How to learn English differently

The psychology behind the way we speak in English is, in my opinion, simple but not obvious. In Israel, the Ministry of Education teaches students from 2nd grade to 12th grade the English language. They study first letters, then words, then reading and writing. This is a good method that fits a large percentage of the children in Israel but for some, it creates limitations and hardships.

If we take an infant and look at the way we “teach” a language, we will realize we do it very differently. First the infant will learn to understand words of that language that are said and repeated to him/her. For example, we will repeat the words mama and papa many times while showing the infant who is who so that he can understand and make the word “belong” to the right person. Then, later on, the child will repeat the words he has acquired when he/she needs them and ask for new words when he cannot find them. Only after speech is relatively fluent and coherent do we start with the writing then the reading.

The natural process of learning a language earlier in life is the way our brain knows how to process and acquire new languages further down the road. As shown in the example above, we actually learn languages very differently than the way it is taught to us at school.

So how can we help ourselves and our children to learn English better, faster and more effectively?

I believe that English should be learned through enjoyable things and relatable subjects. For example, if a child loves to watch TikTok, we should use this platform to work on his/her English skills. Nowadays, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook as well as YouTube are very popular and very good to work with to learn more English. The music on TikTok is so repetitive that if only once, we say the right words and explain the meaning to a child watching it, this child will hear it repeated to him a hundred times a day and will repeat it as much. This way, he/she will learn entire chunks of language quite fast and effectively. Every platform offers an additional option to learn and develop.

As adults, we tend to get stuck in the never ending search of the right word/term for the thing we want to say and explain. We seldom know how to improve our English fluency and confidence. I believe that music, movies and series are also a great way to learn and improve. Let’s take a relatively famous song such as “I have nothing - Whitney Houston (from the movie: Bodyguard)”. Even if you haven’t seen the movie or heard the song in a while, you will sing the part where she says “I have nothing if I don’t have you” Whitney Houston - I Have Nothing (Lyrics). This is a sentence in the conditional, one of the most mistakenly used tenses in the English language. On the bright side, when you remember that she says it that way, you’ll be able to apply that sentence structure to a similar sentence when needed (ex: I have the report ready for you if you don’t mind waiting a minute, I will bring it). This is one of many sentences that we “all” know from songs and can use. Famous quotes from movies and series can help us in the same way.

In Israel, we have the advantage of having English everywhere around us. We could use this to our advantage.

When clients ask me what can be done in-between lessons to continue the process of progress, I advise to listen to music and sing along in the car on the way to work or at home, maybe watch one episode of their favorite series with English subtitles, pay attention to the repeated sentences in the movies they watch. We can improve fluency by doing those things for 10 min a day.

I am a firm believer that language learning is about awareness of the language all around, learning through interesting things and make it feel natural and simple. I believe everyone can learn English because everyone knows English from being subjected to it throughout life. We only need to be aware and not afraid to make a mistake or two sometimes.

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