Today you can often hear the expression “language barrier”. Moreover, each of us, most likely, has encountered this problem at least once in our lives. What is a language barrier?
A language barrier is any difficulty that arises in communication between native speakers of different languages.
Communication problems mainly arise among beginners who have just begun to learn a new foreign language. Because of this, many may mistakenly think that over time, fear and discomfort during communication may disappear on their own. In reality, not everything is so simple. People who speak the language at an advanced level may also face the problem of a language barrier, while others, after just a few lessons, can quite confidently conduct a conversation, skillfully using the small vocabulary and grammar that they learned in class.
This happens because there are two types of language barriers.
The first of them is the linguistic barrier. It is caused by the fact that a person does not have enough vocabulary or knowledge of grammatical structures to express his thoughts. Overcoming such a barrier is relatively easy: you just need to continue studying, memorize more vocabulary, do exercises on grammar, listening or speaking, and read books in a foreign language. The main thing here is not to be lazy.
But the second type of language barrier – psychological – is much more difficult to cope with. The main reason for the emergence of such a barrier is the fear of making a mistake, appearing stupid or uneducated to your interlocutor, fear of not understanding your interlocutor, or fear of the unknown caused by lack of self-confidence or knowledge.
How to overcome the language barrier?
Tip #1
Don't be afraid to make mistakes. Think about the fact that you are not taking an exam, and your interlocutor is not a teacher. His task is not to check how well you have mastered a foreign language, he is simply interested in talking with you. Moreover, remember that most people are quite friendly towards foreigners learning their native language. They understand how much work it is to speak a foreign language, and will try their best to help you.
Tip #2
When you learn new words, learn them not silently, but out loud, thoughtfully pronouncing each word. Try to immediately come up with an example for the word and use it in a sentence to check how well you can use the learned word in your speech. If it is still difficult for you to come up with examples on your own, learn by heart and recite the dialogues. Human memory is associative, so the memorized “patterns” will themselves emerge in your memory in certain communicative situations, and from them it will be much easier for you to construct a complete statement.
Tip #3
If your language barrier is associated with the fear of not understanding your interlocutor, then do not hesitate to ask him to speak more slowly or ask again if you did not hear or misunderstand something. Think about the fact that if you yourself do not explain to your interlocutor that you are having difficulty understanding, he himself will not guess about it, and, therefore, will not be able to help you.
Tip #4
A good way to overcome the language barrier is to set small communication goals for yourself and achieve them. For example, if you are on vacation abroad and need to buy something from a local store, try to focus on the task itself, and not on how you will complete it. If you feel that you do not have enough vocabulary to communicate with the seller, use gestures. Don’t be afraid if during the conversation you stumbled or confused your words, because, in essence, the main thing is to achieve your goal, i.e. carry out the planned purchase.
Tip #5
6 tips to overcome the language barrier
Do not forget that for comfortable communication in any language, a relatively small vocabulary is enough - only about 800 words. If you don’t know the appropriate word in a foreign language, try to select analogues, use descriptive constructions, and explain complex concepts using simple examples. After all, in the end, the speakers themselves sometimes do not have enough words to accurately express their thoughts, and they have to express themselves “on their fingers.”
What is a language barrier? 
When they say that, I immediately read the subtext: I don’t know anything, I don’t want to teach, I want to talk! And I remember a good old film, the Russian fairy tale Sadko. Just as they hit the Phoenix bird on the head, and it began to sing sweet trills, so here, with some kind of help, hit such a student on the head so that he starts talking. There is such a magical English club, they claim that people come to them and immediately start talking, and only then do they begin to understand why they say that. I have no idea how they do it, I only know that they take at least A2 level. All the teachers there are expats, they communicate only with them in the language... And so on, let's try to figure out the reasons for the language barrier.
Reasons for the language barrier
Usually the reason is a lack of speaking practice, but there are others:
- fear of saying the wrong thing
- lack of active and necessary vocabulary,
- incorrect approach to speaking (for example, the desire to literally translate a phrase into English),
- difficulties with
- absolute ignorance or absence of convenient structures (, manage to, want to, I’d rather, you’d better, I + Past S/Past Perf, etc.).
