You want to practice speaking English, but a packed subway car on the way to work is not the place to open your mouth. Still, letting that time slip by feels like a waste.
If you can't speak out loud, switch just your head to English mode. Here's the most realistic three-step "thinking" routine I've put together, plus a few ways to turn your phone into an English environment.
A Three-Step Thinking Routine for the Subway#
1. Inner Monologue — Observing#
An inner monologue means silently describing what you see and what people around you are doing, in short sentences. Nothing fancy.
- "The train is really crowded today."
- "That person is watching a YouTube video."
You will hit words you don't know. You might get stuck on how to say "hold the handrail," for example. When that happens, drop it into a notes app or a chatbot right away.
2. Work Simulation — Planning#
In this step you put today's tasks, or what you finished yesterday, into English. I'm a developer, so my sentences look like this.
- "First, I need to check the error logs for the CRM project."
- "I will deploy the new UI for Ittae app this evening."
It gets much easier if you picture yourself running the morning standup (Daily Scrum, the short meeting where teammates share what they did yesterday and what they'll do today) in your head.
3. Text Back-and-Forth with an AI Partner#
If one of the sentences you thought up feels off, type it into the ChatGPT or Claude mobile app. A prompt like this works. I write mine in Korean, but here it is in English.
I just thought "I will eat chicken tonight" in my head, meaning I'm planning to have chicken for dinner.
How would a native speaker usually say that?You'll get back a more natural expression, such as "I'm gonna grab some fried chicken for dinner." Read it, then repeat it in your head three times.
Two Points That Keep the Routine Going#
- Flow over perfect sentences — If even a single word comes to mind, that counts as a win.
- Don't translate — Instead of converting your native language into English, reach for the English word from the start.
Setting Up Your Phone as an English Environment#
These are ways to get exposed to English naturally from the moment you unlock your phone on your commute.
1. Change the Device Language#
This is the most painful option and the most effective one. Switch your phone's default language to English.
The menus in apps you use every day, like KakaoTalk (Korea's default messenger), Instagram, and your calendar, all turn into English, and you pick up survival English along the way. Buttons and UI text such as Delete, Settings, and Share become familiar fast.
2. Use Voice Mode in AI Apps#
When you need speaking and listening more than typing, turn on Voice Mode in the ChatGPT or Claude app. Put in your earphones and suggest a role-play.
Act as my coworker. I'm going to explain what I did yesterday.The AI listens, corrects you, and answers in English, so you practice listening and speaking at the same time. If there are too many people around, typing your side and listening to the spoken reply works well too.
3. Listen to English Podcasts and Watch Dev YouTube#
Let the algorithm feed you videos on your interests, like development, startups, and productivity, in English. I recommend two apps.
- Snipd (podcast app) — AI generates a transcript in real time, and you can tap any unfamiliar word to see its meaning. It's well suited to dev and tech podcasts.
- RedKiwi — Built on YouTube videos. You follow live subtitles, look up words, and it's great for shadowing practice.
When you watch, turn on the auto-generated English captions (CC) instead of subtitles in your own language, and follow along with your eyes and ears together. When an unknown word shows up, guess from context and keep going.
4. Take Control of Your Instagram and X (Twitter) Feed#
Follow overseas developers and indie hackers you find interesting, and turn on notifications. The goal is to force short English sentences in front of your eyes every time you scroll.
It's even better if you build the habit of reading an English tweet and summarizing it in one line in your head.
Start on Tomorrow's Commute#
Try to do everything at once and you'll burn out quickly. Tomorrow morning on the subway, start by describing the scene in front of you in one English sentence.
Almost everything comes from nothing.
— Henri Amiel
