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Learning conversational English as a beginner adult learner.
Learning English (or any other language) can be a daunting task, especially for adult learners. Even more so if you are a beginner. Why is that?
Well, as adults, we are often a little more hesitant to make mistakes. We are more conscious of our environment and how people perceive us. Yet, learning a language is done by practising. There are two opposing forces here. You cannot practise your English and not make mistakes. It is part of the game. While learning Spanish and the very little Italian that I know, I made so many mistakes. And some of them were very public. But usually, after a good laugh, people are very supportive of the fact that you are learning, you are making the effort, and they will explain what the mistake was. So, put your pride aside and try.
Children do not have this problem. This is why, if you can learn as many languages as possible at a young age, the better it will be later.
When it comes to English, mastering conversational skills is often a priority, especially here in Quebec. The rest of Canada, the USA and a good part of the business world use English as a communication language. So, if you must pick one extra language to learn, English should be on your list.
Your first language could help
Now learning English from the beginning is not equally hard for everybody. If your mother tongue is a Germanic language (for example: German, Dutch, Swedish, or Norwegian), English can be easier to learn as it shares some linguistic roots with your first language. Same for Romance languages (Spanish, French, Italian, or Portuguese) —words and sentence structure are sometimes like English. So, learning English might be easier in these cases than let’s say, someone who speaks Mandarin or Arabic as a first language. That is not to say that you can’t learn it. You might just have to put in some extra effort.
Learning a first vs. a second target language
If this is your initial second language, many things will be a first for you, and that might take a little more time than someone who is learning a 3rd, 4th, etc. language.
First, you must learn to learn. Often, we do not remember how we acquired our mother tongue. We did this at a very young age and had the full attention and help of our parents and surroundings. So, there is no basis to use in learning your English. Hence, we must learn how to acquire it. Language schools are good for this. They will help you with this process. But you can also do it on your own. To do so, you will need to identify what part of the language you would like to learn: speaking, reading, understanding, or writing. Based on your objective, many online resources can be used.
The silence phase of the natural learning approach
At Langage d’ici, we use, amongst others, the Natural Approach. If you want to learn how this approach works, read. One of the things that you must be aware of with this approach is the silent phase. When learning English, for example, you will go through a phase when you are building your linguistic tools: vocabulary, verb tenses, phrasal structures, etc. Before you can start to express yourself, you need the proper tools. Hence, beginners will all start like this at our school. It is normal. The benefit of this “silence” phase is that you get to think in another language. It takes longer at the beginning but pays dividends later in your learning journey. Also, we have seen that a change of teacher, especially for those low beginner students can put them back into the silent phase. This will last until the learners are comfortable with the new teacher’s speaking style.
Other approaches get learners to speak faster. The translation technique is one of them. Why don’t we use this technique at our school? Even though there are benefits, there are also some drawbacks. One of which is the problem with translation later in your learning journey. Instead of “thinking” in English, learners will often continue translating in their head, before replying. This can cause conversation delays, and bad sentence construction, amongst others.
Tools and resources
Nowadays, many tools and resources can be found online. We are almost at the point of having too many, making it hard to choose.
To help with your learning journey, Langage d’ici has some for you:
Online classes: if you want to have a teacher for your learning, we have a few options (see).
Also, if you want to practise speaking, we have conversational workshops that provide opportunities to speak about a variety of subjects with a facilitator and other adults (see).
Then we have our pedagogy online for you to learn the various elements of a language. French and Spanish will soon be available, and English is already online. (see).
LinkedIn groups for you to have daily topics to continue with your language learning. Word of the day, verb conjugation, idioms, short videos, etc. You don’t have time to search the web for info? We do it for you (see).
And these are the tools that WE offer. You can find so much more online. To have an overview, read our article on online tools to help with your learning (see).
Idioms and colloquialisms
A big part of learning a language goes beyond words, verb tenses, and other elements. Once we start to be more comfortable with a language, we start getting into idioms and colloquialisms. What are they? They are expressions that usually go beyond the words that compose the sentence or expression. Some are widespread, some are very regional.
