5 Reasons English is Hard to Learn

Vanessa: Hi, I'm  

Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com.  Is English the hardest language to learn?  

Well, these articles say so. But  if you are one of the 300 million  

English learners around the world, it can't be  impossible. Right? Well, let's talk about it. 

Have you ever watched an English TV show or movie  and thought, "Man, this is not what I learned in  

school." Well, you're right. You learned classroom  English, not real English. In the real world,  

people speak real English for daily conversation,  for the workplace, for life. It's real English.  

Don't waste your time studying  classroom English anymore.  

Join me and learn to speak real American English. Let's talk about five reasons why English is  

a hard language to learn. And let me know in the  comments if you agree with what I have to say. 

To help you never forget what you learn in this  lesson, I've created a free PDF worksheet that you  

can download with the link in the description.  You can review all of today's vocabulary,  

ideas, pronunciation tips. And at the bottom of  the worksheet, you can answer Vanessa's challenge  

question. So click on the link in the description  to download this free PDF worksheet today. 

At the end of this lesson, you'll learn one of  the top mistakes that my English students make.  

And I have a special announcement about  how you can save $100 on my premium course,  

The Fearless Fluency Club. Let's get started with  the first reason why English is hard to learn. 

Number one, real vocabulary is different  from classroom vocabulary. Let's take a  

look at a couple examples. Let's imagine that  you move to the US and you get a job working at  

a pizza restaurant. Okay. It's a  good first job and it's a good way to  

get some work experience in the US. Well, you  might hear your boss say something like this.  

"Is the pizza ready to be delivered?"  And then you'll hear a coworker say,  

"Yes, the pizza is good to go." Huh? Good to go. Okay. Well, we have a more typical classroom  

English word, ready. Is the pizza ready to  be delivered? And then you hear someone say,  

"Yes, it's good to go." Well, they could  have said, "Yes, it's ready." That's okay.  

But you will hear these types of real English  phrases, "Good to go," quite often in daily life. 

Let's take a look at another example. If you're in  a long-term committed relationship with someone,  

you've probably talked about money before. And  money can be a difficult part of a marriage.  

But we can also exchange this rather  simple, normal word, difficult, for  

another more real English term. You could say  money can be a sticking point in a marriage. 

Now this just takes your vocabulary up to the next  level. But this is one of the reasons why when  

you're watching English movies and TV shows, you  feel like it's a different language than what you  

learned. Yes, you will hear the words ready and  difficult, but you will also hear the expressions  

good to go or a sticking point. And that's what  will set you apart from beginner English learners,  

when you can integrate these rule real vocabulary  expressions into your daily conversation. 

All right, let's go on to reason number  two why English is hard to learn.  

There are over 10,000 phrasal verbs used  in daily conversation. And some of them  

have more than one meaning. Yes, that's right.  10,000. I'm so sorry. But don't worry. Today  

I'm going to help you with two of these phrasal  verbs that each have two meanings. So really,  

it's kind of like learning four for two. Okay. Let's start with the first one.  

To come through. This is a typical example of a  phrasal verb. We have a verb, to come, and then  

we have an added word. This is a preposition or  sometimes called a participle, the word through,  

to come through. And this is put together  in a phrase, why we call it a phrasal verb,  

and they have some unique uses in English. So  let's take a look at the first way to use this. 

Let's imagine you're working in a  hospital and you hear a doctor say,  

"Coming through," as he runs down the hallway.  Well, there must be some kind of emergency. Here  

he's moving from one location to another. And  he's saying, "Coming through," warning everyone  

get out of the way. So this is the very literal  way to use this. I am coming through. Watch out. 

But we can use this in a more figurative way as  well. What if I said to you that my mom always  

comes through for me when I need her? Does this  mean that she's running through the hallway and  

everyone is moving out of the way? No. This means  that she supports me or successfully helps me.  