In short, the language barrier is not a myth.
How to overcome the language barrier?
To fight it, you need to “treat” the cause 🙂 There is not enough vocabulary and constructions - we study with examples and work on them, problems with pronunciation - we become a little bit of speech therapists, fear of making mistakes - we listen carefully to strange phrases, praise, correct only those things that make balls roller-coaster they come in, explain and work out the correct option...
Psychology of this phenomenon
The article would not be complete if we did not consider the opposite point of view. Many people don't believe this is a linguistic problem. Psychological, rather, and it can be solved more successfully by a psychologist than by a philologist. By the time people first find themselves in an English-speaking country, they cannot open their mouths for the first three days. They are terribly afraid to do it, although they have no objective reasons for fear.
By doing psychological work on yourself and training in front of a mirror, you can gradually relieve discomfort when communicating with carriers. Hence the conclusion is that the problem is not an ephemeral language barrier, but a banal fear of making a mistake, and it is much deeper than many people think. What does language have to do with it? Only complexes and fears. And a person can only cope with them on his own. Not without the help, perhaps, of a psychologist, a teacher, a friend... But the teacher only opens the door, the student himself must enter ©.
P.S.. Watch The Lonely Island's "Shy Ronnie 2: Ronnie & Clyde (feat. Rihanna)" video. Can shyness be called a language barrier? Is there a language barrier in your native language? I look forward to your comments!
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote: “The only luxury I know is the luxury of human communication.” Do you allow yourself the luxury of communicating in English or are you afraid of having to speak a foreign language? This article is addressed to those who want to learn how to overcome the language barrier in English and start communicating with foreigners freely.
Reasons for the appearance of a language barrier
The language barrier in English is the difficulties that arise when speaking in a language that is not our native language. Almost every person studying a foreign language has experienced this unpleasant phenomenon. A barrier can arise not only for beginners, but also for people with good knowledge. Moreover, it’s especially offensive for the latter: you know grammar well, you calmly read articles in English, you watch “The Big Bang Theory” in the original, and when it comes to conversation, you can hardly squeeze out a couple of sentences.
How to overcome the language barrier? You need to know the enemy by sight, so let's see what this phenomenon is and how to deal with it.
Psychological component of the language barrier in English
- Fear of the unknown
- Fear of mistakes
- Shyness caused by an accent
- Fear of speaking slowly
- Fear of not understanding your interlocutor
It often happens that when we need to say something in English, we fall into a stupor. This may happen because we find ourselves in a situation that is atypical for ourselves: we need to talk to a stranger in a non-native language. In addition, we do not know how such a conversation will turn out: what topic the interlocutor will talk about, what phrase he will say next, etc.
Of course, the main enemy in speaking English is the fear of “blurting out something wrong.” When talking with an English-speaking interlocutor, we are so afraid of seeming stupid or funny that we prefer to remain silent or say only Yes or No. Psychologists explain this fear by saying that we have become accustomed to it since childhood: we are punished for mistakes. Therefore, even adults subconsciously try to avoid mistakes, so they prefer to keep their mouth shut in the literal sense of the word.
Some people are embarrassed by their accent in English. Moreover, this psychological problem sometimes takes on universal proportions: a person cannot achieve perfect British pronunciation, so he prefers to remain silent and communicate using gestures. This is because we are afraid to show that we do not belong to a given society; we do not know how others will react to our speech. In addition, it seems to us that they will laugh at our accent; we are afraid of looking stupid. At the same time, we completely forget how much we like it when foreigners try to speak Russian; their accent seems cute to us and does not interfere with communication at all.
Another common phobia goes something like this: “What if I take a long time to choose my words, speak slowly and with pauses. A foreigner will think I’m stupid.” For some reason, we think that the interlocutor expects us to speak at a speed of 120 words per minute, and not to have a normal conversation. Remember, when speaking Russian, we also pause, sometimes we take a long time to find the right words, and this is perceived quite normally.
