There's No Such Thing As A Second Language - EnglishAnyone's Greatest Hits 1

To celebrate over 10 years on YouTube helping English students all over the world become

fluent speakers, and because there are now more than 500 videos on our channel, I thought

it was time for a series of “Greatest Hits” lessons to make review simple for long-time

fans, and help new students and teachers find my best ideas easily. This first video introduces

my most controversial lesson: There’s no such thing as a second language.

The basic idea is that if you believe there are “second” languages, you will also

believe there must be special “second” language learning methods that you didn’t

use with your native language. But, the truth is there’s ONLY ONE WAY you become fluent

in ANY language – whether it’s your native language or a new one you’re learning. So

there’s no such thing as a “second” language requiring any special methods, and

you should learn EVERY language like it’s your first! Let’s look at this in detail.

All of the unnecessary mystery and pain of language learning comes from the belief in

“second” languages. “It’s a different language,” most students think, “so I

must use translations, study vocabulary lists and memorize vocabulary rules.” But as anyone

who’s studied a new language knows, these things do help you LEARN a language, but they

DON’T help you SPEAK confidently and fluently. In fact, they make you struggle to recall

words, use unnatural phrasing, and organize sentences in your head before you speak. Worst

of all, because of the “physical” problems that come with being unable to communicate,

you then FEEL increasingly unconfident and worried about speaking, often to the point

where you AVOID conversations.

So what should you do instead? And how can you learn a new language like it’s your

FIRST language? Let me give you an example using Japanese, a language I’m also fluent

in. You’re now going to learn some Japanese the same way you learned your native language.

Here we go!

Akai kuruma Akai sakana

Akai tori

Now, can you tell me what the fourth object on the bottom row is in Japanese?

Akai sakana Aoi sakana

Akai kuruma

If you said aoi kuruma, you’re right! This means blue car! Your brain – which naturally

recognizes patterns and solves puzzles – just helped you learn Japanese, WITHOUT using any

translations or studying any rules! Just look at everything you learned! You looked at the

pictures and naturally wondered “What’s the same, and what’s different?” If I

ask you what “aka” means, you’d probably guess “red.” You also learned that kuruma

means car, that sakana means fish and that tori means bird. You’ve even begun to understand

some GRAMMAR, and I didn’t tell you a single rule! You naturally discovered that adjectives

come before nouns in Japanese – in this case the color words aka (for red) and ao

(for blue). And because you understood the vocabulary and rules by yourself, you learned

much faster, you weren’t confused, you feel more confident, and you are now MUCH more

likely to remember these words when you speak! Isn’t that great!

At more advanced levels, this process works in exactly the same way. You continue to understand

new vocabulary and grammar all in the language you’re learning. This is why I teach all

of my adult English students – including the Japanese ones – completely in English.

It’s also the same way I teach my own children. They learn basic things in English, then use

the vocabulary they’ve learned to understand more difficult words and phrases.

In the same way, your parents told you the names of things in your language because there

was no way to translate. You also learned to put the rules together by yourself, just

like pieces of a puzzle. It’s because you learned your native language this way, and

NOT because your parents were native, or because of where you grew up, that you speak your

native language fluently today. And you just proved that you can do this ANYWHERE, and

with ANY language, because there’s no such thing as a second language! There are only

WAYS OF LEARNING languages that make communication automatic and smooth, and ways of learning

that cause frustration. See why it’s so easy for me to guarantee my methods and lessons?

Now, imagine if you learned 20 native phrases like this, or understood just one new grammar

point like this, each day! You’d easily correct the bad habits you developed with

traditional lessons, and you’d become a fluent English speaker very quickly, wouldn’t

you? It’s not your fault if you learned English – or any other language – the

traditional way because this is how almost everyone teaches. The good news is now you

can learn English like it’s your first language so you express yourself smoothly, correctly

and without fear. To become a confident, fluent English speaker the easy way, click on the

link in this video, or on the link in the description below this video, NOW! Bye-bye!