Life around the world

Wednesday, 7 March, 2018 - 11:58

Beginner, advanced and somewhere in between

by BethanBlogger2017

Learning a foreign language is a demanding process and it can be easy to feel stuck at any stage. This may be at the beginning when youve just started, in the middle once youve mastered the basics or even much later on when you are approaching an advanced level of fluency. Sometimes these in-between stages can be challenging and disheartening, so it is important to always remind yourself how far youve come.

Maybe you mastered basic grammar a long time ago, but as things such as vocabulary and colloquialisms have improved, the parts you learned at the beginning have started to confuse you. In my case, I learned from this that it is OK to go back and revise simple things such as grammar and pronouns, as having focused on vocabulary improvement for so long it is only natural that you might slip on the basics.

Although being fully immersed in a language can be the best way to improve your comprehension and skills, it might also be frustrating when the language feels inescapable. When all you want is to hear your native tongue and have a conversation with someone without having to really strain your mind. It’s for this reason that in your free time you’ll probably be craving contact with your own language, maybe through reading or watching a film. There’s nothing wrong with this, but in my situation, I knew I was becoming lazy.

You might assume that living abroad is enough alone for you to progress to fluency. Of course, daily and consistent interaction with natives is one of the best ways of improving, but I realised I had sort of hit a wall. I knew enough to get by, but I wasn’t going the extra mile and using most of my free time to learn more. Language learning is a huge commitment, and if you don’t work hard to maintain it you can end up stuck at the same level, or worse, move backwards.

It’s inevitable that you’re going to need a break to relax with your own native language, but I now realise I had become too complacent and was no longer progressing as much as I would have liked. Since then, I’ve made more of an effort to read at least once a day and select options on Netflix in Spanish as opposed to English, allowing me to practise more skills which are equally important as speaking. I have some days when I feel like I’m really achieving advanced level and others when I feel more like a beginner, but I am now aiming to use this as motivation rather than an excuse for complacency.

Language level
Discussion

Are you a beginner, advanced or somewhere in between? What are your tips for learning English?

Submitted by janie on Fri, 03/16/2018 - 04:52

I am facing the same problem. Learning language is a long process. In the beginning, we always feel exciting and try very hard to learn as much as we can. But after some days, we lost our motivations. A key to avoiding this situation is When you feel like quitting think about why you started.
Profile picture for user SLMT

Submitted by SLMT on Sat, 03/10/2018 - 07:47

I am facing this problem now. Last three months ago, I always read English books , stories and magazines from British Council Library.I always come to this website and study everyday.I always listen to English podcasts whenever I have free time and on my way to home and school.But After doing exact things for 6 months, I can’t give enough time to study English. I was in the middle of beginner and advanced.I started to feel boring to do studying English.My study time is getting shorter and shorter. Then some of my days are spent without studying English. Then I started to feel I am going backwards.Some of the easy one can’t be answered. I start to realize my problems after spending my time carelessly for two months. So I started studying English again.This story really helps me a lot .
Profile picture for user Elsa007

Submitted by Elsa007 on Wed, 03/14/2018 - 03:31

Hi SLMT, I had something similar to what happened to you. My teacher once told me that it was "plateau effect" commonly shown in language learning and encouraged me just to keep going! :) Maybe I'm a beginner, advanced and somewhere in between but I'll enjoy studying English! Harambee!

In reply to by SLMT

English courses near you