Hey, everyone. I'm Alex. Thanks for clicking and welcome to this video on five things to
avoid if you are learning English. So, in this video, I will give you five things that
people do when they start learning English that are counterproductive. Now, if something
is counterproductive, it means it doesn't help you to reach the goals that you want
to reach. So, the first mistake that people make, and the first thing you should avoid
if you are learning English, is that people think learning a language will be fast and
easy. Maybe this conception, this idea, comes from people promoting on the internet, "Learn
English in three months. Become fluent in 30 days." No. If you see something like this
online, ignore it because it's not true. Learning a language is a lifelong commitment. You need
to be ready to be able to discover language over a long period of time, to practice it,
to enjoy the journey of words, phrases, sentences, questions, just learning, basically. So, this
is the first mistake that people make. They really think it's going to be fast, it's going
to be easy, no problem, I can learn it. The second mistake that people make when they
start learning English is they only study grammar. So, they will get a grammar book,
and they will complete fill-in-the-blanks exercises to practice present perfect,
to practice second conditional, to practice the use of causative verbs, and that's it. They think
they will learn English from a book only by studying theory. Now, theory is important.
Grammar is the framework of a language. You need it. It's essential for structuring sentences.
However, if all you do is look in a book and answer questions, fill in the blanks,
but you never speak, you never listen, you never try to produce the language or expose yourself to
the language, you won't be able to produce. You won't be able to communicate because you will
just have the theory of the language. So, there's a difference between theory and usage, a difference
between theory and practice. And if you want to know how much grammar you should study,
I recommend the 80/20 rule. So, 80% practice, 20% grammar. It's important,
but there are more important things. This brings me to the third mistake. Some people
don't listen enough. They don't do enough listening practice. So, you need regular input,
regular exposure to the language that you are learning when you are learning a language.
You are learning English, so it's important that you listen to English videos, watch English movies,
listen to English music, that you learn how this language sounds, how things are pronounced,
how it flows. All of these things you get from listening to the language. How can you know
how the language is supposed to work, how it's supposed to sound if you never listen to it?
So, again, get a lot of listening practice. Make sure you get regular exposure to English.
On a regular basis, listen to English. I said that in two different ways because
I want to stress the importance of listening and getting regular input from English.
The fourth mistake that people make when they start studying English is they stay with easy
materials for too long. So, it's comfortable to work on things we know how to do. It's comfortable
to conjugate the verb "to be" because you know how to conjugate the verb "to be." But, if you have
been working on conjugating the verb "to be" for six months, eight months, there is a problem.
You need to move on and be comfortable with challenging yourself. Your brain needs two
things to learn. So, research shows your brain needs novelty and it needs repetition. So,
repetition. Yes, it's good to repeat. It's good to review things that you know how to do to build
your confidence because you know how to do them well. I like doing things that I know how to do
well because I feel good. It builds my confidence. But, you also need new things. And, in the case of
language learning, when you are learning English, you need to expose yourself to different materials,
different articles, something that pushes you. So, don't be afraid to push yourself. Don't just stay
with the same materials, the same types of activities again and again. The final thing
that, you know, some English learners make when they start learning the language is they never
speak. How do you speak if you have no one to speak with? There are ways, okay? So, you can
shadow or mimic people. For example, you can watch a video on YouTube. You can pause it,
slow it down, rewind it, copy what people are saying. This goes back to listening, right?
You can also visualize conversations. And yes, you've heard this in many, many language learning,
English learning videos, speaking out loud by yourself. It feels funny, but you get used to it.
Imagine a situation where you are buying a bus ticket or where you are at a restaurant.
What would you say in those situations? So, there are things you can do to help yourself speak
because the whole purpose of you learning a language, I'm assuming, is because you want to
use it. You want to write in it. You want to speak and communicate with other people and connect
with them, just like I am connecting with you. So, you right now are practicing your listening.
You are already doing something that is great for improving your English, and you are already
avoiding one of the most common mistakes that I have mentioned in this video. So, to review the
five things that I mentioned in this video, number one, people think that learning a language will be
fast and easy. This is not the case. Learning a language is a long process, but it's an enjoyable
process where you are discovering new words, discovering new things, meeting new people,
coming across new interesting cultural books and videos and people. The second mistake that people
make is that they only study grammar. Grammar is important, but there are more important things
like regular practice. What kind of practice? Number three, some people avoid listening. They don't
listen enough. Make sure that you listen enough. Number four, they stick with materials that are too
easy for too long. Challenge yourself. Push yourself. Don't just repeat the same activities
again and again and again, and never try anything new just because it's comfortable. Push yourself
out of your comfort zone. And finally, the biggest mistake, I won't say the biggest, I'll say one of
the biggest, is people don't speak enough. So, make sure you are getting your speaking practice even
if you are by yourself. That's it. So, thank you for watching this video. I hope you enjoyed it,
and if you have any questions for me about anything I've mentioned, leave them in the
comments, and go to YouTube, like the video, share it, subscribe to my channel, and I hope you like
this, and I'll see you around. Until next time, thanks for clicking. Good luck with all of your
English studies.