My email inbox is literally bombarded with stories from people who have been living in
the US or Canada or other English-speaking countries for years. I mean 10, 15 years.
However, their English and pronunciation aren’t nearly at the level they need it to be or
want it to be. And at the same time I very often come across information that it doesn’t
matter what you do (I mean how you learn, how much you learn), you have to go and live
in an English speaking country if you want to achieve a good level of English. And that
this is the only way. Immersion in the language is very important
indeed. But I want to and I’m going to debunk this statement.
Everybody’s in different circumstances. For example, someone who lives in an English
speaking country, but doesn’t speak English much, because they live in a community, where
people speak their native language. They may also have a job where they don’t actually
need to use English. Thus, their English is not improving at all although they live in
an English-speaking country. Then there’s someone who lives in an English
speaking country and actually communicates in English but feels that they really need
to improve their speaking skills because it affects their jobs and relationships. But
because they are in that environment and they are trying so hard, it’s like an everyday
struggle to communicate in English. They feel exhausted and overwhelmed because they thought
it was supposed to be a lot easier to improve their English while being in an English speaking
country, but it’s not. In reality when you’re there you have so many other things to think
about besides your English. They still need to make a decision to put
in the time and work to be able to improve their English, and find what works for them
- their perfect solution. If you went there specifically to learn and
improve your English - then yes, you will improve. Or, if you went there to study in
school or a college, you’ll need that required minimal level, but you will be using it and
you’ll inevitably improve. If not, English will not magically be uploaded into your brain.
There’s no special machine that uploads a language into your brain when you cross
the border of that country. People around them unfortunately don’t stop
to correct their mistakes or explain grammar rules or help them find words, or help them
work on their pronunciation. In reality what happens is that over some time they just get
tired of communicating with them because they have to try very hard to understand them.
People will not waste their time on teaching you English at your work place or on the streets.
Can you imagine how stressful and overwhelming it would be if you thought “Ok, my English
and pronunciation will skyrocket the minute I’m in the US or Canada or whatever.”
And then you’re there and you realize - and this is what happens in 90% of the cases – that
you can’t express yourself let alone understand native speakers. Your brain boils up. Everywhere
you go people speak English. It might be not as fun as you think.
You need to go the bank - you need to speak English and more importantly understand it.
I don’t think that that lady in the bank will care that you just came to the country
and your English is not that great. Or, what if you want to rent a car or an apartment?
Or, if you simply want to place an order in the restaurant and the waiter just can’t
understand you and eventually brings you rice instead of French fries? Or, if you don’t
know how to say what you want? Of course that if you power through all the
difficulties and communicate in English no matter what plus learn English you will improve
there, eventually. Probably faster because you’ll be surrounded by English, but it’s
also under a question mark – it depends, faster than you would if you didn’t go to
live in an English speaking country. And, in this case, if you’re ready to work and
determined enough, the English environment will be super beneficial. However, it would
still take time. And for some people even years.
So please, please, please don’t waste your time on this illusion. You have to learn and
do whatever you can now! You can learn English even up to the level of a native speaker.
And it doesn’t mean that your English and your pronunciation have to be perfect. There’s
no such thing as perfection. What it means is that you feel confident communicating in
English, you have the feel for it, you feel comfortable with it. You’re not afraid of
speaking in English and of course that you understand native speakers, non-native speakers
– understand English without any difficulties. And the thing is, that you don’t have to
know every single word and you’re allowed to make mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes
and nobody knows everything. I repeat everybody makes mistakes and nobody knows everything.
This is not to say that you can just relax and forget about improving and learning. It
is to say that it is possible as long as you don’t limit yourself and don’t put yourself
in a box. Like, for example, as long as don’t think that it’s pointless to work hard on
your English in your home country and you do very little learning but mostly you just
wait until you get to an English speaking country.
And don’t listen to those people who say it’s impossible to learn English up to the
level of a native speaker while remaining in your country and that you have to move
to do that. Or the ones who say it’s still impossible even being in an English speaking
country and especially that it’s useless to work on your pronunciation and accent because
you’ll never sound like a native speaker. Don’t listen to this negative and demotivating
talk. Again you don’t have to be perfect. Just keep in mind one little thing that happens
to be a game changer – if you’re working on your English and pronunciation even little
by little but every single day you are improving. People who say it’s impossible usually are
just angry that they probably still haven’t achieved the level that they wanted or that
it turned out to be a lot harder for them than they thought it would be, and they simply
try to talk everybody else out of even trying so that nobody achieves this level, which
would crush their self-esteem completely. Because if others fail they can justify their
failure by saying that it’s simply impossible and pointing out the flaws of others. It’s
the easiest thing to do. However it doesn’t mean that those people are villains and want
to harm others. It’s just their way of coping with their own insecurities.
Your job is to decide what to believe in and choose who to listen to. Now picture this
– you come to an English speaking country with a pretty good level of English. You can
communicate – speak, the most important thing is that you could speak, you’re confident.
Even if you make mistakes you don’t panic, it’s ok. You correct yourself or explain
something using other words. It would be so much easier and more pleasurable. And in this
case when you already know how to learn and you keep learning, your brain is ready to
absorb English. It’s tuned in for it, because at this point it has become your habit. In
this case, you’ll be improving every single day. And one day your English will be amazing.
Now let’s talk about what you actually can do – how you can improve your English.
Depending on your circumstances – your financial situation, your family situation, and your
availability - you might use different self-education methods or courses.
Now, I’ll link in the description all the courses that I think are really good and worth
your time and money. So make sure that you open that description box and check them out.
I can’t give one and say that it’s perfect and the best of the best. That’s not how
it works. What works for me may not work for you. So check out the list, do your research
and decide for yourself. I’ll also link my video where I talk about how I immersed
myself in the language. Maybe it’ll help you.
And now let’s talk the things you can do if you can’t take a course.
A lot of people, in the comment section of my videos ask if there’s someone who would
like to practice English with them. I think it’s a great option to find a conversation
partner and potentially a friend. You can use free sources such as the internet. You
can find literally everything on the internet these days. There are a lot of different websites
where you can find conversation partners for free as well as use YouTube, such channels
as ours and thousands of others where you can consume information for free.
There are Facebook groups and Instagram pages where you can find conversation partners and
even take part in speaking clubs. I’ll link some of them in the description.
If you’re determined enough, you can work on your own and do something in addition to
whatever it is that you’re already doing so as not to lose precious time waiting for
better times. I’ll link my videos in the description where I talk about this.
I know that a lot of people want to work with a teacher but can’t afford it and I understand
this. That’s why I suggest that you please consider the things that I just mentioned.