The final phobia combines all the previous ones: “I may make a mistake, I speak too slowly and with an accent, and I may not even catch some words of the interlocutor. All this will prevent him from understanding me.” At best, this fear makes us speak too loudly to a foreigner (we think that they will understand us faster), at worst, it keeps us from even trying to speak English.
So why is it difficult for us to speak English and perceive non-native speech by ear?
- Poor vocabulary. The larger your vocabulary, the easier it is for you to express your thoughts to your interlocutor, all other things being equal. If you have a narrow vocabulary, it will be more difficult for you to express yourself and understand the words of an English-speaking friend.
- Poor knowledge of grammar. Of course, even knowing the times of the Simple group will already allow you to communicate on some simple topics. However, if you want to convey your thoughts more accurately to your interlocutor, learning more complex grammatical structures cannot be avoided. In addition, in order to fully comprehend English speech by ear, you need to understand all the subtleties of English grammar.
- Lack of practice. If you speak English only a couple of hours a month and practice listening for half an hour a week, the appearance of a language barrier should not surprise you. For the systematic development of any skill, be it speaking or listening comprehension, regular “training” is needed, that is, English classes. Based on the experience of our school, we recommend studying with a teacher at least 2-3 times a week for 60-90 minutes and studying English independently every day or every other day for at least 20-30 minutes. Remember how people learn to drive a car: to feel confident behind the wheel, you need to constantly practice. One lesson per week or month will not bring the desired result.
My father taught me that the only way you can make good at anything is to practice, and then practice some more.
My father taught me that the only way to get good at something is practice, and then some more practice.
How to overcome the language barrier in English
1. Calm down
The first tip is the main step for those who want to overcome the language barrier. Just accept the fact that first conversations with foreigners can be difficult. At the same time, remember: it’s difficult not only for you, but also for him. Your interlocutor is similarly embarrassed and afraid of being misunderstood, so he will make every effort to make your conversation successful. In addition, foreigners always have a favorable attitude towards those who learn English, so even a simple dialogue will seem like an excellent achievement to your interlocutor, and he will help you in every possible way to carry on the conversation.
Does the call to calm down seem banal to you? put forward a hypothesis according to which a person experiencing negative emotions has a deterioration in language abilities. That is, if you are nervous or upset, you will find it much more difficult to express yourself in English than when you are calm, in fact your language abilities are partially “switched off” during times of extreme anxiety. This is similar to the fear of public speaking: you can know your speech by heart, but from excitement you completely forget everything.
2. Give yourself permission to make mistakes.
A somewhat strange but important recommendation: allow yourself to get rid of perfectionism. Remember how, as a child, you learned to write the letters of the Russian language: someone wrote them in a mirror image, someone forgot to draw “loops” or “tails”, someone wrote so crookedly that teachers recalled the joke about a chicken paw with a smile . And, despite all these “failures”, as a result we learned to write Russian quite passably, and some even legibly (doctors don’t count :-)). The process of communicating in English will be exactly the same: at first you will make mistakes, but the more often you practice speaking, the faster you will get rid of them. So don’t be afraid to accidentally lose an article; native speakers will forgive you for this mistake; after all, you are not an ambulance doctor or an airport dispatcher, so your mistake will not have harmful consequences.
3. Don’t be afraid to “sound” wrong.
Of course, you should strive to pronounce the sounds of the English language clearly and correctly, but do not be afraid to speak with an accent, otherwise it will be difficult to overcome the language barrier. English is taught in all corners of the world, and each country has its own “peculiarities of national pronunciation.” By and large, a foreigner will be able to understand even our notorious “zeriz/zera,” so don’t be shy about your accent, it’s not a defect, but a feature of your speech. At the same time, work on your pronunciation, for example, using the techniques from the articles "" and "". Keep calm and fake a British accent!
