Are You Happy with the Way You Are Taught English?

Interviewer: Anna, You have been learning English for almost five years and you  

are planning to become an interpreter. What do you feel about learning grammar?  

Do you think your teacher spends too much or too little time on it?

Anna: Of course, you must learn the grammar in any language. After all, you can’t  

build a house without foundations. But that’s all we do at school –grammar,  

grammar, and more grammar. We have too many drills.

Int.: So grammar is important, but not too much of it. But should it be taught in  

isolation?

Anna: No. You need to practice grammar with vocabulary. It’s not good when you  

learn new words but don’t have much practice using them with the grammar you  

have learnt.

Int.: With vocabulary- is it better to learn a few words at a time and practice them,  

rather than a lot of words by heart.

Anna: Practice helps you to memorize the words. Also I remember words better if  

they are related to my interests. I have no problem learning words connected with  

my hobby, which is animals and wildlife.

Int.: How about pronunciation? A lot of students find that hard.

Anna: English intonation is awful! I mean, I think it’s the most difficult part of  

pronunciation, because if you get it wrong, people think you are rude. Intonation is  

far more difficult than learning to pronounce words correctly.

Int.: What advice would you give to people who are just beginning to learn English?

Anna: I find reading very helpful- I read books, newspapers, magazines and other  

periodicals. I try to guess meaning of words I don’t know from their context. But I  

also look up words in the dictionary and make a note of the most useful ones.

Int.: How about listening to pop music?

Anna: Yes, that can be useful. Listening to the radio, watching videos and  

educational TV programmes in English help me, too, especially listening to the news.

Int.: As I can see, learning a language isn’t simple as all that. You can learn rules for  

grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary, but the most difficult feature of any  

language is learning the elements for which there are no written rules- for example  

“social English”. This means learning about expected ways of behavior, knowing  

what sort of English to use in different situations, formal or informal and how to  

understand what is said, all that is so easy and natural on your mother tongue