IFYOUarecurrentlylearningEnglishinaschool,collegeorinstituteoffurthereducation,youjoinapproximatelyonebillionotherpeoplearoundtheworldwhoareengagedinthesamepursuit.However,asyoutrytomemorisepropergrammar,andtrytoavoidthemistakescommontomoststudentsofEnglish,youmaywonderwhyyouarelearningthelanguageinthefirstplace.
So,whydoweneedtolearnEnglish?
AfterMandarin,Englishisspokenbymorepeoplethananyotherlanguage,andisthenativelanguageofmorethan350millionpeople.MorepeoplespeakEnglishthanthosewhospeaktheArabicandFrenchlanguagescombined.
Moreover,Englishistheinternationallanguageofdiplomacy,business,science,technology,banking,computing,medicine,aviation,UN&NATOarmedforces,engineering,tourism,Hollywoodfilmsandarguablythebestpopandrockmusicintheworld.
Englishhasplentyofwordstochoosefrom.Infact,anEnglishspeakerisofferedthebiggestvocabularyofanylanguagewithachoiceof500,000to1,000,000words(includingtechnicalandscientificterms).
Butdon’tpanic,mostEnglishspeakersdoverywellwithavocabularyofaround20,000words.
Englishcanbefuntoo.Forinstance,themusicofsuchstarsasElvisPresley,TheBeatles,LedZeppelin,MichaelJacksonandMadonnahasencouragedfanstospeakthelanguageoftheiridols,whilstothershaveenrolledinEnglishclassestoimprovetheirunderstandingofthedialogueinfilmsandTVshows.
OrperhapstheyhaveembracedEnglishtoenjoythewritingofStephenKing,GeorgeOrwellorJ.K.Rowling.TheymayevenhaveaninterestinspeakingEnglishjusttoconversewithtravelersfromothercountries,whocommunicatebyusingtheEnglishglobalinterlinguawhiletravellingabroad.
Finally,ifyouarestudyingEnglishatschool,collegeoruniversity,rememberthatgettingan‘A’gradeinEnglishisalmostworthless,intermsofcommunication,ifyoucannotspeakthelanguage.SpokenEnglishisusedinthebestcareers,thebestuniversities,andisincreasinglybeingusedatjobinterviews.Solikeitornot,Englishisaveryimportantlanguagetolearnhowtospeak.
MyfirstpriorityforlearningEnglishistocontinuemyeducation.But,afterstudyingEnglishformanyyears,IrealizedthatlearningEnglishcanhelpmetounderstandotherculturesandalsobecomefamiliarwiththeirliteratureandfamousbooks.Ithasbeenagreatjoyformetounderstandhowothersthinkandseetheworlddifferently.Forbeginners,firstlearntolisten,thentalkandread.Finallylearntoreadandwrite.ListentoEnglisheverydaybylisteningtoEnglishsongs,watchingEnglishTVshowsormoviesandusingonlineEnglishlessons.MakeanEnglish/ESLfriendwhocanmakeupconversations,practicedialoguesandhelpyouwithyourEnglishlessons.ReadEnglishstoriesbystartingwithchildren’sstorybooks.Readadvertisementssignsandlabelswheneveryoucan.Writedownnewwords.LookfortheirmeaninginanEnglish-Englishdictionaryfirst.Makeexamplesentences.KeepanEnglishdiary.Startwithonesentence.Writeyourfeelingdown.Writeabouttheweather.LearnEnglishmorequicklybyvisitinganEnglishspeakingcountry.StaywithanEnglishfamily.Hearnativespeakerstalkandmostofall,haveafunexperience.