To celebrate over 10 years on YouTube helping English students all over the world become
fluent speakers, and because there are now more than 500 videos on our channel, I thought
it was time for a series of “Greatest Hits” lessons to make review simple for long-time
fans, and help new students and teachers find my best ideas easily. This first video introduces
my most controversial lesson: There’s no such thing as a second language.
The basic idea is that if you believe there are “second” languages, you will also
believe there must be special “second” language learning methods that you didn’t
use with your native language. But, the truth is there’s ONLY ONE WAY you become fluent
in ANY language – whether it’s your native language or a new one you’re learning. So
there’s no such thing as a “second” language requiring any special methods, and
you should learn EVERY language like it’s your first! Let’s look at this in detail.
All of the unnecessary mystery and pain of language learning comes from the belief in
“second” languages. “It’s a different language,” most students think, “so I
must use translations, study vocabulary lists and memorize vocabulary rules.” But as anyone
who’s studied a new language knows, these things do help you LEARN a language, but they
DON’T help you SPEAK confidently and fluently. In fact, they make you struggle to recall
words, use unnatural phrasing, and organize sentences in your head before you speak. Worst
of all, because of the “physical” problems that come with being unable to communicate,
you then FEEL increasingly unconfident and worried about speaking, often to the point
where you AVOID conversations.
So what should you do instead? And how can you learn a new language like it’s your
FIRST language? Let me give you an example using Japanese, a language I’m also fluent
in. You’re now going to learn some Japanese the same way you learned your native language.
Here we go!
Akai kuruma Akai sakana
Akai tori
Now, can you tell me what the fourth object on the bottom row is in Japanese?
Akai sakana Aoi sakana
Akai kuruma
If you said aoi kuruma, you’re right! This means blue car! Your brain – which naturally
recognizes patterns and solves puzzles – just helped you learn Japanese, WITHOUT using any
translations or studying any rules! Just look at everything you learned! You looked at the
pictures and naturally wondered “What’s the same, and what’s different?” If I
ask you what “aka” means, you’d probably guess “red.” You also learned that kuruma
means car, that sakana means fish and that tori means bird. You’ve even begun to understand
some GRAMMAR, and I didn’t tell you a single rule! You naturally discovered that adjectives
come before nouns in Japanese – in this case the color words aka (for red) and ao
(for blue). And because you understood the vocabulary and rules by yourself, you learned
much faster, you weren’t confused, you feel more confident, and you are now MUCH more
likely to remember these words when you speak! Isn’t that great!
At more advanced levels, this process works in exactly the same way. You continue to understand
new vocabulary and grammar all in the language you’re learning. This is why I teach all
of my adult English students – including the Japanese ones – completely in English.
It’s also the same way I teach my own children. They learn basic things in English, then use
the vocabulary they’ve learned to understand more difficult words and phrases.
In the same way, your parents told you the names of things in your language because there
was no way to translate. You also learned to put the rules together by yourself, just
like pieces of a puzzle. It’s because you learned your native language this way, and
NOT because your parents were native, or because of where you grew up, that you speak your
native language fluently today. And you just proved that you can do this ANYWHERE, and
with ANY language, because there’s no such thing as a second language! There are only
WAYS OF LEARNING languages that make communication automatic and smooth, and ways of learning
that cause frustration. See why it’s so easy for me to guarantee my methods and lessons?
Now, imagine if you learned 20 native phrases like this, or understood just one new grammar
point like this, each day! You’d easily correct the bad habits you developed with
traditional lessons, and you’d become a fluent English speaker very quickly, wouldn’t
you? It’s not your fault if you learned English – or any other language – the
traditional way because this is how almost everyone teaches. The good news is now you
can learn English like it’s your first language so you express yourself smoothly, correctly
and without fear. To become a confident, fluent English speaker the easy way, click on the
link in this video, or on the link in the description below this video, NOW! Bye-bye!