My mom comes through for me whenever I need  help. I can depend on her help. So this is  

a second way to use this phrasal verb, to come  through. She always comes through for me. I hope  

that there's someone in your life who always  comes through for you whenever you need help. 

Let's take a look at another phrasal verb that  has two meanings: to show up. Let's take a look at  

this sentence. You can't show up 15 minutes late  for work every day and expect to keep your job.  

What's this mean here? Does this mean you're  appearing out of a cloud? I showed up at work.  

No. This just means that you are arriving.  You're appearing there. But not so much in  

a magical way. You can't show up or come to work  15 minutes late every day and expect to keep your  

job. You'll probably get fired at some point. Well, to help you remember way to use show up,  

because we often use this in daily conversation,  I'd like to show you a little clip.  

There is a conversation between me and a woman  named Alexandra that is in my course, The Fearless  

Fluency Club. Because in this course, we break  down conversations and pull out key vocabulary,  

key phrasal verbs, key pronunciation. And this  is one of the phrasal verbs that we used in  

the conversation. You're going hear her say,  "Mom is very likely to show up last minute." 

Alexandra is a wedding planner, and she's talking  about all the different situations that might  

happen in a wedding. And in this situation, she  says that maybe you say, "I don't think my mom is  

going to come to the wedding." Well, as a wedding  planner, she knows Mom is very likely to show up  

last minute. This means unannounced. They might  not be ready for her. So, as the wedding planner,  

she needs to know this might happen. Mom might  show up last minute. Let's watch this clip. And  

I want you to listen for this phrasal verb. And  I hope that this extra context will help you to  

remember this and use it yourself. Let's watch. Alexandra: 

So even if they say, "Mom's not coming," Mom is  very likely to show up last minute, unannounced. 

Vanessa: Okay. 

Alexandra: Dressed and ready to go. 

Vanessa: Did you hear Mom is very  

likely to show up last minute? I hope so. Let's  go on to the second meaning of this phrasal verb  

to show up. And usually we're going to  add someone in the middle, to show someone  

up. Let's take a look at this sentence. John was  always trying to show his teacher up by presenting  

new facts about the lesson. So what can we guess  from this situation that to show someone up means? 

Well, if the teacher is giving a lesson, let's say  me here in this situation, I'm teaching you about  

phrasal verbs. And then, John, maybe someone  in the comments, sorry, if your name's John,  

writes, "Vanessa, well, you can also use them  like this. And this was wrong that you said," and  

he's trying to make the teacher or to make someone  look unskilled. Like that person knows way more  

than the authority. And of course,  it's likely that I get things wrong.  

Feel free to add more ideas in the comments to  help add to this lesson. But that's the idea here. 

When you show someone up, you're trying to make  them look unskilled. It's not a great thing. So  

you might complain about a coworker and say, "He's  always trying to show me up. It's so annoying.  

Whenever I say something that's interesting  in a meeting, he always says, 'Oh, but we can  

also do this. Oh, well we can add this to it.'  And it makes my ideas look less interesting."  

So he's always trying to show me up. This is a  second way to use the phrasal verb to show up. 

Let's go on to our third reason why English is  hard to learn, including another clip from our  

friend, Alexandra. Reason number three, American  English links, reduces, and cuts off sounds  

completely. Let's take a look at one sentence.  Yes. Just one sentence. And I want you to listen  

for how many times we link, reduce, and cutoff  sounds. If you can't catch it the first time,  

don't worry. We're going to watch the clip and  then I'll break it down with you, just like we  

would in my course, The Fearless Fluency Club.  And I'll help you to add some ideas and tools  

to your pronunciation toolbox so that you can  understand English that's fast like Alexandra, and  

you can also speak like that yourself. Let's watch  that clip and then we'll break it down together. 

