Walk into a grocery store anywhere in the US and look into the chilled food section and you'll see
rows of egg cartons. If you're European such as I am (yes Britain is still geographically in Europe)
you'll think, that's strange why do Americans refrigerate their eggs? If you're an American
in the European supermarket and you see eggs next to the bread or packets of pasta you might think,
that's strange why don't Europeans refrigerate their eggs? in the US, in order to avoid
infections carried in eggs such as salmonella they wash them thoroughly and chill them. They also do
this in Japan. In Europe, on the other hand, in order to avoid infections carried in eggs it's
illegal to wash eggs that are for sale. That's because egg shells carry a natural protective
layer called a cuticle and washing them will make them porous and expose them to contamination. It's
funny how they reach opposite conclusions to solve the same problem. Both methods seem to work or
they do wonder why American producers go through this extra process which seems unnecessary.
In most of Europe smoking is banned in bars and cafes and restaurants because it's harmful not
only for the smoker but for everybody around, the customers and the staff. You can, of course, smoke
on the street. I mean, why not? It's a street. No problem there, right? But in Japan you cannot
smoke on the street because it's harmful not only for the smoker but for everybody around. I mean,
everybody has to walk on the street. Children walk on the street for god's sake! These
innocent people shouldn't have to put up with dangerous smoke. You can, however,
smoke in cafes, bars and restaurants. That's ok because you choose to go into a café a bar
or a restaurant or not go into a café bar or a restaurant it's your choice so you take the risk
right? In France if you want to vote in an election you must bring your identity card.
The reason is that they believe that voting is crucially important. It's a civic duty and of
course you need to prove who you are in order to stop voter fraud which would undermine democracy
and threaten the system of government. In Britain, if you want to vote in an election you do not need
to bring proof of identity and the reason is that they believe that voting is crucially
important it's a civic duty and they don't want to prevent any citizen from voting just because they
had foolishly forgotten their id. voting is an inalienable right and stopping an eligible person
from voting would undermine democracy and threaten the system of government. If they are suspicious
of course they'll ask some supplementary questions but you don't need proof of identity. in fact
we don't even have identity cards in the UK and some people don't even have passports.
Consider this: You buy a ship and you fill it with cargo. Once you've paid for the ship and
it's cargo you don't need to pay anymore unless of course the ship sinks in which case you need
to buy a new ship and cargo. Until one day some bright spark says “hey what if the opposite were
true? When the ship is ok you pay me but if the ship sinks we pay you.” And voila, the insurance
industry was born. Let's turn to language as that's my field. In France they have the
academy francais to protect and oversee the French language with 40 members called “les immortels”
and it is the official authority on the usages vocabulary and grammar of French in France
because the French language needs protecting the English language has no such academy,
the people decide what is correct and not correct. Yes there are style guides but we shouldn't
put something as crucial as our language in the hands of a small elite body of men and women,
into the hands of 40 people that wouldn't be right the English language needs protecting. Wherever we
go we find sound logical rules that work or at least make sense but the opposite is sound and
logical and makes sense too. They can't both be right, can they? Now, I'm an English teacher and
I see this all the time online in the classroom and on youtube and I myself have several excellent
videos on how to learn English which you should definitely check out and of course I'm sure I'm
right but just but maybe, maybe the opposite could also be true. Despite what people say
the language industry is incredibly successful one billion people speak English as a second
language and that's just English. They can't all be using the same method can they,
can they? Now, I read all the comments on these videos - yes I do and often they say things that
are completely contradictory, completely the opposite for example “the only way to learn a
language is to speak it grammar is a waste of time nyaa” okay I added the nyaa at the end.
Anyway others will say “the key to learning is studying grammar vocabulary and linguistic
structures. Do this correctly and the rest will follow nyaa.” They can't both be right, can they?
From personal experience I know students who've learnt English pretty well just by speaking. They
tend to make a few grammar mistakes but they can communicate and I've met students who've learnt
English just by studying reading and learning the rules of grammar and lots of vocabulary
they speak pretty well even though they do sound a bit robotic. The point is that if anyone tells you
that there is only one way to learn a language (of course it's their way) tell them they are
talking bollocks (to use a technical term). They may have a good method but whatever they say
could it be that the opposite is also true? Let's face it, when it comes to learning languages lots
of methods work, the only truth is that it takes a lot of time and hard work to become fluent so do
beware of fake gurus who promise fluency in three months with zero effort they just want your money.
By the way, we do have a video about that up here. They say that the only constant in life is change.
Whatever you believed 10 years ago you almost certainly think differently now and whatever
you believe today you'll have a different opinion in 10 years time. Beware people who never change
their opinions who insist they are always right. We should ignore their stale ideas,
their inflexibility and resist their dogma. There's an expression; there is more than one
way to skin a cat. We are all different and with learning languages, just like everything else,
what is appropriate for you, what works for you may not be appropriate and may not work for me
and that's probably true for most things in life too and not just learning languages.
The best method is the one that works for you but keep an open mind because whatever you're doing,
whatever you're trying don't forget to consider that the opposite as that
might just work too. I hope you enjoyed that video and do you have any tales of opposites? If you do
let us know in the comments below and what do you think is the best way to learn a language?
Let us know your thoughts about that too. Have a beautiful day, stay mellow see you next time bye