Don't Study English!

To be more accurate, we propose that we don't study language at all(unless you want to be a professor)! For convenience sake, let's just keep our target here as English.

This may still be a radical concept to some but it's hardly a new one. We don't study languages, period! In retrospect, did we learn our mother tongue by attending classes after classes and constantly worrying about school benchmarks, renowned tutors, and being less than? No, no, no, and no! We acquired the language we speak from our very best teacher, home,a.k.a. the environment.

Home isn't a house; it's not even just your family. There are different stages of home, the one we grow up in, the one we move into, and the one we decided to retire to. The most important of all, home is where your mind is. Every once in a while there is news about some multilingual children or talented people who are eagerly sought by businesses. While we haven't had the chance to know someone like that in person, it is safe to say that most if not all of them, achieved multilingualism by what is offered to them from their home environment, including family education, neighborhood, friends...and so on. Perhaps that's too big of a picture, multilingualism. However, using the same method which we already practiced from birth and focus on just one or two more new languages should be sufficient.

As the title reads, don't study English; we learn from within. There are many ways for us to learn on our own, namely listening to music, watching movies, speaking to anyone, and reading articles. All of which is free but requires more discipline and therefore is less pursued. It is up to the teachers to help provide not only the learning environment but the right mindset. Thus, you either be your own teacher or you learn how to find a teacher to teach you!

A teacher will tell you what to do; a good teacher will teach you how to learn. It isn't a fair game during teacher hunting because of inequivalent knowledge on the target and therefore makes it difficult to spot ill-suited or even incompetent teachers. To make it worse, it isn't easy to help without being misunderstood. The best that Andy could offer is a personal consultation or this blog for guidelines. We're available for educational issues. Let's never forget that.

Back to "not studying", besides learning by ourselves and looking for good teachers, there is, of course, mandatory education which offers more and more hours of English lessons. Just because what it says in the title doesn't mean that we just quit school. The difference between studying and learning is how you think about it. In schools, they must have quizzes, tests, and exams due to categorization. It's the system and overriding it requires massive consensus of the public hence not our objective here. Some people simply transfer their children to experimental schools, some just study abroad. To be honest, those are not better choices but convenient choices for affluent families. Education is for all and everyone is entitled to it. Instead of "a quick fix(we don't feel good about those)", we could really make better use of the resources in public education. Remember, all it takes is either your effort or lots of money. The odds vary according to individuals.

Not everyone is a professional teacher, nor has an absolute philosophy deep-rooted in them. However, you may think about the following for your children or yourself. Any variation is welcomed. You'll need to find the best way for yourselves and not always have the best for others.

For parents, (the ＊ indicates more or less endeavor)

＊ Have your kids read the textbook to you or read it with them.

＊＊ Lable household items in English according to the textbook.

＊＊＊ Intentionally play music in English whenever possible (sing if possible).

＊＊＊＊ Write/Exchange English journals with your kid and discuss them weekly.

＊＊＊＊＊ Set up English hours in the house where everyone speaks only English.

As parents, don't expect outsourcing YOUR responsibility to be the primary method of family education. Have someone help you, not do it for you. Otherwise, find someone who would love your child as their own. Or, you can always just let the kid decide what's important. English doesn't have to be the most important.

For individuals, (everything for kids is also available for anyone but assuming you're an adult)

＊ Change language setting for everything in English.

＊＊ Write 3 sentences a day.

＊＊＊ Learn a song with lyrics each week.

＊＊＊＊ Read local news in English. Then world news in English.

＊＊＊＊＊ Find a speaking partner and for speaking only. Seriously, both ways.

Let's face it. As adults, most of you have had at least 16 years of English education in school. You're free from school but are tied up with work. You got rid of school teachers that were there to encourage you but now you've got quartas to force you to improve. It's too late when your boss is asking you and the later it is, the more expensive but less educational the method becomes. Or, you can just switch to a field that doesn't require English skills. Learning is supposed to be inspiring.

There you have it again, friends! Andy doesn't teach English. He just teaches in English.

#education