Why is this a problem for our beginner learners? Well, because they are commonly used around them if they live in a region where English is spoken. People will not stop using such expressions because someone is learning their language. Hence, they may pose a problem. Why? Often, the words composing idioms or expressions can be understood quite early, but their meaning goes above the meaning of each word. An example: lay off. The word lay could be used to say to put down or to assume a resting position. Off will be used for many meanings and is common in English. Some of the meanings could be to send away, to close, to separate. Now, what would “lay off” mean? One possible meaning could be to “stop resting”. But this is far from its meaning. “Lay off” means to stop working either voluntarily or involuntarily.
So, our beginner learners will be confronted with many expressions like these. To learn a little more about idioms, read.
Cultural context
When growing up in a region, many things become understood as everyone lives the same reality. But those are not expressions or idioms. Often, they will be a form of sarcasm, not understood if you did not grow up there. An example of this could be “learning a new language is a walk in the park”, when in fact it is not as simple and requires effort. Here the expression is sarcasm. But what does this have to do with the level? Even an advanced learner could be misled by this.
Because sarcasm is more easily identified when one has some command of the language. Usually, sarcasm will come along with some facial expressions that reinforce the message. And when one is not putting every ounce of concentration into understanding what is being said, these elements of the message can be spotted.
Limited exposure
Another challenge for learning as a beginner is having limited exposure to English. If you take classes once per week and do not make any effort outside of that class, your progress will be lessened as this is the only time you are exposed to English.
There are many things that you should do to help with getting more exposure:
Watch movies, series, and YouTube videos in English. At the beginning, you can have the subtitles displayed. We recommend using English for both the audio and the subtitles. When at a beginner level, you might end up pausing the movie many times to search for vocabulary that you did not understand. But this is the goal, to build your vocabulary.
Read in English. This will help with the conversation. It will build your vocabulary. You will see sentence structures. Various verb tenses. Read about your area of expertise. This will help as some of the vocabulary words will be known to you. The rest will have to be learned but at least, you will more easily understand the meaning of what you are reading.
Participate in conversation opportunities in English. Networking events, training seminars, conversation exchange groups (one of the options is our conversation workshops), thematic activities, sporting clubs, etc. A few great places to find such activities are:
If you do these activities, your English learning will improve significantly.
Rewiring your brain
One of the reasons why kids should learn languages early and often is that their neuroplasticity is high. This flexibility of the brain to reorganize itself to accommodate another way of thinking decreases with age. Hence, this is a challenge that adults learning English as an initial second language will face. But it is always a great idea to learn a language at any age. Because it does stimulate the brain, the benefits will be present, regardless of when you start. You might require a larger dose of patience and dedication to get there, but you will get there.
The challenge of pronunciation and intonation
Depending on your mother tongue, English-speaking sounds could be quite different from those you already know. Mastering this pronunciation requires patience and practice. Beginners should include phonetic exercises, listening comprehension, and mimicking native speakers (the teacher) to improve their pronunciation and intonation. Of course, there is the spelling of the various sounds in English, but as we focus on speaking, this becomes less of a problem. You can forget about the differences between “ee” as in “tree” and “ea” as in “sea”. Of course, meaning will be important, but pronunciation is not as much linked to spelling as meaning would be.
Practice makes perfect
As adults, we do not like to make mistakes. And when we do, we often would like to have as few people witness them as possible. But, to make fewer mistakes, one needs to practise. Lots and lots of practice. We have a few options to be able to practise. Often, getting comfortable with this process is to do it with the same people. Make a pact with a few coworkers to speak only in English. Go to the same bakery and be served in English. Go to the same group meeting and practice with the same people. This will get your confidence up. Of course, this does not make the first few tries any easier. But, at least the pain will have an expiration date.
But, as you improve your English, increase your circle. The funny thing about communication is often we speak to be understood, not to master a language. So, you may start to develop some habits with your group that you might become aware of with new people. Thus, there is a rationale for going beyond your comfort zone. But, this can wait a little, until you are more confident with the whole process.
One of the options that could be considered is to take your vacations in English-speaking countries. You will be forced to speak the language, and nobody knows you (if you go to new places). It could be a fun and productive way to spend your vacation.
Conclusion
Learning conversational English as a beginner adult learner is filled with challenges and rewards. Nowadays, you have so many tools to help you learn, practise and listen to English that you should have no excuses to start. Regardless of your age, or how many languages you already speak, now is the best time to start. Be patient, be consistent, but most of all, start. You will be happy you did.
If you have questions or comments, feel free to contact me.