are about faith; they are about something to believe in. Tribes are about belief in an idea and in a community and they are grounded in respect and admiration for the leader of the tribe and for the other members, as well. Do you believe in what you do every day? It turns out that belief happens to be a brilliant strategy.”

Okay. That’s a nice, interesting section from Seth Godin’s book Tribes. And what I like about this is that phrase “that everyone is now a leader.” And I want you to think about that. Everyone is now a leader. We’re all members too, but we’re also all leaders and I want you to be a leader in our Effortless English Club. I want you to be a leader. I want you to inspire and help other people, not just yourself.

For example, we have excellent leaders already in our club. Many of the mini-stories in these lessons have characters with names of Effortless English leaders. For example, Inca, Inca is one of our fantastic leaders. She is from the Czech Republic, I believe, and she is just amazing. She’s always helping other members in our club.

She’s always answering their questions. She’s always encouraging them. She is a true leader.

There’s Big Jan, who’s another one of our fantastic leaders. There’s Vanilla. There are so many great leaders in our group and I want you to be one of them.

Since you have finished all of these lessons I know that you have a very good level of English and I know that you can now, very easily, go onto our Forums or our Master Member Site or both and you can be a leader now. You have done something amazing. You completed all of these lessons. You did all of the mini-stories. Your English ability has increased and improved so quickly, so well, I know you can do it.

So I want you to get on those Forums, I want you to get on the Master Member Site and I want you to communicate with our other members. Help them. Because some of those people are just starting and maybe, like you, maybe they have some doubts, maybe they have some worries and maybe they need someone to encourage them. Maybe they need someone to say something kind to them or nice to them. Maybe they need someone to help them feel stronger and more confident or to show them an example of leadership.

You can do that now. So, please, now is the time where you can share, you can give to other people now. You can now be the teacher. And that is my true purpose in the Effortless English Club. Not to be the big leader and the big teacher, just me, but to create more teachers, more leaders. I want you to do that now. I want you to feel that same happiness and gift when you help another person. When you help them feel better, feel stronger, feel happier.

So, please, get on our Forums, join our Master Member Site and do that for someone else now. Just a kind word, just a little encouragement, just answer one question and you’ll make a big difference for someone else. You’ll help someone else. I hope you’ll do it.

So now is the time for the final step. The final step is to use everything you have learned. Number one, that means to use the actual English you have learned, the vocabulary, you’re new speaking ability, all of that. And that means connection with people and speaking to them and writing to them. It means real communication, not just studying. You can’t just be a student only, you’ve got to get out there and use it.

Well, you can do that now. You’ve completed all these lessons, you now have the ability. You probably already had the ability before; you definitely have the ability now. So get on Skype and talk to other members. Get on the Forums. Find somebody. Make an appointment with them. Talk to them on Skype. Or talk to them on the phone. Or just get on the Forums and write in English. Write your story. Write about your emotions. Help other people connect. Use it.

The second thing you must do, this final step, is to lead, as I’ve been saying and I’m going to say it again. Your last and final step is to share the strength, the confidence, the ability you now have with other people. Inspire them, lead them. You’re a leader. We need you.

I will see you next time. I will see you on the Master Member Site where I will be giving you videos every month. I’ll see you on the forums. Take care. Thank you so much for listening to these lessons. I hope you have grown happier, stronger and, of course, I hope you have become a much more confident English speaker. It’s been my privilege and my honor to teach you and to help you.

Thank you so much.