The Art of Learning a New Language

Learning a new language is fun and exciting, but it can also be frustrating at the same time. When learning to speak a new language as our second or third language, it is usually not as easy comparing to when we were learning our native language as a child. Reading books is great! It will improve your English vocabulary and grammar, but not your pronunciation. Let’s use music as an example, while the music theory is the same the techniques to play various instruments are different. An experienced guitarist will not automatically be able to play the violin, although both instruments are string instruments. Once you understand this fundamental principle, you will never look at learning a new language the same way again.

Traditional English classes

The majority of the traditional English classes mainly follow a script to help their students to pass the exams in order to obtain a certificate at the end of the course. It does not offer the necessary training to improve their speaking skill. This is how the system works, even for native English-speakers. Students are mostly taught how to read and write but not how to speak in both public and state schools. Quite often you will find the well-spoken native English people were taught at home by their family from the day they started to learn to speak. Anything other than the traditional learning will need to be privately funded, just like piano lessons outside of school hours.

Common misconception

• Speaking with native speakers to practise your English – Great idea! After all, practice makes perfect, right? But what exactly are you practising and why is your accent still the same? You will not drive around to practise your driving skill without adequate driving lessons, would you?
• Free YouTube videos mainly care about Ad sales! You might learn a few things or two but don’t expect genuine progress. How do you measure if they are good or not when you don’t even know the English language and ask yourself why your accent hasn’t changed?
• Watching TV dramas and movies can be fun! You can pick up words here and there, usually the easy words. Try saying “Worcestershire sauce”!
• There’s an app for that – These apps have centralised the pronunciation of words under one roof. Isn’t this great? Sure! It is convenient for when you need to express yourself but don’t know how to pronounce the words. It’s a quick fix! To speak properly, it takes more than pronunciation of words.
• I already have a Bachelor’s, Master’s degree or a PhD – My certificates will get me a good job. This should be enough, right? Well! This is the chicken or the egg question. What is your profession? Do you need to regularly communicate with colleagues or clients? Are you a scientist or coder who spend all the time alone? Above all, what is your expectation? If you set your bar high, then it is highly likely that speaking well is important to you.
• I’m learning with a native English teacher, I have improved my vocabulary, reading & writing skills but I’m struggling to speak clearly & my accent is still strong – Learning English is not the same as learning to speak English. It requires different skillsets. First-language speakers of English do not necessarily make the best accent experts.
• UK Regional Accents and RP – There are many different accents across the UK and most TEFL English teachers don’t speak RP, let alone teaching RP. On top of that they aren’t trained to provide the service. It’s a very specialised area.
• My accent is my identity – yes but can people understand your easily? Are you conveying your messages correctly and appropriately? Is your etiquette and tone of voice aligning with your speech? It is so much more than just your accent.