I Want to ____ English!

"Am I studying or learning?", this is a question often neglected or misunderstood.

Yes, both from Andy....about 10 years apart

First of all, studying and learning are not the same. They may serve the same goal sometimes but are different. Whenever discussing language acquisition, more often than not, we come to this loop on which way to teach or learn. It is a battle fought timelessly. Here, we will share our perspectives on the two conflicting but often co-existing ideologies.

As you can see in the two photos, which one is which?

"Studying" by default is related to words like "hard work", "books", and "pressure" while "learning" is about "willingness", "practicality", and "lifestyle". We're not to say which one is better because they both have their purposes.

We were surprise to find a cross-species teacher...

Studying is short-term, quick, and precise. No one studies to become a professor, a boss, or the president because those positions are on the opposite side of the spectrum. You study to pass an upcoming test and/or to get a certificate that you must acquire no later so you can showcase how much you know. It serves its purpose well if the person studying is aiming for exactly the goals. On the flip side, learning is long-term, slow-paced, and intimate. No one learns to pass a test because passing isn't the goal of learning. We learn to use and test to show how much we have learned.

What "intimate" here means is that learning comes from within. You found something interesting and therefore the process begins by how you apply it into your life. A good learner will find resources and check which one applies the best and not to blindly trust some businessperson with an outstanding strategy, which sadly is the norm.

It is our nature to find something pretty, low-cost, and convenient. Look at all the convenience stores around us in Taiwan, only second to South Korea in the world. It looks like the trend has not only entered the field of education but rooted. We dare to make a wild guess that 1 in 10 people you see on the streets of Taipei could potentially say they can teach or already teach online or off-line. Even if you stay home, there are apps that promise all-time Q&A or some kind of help instantly. The common features they have are... you guessed it, amazing-looking resumes, cheaper than expected, and a few clicks away from your handheld device.

Behind every screen is a person that you need to understand before choosing, not price. Everyone wants a good deal but when you learn from "a teacher with a ph.D who charges USD 30~50 an hour", or someone came back from overseas that is self-promoted as a teacher, what you need to know first is if the qualification of the teacher you need, and second, if you're being "overcharged" or "undercharged", neither is a good sign.

In a time when there are more teachers than students, more choices than good decisions, and more covers than contents, you either learn it yourself or learn about who can help you learn. Know what you want, studying for learning.

Final note, we're not simply roasting the people in the pictures. They may be great teachers but the fact that education has reached such low standards, we are disappointed and frankly, sad.

#education