Class must go on. Really?

Learning English is not easy and fast. It is an axiom. It often happens that you learn more and more English grammar and vocabulary. You study day by day but these do not make you a better speaker and writer. Just be sure that in fact you are not alone. It turns out that those students who get better at English speaking and writing are the only ones as they are much fewer.

However, why does it happen? Why does a limited minority as a rule succeed in improving their English, while the vast majority of people fail? The answer is long, but I will try to put it into one sentence right now. The thing is that knowing does not lead to doing.

To be more precise, you know quite well what foods are good for your health. Plus, you understand which ones are bad. And at the same time, do you really eat more of the good ones and simultaneously avoid unhealthy foods? I am sure you do not. The same might be said about why you fail to improve your English. You know many words. You have learned many grammar rules. And yet you do not strive to use them.

Receptive and productive skills

Language has 4 skills, 2 of which, listening and reading, are ‘receptive’. That means that these skills suppose that you tend to receive the language from an outside source. Like this passage, for example. But you might remember that there are 2 other skills. I mean speaking and writing, which are ‘productive’. And this word stands for your tendency to produce the language.

I must admit that among the most recent and common language teaching approaches one should mention PPP. It stands for presentation, practice plus production. The production stage, which is also called ‘activation’, is essential as it allows the tutor to transfer the newly learned information from students’ passive memory into their permanent active memory.

I think now you would like to see how this stage works. After the students have learned a new grammar or some new vocabulary, it is high time they produce it. In other words, the learners should use the new information in their writing and speech on purpose. This stage usually consists of 2 stages. First of all, you need to produce the new language in a restrictive manner. This is fulfilled by completing several gap-fill questions. At the same time, some other forms of practice are possible. As a rule, they are done under the supervision of a teacher, who is there to make sure the students do right. After that, comes a serious moment. The ‘free production’ stage is when the student attempts to use the language on his or her own in his or her writing or speech. If the learner studies without a teacher, he or she is more responsible for the gained success. It is obvious that such students need to double their effort and attention required for this stage.

I know that many students and learners do not succeed as they skip this last stage and expect the new information to automatically appear in their language.

I’m sorry my friend, it never happens!

So, that is the idea. Try to stop learning more. And do it on the spot. Instead, it is useful to go back, to pick a grammar rule you learned before but you still can’t use. Or try to remember some words you understand when you see but you never use. You should find them and focus on using just them in your writing and speech. Repeat the exercise several times.

The experienced teachers advise the learners never tackle several grammar rules at the same time. Be sure that the first times may not be as successful as you suppose, but a newcomer will never ride a bike unless he or she is left to fall and pick himself or herself up several times. As soon as you feel comfortable with those words and the same can be said about the grammar rules, take it to the next level and strive to do the same with another structure or word.

One word of caution. Do you best to pay as much attention to the functions of grammar structure as you focus on its formula. Otherwise, you risk ending up using the right structure in the wrong place and as a result with a wrong meaning.

And at last, be ready to be cool and patient. Momentum is a key word here. Things are not going to change overnight. You cannot go without investing time and energy in it. I assure you, in a while you will see an improvement that satisfies you as much as the unhealthy food you have never avoided.