Most people who learn a language experience frustration at some point during the process. If they don’t, they probably don’t care that much, or they have an incredibly positive attitude, which is actually important for language learning.
This is all true when you’re learning English as well. If you get frustrated learning English, you might want to give up, or you might stop practicing as much as you should.
The key is to recognize whether or not you’re really improving or not, because sometimes you are doing fine, and at others, you might not really be progressing at all.
Below, you can learn the main reasons you’re English is not where you want it to be.
THE OBVIOUS REASONS: PRACTICE AND TIME
We don’t want to waste your time by listing obvious reasons, but we need to at least mention them.
There are two obvious reasons that you’re English isn’t improving: practice and time. This should go without saying.
If you practice or listen to English 1 hour per week, your English isn’t going to improve much. Most native English speakers “practice,” or spend time using English, over 100 hours per week. You have to spend time using and practicing the language.
If you don’t, you’re not going to see results, no matter how good an English program is or how good your tutor is. Find ways to use English as much as possible.
IDENTIFY YOUR GOALS AND DO A LANGUAGE CHECKUP
Next, you might not have any idea what your goals are with the language. Why are you doing this? Make sure that you’re always keeping an eye on your goals.
At the same time, you need to constantly do an English checkup and see where you’re at. Do you not understand spoken English very well, can you speak comfortably or not, are you listening to hours of English each week, are you reading books or online material in English often?
This will help you identify the area, or areas, of your English that is not improving. You might be very good at speaking, but you might not be able to understand native English speakers very well.
It’s important to be specific when you are trying to figure out what’s not improving and take the appropriate actions to include variety and different material into your routine.
YOU DON’T HAVE A PLAN OR THE RIGHT ENGLISH RESOURCES
If you figure out that you don’t have any real goals, then you should get them immediately. Even if you don’t have any “grand” goals, it’s important to give yourself something to shoot for.
If you don’t have anything to shoot for, then you’ll reach it every time, but not progress in your English. A designated plan and a course give you direction and allow you to move forward in the language.
A strategically designed program also offers you resources to maintain the language and move you forward in a more organized manner. Otherwise, you need to design a program for yourself.
Can you learn without a course? Of course, you can, but will this course of action allow you to progress consistently and to the level you desire?
YOU ARE NOT LISTENING TO AND READING ENOUGH ENGLISH
To become fluent in English, no matter what your age, you need to listen to thousands of hours of English. This goes for adults as well as infants. Reading as a way to learn English becomes very important the older you get, starting from around 7 or 8 years old.
If you’re a teenager or an Adult, reading can be very helpful because you don’t have to worry about the speed.
The more English you listen to or read with comprehension, the more every aspect of your English will improve. The key here is that you can listen to English anywhere, and you can read in most places as well.
Again, remember to emphasize comprehension. This is the core of RPL English, gradually increasing the difficulty and variety of English material while emphasizing comprehension.
YOU’RE USING YOUR ENGLISH TOO PASSIVELY
As you listen to hundreds and eventually thousands of hours of English where you have high comprehension of “real” language (language that native speakers speak), the language will become more familiar and comfortable for you.
However, you need to make sure that you are using the language actively and not just passively. That means writing and speaking.
In this modern world, there are so many opportunities for these activities, so you should have little problem doing these.
Don’t forget that the more you read and listen to (with comprehension), the more natural speaking and writing will feel.
Private tutors and a speaking partner online will allow you to practice your speaking and fix problems you’ve been making for months or years, and there are hundreds of opportunities to write online and eventually within college if you choose to go to an English-speaking college or other school.
Make sure that you are using the language passively and actively.
INTERACT WITH ENGLISH SPEAKERS AND MAKE ENGLISH A PART OF YOU
The easiest way to improve active and passive use is to make English a part of your daily routine and to interact with native and fluent speakers as much as possible.
Add English into your life so that it becomes a part of who you are. If a famous English-speaking actor, YouTube personality, singer, or business associate were to communicate with you, you should feel comfortable with this communication.
Believe that this is just who you are, just like when you talk to an old friend in your own language. With this daily routine, include time with native speakers, whether that be a tutor, friends, music, podcasters, recordings, books, YouTube content creators, etc.
YOU RELY ON YOUR NATIVE LANGUAGE TOO MUCH
Whether you’re an adult English learner, or you’re a young child, you want to rely on your strongest language. When you use English daily, you will have to stop relying on your own language all the time. It’s way too easy to rely on your own language because you probably live in a country where you must speak another language other than English to survive.
In the U.S.A., parts of Canada, the U.K., and parts of Australia, it’s very easy to live there and not have to speak English, because there are so many people in these countries who are from foreign countries.
People live in these English-speaking countries for decades, without ever learning English. They don’t need the language to survive because they have children who speak English and friends who speak their own language. Don’t fall into this trap.
There are so many opportunities that you yourself can take advantage of when you don’t rely on your own language all the time. Make English your language as well.
Take pride and prove to yourself that you can make English one of your languages as well.
YOU FEEL THAT LEARNING ENGLISH IS TOO EXPENSIVE
You might keep using the excuse that learning English is too expensive and not worth the investment. The most famous and successful people in the world, no matter where they’re from, know that we need to invest in ourselves throughout our lives since the world is changing so fast.
It is also a fact that people devote themselves much more when they invest in something with their own money. If it’s free, they won’t worry about ignoring it because they’ve invested nothing.
Find a program that works for you and make the investment if you really want to improve your English dramatically.
The best language learners have often invested tens of thousands of dollars in travel, instructors, and courses to learn a language. Make the investment you know will improve your life.
GET THE RIGHT ATTITUDE: BELIEVE, BE OPEN, AND BE POSITIVE
Finally, it is important that you have the right attitude when learning English. This means, first and foremost, believing that you can really learn this language.
Think about some of the most difficult accomplishments of your life, and then use that to give yourself confidence to master English. Don’t focus on your mistakes.
Make sure you recognize that you are making them at some point, but don’t focus on them in a negative way. Find enjoyment in the language and the cultures that speak it.
It will teach you much about yourself and your own culture. Learning English should never be negative. Enjoy the journey and find your own English path.
We have put together a course because we’ve experienced all of these challenges above and have found what works the best for most language learners, not for everyone, but more most. Good luck with your English learning, and hopefully, with the above knowledge, you’ll be on the right path.