Alexandra: Venues will give deals  

where three months out we have this Saturday open.  We're going to give out a deal if anybody would  

like to book it short notice. Vanessa: 

In this clip, Alexandra is talking about  bookings slots for the location where she  

plans weddings. And she said, "We're going to  give out a deal if anybody would like to book  

it short notice." But did she say it as clearly  as that? No. Instead, she said, "We're gonna  

give ouda deal if anybody would like t'book i'  shor' notice." There's a lot of things happening  

here. I know it's just one sentence, but you'll  be amazed how many things are linked, reduced,  

and cut out in American English pronunciation.  So let's start at the beginning of this sentence. 

We are going to becomes we're gonna. This  is a common spoken reduction in English  

that going to becomes gonna. We're gonna. And  then she says, "We're gonna give out a deal."  

But something happens without a. Listen when I say  it. We're gonna give ouda deal." Ooh, out and a  

are linked together. But then, the  T changes to a D sound. In American  

English this is extremely common that when  there's a T with a vowel on either side,  

the T changes to a D. This is similar to the word  water or sweater. And even if it's two words,  

like out of, the same thing happens ouda, ouda.  So she says, "We're gonna give ouda deal."  

And then she continues and says, "If anybody  would like to book." T'book. Instead of saying  

to book, which is very clear and it has a U  sound, to book, we cut off the O in the word to,  

and just keep the T sound, t'book, t'book. This  is extremely common when there is to plus a verb,  

to go, to book, to fly, to see. Great.  We're going to cut off the O and just say T. 

But then, at the end of the sentence, the same  thing happens with two words, something with the T  

sound. American English does a lot with T sounds.  Listen carefully when I finish this sentence.  

"T'book i' shor' notice." Did you hear me say to  book it short notice? Nope. The T at the end of it  

and short becomes what we call a  stopped T. This is a little fancy word.  

That means when you try to say the word it,  you say i'. Your tongue stops at the top of  

your mouth. You're trying to make a T shape and  sound, but you don't let the air go through. I',  

shor' notice. This is extremely common in American  English. And it's one of the reasons why English  

pronunciation can seem difficult or hard. So I have a little challenge for you.  

Can you try to say this full sentence with me  exactly the way that Alexandra did? We'll try  

to say it together and then we'll watch the  clip one more time. And I want you to listen  

for all of the linking, reduction, and cutoff  sounds that we talked about. Let's try to say  

it together. We're gonna give ouda deal if anybody  would like t'book i' shor' notice. Excellent work. 

All right. Let's watch that clip one more time.  And I want you to listen for gonna, ouda, t'book,  

i', shor'. I want you to listen for all of  those sounds. Are you ready? Let's watch. 

Alexandra: Venues will give deals  

where three months out we have this Saturday open.  We're going to give out a deal if anybody would  

like to book it short notice. Vanessa: 

Did you catch some of those pronunciation points  that we talked about? I hope so. Let's go on to  

reason number four that English is hard to learn.  Real English conversations are fast. I don't need  

to tell you this, right? That's why you're here.  You want to be able to understand real English  

conversations and speak like that yourself. I'd like to show you a little clip from  

the conversation that I had in The  Fearless Fluency Club advanced level  

with a guy named David who lived in the woods in  Florida with a group of 50 hippies in the 1960s,  

until he was caught by the cops. The word cop is a slang term for a  

police officer. So we're going to watch this  clip. And I want you to guess what the cop  

told him in this clip. Let's watch. David: 

He came back and then some other  cops came back. And then the original  

officer that told us to hide, he came back. Vanessa: 

He was still around. David: 

He said, "You're still here?" I  said, "Yeah, you told us to hide." 

Vanessa: We did a good job of it for that long. 

David: You told us to hide and we hid.  

He's like, "Yeah." Vanessa: 

When David and his friends created their first  illegal campsite in Florida in the 1960s, somehow  

they hid a group of 50 hippies in the middle of  the woods for one year. But at the beginning of  

this time, a cop found them and said, "You know,  this is illegal, but you can do it if you hide."  

