Should You Take An English Class?

Should you take an English class,

like an actual English class in a classroom?

Should you go to your local college

or your local community center and sign up for a night class

or maybe a weekend class where you can learn English?

I mean, you can learn a lot of English

by yourself these days.

There's apps.

You can use YouTube like you're doing right now.

You can find so many resources where you can teach yourself.

So, is a formal traditional English class still valuable?

Well, I think it is.

And in this English lesson, I will tell you

why I still think it's a good idea

to come to a classroom like this and learn English.

(upbeat music)

The first thing that I think is really cool

about taking a night class

or a class on the weekend to learn English

is that you will be around other people.

You'll be with other people

who are learning the same language as you.

And what's cool about that

is that they will be able to help you find things

that you can use to learn English.

They'll give you recommendations for good English songs,

good YouTube channels,

recommendations for the latest app

that they've found to learn English.

So being connected to other English learners

has a lot of value.

In addition to that,

there might be a little bit of competition.

If you're a competitive person

and you're in a class with other people,

you might try to do better than them.

Competition can be a great motivator.

And lastly, being around other people

who are doing the same thing

could lead to some really cool friendships.

So, number one,

one really cool thing about being in an English class

is that you will meet other people

and they can help you with your English learning journey.

The second thing that's kind of cool

about taking an English class, but maybe not so cool,

but it's certainly motivating,

is the fact that usually you have to pay for that class.

When you pay for something, at least for me,

when I pay for something,

I'm more likely to do it.

I don't know if this works for you,

but it certainly works for a lot of people in the world.

When you decide to take an English class

and when you pay the fee,

when you pay for that class,

that can really motivate you to go every week,

because you want to get your money's worth.

If you pay for the class,

you're probably thinking, this class costs $100 or $200.

I am going to go to every single class

because I wanna get the most value I can

for the money that I've spent.

So the second thing that's cool about an English class,

and also maybe not cool,

is that you have to pay for it.

And the fact that you paid for it can be highly motivating.

The third thing that's really cool

about taking an English class is that there is a teacher.

Now, I'm a teacher,

so maybe I'm a little biased when I say that,

because I think teachers are awesome.

But let's talk a little bit

about what it's like to have a teacher.

When you have a teacher, you get regular feedback.

A teacher will help you to find your mistakes

and correct them.

When you have a teacher,

the teacher will regularly grade your assignments.

You will take quizzes and tests and you will get a score.

So having a teacher in the classroom,

having someone who's an expert

at teaching the English language

means that you are constantly getting feedback,

you're constantly getting corrections,

and you're constantly being measured.

And all of those things can really help you

on your English learning journey.

When you learn on your own,

you can do some of these things,

but I don't think it's quite as effective.

And don't get me wrong,

you should be doing lots of English learning on your own,

but there's something kind of special

about being in a classroom

and having a teacher that cares about you

and helps you make progress.

I really like schedules.

And I think when you take an English class,

it helps you to create a really good schedule.

Let's say you're taking an English class

every Wednesday night for a couple of hours.

What that means is that the Wednesday night class

can act as an anchor point for your English learning.

On the days leading up to the class,

you will do your homework or prepare for the class.

And after the class,

you can reflect on the things that you have learned.

So having an English class in your weekly schedule,

knowing that every week you have that class,

can really motivate you to learn new things,

so that when you get to class,

you can maybe show off a little bit,

show off some of the new vocabulary you learned.

And it gives you maybe some followup work,

some homework to do after the class.

And all of that can really help you set

a really good schedule.

So anyways, the fourth cool thing

about taking an English class,

it helps you set a good schedule.

I think we still live in a world

where having a certificate or a diploma

is a very powerful thing.

When you take an English class,

you will most likely get a certificate at the end.

Or if you take several classes,

maybe you'll get some kind of diploma.

Having a certificate or diploma

allows you to tell other people

that you did some official learning.

When you apply for a job,

you can put on your resume or your CV

that you actually took English classes.

Putting that on your resume or CV has a lot of validity.

If you put on your resume that you just watched

a lot of Bob the Canadian's YouTube videos,

that doesn't really carry the same weight.

So the cool thing about taking a class

is you will most likely get some kind of piece of paper,

some kind of recognition that you took that class,

and then you can then put it on job applications

and you can tell people that you actually did it,

and you'll have the proof.

The sixth thing that I think is kind of awesome

about learning in an actual classroom with other people

is that you can do things when you're together

that you can't really do in a Zoom meeting

or if you're learning on your own.

Here's a couple of examples.

Let me think of something that's fun

and something that might make you a little bit nervous.

In a classroom, you can play games,

you can play games that help you learn English.

There are games you can play on Zoom,

and I know you can play games by yourself on an app,

but there are games you can play

in a language learning classroom

that you can only play with other people in a classroom,

and that makes learning a lot of fun.

The second example I'll give you

might be something that would make you nervous.

There's nothing quite like standing up

in front of other people in real life

and doing some kind of presentation or a speech.

So that's the sixth thing I like about the classroom.

There are things you can do when you're with other people

that are exciting and that are fun,

and maybe things that make you a little bit nervous,

but they're all really good things to do

when you're learning English.

Well, thank you so much for listening to me

talk about how I think taking an English class

is still a good thing to do.

Now, I should tell you,

I am a teacher, I do love the classroom,

so maybe I'm a little bit biased in my opinion.

But I think I gave some really good examples

as to why I think taking a class

with other people and a teacher is still a good idea.

Thanks again for watching.

Remember, if this is your first time here,

don't forget to click that red subscribe button over there.

And give me a thumbs up

if this video helped you learn

just a little bit more English.

And if you have the time,

why don't you stick around and watch another English lesson?

(upbeat music)