English is the most spoken language in the world. There are 1.4 billion English speakers around the globe, only 380 million of those are native speakers, and more than 1 billion have English as their second language.

English is the most common form of communication in business, travel, leisure and entertainment. So, if you want to broaden your horizons or improve your position in the world it’s a no brainer; learn English. But if it’s such a good idea to learn English and many people want English as their second language, why do so many people struggle?

Well, at school we were all conditioned to think that studying is the way to learn to use a language. So as adults we still believe that we need to attend a traditional grammar course and memorise lots of structures and words, but it’s not the right approach! Traditional grammar courses only give you the bare bones of the language, because the big problem is that it’s very difficult to remember rules, structures and words when they have no personal meaning for you or your life. Quite simply our brain doesn’t want to remember things that are not interesting or relevant to our lives.

Another problem with traditional language courses is that they are usually only once a week. After a week you’ve forgotten almost all of what you studied, and as the course progresses you become ever more despondent. This makes you give up with the idea that you are the problem. However, it’s the method that’s the problem, not you! This is why I have turned my back on the classic ‘grammar first’ approach.

So what works? Well, the best and easiest way isn’t to ‘study and learn’, but to ‘have experiences and acquire’ the language. Use it to do meaningful and practical things in your life. It’s both logical and simple, because it’s the way you learnt your first language, your mother tongue. Language acquisition is something we all did naturally with no stress as babies and young children, and not surprisingly it’s the only real way to learn how to use a language. You simply throw yourself into it without worrying about your mistakes. Don’t wait to be ready, start now. Practice makes progress!

There are three key ingredients that you need to apply constantly to acquire a language. 1. Exposure: listening to things that are interesting or important to you. 2. Repetition: repeating the meaningful structures out loud. And number 3. Use: using those structures in a meaningful way to live your life.

The magic of this approach is that you don’t need to be in England to do it! If you intentionally decide to practise everyday – listen, repeat and use – you will make progress. Start by speaking in English out loud by yourself or with other people during your day. For example: “where are my car keys?”, “Let’s have a coffee   ” or “Tomorrow I’m going to the supermarket because we need some milk.” Start with the English you already know and with curiosity and positivity integrate what is missing, what you need!

This approach is why I’m now an English language coach (not a teacher), this is why I don’t offer courses, I offer immersive pathways and experiences! I help Italians to change their identity from a static student awaiting instructions from the teacher, to a curious dynamic English speaker.

Language learning isn’t a course, it’s a way of life.

If you want English as your second language then find out more about me and my method on my website: speakwithnick.it.

Also on my website, you can read the full transcript of this podcast as you listen to my voice.

I’ll speak to you very soon,

Ciao for now!