Why Learning English Is So Hard (And What To Do About It) – EngFluent

Do you feel like your head is going to explode when you learn English?

If so, you are not alone.

In this article, I will discuss 5 reasons to learn English.

Then I suggest advice on coping with adversity learn english.

Let’s get into it.

Reason #1: Complicated grammar rules

If you’ve studied English grammar, you know how confusing it can be.

There are many rules (and exceptions) to keep in mind.

For example, there are many irregular verbs to remember, such as:

to be	was	to be
IN THE BEGINNING	started	started
choice	chose	selected
to do	did	done
to feel	felt	felt
get	took	got / got
to know	knew	known

You should also learn English tenses, which are impossible to master because their usage is so unclear.

For example, Present Continuous tense (I am doEng) has various uses.

We can use it to talk about what is happening during the speech. (I am writing an article.)

We can use it to talk about an action that is ongoing, unfinished, or unfinished. (I am learning to play the guitar.)

Or we can use it to talk about future plans. (“I will visit my parents on Saturday.)

That’s not all. You should also learn about other difficult topics such as prepositions (in, on, at, of), confusing sentence structure (I’ve seen it). to do I saw it to do something), and more!

Furthermore, even after studying a lot, most English students still cannot speak English well…even though they know most of the grammar rules.

This is because they need to make sentences quickly when they speak English. There is no time to think about these rules.

Reason #2: You’re not a baby anymore

When it comes to language learning, babies have several advantages over adults.

First of all, their hearing is excellent. They get it easily hear the difference between two very similar sounds in any language.

But as he gets older, he begins to lose the ability to hear sounds that are not in his native language.

For example, a 6-month-old Japanese baby can hear the difference between the R and L sounds in English (although Japanese does not have the two sounds).

But at the age of one, that child can no longer hear the difference.

That’s why many Japanese people can’t distinguish words like “.rok” and “lok.” To them, they sound the same.

Personally, I have a hard time hearing the difference between “ch” and “sh”. (In my native language, there is only one sound similar to these two.) So for me, “bair” and “shthere is.” They sound the same to me.

But to the ear of a baby or a native English speaker, the difference is as clear as night and day.

Reason #3: Language barrier

Language barrier – knowing your mother tongue can cause you to use English incorrectly.

An obvious example is you speak English with a foreign accent (because your mother tongue affects your English pronunciation).

Unfortunately, your first language affects not only your accent, but also your English grammar.

For example, the German noun “information” can also be used in the plural form of the word “Informationen”. Some German students also use “information” in English, which is incorrect.

Here’s another example: As a Thai person, I find English prepositions (at, in, on) very difficult. Thai also has prepositions, but we use them differently.

There are no “perfect” analogues in Thai at, yearand is on.

So when I use prepositions in English, I sometimes accidentally use Thai rules, which leads to grammatical errors.

Of course, children don’t have this problem because they have no pre-existing knowledge of any language.

It’s no wonder why learning English as a second language is so difficult.

Reason #4: Ineffective teaching methods

If you’re like me, you probably started learning English in school (or college).

In school, you probably listened to your teacher in class or memorized some grammar rules.

Or, if you’re learning English on your own, you might spend a lot of time passively watching English lessons on YouTube.

Unfortunately, this is not an effective way to learn English. This is very different from the way you learn your first language.

I am speaking here from personal experience.

I studied grammar in both school and college. (I always got the best grades.) But after I graduated and got a job in an international company (where I had to communicate in English with my foreign colleagues), I realized that my English was really bad.

Have you studied much grammar? Have you watched a lot of English lessons on YouTube?

If so, can you speak English well?

If not, it means that what you are doing is not working.

When you use ineffective teaching methods, it will be difficult (or impossible) to improve your English.

Reason #5: No partner to talk to

If you want to improve your listening, reading or even writing skills in English, it’s very easy. You can learn and practice these skills yourself at home.

But what if you want to improve your English?

This is when the situation becomes more complicated.

To improve your English speaking skills, you need a practice partner—someone who can speak English. (This person must be fluent in English.)

For many people, it is difficult to find such a person.

Maybe they don’t live in an English-speaking country.

Or maybe they are, but their lifestyle doesn’t allow them to communicate much in English.

If this is you, learning to speak English well is a challenge.

So what to do?

Good. Enough about the problems.

What about solutions?

How to make learning English easier?

Let me give you some tips for learning English.

1. Use the right methods to learn English

May I ask you a question?

What is your mother tongue? (Mine is Thai.)

Whatever your native language is, I’m sure it has as many obscure rules and quirks as English.

No matter how complicated your language is, You’ve mastered it fluently without even reading the grammar rules!

How was this possible?

This is possible because you learned the language the right way: by listening and speaking the language every day.

If you want to improve your English, you should learn English the same way you learn your first language.

First, you should listen and read English materials that interest you.

When you listen to or read something in English, you will see many examples of how the language is used. This is the right way to learn any language.

Don’t worry about English grammar. Your brain has the ability to learn grammar automatically (just by learning English).

When you listen to an English conversation, your brain is actually learning English grammar behind the scenes. There is absolutely no need to spend time studying grammar (unless you want to improve your writing skills).

If you want more information about this automatic learning process (including scientific explanations), I suggest you read my article on learning English grammar.

2. Learn to speak English alone

Do you want to improve your English speaking skills?

These are “active” skills. That is, they require “active” experience.

Listening and reading alone will not make you speak English well.

You need to practice speaking.

Don’t worry if you don’t have a speaking partner.

There are ways to learn English on your own.

Check out this guide: How to learn to speak English.

You’ll love this guide because most of the speaking exercises in it can be done alone.

3. Set the time

English fluency is like any other skill. The more time you spend learning and practicing, the better you will be.

And because English is complicated, it takes a lot of time.

Even if you use the right methods, you won’t get results unless you devote a lot of time to it.

So, if you’ve been learning English (the right way) for a while, but still feel like your English hasn’t improved much, it just means you haven’t put in the time.

The solution is simple: spend more time learning and practicing.

The more time you spend, the easier English will become for you.

There is no way around it.

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Thanks for reading. I hope this article is useful for you.

As a student of English, I also think that learning English is very difficult.

But there is nothing to fear. If you have the right study strategies, the right mindset and patience, you can improve your English.