10 English Learning Myths

Hello, how are you doing?

In this episode we're going to take a look at some interesting, surprising myths about

learning English.

The top ten myths in fact.

I'm really excited to share them with you, I think you're going to like them.

They might make you think about your English fluency in a new way.

Let's challenge some of those thoughts that you have about English fluency.

I've heard from a lot of learners that they say, "Oh you know I really need to learn in

a Native speaking country.

I can't learn English until I can move to the United States."

Seriously?

It's not true.

If you're planning on moving to the United States for example, you should probably start

learning English before you move there.

You don't need to live or even to travel to a native speaking country to become fluent

in English.

There's so many resources, especially online with so many interesting websites, news sources,

video clips that you can watch, movies that you can stream, music sites that you can listen

to music on, there's so many ways that you can get immersed in English in your living

room, or wherever is convenient for you.

You don't have to be in an English speaking country, you just need to bring English to

you wherever you are.

In fact I know a lot of people who live in the U.S. and they've lived there for years,

maybe ten years, and they still don't speak English.

Why?

They spend their whole day everyday with people from their own country speaking their native

language.

Simply living in the United States is not the secret to fluency.

It's a great place to be don't get me wrong, but fluency has to come from you and your

effort, and knowing how to become fluent.

That's why I'm here to help you.

Stop making excuses, this excuse is not valid, you do not need to live in an English speaking

country to become fluent.

The next myth that I'd like to bust is that you have to major in English in University

in order to be fluent.

Now this is wrong on so many different levels, of course majoring in English can help you

with your English but in a University you're typically going to study literature, and writing,

and maybe how to become an English teacher.

Sure, maybe it's a good idea if you want to be working with those fields but, in fact

if you want to be able to speak English fluently I would suggest that you don't focus on it

at your University.

I would suggest, if you're taking English classes at University or a private language

school that's great, but you have to do so much more outside of the class to develop

your fluency, and make sure that you're not relying on your textbook, your teacher, or

your course work to make you fluent.

You really have to use English outside of the classroom to become fluent.

Okay, next number three is really fun.

I get a lot of requests from Go Natural English viewers, if they could become fluent by marrying

an English speaker.

Well, you do not need to marry an English speaker in fact to become fluent in English.

It's great if you can have connection, or friendship, or even more with an English speaker,

but you do not have to marry an English speaker to become fluent in English.

I would suggest to reach out to people with similar interests and discuss those interests

with them in English.

Maybe you're really into sports, you could find a sports community using social media,

or maybe a forum online.

That's a great way to connect with people.

I would suggest you put your effort into finding people with similar interest who also speak

English.

Number four, English is the most difficult language to learn.

This is simply not true for most English language learners.

English can be more difficult for some people and easier for some people depending on your

native language, and depending upon your experience learning languages.

If you've already learned another language it can become easier and easier to learn more

languages.

We have to think about the distance between English and your native language.

English is related to other languages like German, and romance languages like Spanish,

Portuguese, French, Italian, so it will be easier for you.

Lucky for you if you speak those languages already it will be easier to learn English.

For our friends who speak Arabic, or Chinese, Japanese, Russian, maybe Thai, it's maybe

going to be a little more difficult because you have to learn a new alphabet, and sounds

that don't exist in your language.

It's a fun challenge, and just think about how much you'll learn about learning languages,

and also about new cultures.

English could be difficult, but I don't think it's impossible.

I know that you can learn English and I believe in you.

Number five, you have to be rich to learn English fluently because you need to buy years

of language classes, and tutoring, and text books, and other stuff.

Well, it's not true.

If you can learn English quickly, easily, and in a fun way, you don't have to waste

time, and money on it.

What I would suggest is to target whatever money you spend on your learning on something

that's going to be effective.

Remember that even if you don't want to spend money or you're not in a position to spend

money, there's so many great resources online.

You're watching, going out to your English right now, or listening to the Podcast, and

there's a lot of amazing resources for learning English online.

Remember you don't have to be rich, although it's nice if you are but you don't have to

be.

Another is that you have to pass a test to become fluent in English.

Why do you need a test?

Is it maybe for your own confidence?

Well, it could be fun.

I've taken an English test just for fun but fluency is determined by you.

You have to set your own goals.

Now, you might need to take a test for entrance into a University, or perhaps for your job,

they may like you to have or to prove a certain level of English fluency.

That's great, it's a great idea to take a test, kind of know your level when you compare

it to other people around the world.

It's also something that you can put on your resume if you're looking for a job and you

want to show your English skills.

If you simply want to be able to speak with others in English, there's no need to take

a test.

Another myth about English fluency is that you will never ever sound like a native unless

you were born in that country.

Let's bust this myth right now because you can learn English fluently and you can develop

a great accent if you understand how to do it.

If you train your brain to do it and if you practice.

It is possible, even as an adult.

Adults even have some advantages to learn English fluently because we understand what

language is.

We probably understand what grammar is and so you can compare grammar in your native

language to grammar in English.

Think about a baby, they don't know what grammar is.

Think about even a six year old, or a ten year old, they don't have the same understanding

of grammar or of language that we do.

It's actually an advantage to learn as an adult and there's things you can do to improve

your pronunciation, check out Go Natural English to help you with your pronunciation as well,

and you can become a very clear native like English speaker.

Another myth about English is that you have to completely devote your life to it like

a Monk in a monastery, you have to focus on learning English all the time, all or nothing,

or you'll never become fluent.

This is kind of funny because I think the mindset here has to shift, we have to think

of English as a tool to do the things that you want to do in life.

It's great to focus for short periods of time on learning new points in English but then

use it to do other things in life, to go out in the world, to travel, to connect with people,

to read up on new topics, or to learn new hobbies.

You don't have to think of yourself as chained to your English text book, throw out your

text book and bring your English with you to do things that you want to do.

A very important myth to bust is that you have to give up your native language and your

native culture in order to speak English fluently.

This is so not true, this is not like having a passport and then having to give up your

citizenship to get a new one or something like that.

It's totally possible to create your new identity in English while you keep your old one, and

it's a really valuable skill to have, to be able to speak more than one language, to be

able to cross cultures to understand both deeply.

There's no reason why you have to give up your old language or your culture, your first

language.

Just think of yourself as having more roles to play, you have more than one character

you can play in life.

The final tenth myth that we must bust in English is that if you make mistakes you are

not a fluent English speaker.

How dare you make mistakes, that is just awful.

Native speakers never make mistakes, I never make mistakes.

Okay, I'm just being silly.

You guys, of course you're going to make mistakes.

Native speakers make mistakes all the time, I can't think of the word, or I stutter, I

stumble, or I say the wrong thing, it happens.

Even professional English teachers, it happens.

You have to accept it and just try to improve every time.

Making mistakes is actually a great opportunity to improve.

Keep making mistakes, they're awesome.

I hope you enjoyed the top ten myths in English, let me know what you think.

Leave a comment, and if you're interested in learning how to become fluent in English,

not just busting the myths but exactly the seven steps that I use to become fluent.

You can find them in our free course at GoNaturalEnglish.com/7steps.

It's the number 7, S-T-E-P-S.

See you there, bye for now.