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If you are reading this article, you have probably studied English at school for years and years but consider that your English does not reach A1 level . You have invested part of your life in studying this subject – not a little time, I would say – but you have the feeling that you can’t even start a simple conversation to introduce yourself, talk about your interests or a beautiful sunny day.
Don’t worry, there are so many people who feel like you! Obviously, the ‘teacher or English teacher you had in school has / have influenced much the attitude and the progress you’ve had regarding this foreign language. Today we are going to unravel two myths about learning foreign languages:
– Myth number 1: To learn a language you have to start with grammar . Many of us – if we studied English at school – we will have started with the famous “present simple” or “simple present” but, those of you who have had a teacher who started from your interests and curiosities to deal with the structures grammar of the present? Probably few …
Personally, when I have new students – both individual and in groups – the first session is dedicated to understanding the ” interests “, ” hobbies “, ” profession “, ” goals, ambitions and dreams “, ” study strategies ” and most important question: “ What do you want to use English for? “It is very important for both the student and the teacher to set goals and find useful topics to develop the language that will be useful in practice, also being aware of the strategies useful to each individual because each person learns in his own way. This way you won’t lose motivation already from the second or third lesson you will see a direct utility in what you learn. – Myth number 2: There is a myth that a native speaker teacher is a thousand times better than a non-native one .
There are even parents who pay exorbitant sums for their children to attend courses with mother tongue teachers. As a teacher of several languages - two of the languages I teach are my mother tongues, the others are not – I can say that, especially for beginners, it can be much better to have a non-native teacher, due to the fact that this individual has had to study the language from scratch like you and perfectly know the difficulties you will encounter on your way to the next level Obviously you can’t generalize and, of course, there are well-trained native teachers who have thoroughly studied the grammar and vocabulary of their mother tongue, but don’t obsess that you have to have a native to learn the language well!
After undoing these two very common myths, I want to give you some practical advice even for beginners:
– Set your goals from the beginning and choose themes that are useful to you and that you like.
-To remember some words you will learn in an A1 level, you could stick post-it notes on objects that are in your home : from the kitchen to the bathroom or bedroom … There are many objects in your house … Reading the words every time that you enter the room, you will memorize them without much effort and endless lists.
-Even if you don’t understand everything, start watching short videos on YouTube or other channels using subtitles first, and then focusing only on pronunciation. Also repeat aloud the words you heard, the pronunciation of which seems difficult to you. Don’t start with long movies that will make you lose motivation, but start with small videos about things that really interest you . For example, if you like hiking, like me, you can start with a video about the best treks in the UK and learn words like “mountains”, “journey”, “hill” or “valley”.
I hope these tips have been useful to you and motivated you to reset and start learning English with a new approach! In collaboration with Yuppiday I will continue to give you useful tips for learning languages ! If you want, you can also pay me a visit on my Facebook site Tiny Apple’s Teaching Tips and Trips , where you will find other tips on how to learn a language, interesting articles in the different languages I speak and posts and videos about my travels , which are always excellent. opportunity to practice my languages.
Over 10 years of personalised teaching and coaching experience
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