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About this material
A personal account of overcoming the fear of speaking English through practice, a suitable learning approach and immersion. It is written for people whose worries about grammar and mistakes prevent them from using what they already know.
If you fell out with English grammar back at school and phrases such as “perfect infinitive in the passive voice” leave you frozen, this article is for you. And if saying even a couple of sentences in English feels harder than sinking into the ground with embarrassment, welcome to my world. I will explain how I found a way out.
If you added up all the years I spent studying English at school, university, postgraduate school, and extra courses, you might think I was already a distinguished English-language scholar. But no: I still consider my language skills unsatisfactory and fiercely envy people who find languages easy. I think you know the feeling. Meanwhile, I have been living and working in the United States for several months, communicating and sending emails in English every day. There is no secret to it, just a few things to keep in mind. English is an international language Of course, London is the capital of Great Britain and all that, but there are far fewer native speakers than people who speak English. Everyone is therefore used to the idea that the person they are speaking to may have an accent, make mistakes, or struggle to understand them. So do not be afraid of your limited language skills. Nobody will judge you for your inevitable mistakes.
Everyone learns in their own way The educational system has always surprised me: all the variety of pupils follows one approved curriculum. Yet people differ, and what helps some can harm others. This approach extends beyond schools into English textbooks and courses. So if studying a language through grammar rules does not work for you, stop following that path. It is not your path. Look at small children. They do not go to school or read textbooks before they start speaking their first language. That means there is at least one other way to learn a language, just as anything else can be learned in more than one way. I liked Alexander Dragunkin’s approach. It is precisely about learning a simple language simply. Some may consider his approach amateurish, incorrect, or unacademic. But if you have found your way to this article, you will probably benefit from the video below and can find his other lessons.
Google is our everything The first link in my bookmarks: http://translate.google.com Do not let the word “translate,” or the ability to submit large blocks of text, mislead you. As a translator, this program is mediocre. As an online dictionary, though, it is very good, particularly because it can translate fixed expressions too. Another use for Google is search. If I am unsure which of two words to use, for example whether to write “did” or “does,” I put both into the search box and get links to articles explaining their usage. Yes, I am bad at remembering rules, but I know how to find them quickly. You can also use search to check your result. Suppose you are unsure whether a particular phrase is valid: enter it in the search box in quotation marks. Google will find examples of its use. If it finds none, the phrase is probably awkward and should be replaced.
Remember whole phrases Even if you perfect your English through textbooks, you will encounter the difficulty that people do not speak the way textbooks are written. Just as Russian has expressions equivalent to “a fish out of water,” “off your rocker,” “not lift a finger,” or “my heart sank,” other languages have similar combinations. They are called idioms, and knowing each word individually will not help you understand their combined meaning. So learn the way children do: watch others, remember, and repeat. The more real conversational language you read and hear, the more ready-made constructions you will remember. If you like, you can rely on this alone, building up a stock of phrases for every occasion. If you encounter such a phrase while translating from English and Google Translate cannot help, this site can: http://www.urbandictionary.com/ But it is best not to try using the phrases from this site yourself. Your Harlem slang might not be understood as you intend.
Two essential steps Besides knowing the language, you need to take two steps to start using that knowledge. The first is overcoming the block that stops you starting a conversation, when you simply cannot bring yourself to speak to a foreigner or write them an email. The cure is to keep crossing that threshold. To begin with, you can just start talking on international forums about your favourite subject. It comes with no obligations and is anonymous enough that you need not worry about your social standing. The second step is making it automatic, so you start speaking and writing without thinking about rules or dictionaries. An email in English used to take me half a day; now it takes almost as little time as writing in Russian. The same happens with speech when the “um” between words disappears. You cannot take this step instantly. Physiology matters: the brain needs to get used to new knowledge and move it closer so it can find it faster. It is like playing a musical instrument. At first you struggle for ages to remember which key or string is where. Only once your hands find the right places by themselves can you play your first tune without stumbling.
No Russian As I wrote above, learning a language also puts a strain on the brain. If you have an opportunity not to speak English—for example, on a tourist trip with a Russian group—the brain will seize it and push you to stay in your comfort zone. But if you find yourself surrounded only by English speakers, and actually need to solve problems with them, your brain becomes active and looks for ways to communicate. The more thoroughly you separate yourself from your native language, the easier the new language becomes. Otherwise you may end up like people who spend years abroad living in Russian ghettos, do not learn the language, and cannot escape those ghettos as a result. This is a temporary measure. I am not calling on you to abandon your native language forever. But even a month or two in another country can radically improve your English skills. As the most straightforward option, try taking your next holiday without a package tour whose guides hold your hand from airport to airport. Find out how visas work, buy return flights, book a hotel through Booking.com, and off you go. Or save money by booking an apartment through AirBnB.com and gain even more opportunities to communicate. Along the way, you will discover that travel agencies are not essential for seeing the world. The most interesting option, though, is attending international conferences in your field. There are foreigners, a subject to talk about, and pressure on your brain to speak now while you have the chance. Many people are wary of emails from strangers, but even five minutes of conversation in person at a conference can turn you from a stranger into an acquaintance and let you continue communicating remotely afterwards. Incidentally, the next such conference, DevGAMM, will take place in Moscow on 15–16 May. And no, this was not a promotional post for DevGAMM. It just happens to be where I have reached the end of what I wanted to say about learning English. I would be happy to hear readers’ own tips in the comments.