4. Take your time
Of course, we all want to speak quickly from the very first English lessons, without thinking about the words. However, in reality it turns out differently: the transition from the native language to the target language is not easy. Be prepared for the fact that at first you will speak slowly, pause, and choose your words for a long time. There is no need to force yourself: speed will come on its own as a result of practice. At first, focus on speaking correctly rather than speaking quickly. Speak slowly, but build your sentences correctly and choose the right words. In this case, your speech will definitely be understood, but speed does not contribute to understanding.
5. Try to get the point across
To understand your interlocutor's speech by ear, it is not necessary to catch every word, you need to grasp the essence of what was said. A common mistake: you hear an unfamiliar word in a speech and “get hung up” on it, without listening to what is said to you next. In this situation, you will definitely lose the thread of the conversation and will not be able to understand what was said to you. Try to grasp the meaning of what was said without thinking about unfamiliar words, then it will be easier to overcome the language barrier. Teachers give exactly the same advice before an international exam: when taking the Listening part, you should not dwell on unfamiliar words, the main thing is to grasp the essence, then you will be able to complete the task.
6. Repeat your words
Did your interlocutor not understand you the first time? Nothing bad happened: repeat the sentence again, reformulate it, try to simplify it. You are just learning to speak English, so your interlocutor does not expect eloquence from you.
7. Ask again
Don't be afraid to ask your interlocutor again. If a foreigner speaks too quickly and you do not have time to catch the words, ask him to repeat everything more slowly. Do you still not understand what the other person is saying? Without a hint of embarrassment, ask him to explain everything to you in simpler words. Remember, your request will be accepted adequately, because any person understands how difficult it is to understand a non-native language by ear.
How can you ask your interlocutor to repeat what he said:
| Phrase | Translation |
|---|---|
| Could you please speak a little slower? My English isn't very strong. | Could you speak a little slower? I don't speak English very well. |
| Could you, please, repeat that? | Could you repeat that please? |
| Could you repeat your last phrase, please? | Could you repeat your last sentence please? |
| Could you repeat, please, what did you say? | Could you repeat what you said? |
| I’m sorry, I don’t understand. Could you repeat that, please? | Sorry, I can't understand. Could you repeat this again please? |
| I’m sorry, I didn’t get that. Could you say it again, please? | Sorry, I didn't understand what you said. Could you repeat it please? |
| Sorry, I didn't catch you. | I'm sorry, I did not catch you. |
| Sorry, I didn’t quite understand that. | Sorry, I didn't quite understand what you told me. |
8. Keep it simple and people will understand you.
If this is your first time speaking to a “living foreigner,” try to simplify your speech. For example, in a restaurant, simply say: “Tea, please”, do not complicate your life with long constructions “I would like ...” / “Could you please ...”. A simple sentence will definitely be understood, and this will give you confidence. To prevent simplified speech from sounding rude, do not forget to add the polite words please and thank you, they are appropriate in any conversation. In addition to simplifying the construction of sentences, also use simple vocabulary. At first, do not try to use all the idioms and slang expressions you know in a conversation. Firstly, you can get nervous and get confused in them. Secondly, some expressions may not be used in some territory or may be used with a slightly different meaning. Therefore, we recommend that everyone who is interested in how to overcome the language barrier first speak as simply as possible. At the same time, try to gradually complicate your speech, add words, “build up” sentences. In this case, your speaking skill will develop systematically and without psychological trauma.
9. Increase your vocabulary
A large vocabulary will allow you to speak more accurately, select new words faster, and at the same time better understand your interlocutor. Good fluent speech can only be achieved by a person with a wide vocabulary. Read our article; from the 15 techniques outlined in it, you will definitely find something useful for yourself. In addition, remember that in a conversation a native speaker may use various phrasal verbs, idioms, etc. To understand what they are trying to tell you, try to learn different words, including popular figurative expressions.
10. Learn phrases
Try to learn not individual words, but entire sentences or excerpts from them. This way, vocabulary is remembered better, and useful phrase patterns will remain in your memory. From such templates you can “construct” your appeal to your interlocutor.
