How to Make Learning English Fun

Introduction:

Learning English can be excruciating, tedious, and overall boring when done by a standard. People are too focused on memorizing different words and rules from a book that they don’t actually enjoy or find satisfaction in the language because of repetition. Think for a second, learning anything should be a fun process for countless days, months, and even years. You shouldn’t feel forced or completely bored out of your mind to continue an activity. If it feels boring, then something else is off.

Learning Strategies Are Dull:

To put it simply, modern strategies and different ways to learn something are honestly pretty boring and monotonous when seen at a second glance. At first, reading countless pages or learning rules via mnemonics may seem like the most effective way of mastering something. Still, at a deeper level, this strategy is not optimizing your growth as proficiently as other techniques.

Using a high school student as an example, when they enroll in a Spanish or French class, they are often forced to look at a packet of vocabulary words and different phrases for several class periods. Not everyone has a photographic memory, and when you mix this class with several others, you start to realize you don’t have much time to actually learn it effectively. Learning languages is difficult, but they should never feel forced or dependent upon a person’s memory. Anyone should be able to learn it. 

It is important to note that teachers genuinely try their best to help you learn a language, but it is also learner-dependent on how to optimize your growth. This is a major reason why learning a language in school is a lot more difficult than self-teaching. When you teach something to yourself, you’re forced to pace yourself, figure out methods to optimize your learning while simultaneously not having a figurehead over you. It is completely upon the individual rather than a teacher constantly guiding them. It is important for a mentor, but if that mentor is constantly helping you or assigning worksheets that do not help you as they should, then you should start learning by yourself.

What Are Better Strategies:

Everyone will have their own pace plan, and everyone will learn in different ways. Some people may be naturally gifted with their memory, so cramming vocabulary words might be an effective strategy for that group. However, most people aren’t as gifted memory-wise, and those people tend to struggle remembering 30-40 different vocabulary words within 30 minutes. Some people simply do not have adequate time to fully optimize their growth. Others may have cognitive issues that inhibit them from maximizing their learning. That is a crucial reason why conventional methods shouldn’t be forced upon everyone, and those who cannot follow the norm should never be penalized.

Instead of staring at a vocabulary sheet, try to remember 2 to 3 words, then write those words down 3 times each on a piece of paper. Then try to speak the respective language, and try to implement those words in a conversation. You’ll start to notice you’re starting to retain a lot more knowledge on vocabulary than before because you’re actively using your brain. You’re training not only your memory, but your writing and speaking skills as well. You need to have fundamental skills in all aspects of language, not just memorizing different terms on a piece of paper.

Another strategy to try to implement is listening to a podcast or playing subtitles in the desired language. For example, if I want to learn English, then I enable English subtitles so you can follow along. If the video is too fast to fully comprehend, do not feel scared to slow down the video. This will train your ability to recognize words and actively hear the language being used in genuine conversations.  To master a language, you not only need to know several dozen words, but you also need to understand what a speaker is saying to you.

Conclusion:

People have their own conventional and unconventional ways of learning. If you are great at learning from vocabulary packets and textbooks, go for it. Although some people can not learn as profoundly as others. You need to experiment with different studying tactics, and you should never feel scared or intimidated by a language. Always pace yourself accordingly and take necessary steps in order to maximize your learning.