Learning to speak English well may be the best thing you can do to improve your life.
This is probably the most frequently repeated piece of advice for language learners. You will hear it from teachers, webmasters of ESL sites, and people in the in this discussion. For most language teachers, the …
The best way to learn a foreign language is to speak it Read More »
If a student in a language class does not want to speak, the teacher will normally assume they are shy, and will encourage (sometimes force) them to speak. He’ll tell the student: “Speak and don’t …
It is OK to make mistakes when speaking English Read More »
This is often given as justification of the “Mistakes are OK” myth. The reasoning is that mistakes are a part of learning, therefore it is pointless to try to avoid them. Fact: While you cannot …
As a beginner, you’re bound to make a lot of mistakes Read More »
This is a more general version of the “foreign accent” myth described in the previous article in the series. It has its roots in the Critical Period Hypothesis proposed by Eric Lenneberg in 1967. Lenneberg …
“Studying pronunciation is not important” Many language learners assume their pronunciation is good enough because their teacher doesn’t correct them too often or because other students can understand them. Fact: Those learners are often dead …
1. Developing a passion for learning English All English learners would like to speak English well. They are excited at the idea of being able to communicate in English fluently. However, they usually don’t care …
Three biggest challenges facing an English learner Read More »
Below is an excerpt from Michal’s story, but it is purposefully written in an ugly way. Do you find this excerpt pleasant to read? Today , I can  understand the beatles very clearly.Each time I …
How to improve your English writing in 5 minutes Read More »
Learning to speak English well may be the best thing you can do to improve your life. That’s right. Do you think it would be fun to have access to information that other people can’t …
In this series, we look at the skills you’ll need to write formal, academic English, and you’ll have the chance to listen to people talking about topics you’ll find at colleges and universities.