11. Listen to audio materials
To avoid worrying about whether you can understand English by ear, develop your listening skills. How to overcome the language barrier using audio materials? To do this, you can watch news, films, TV series in English, listen to podcasts on topics that interest you, etc. In addition, take into account 11 tips from the article “”. Try to listen to something in English for at least 10-20 minutes a day. Do not stop your studies, even if at first you cannot understand half of what is said. Your ears need to get used to the sound of unfamiliar speech, gradually you will adapt and be able to understand everything that is said to you.
12. Learn grammar
You may not use the Present Perfect Continuous in every sentence, but knowledge of grammatical structures will allow you to specifically and accurately express your thoughts in English, as well as correctly understand what exactly a foreigner is telling you. To understand grammar, take one of them and read the articles of our teachers in the English grammar section.
13. Find someone to talk to
Remember the saying, “They knock out a wedge with a wedge”? You will overcome the language barrier in English only if you have constant speaking practice. The more often you practice your speaking skill, the faster you will improve it to the level you need and the less embarrassment you will feel when you need to use English in communication. You can find a teacher to talk to on ours, in which case you will not only “have a conversation,” but also increase your vocabulary and also understand grammar. In addition, you can find a conversation partner among other English learners like you on one of the language experience exchange sites. And if you have a friend who is learning English, try talking to him in English sometimes. You won't be embarrassed or afraid to make a mistake and will be able to practice having a conversation in English.
14. Speak everything in English
During self-study in English, you can also practice speaking. To do this, just say everything out loud. Read a book - read aloud, do grammar exercises - pronounce what you write, watch a movie - repeat the phrases after the characters. Such simple actions will bring tangible benefits in overcoming the language barrier. Many English learners note that words spoken out loud are remembered better than those learned silently. In the article “” you will find 14 more simple and working techniques for developing oral speech.
15. Smile
It's time to dispel the stereotype about “gloomy Russians who never smile.” Abroad, a smile is almost a prerequisite for normal communication. A benevolent, smiling interlocutor will be helped faster than a nervous and frowning one.
Now you know how to overcome the language barrier in English and why it occurs. Remember, there are no insurmountable obstacles, there is little desire to overcome them. Our 15 tips will help you overcome any barrier and forget about your fears of speaking your target language. We wish you pleasant communication in English!
Hi all! And this time greetings from America. Because today we are publishing advice from one good person who moved to the USA several years ago and experienced first-hand what a language barrier is. The article will be especially useful for those who want to quickly adapt to the language environment.
I think English is especially relevant now. Today, many people work on the Internet, and earnings in the English-speaking segment have become very profitable due to the growth of the dollar.
How long have you been learning the language? In general, how does one overcome the language barrier? Tell me, it’s very interesting.
More than a year. But in this matter you can improve endlessly. I have an average level, because... there is no goal to integrate into society or socialize. I'm not interested in local news, sports, politics, etc. Accordingly, the vocabulary in these areas is weak.
The language barrier, it seems to me, is associated with several factors. Firstly, this fear of making a mistake and, as a result, the feeling that you are talking nonsense and looking like a fool. 🙂 Another problem - insufficient vocabulary when there are simply no words to express thoughts. But this can easily be solved simply by memorizing a sufficient amount of words (frequency dictionary for 1000 of the most common words). Plus what is in the books below (by topic and the most commonly used idioms).
A bunch of courses that exist, in my opinion, at the initial stage are not only useless, but also harmful. The courses should be taken later, when you have already started talking and there is a need and motivation.
The following advice follows from the above.
Improve your vocabulary
Vocabulary is the basis for both speaking and reading. First of all, read these three books first:
You just need to read 10 pages of them every day. You don’t need to learn anything. Everything will be stored in your head and will come up when needed. This is what is used in everyday speech. Plus, if the level is generally the most basic, learn a frequency dictionary for the 1000 most common words. I was able to learn 30–50 words a day, spending a total of 1–1.5 hours on it in 2–3 approaches. I only used BX Language acquisition(a program for learning the spelling and pronunciation of foreign words).
