The Worst Countries to Learn English Part II

Ondy Ho
Jan 6, 2019
3 min read

Updated: Jan 7, 2019

... This explains why they're not good at speaking English or the English language at all: [There's no need for English.]

Back to what we were talking about on why Ukraine was on the list. The reason that is, lack of purpose plays a crucial role. How can you learn something when you don't know why you need it? Plus, everyone already speaks the language you're good at, your mother tongue. A quick tip for you. "Don't think about why you need it. Just like it."

Three key factors of acquiring language ability are that

environment
engagement
enjoyment

This is something that have been mentioned before, the 3 Es. Yes, I made it up (LOL) but that's what comes from personal experience.

To relate to our local audience, here's an analogy on [Ukraine (UA) vs. Taiwan (TW)]:

Language Visibility (both visual and audio)

UA: Ukrainian, Russian, (barely) Polish, Hungarian...

Taiwan: Chinese, Taiwanese, Hakka, Vietnamese, Thai, Indonesian, Spanish, English...

In Ukraine, you barely see or hear about languages or culture other than their own. This is a huge obstacle to create the environment for learners. We don't speak much(or any) of the foreign languages we encounter in Taiwan but consider the open-mindedness and how influential it is. Of course we're not gonna mention the hard-core "anti-foreign culture" people. In Taiwan, people do have a higher sense of acceptance to other languages. We don't necessary speak English but we're okay to make fun of ourselves while helping foreigners by using imperfect phrases. It's something that people here take for granted until they've gone out and realized that others don't have to help or be nice.

How do you engage your poor language abilities in Ukraine? The answer is that you don't. People don't know you, don't like English and your broken English will only make it worse. Try practicing speaking English in Taiwan, and you will be surprised by the mostly positive feedback you get. There's even a good chance that someone offers to help you with English. I know I would.

The problem we have in Taiwan is that we don't know how good of a country we've got. We're in one of the most liberal countries in the world and easily that of Asia. Even the grandma in the night market would try her best to understand when you're buying Boba Milk Tea "no sugar or ice".

Finally, enjoy it. That's the easiest and most doable task you can take on. You've already had all the opportunities that people in other countries don't. You just....have to like what you do. It may be difficult at the beginning but that's because you haven't seen the fun of it. Find your favorite way to learn and don't stress on "I'm going to study for 3 month to get GOLD in TOEIC". Dear you, life isn't a movie. All the things you study, you forget;all the things no one taught you but you like, you keep.