The Tense Relationship of English Learners with the Language – 5 Reasons You’re at War with English, and you don’t even Know it

I’ve heard it hundreds of times.

It’s typically a variation of the following: “I’ve studied English for years but I’m incapable of speaking it correctly.” People tend to have a love/hate relationship with English. They usually like the way it sounds and understand how important it has become in recent years. But they also feel deeply frustrated with it, as it seems that they never truly reach a sufficient level of mastery. Spoiler: you’ll find a link to my free handbook about improving your pronunciation at the end of this article.
While the problem is a complex one and that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution, I believe we could identify the main issues faced by learners as the following:

1) Lacking practice
“I’m basically incapable of speaking English.” Learning English at school typically involves thirty to thirty-five kids sitting in a room and staying mostly on the receiving end of the language, meaning they almost never actually speak. My aim here isn’t to blame anybody for that state of things; but it is essential to understand that such a way of learning a language is far from being optimal. What I’ve seen from my experience in classrooms and with students is that the more and the earlier you actually produce language, the more comfortable you’ll be with it in the long run. It means that spending eight or ten years listening to the teacher and reading texts in the back of the classroom won’t do much for your English.

2) Lacking actual useful practice
“I understand English but I can’t form a sentence myself.” Speaking and producing language is one thing; doing it in a meaningful way is another. You might remember that most of the content studied at school was irrelevant to your interests and didn’t invite you to produce any kind of practical, hands-on English. Speaking any language revolves around the correct use of a very limited set of words and expressions–if you’re not given the chance to practice them repeatedly and naturally, it will complicate your learning. What I’ve noticed with my students is that they benefit tremendously from “classroom talk,” that is to say any kind of informal speaking that is the result of an actual need or interest: asking for an object, obtaining practical information from another student, or chatting about a shared hobby. Conclusion: production of language has to be meaningful to you in order to bring significant benefits.

3) Stressing over stress rules and pronunciation
“It’s like native speakers are eating half of each word!” Most learners fall into one of the following two categories: they are unaware of the existence of stress rules or they are terrified of incorrect pronounciation. In both cases, the result is the same: shaky, unassumed speech that not only sounds bad but also makes the learner uncomfortable. Understanding the basics of stress rules is absolutely essential to speak a decent English, as the rhythm of each word definites the way the vowels are pronounced. Unfortunately phonics are typically not taught in school due to lack of time or expertise from the teacher. As a consequence, learners have to improvise their pronunciation and never feel confident speaking. The good news is that it’s never too late to correct bad habits and start truly understanding the way the English pronunciation system works.

4) Improvising the use of tenses… or even grammar in general
“I speak really good English, but I don’t know any grammar,” says the guy who doesn’t actually speak really good English. Say whatever you want, but a proper grasp of grammar is a necessity for anybody who aims to become a decent speaker of any language. The most common issue I’ve noticed are related to tenses, as learners always tend to model their use of tenses on their native language, leading to a series of very serious mistakes. The basics of English grammar (i.e. everything you need to survive most daily situations) aren’t complicated–if properly taught. Grammar in context is the key: you need to be aware of the practical, concrete use of each grammatical form in order to assimilate it correctly and be able to reuse it when necessary.

5) Obsessing over their accent
“I feel like I can’t get the words out of my mouth and I feel stupid.” We often hear about speaking with “a perfect accent.” But which one are we actually talking about? The native speakers of English are from all around the world; why would you feel the need to speak like the British royal family? While learning to emulate a given accent is something absolutely doable (and quite exciting), you shouldn’t obsess too much over that specific aspect of the language. I believe it’s way more important to pronounce correctly and accurately the basic sounds of the language and stress the words correctly–that’s the way you will be understood by your interlocutor. And remember: due to the current international status of English, you’ll probably speak it with other non-native speakers more often than with native speakers!

The good news?

All of those issues can be solved; the material available on this website is a good start. Why don’t you start by downloading my free handbook about improving your pronunciation?

However, you need to remember that each learner’s profile is different. Your needs are probably highly specific to you, and for that reason you should start defining them as early and as precisely as possible.

Don’t hesitate to contact me so we can work together to determine the best methodological approach tailored to your needs!