Remember common expressions
Try to memorize entire phrases, not just individual words.
Memorizing individual words will help you little if in life they are pronounced 90% of the time as part of some stable phrase. You definitely need to learn phrases in addition to words.
No, words, of course, are also needed, but the whole point is to memorize cascades of phrases. Because in everyday life there are a lot of stable phrases used. Few people pay attention to this either.
Another such moment. The words in many phrases are cobbled together in such a way that, without knowing the expression in advance, it is impossible to make out anything. For example, someone turns to you: “Hey, wsgnbd!” What did he say? This is a friendly greeting “What is going on, buddy?”, something like “How are you doing, buddy?” They glue this whole set of words into one. It sounds smooth, of course, but it’s just impossible to write. From each individual word, only one sound remains, which flows into another and one new word is obtained. This happens with many phrases. For example, “in there” (there) is pronounced “inea”, “I get it” - “gacha”, etc. But some words also have their own peculiarities in pronunciation. So, for example, 30 (thirty) is pronounced “tori”.
Everything here is elementary.
- Take your favorite movie where they talk a lot
- Print English subtitles
- Translate them
- Learn unfamiliar words
- Watch a movie with subtitles and enjoy understanding
After several iterations, you can watch the movie WITHOUT subtitles and understand everything.
The main thing is to learn to separate words in fluent speech and not translate them in your head. That is, a reflex must be developed when you understand the meaning of a phrase without translation inside your head.
Speak phrases
The next stage is pronunciation. You need to repeat phrases after the actors or, in an advanced version, speak the memorized material in unison at the same pace. I tried to do this in the first scene of Pulp Fiction in the cafe. You can try it for fun, the text there is learned in about 10 minutes.
Pronunciation is necessary for the formation of neural connections in the brain and muscle patterns in the speech apparatus. Because speech is an unconscious act.
You can, of course, consciously construct a sentence in your brain before speaking, but this will be very slow. When the necessary neural connections have been developed, the necessary phrases will automatically appear when speaking. And the muscles of the tongue will already know what needs to be done so that these sounds are reproduced as they should. It just takes practice and time. Practice as much as possible. Or a lot of talking, or communicating on Skype.
Start talking!
Don't be afraid to make mistakes! No grammar needed. Enough to learn, use to(analogous to “to”), do before the question, is/are, was/were And have/has- this minimum is quite enough for conversational speech. There is no need to discover or teach any tenses at all.
This is necessary to quickly start speaking. When this happens, there will be a need to study other rules. Then this is what needs to be done. Until a person speaks, he has no such incentive. That's why it's so difficult for everyone to learn English. People, instead of immediately speaking and expressing their thoughts, begin to cram the rules.
0 5 130
What do English tutors think about the notorious language barrier? The expert shares his thoughts on the causes of “foreign dumbness” and tips for overcoming it.
What do English tutors think about the notorious language barrier? Expert Vladimir Prokopovich shares his thoughts on the causes of “foreign dumbness” and tips for overcoming it.
All kinds of people come to me with the same complaint: “I have a language barrier, I can’t speak.” As a rule, these are not schoolchildren, but adult students who have managed to try different methods and approaches to learning the language. Analysis of classes for this request helped to formulate three, in my opinion, main reasons why many people have such a hard time speaking English.
A university teacher, a cheerful student, a native speaker - who would be the best tutor for you? Before looking for a teacher, clearly formulate the task: why do you need a foreign language?
Reason number 1. Banal ignorance of words and expressions
For example, almost no one knows the simplest words like “iron” or “dry cleaning.” Rarely does a student have the phrase “top up his account,” etc. in his vocabulary. Interestingly, every third person believes that their problem lies in poor knowledge of grammar in general or verb tenses in particular.
Such false reflection is almost certainly caused by numerous previous attempts to master the language on your own or with less than professional assistants.