So they decided to try to hide their campsites  that they didn't get caught. Somehow they hid  

50 people for over a year. Is crazy. You can  watch the full conversation about how David and  

his friends did this in The Fearless Fluency Club.  But when the cop finally caught them after a year,  

he said, "You're still here?" And David told  the cop, "You told us to hide, so we hid." 

Though here he's saying, "You know what? We just  followed your advice. And it worked." Let's watch  

that clip one more time. And now that you know  more context and the exact words that the cop  

said, and that David said, I want you to see  if you can understand fast English a little  

bit better than before. Let's watch. David: 

He came back and then some other  cops came back. And then the original  

officer that told us to hide, he came back. Vanessa: 

He was still around. David: 

He said, "You're still here?" I said, "Yeah,  

you told us to hide." Vanessa: 

We did a good job of it for that long. David: 

He told us to hide and we hid. He's like, "Yeah." Vanessa: 

With some context and a little practice  and a teacher, me, to guide you,  

fast spoken English can become much easier to  understand. Now what about that big mistake  

that a lot of my students make? Let's go on to  reason number five why English is hard to learn. 

Number five, it's hard to find someone to  speak with. I want to tell you one of the  

biggest mistakes that my students make, and maybe  you make this mistake as well. For my students,  

and maybe for you, you only speak English when  you're traveling and you go to a hotel or to a  

restaurant, and you only speak English when you  are talking with your boss or on the phone at  

work. This is a big mistake. Why? Because those  are all high-pressure situations. When you feel  

a lot of pressure and anxiety about speaking  English in those high-pressure situations,  

you associate stress with speaking in English. But I'm here to help you build your confidence,  

not to feel more stressed. If speaking  English with your boss makes you feel nervous,  

and of course it would, I want you to take  it back a little bit. Speak with someone  

who you feel comfortable with. And after  you've done that for a while, then you'll  

feel much more comfortable speaking in those  high-pressure situations possibly with your boss. 

So how can you find someone comfortable to speak  with? Well, there's no one more comfortable to  

speak with than someone who knows exactly the  way that you feel. In my course, The Fearless  

Fluency Club, thousands of motivated English  speakers from around the world meet up daily,  

weekly on Zoom meetings just to speak together  and practice growing their confidence in English. 

Simone from Italy said about her  experience speaking with other members  

in the course, "I really like The Fearless  Fluency Club because I can know new  

friends around the world, new words, and new,  interesting cultures." That's awesome, Simone. 

If you enjoyed this lesson, I invite you to join  me in The Fearless Fluency Club where you can  

finally learn real English and speak confidently,  not classroom English, real English spoken by  

real American English speakers, real vocabulary  so that you don't waste your time studying  

unimportant words, real phrasal verbs so that  you can use them in your daily conversation,  

real American English pronunciation so that  you can speak naturally and clearly. Plus,  

in The Fearless Fluency Club, you will have  access to a community of motivated English  

learners that you can speak together with. Plus,  live weekly lessons in our Facebook group from me  

and unlimited access to the course, lifetime  access, so that you can review whenever you want. 

Would you like to take your English to the  next level in 2022? Next Friday, December  

31st through January 5th is your chance  to finally speak real American English  

and save big money. The course will be $100 off.  I have a special sale in The Fearless Fluency  

Club only one or two times per year. Make sure  to click on the link in the description to join  

me in The Fearless Fluency Club and speak real  American English. Plus, you'll be able to save  

$100. Click on the link in the description to  join me today and a community of thousands of  

motivated English learners from around the world. And now I have a question for you. Let me know  

in the comments which part of English do you  think is the most difficult? Is it vocabulary,  

phrasal verbs, pronunciation, understanding fast  English, speaking? Let me know in the comments.  

I can't wait to see what you have to say, and I  will see you again next Friday for a new lesson  

here on my YouTube channel. Bye. The next step is to download the  

free PDF worksheet for this lesson. With this  free PDF, you will master today's lesson and  

never forget what you have learned. You can  be a confident English speaker. Don't forget  

to subscribe to my YouTube channel for  a free English lesson every Friday. Bye.