- Error. Instead of seriously and deeply practicing spoken English and lexical units, people endlessly perform exercises on tenses, modal verbs and other topics - almost always in isolation from context and real life.
- Solution. Study the same verb tenses using current material from modern news or a topic close to you. This will immediately give the classes an applied character and involve emotions, which is the number one factor for natural memorization of words and expressions - as opposed to dull cramming.
Reason number 2. The habit of thinking in Russian
Many students are too dependent on translation; it is important for them to translate every English word into Russian. They do not grasp the meaning from the context of the sentence until all new concepts acquire a Russian “twin”. This habit equally inhibits listening and speaking. As a result, people speak “Russian English” and do not understand “English English”.
- Error. How do my students “speak” at the beginning of our lessons? Mentally compose a beautiful phrase in Russian, then select the correct grammatical structure and English words. This pattern makes speech very slow and unnatural, and it is also full of errors. The situation is even worse with listening. While the listener follows the usual chain of “heard - mentally translated - understood,” the speaker runs far ahead.
- Solution. Practice understanding foreign speech without relying on your native language, from context, using already familiar words. This is where multiple viewings of popular TV series and/or documentaries on a topic that interests you can help. When speaking English, do not translate into Russian first - compose simple phrases, explain new concepts using words whose meaning you know.
At the same time, pay close attention to cases of striking differences between the way Russians and the British express this or that thought. For example, the phrase “It so happened that I was late for the train” in English will sound in Russian literal translation “I happened to be late for the train.”
Reason number 3. Lack of openness and sociability in communication in Russian
It's simple. To learn to speak, you must speak! But if you prefer to remain silent in conversations in Russian, you are unlikely to actively maintain a conversation in the company of English-speaking people.
- Error. Reluctance to share your opinion, discuss anything - no matter what topic the tutor suggests.
- Solution. Talk, talk and talk some more, especially in class. And if the teacher “speaks” too much and you don’t perform enough, insist on redistributing roles.
Of course, I have listed only the most common reasons that prevent people from speaking English. There are other obstacles to high-quality and free communication; they can be very individual. But this is a topic for a separate conversation and individual lessons with a tutor.
How to memorize English words
Most people are lazy (I’m no exception, I can’t master Spanish grammar, I’ve already done more than one approach) and simply don’t study words. I deliberately avoid the word “teach”, since each teacher puts his own meaning into it.
For me personally, “learning words” is, first of all, memorizing them in context, inside a phrase or even a small but very vivid sentence.
This is especially important in the case of stable phrases like heavy rain. If you try to remember it separately, there is a risk that the literal translation will remain in your memory - “heavy rain”, whereas in Russian, of course, it is “very heavy, pouring rain”.
However, most of the so-called methods come down to memorizing individual words - even the notorious stickers on objects in the house, unfortunately, fall into this category. And this is fundamentally wrong. Imagine that you know the noun “button”, but do not know the verbs “fasten” and “sew”, you know the verb “sit down”, but do not know the noun “carriage”. This is a 100% guarantee of a language barrier!
- Remember words in context. I like to give students a “magic” example by asking them to complete the sentence “Close behind you...”. Naturally, everyone says “door”, convinced of the benefits of the advice to remember words in context.
- Find analogies- for example, the word reserve is easy to remember through “reservation”, as well as associations: truce (“truce”) and “coward” - cowards are the first to agree to a truce.
- Connect your emotions. Pass the expression through yourself, make it relevant to your life, and the likelihood of remembering it the first time will increase significantly. Compare. It’s one thing to write and try to remember an impersonal sentence: “Ironing a wrinkled shirt is long and boring.” Another is to write down: “Yesterday I was ironing my wrinkled shirt, and my two-year-old son looked with guilty eyes, since he was the one who wrinkled it.” The brain reacts much more actively to the original situation. Pros: firstly, you will immediately practice new words, at the same time being surprised that the noun “iron” and the verb “ironing” are translated by the same word. And secondly, you can use a set of ready-made phrases (stock phrases) when you tell funny incidents from your life.